Adding child controls to a RadGrid derived class

[Justavian]

I have a class derived from RadGrid, to which i would like to add a hidden input and possibly other controls.  I'd like to put those at the root level - adding them to the main div (so that these added controls would be siblings of the MasterTableView), but it doesn't seem possible.  I've tried overriding CreateChildControls, OnLoad, PreRender, and other functions, at which point i'd try to do a simple this.controls.add().  But the controls i add in this manner never get rendered out to the page - regardless of which function i'm in.

The only way i've been able to render those controls out is if i add them to a cell in the command item.  But that command row won't always be visible, so that doesn't seem like a very solid solution.

Any ideas?  What's the best way to add child controls to a RadGrid derived class?  Preferably without resorting to turning the whole thing into a composite control.

-RP

[Justavian]

I'm not sure if it will have any repercussions later on, but i discovered that i *can* use PreRender - but only if i add my additional controls *after* my call to Rebind().  Apparently Rebind will remove any foreign controls.

[Justavian]

As it turns out, my hidden field does not hold its state if it's added in PreRender after the ReBind().  It also doesn't seem to maintain state if it's added during a data bind.  Looks like i might have to reconsider turning this into a composite control.

So i ask again - anyone have any idea how to add controls to a RadGrid derived class such that they maintain their state?