Data not available in GridView ItemTemplate field onPreRender - asp.net

Question

I have this scenario.
An ascx contains this GridView:
<asp:GridView ID="dataTable" runat="server" >
<Columns>
<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Key">
<ItemTemplate>
<%# ((KeyValuePair<string, string>)(Container.DataItem)).Key%>
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateField>
<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Value">
<ItemTemplate>
<%# ((KeyValuePair<string, string>)(Container.DataItem)).Value%>
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateField>
</Columns>
</asp:GridView>
I'm loading a fake Array into the GridView during the Page_Load
var values = new Dictionary<string, string>();
values.Add("test1", "2");
values.Add("test2", "2");
dataTable.DataSource = values;
dataTable.DataBind();
If during the OnPreRender I try to check the value of
dataTable.Rows[0].Cells[0].Text
It has no value. Then the grid is rendered perfectly and every value is in place.
Is there any way to fix this?

Answer 1

You can put a label control like this:
<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Key">
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:Label runat="server" Text="<%# ((KeyValuePair<string, string>)(Container.DataItem)).Key%>"></asp:Label>
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateField>
And then access the value like this on the user control´s PreRender:
protected void Page_PreRender(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Label lbl = dataTable.Rows[0].Cells[0].Controls[1] as Label;
string t = lbl.Text;
}
Or like this on the consumer page´s PreRender:
protected void Page_PreRender(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
GridView dataTable = dataTableWebUserControl1.FindControl("dataTable") as GridView;
Label lbl = dataTable.Rows[0].Cells[0].Controls[1] as Label;
string t = lbl.Text;
}