title: ASP.NET Get DataList input in code behind
body: <p>Having researched similar questions, none seem to deal with my specific issue. I have a simple case of an aspx DataList with text boxes where the user is to input data and then submit the page. I simply want to read the data the user has input into each item's text boxes. I know how to reference the item as the following example:</p>
  <pre><code>sFile = ((Label)row.FindControl(&quot;lblArtFile&quot;)).Text;    
  sItem = ((TextBox)row.FindControl(&quot;tbItemNo&quot;)).Text;
  </code></pre>
  <p>The label is populated on page creation and I can retrieve that data. But the user input into the text box is not found and the string comes back always empty.</p>
  <p>I also know that I can add a command button to the item line, but I don't want to do that because it's not elegant/intuitive. Rather, I want the user to only have to click the page submit button and then have the code read all the item lines at once. We can easily get the user input from a &quot;normal&quot; text box, but how to do so from one embedded in a datalist control?</p>
  <p>Thank you,
  James</p>