Code Less and Do More with Extender Controls

n our previous article "Put a 24-hour Lockdown on Your .NET UIs," we discussed various ways to augment user interfaces to interpose underlying business logic and data engine security constraints. We recommended the use of extender controls. The purpose behind this suggestion was clear: We don't like to code. In fact, if given a choice between coding and surfing, only one question remains—where's the wax? While it is certainly possible and in some cases necessary to subclass existing controls, we prefer to reserve such methods for situations just shy of thermonuclear destruction.

However, one thing we did not expect when we made our suggestion was that some of our readers would be unfamiliar with the details of extender controls, their creation, and their operation. While such a discussion was outside the scope and coverage of the original article, we decided that it would make a fine subject for whole new article. So without further gilding the lily and with no more ado, we present to you our champion, the Knight of the Lazy Programmer, the Extender Control.