Server-side Programming Overview

Updated on Feb 11, 2026

Overview of the Server-side APIs you can use to create and configure the Telerik WebForms SmartPasteButton control.

Creating the SmartPasteButton in the Markup

To create a SmartPasteButton in the markup, add the RadSmartPasteButton element to the page and set its properties. You can find the full list of properties in the Properties article.

The Telerik UI for ASP.NET AJAX Controls support the SmartPasteDescription property, which provides context to the AI service about what data should be pasted into each field.

Example

ASP.NET

<telerik:RadTextBox runat="server" ID="RadtextBox1" EmptyMessage="Full Name" SmartPasteDescription="Name" />
<telerik:RadTextBox runat="server" ID="RadtextBox2" EmptyMessage="City" SmartPasteDescription="City" />
<telerik:RadMaskedTextBox runat="server" ID="RadMaskedTextBox1" Mask="(###) ###-####" SmartPasteDescription="Phone Number" />

<telerik:RadSmartPasteButton runat="server" ID="SmartPasteButton1" Icon="clipboard-code" CancelIcon="cancel" Text="Smart Paste" ServiceUrl="https://demos.telerik.com/service/v2/ai/smartpaste/smartpaste" />

You can also use the FormFields collection to explicitly define target controls and their descriptions:

ASP.NET

<telerik:RadSmartPasteButton runat="server" ID="SmartPasteButton1" Icon="clipboard-code" CancelIcon="cancel" Text="Smart Paste"  ServiceUrl="https://demos.telerik.com/service/v2/ai/smartpaste/smartpaste">
    <FormFields>
        <telerik:SmartPasteButtonFormField ControlID="txtName" Description="Customer's full name" />
        <telerik:SmartPasteButtonFormField ControlID="txtEmail" Description="Email address" />
        <telerik:SmartPasteButtonFormField ControlID="ddlCountry" Description="Country of residence" AllowedValues="USA,Canada,Mexico" />
    </FormFields>
</telerik:RadSmartPasteButton>

Creating the SmartPasteButton Dynamically

To create the SmartPasteButton on the server, create a new instance of the RadSmartPasteButton object, set its properties and add it to the Controls collection of another control (e.g. a PlaceHolder).

You can find the properties and enums in the following articles:

• Properties
• Enums

Example with SmartPasteDescription on Target Controls

C#

protected void Page_PreInit(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    RadTextBox textBox1 = new RadTextBox()
    {
        ID = "RadtextBox1",
        EmptyMessage = "Full Name",
        SmartPasteDescription = "Name"
    };

    PlaceHolder1.Controls.Add(textBox1);

    RadTextBox textBox2 = new RadTextBox()
    {
        ID = "RadtextBox2",
        EmptyMessage = "City",
        SmartPasteDescription = "City"
    };

    PlaceHolder1.Controls.Add(textBox2);

    RadMaskedTextBox maskedTextBox = new RadMaskedTextBox()
    {
        ID = "RadMaskedTextBox",
        Mask = "(###) ###-####",
        SmartPasteDescription = "Phone Number"
    };

    PlaceHolder1.Controls.Add(maskedTextBox);

    RadSmartPasteButton smartPasteButton = new RadSmartPasteButton()
    {
        ID = "SmartPasteButton1",
        Icon = "clipboard-code",
        CancelIcon = "cancel",
        Text = "Smart Paste",
        ServiceUrl = "https://demos.telerik.com/service/v2/ai/smartpaste/smartpaste"
    };

    PlaceHolder1.Controls.Add(smartPasteButton);
}

VB

Protected Sub Page_PreInit(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
    Dim textBox1 As RadTextBox = New RadTextBox() With {
        .ID = "RadtextBox1",
        .EmptyMessage = "Full Name",
        .SmartPasteDescription = "Name"
    }

    PlaceHolder1.Controls.Add(textBox1)

    Dim textBox2 As RadTextBox = New RadTextBox() With {
        .ID = "TextBox2",
        .EmptyMessage = "City",
        .SmartPasteDescription = "City"
    }

    PlaceHolder1.Controls.Add(textBox2)

    Dim maskedTextBox As RadMaskedTextBox = New RadMaskedTextBox() With {
        .ID = "RadMaskedTextBox",
        .Mask = "(###) ###-####",
        .SmartPasteDescription = "Phone Number"
    }

    PlaceHolder1.Controls.Add(maskedTextBox)

    Dim smartPasteButton As RadSmartPasteButton = New RadSmartPasteButton() With {
        .ID = "SmartPasteButton1",
        .Icon = "clipboard-code",
        .CancelIcon = "cancel",
        .Text = "Smart Paste",
        .ServiceUrl = "https://demos.telerik.com/service/v2/ai/smartpaste/smartpaste"
    }

    PlaceHolder1.Controls.Add(smartPasteButton)
End Sub

Example with FormFields Collection

C#

protected void Page_PreInit(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    RadSmartPasteButton smartPasteButton = new RadSmartPasteButton()
    {
        Icon = "clipboard-code",
        CancelIcon = "cancel",
        Text = "Smart Paste",
        ServiceUrl = "https://demos.telerik.com/service/v2/ai/smartpaste/smartpaste"
    };

    SmartPasteButtonFormField nameField = new SmartPasteButtonFormField()
    {
        ControlID = "txtName",
        Description = "Customer's full name"
    };

    smartPasteButton.FormFields.Add(nameField);

    SmartPasteButtonFormField emailField = new SmartPasteButtonFormField()
    {
        ControlID = "txtEmail",
        Description = "Email address"
    };

    smartPasteButton.FormFields.Add(emailField);

    SmartPasteButtonFormField countryField = new SmartPasteButtonFormField()
    {
        ControlID = "ddlCountry",
        Description = "Country of residence",
        AllowedValues = new string[] { "USA", "Canada", "Mexico" }
    };

    smartPasteButton.FormFields.Add(countryField);

    PlaceHolder1.Controls.Add(smartPasteButton);
}

VB

Protected Sub Page_PreInit(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
    Dim smartPasteButton As RadSmartPasteButton = New RadSmartPasteButton() With {
        .Icon = "clipboard-code",
        .CancelIcon = "cancel",
        .Text = "Smart Paste",
        .ServiceUrl = "https://demos.telerik.com/service/v2/ai/smartpaste/smartpaste"
    }

    smartPasteButton.Service.Headers = "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

    Dim nameField As SmartPasteButtonFormField = New SmartPasteButtonFormField() With {
        .ControlID = "txtName",
        .Description = "Customer's full name"
    }

    smartPasteButton.FormFields.Add(nameField)

    Dim emailField As SmartPasteButtonFormField = New SmartPasteButtonFormField() With {
        .ControlID = "txtEmail",
        .Description = "Email address"
    }

    smartPasteButton.FormFields.Add(emailField)

    Dim countryField As SmartPasteButtonFormField = New SmartPasteButtonFormField() With {
        .ControlID = "ddlCountry",
        .Description = "Country of residence",
        .AllowedValues = New String() {"USA", "Canada", "Mexico"}
    }

    smartPasteButton.FormFields.Add(countryField)

    PlaceHolder1.Controls.Add(smartPasteButton)
End Sub

PlaceHolder1 declaration

ASP.NET

<asp:PlaceHolder ID="PlaceHolder1" runat="server"></asp:PlaceHolder>

Creating controls programmatically must be done in an early event such as PreInit (preferably) or Init. For more details see the ASP.NET Page Life-Cycle Events

Next Steps

• Properties
• Enums