How to dynamically render asp.net controls from string?

Question

Let\'s say I have a string that I retrieve from a DB like:
\"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore e

Answer 1

public class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            ParserBase parser = new ParserBase();

            Console.WriteLine(parser.DynamicRenderControl<HyperLink>(parser.Parse("")));
            Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }

    public class ParserBase
    {
        public virtual Dictionary<string, string> Parse(string stringToParse)
        {
            //...
            // parse the stringToParse
            //...
            Dictionary<string, string> parsedPropertiesValues = new Dictionary<string, string>();
            parsedPropertiesValues.Add("NavigateUrl", @"http://www.koolzers.net");
            return parsedPropertiesValues;
        }

        protected virtual void SetProperty<T>(T obj, string propertyName, string value) where T : WebControl
        {
            typeof(T).GetProperty(propertyName).SetValue(obj, value, null);
        }


        public string DynamicRenderControl<T>(Dictionary<string, string> parsedPropertiesValues) where T : WebControl, new()
        {
            StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
            using (T control = new T())
            {
                foreach (KeyValuePair<string, string> keyValue in parsedPropertiesValues)
                {
                    SetProperty<T>(control, keyValue.Key, keyValue.Value);
                }

                using (StringWriter tw = new StringWriter(sb))
                {
                    using (HtmlTextWriter w = new HtmlTextWriter(tw))
                    {
                        control.RenderControl(w);
                    }
                }

            }
            return sb.ToString();
        }
    }

Answer 2

I believe this is possible if you split your text into 2 labels instead of one. I wrote up a quick sample to demonstrate. When you parse your string from the db, if there is text before and after your dynamic control than just set the BeginText and EndText properties of DynamicControl.

public class DynamicControl
{
    public String BeginText { get; set; }
    public String EndText { get; set; }
    public String ControlName { get; set; }
    public Dictionary<String, String> ControlProperties { get; set; }
}

public partial class _Default : System.Web.UI.Page 
{
    protected override void OnInit(EventArgs e)
    {
        base.OnInit(e);
        //read strings from db
        var dynamicControlStrings = GetStringsFromDB();
        //parse strings into list of dynamicControls
        var dynamicControls = ParseStringsToDynamicControls(dynamicControlStrings);
        foreach (var dynamicControl in dynamicControls)
        {
            CreateControl(dynamicControl.BeginText, dynamicControl.EndText, dynamicControl.ControlName, dynamicControl.ControlProperties);
        }
    }

    private void CreateControl(string beginText, string endText, string controlName, Dictionary<String, String> controlProperties)
    {
        var beginLabel = new Label()
        {
            Text = beginText
        };

        var dynamicControl = GenerateDynamicControl(controlName, controlProperties);        

        var endLabel = new Label()
        {
            Text = endText
        };

        var span = new HtmlGenericControl("span");
        span.Controls.Add(beginLabel);
        span.Controls.Add(dynamicControl);
        span.Controls.Add(endLabel);

        form1.Controls.Add(span);        
    }

    //you would create your dynamic control here (such as the hyperlink) based on the control name and use reflection to set the properties
    private WebControl GenerateDynamicControl(string controlName, Dictionary<String, String> controlProperties)
    {        
    }

    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {

    }    
}