I have a UserControl, containing a FormView, containing a DropDownList. The FormView is bound to a data control.

Like so:

    <asp:FormView ID="frmEdit" DataKeyNames="MetricCode" runat="server" 
    DefaultMode="Edit" DataSourceID="llbDataSource" Cellpadding="0" >
    <EditItemTemplate>
    <asp:DropDownList ID="ParentMetricCode"  runat="server" SelectedValue='<%# Bind("ParentMetricCode") %>' /> 

etc, etc

I am trying to populate the DropDownList from the codebehind. If this was not contained in a FormView, I would normally just do it in the Page_Load event. However, that does not work within a FormView, as as soon as I try to do it, accessing the dropdownlist in code, ie:

theListcontrol = CType(formView.FindControl(listControlName), System.Web.UI.WebControls.ListControl)  

...the data binding mechansim of the FormView is invoked, which, of course, tries to bind the DropDownList to the underlying datasource, causing a *'ParentMetricCode' has a SelectedValue which is invalid because it does not exist in the list of items. Parameter name: value * error, since the DropDownList has not yet been populated.

I tried performing the load in the DataBinding() event of the FormView, but then:

theListcontrol = CType(formView.FindControl(listControlName), System.Web.UI.WebControls.ListControl)

...fails, as the FormView.Controls.Count = 0 at that point.

Is this impossible? (I do not want to have to use a secondary ObjectDataSource to bind the dropdownlist to)