CustomValidator and InPlace editing

[Thomas]

I want to create a CustomValidator that will ensure that one of two different controls has a value. How do I get a reference to both controls in the ServerValidate event? My grid looks something like:

<telerik:RadGrid ID="MyGrid" runat="server"
    OnNeedDataSource="MyGrid_NeedDataSource"
    OnItemDataBound="MyGrid_ItemDataBound"
    OnInsertCommand="MyGrid_InsertCommand"
    OnUpdateCommand="MyGrid_UpdateCommand"
    OnDeleteCommand="MyGrid_DeleteCommand"
    >
    <MasterTableView DataKeyNames="Key" CommandItemDisplay="Top" EditMode="InPlace">
        <Columns>
            <telerik:GridEditCommandColumn ButtonType="ImageButton" UniqueName="EditCommandColumn"
                <HeaderStyle Width="40px" HorizontalAlign="Center" />
                <ItemStyle Width="40px" HorizontalAlign="Center" />
            </telerik:GridEditCommandColumn>

            <telerik:GridTemplateColumn UniqueName="Category" HeaderText="Category">
                <ItemStyle Width="100px" />
                <HeaderStyle Width="100px" />
                <ItemTemplate>
                    <%#DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "Category.Name") %>
                </ItemTemplate>
                <EditItemTemplate>
                    <telerik:RadComboBox ID="CategoryEdit" runat="server"
                        Width="100%"
                        DataSourceID="CategoryDataSource"
                        DataTextField="Name" DataValueField="Key"
                        SelectedValue='<%#Bind("CategoryKey") %>'>
                    </telerik:RadComboBox>
                </EditItemTemplate>
            </telerik:GridTemplateColumn>

            <telerik:GridTemplateColumn UniqueName="Contact" HeaderText="Contact">
                <ItemStyle Width="150px" />
                <HeaderStyle Width="150px" />
                <ItemTemplate>
                    <%#DataBinder.Eval( Container.DataItem, "ContactName" )%>
                </ItemTemplate>
                <EditItemTemplate>
                    <telerik:RadComboBox ID="ContactEdit" runat="server"
                        Width="100%"
                        DataSourceID="ContactDataSource"
                        DataTextField="Name" DataValueField="Key"
                        SelectedValue='<%#Bind("ContactKey") %>'>

                    <asp:CustomValidator ID="ContactOrDescriptionValidator" runat="server"
                        Display="Dynamic"
                        ErrorMessage="Item must have a contact or a description."
                        OnServerValidate="MyGrid_ContactOrDescriptionValidator_ServerValidate"
                        >
                    </asp:CustomValidator>
                </EditItemTemplate>
            </telerik:GridTemplateColumn>

            <telerik:GridTemplateColumn UniqueName="Description" HeaderText="Description">
                <ItemStyle Width="150px" />
                <HeaderStyle Width="150px" />
                <ItemTemplate>
                    <%#DataBinder.Eval( Container.DataItem, "Description" )%>
                </ItemTemplate>
                <EditItemTemplate>
                    <telerik:RadTextBox ID="DescriptionEdit" runat="server"
                        Width="100%" MaxLength="50"
                        Text='<%#Bind("Description") %>'>
                    </telerik:RadTextBox>
                </EditItemTemplate>
            </telerik:GridTemplateColumn>

            <telerik:GridButtonColumn ButtonType="ImageButton" UniqueName="DeleteColumn"
                CommandName="Delete"
                <HeaderStyle Width="20px" HorizontalAlign="Center" />
                <ItemStyle Width="20px" HorizontalAlign="Center" />
            </telerik:GridButtonColumn>
        </Columns>
    </MasterTableView>
</telerik:RadGrid>

Notice that my CustomValidator does not have a ControlToValidate value because I want to ensure that either the ContactEdit combo box has a value or the description has a value. Is there a way to do this or am I required to have a custom edit form?

[Thomas]

I found the answer to my question. First, as I mentioned previously, I did not use the ControlToValidate. Second, I consolidated the two columns into a single column with a single editor like so:

<EditItemTemplate>
    <div class="paddingWrapper">
        <p>
            <telerik:RadComboBox ID="ContactEdit" runat="server"
                Width="100%"
                DataSourceID="ContactDataSource"
                DataTextField="Name" DataValueField="Key"
                SelectedValue='<%#Bind("ContactKey") %>'>
        </p>
        <p style="margin-left: 20px; font-weight: bold;">Or</p>
        <p>
            Description:<br />
            <telerik:RadTextBox ID="DescriptionEdit" runat="server"
                Width="100%" MaxLength="50"
                Text='<%#Bind("Description") %>'>
            </telerik:RadTextBox>
        </p>
    </div>

    <asp:CustomValidator ID="ContactOrDescriptionValidator" runat="server"
        Display="Dynamic"
        ErrorMessage="Item must have a contact or a description."
        OnServerValidate="ContactOrDescriptionValidator_ServerValidate"
        >
    </asp:CustomValidator>
</EditItemTemplate>

The next part was the real trick: finding the controls in the edited item. My grid does not allow multiple edited items so that made it easier. In the ServerValidate event method I simply look for the zero-th item in mygrid.EditItems and on that element I call FindControl for the control I want like so:

protected void ContactOrDescriptionValidator_ServerValidate( object sender, ServerValidateEventArgs e )
{
    e.IsValid = true;

    var editItems = this.MyGrid.EditItems;
    if ( editItems.Count == 0 )
        return;

    var editedItem = editItems[0];

    var descriptionEdit = UIUtility.FindChildControl<RadTextBox>( editedItem, "DescriptionEdit" );
    if ( !string.IsNullOrEmpty( descriptionEdit.Text ) )
        return;

    var contactEdit = UIUtility.FindChildControl<RadComboBox>( editedItem, "ContactEdit" );
    if ( !string.IsNullOrEmpty( contactEdit.SelectedValue )
        return;

    e.IsValid = false;
    return;
}

The "FindChildControl" function is simply a small function I wrote that does a FindControl and tries to cast result to the type passed. Granted, it'd be nice to find a way of wiring up the ClientValidationFunction but for now using AJAX and ServerValidate will suffice.