Addhandler, button.click not firing using VB.NET - asp.net

Question

I am experiencing a problem with buttons and AddHandler. It only works if I use AddHandler Button1.click, AddressOf... in Page_load, but if I create the button dynamically in one of the sub routines, the event doesn't fire.
For example,
<asp:Label ID="Label1" runat="server" Text="Label"></asp:Label>
<asp:DropDownList ID="DropDownList1" runat="server" AutoPostBack="True">
<asp:ListItem>1</asp:ListItem>
<asp:ListItem>2</asp:ListItem>
</asp:DropDownList>
<asp:ScriptManager id="ScriptManager1" runat="server"></asp:ScriptManager>
<asp:UpdatePanel id="UpdatePanel1" runat="server" UpdateMode="Conditional" ChildrenAsTriggers="False">
<contenttemplate>
<asp:PlaceHolder id="PlaceHolder1" runat="server"></asp:PlaceHolder>
</contenttemplate>
</asp:UpdatePanel>
<asp:UpdatePanel id="UpdatePanel2" runat="server" UpdateMode="Conditional">
<contenttemplate>
<asp:Label id="Label2" runat="server" Text="Label"></asp:Label>
</contenttemplate>
</asp:UpdatePanel>
Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
Label1.Text = Date.Now
ScriptManager1.RegisterAsyncPostBackControl(DropDownList1)
End Sub
Protected Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
Label2.Text = "Panel refreshed at " + Date.Now.ToString()
End Sub
Protected Sub DropDownList1_SelectedIndexChanged(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles DropDownList1.SelectedIndexChanged
Dim b As New Button
b.Text = "Click"
ScriptManager1.RegisterAsyncPostBackControl(b)
AddHandler b.Click, AddressOf Button1_Click
PlaceHolder1.Controls.Add(b)
UpdatePanel1.Update()
End Sub
The dropdownlist works, but the button doesn't. What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

You have to regenerate your dynamically created controls on every postback (at last in Page_Load, better in Page_Init). You have to set the ID of the controls accordingly because ASP.Net needs it to identify which control caused a Postback and to handle the appropriate events.
You could save the number of created buttons in ViewState and use this to regenerate them on Page_Load. Increase the number when you add a new button. Use this number also to make the Button's ID unique(append it to the ID) to ensure that its the same on every postback.
For further informations, have a look the Page-Lifecycle and ViewState with dynamically added controls.
Edit: As Joel commented, if you only need one Button you can set it's ID statically, but you have to regenerate it on postback f.e. to handle its click-event.

Answer 2

Just to aid anyone who has this problem and isn't quite sure how to implement. Here's a quick example.
This example starts out by displaying a dropdownlist. When user selects something from the dropdown, another dropdownlist appears.
I typed this off the top of my head, so it MAY contain errors, but you get the idea =)
In the aspx file, add a placeholder:
And in your codebehind:
...
Protected Sub Page_Init(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Init
'Store control count in viewstate
If Not IsPostBack Then ViewState("ControlCounter") = 1
'Rebuild dynamic controls on every postback so when page's life cycle hits Page_Load,
'selected values in the viewstate (asp.net default behavior) can be loaded into the dropdowns
Build_Dynamic_Controls()
End Sub
Protected Sub Build_Dynamic_Controls()
'Clear placeholder
myPlaceholder.Controls.Clear()
'This is where the control counter stored in the viewstate comes into play
For i as Integer = 0 To CInt(ViewState("ControlCounter") -1
Dim ddlDynamic as New DropDownList With {
.ID = "ddlDynamicDropdown" & i,
.AutoPostBack = True
}
'This is the event that will be executed when the user changes a value on the form
'and the postback occurs
AddHandler ddlDynamic.SelectedIndexChanged, AddressOf ddlDynamic_SelectedIndexChanged
'Add control to the placeholder
myPlaceholder.Controls.Add(ddl)
'Put some values into the dropdown
ddlDynamic.Items.Add("Value1")
ddlDynamic.Items.Add("Value2")
ddlDynamic.Items.Add("Value3")
Next i
End Sub
Protected Sub ddlDynamic_SelectedIndexChanged(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
'When a dropdown value is changed, a postback is triggered (autopostback=true)
'The event is captured here and we add another dropdown.
'First we up the control count:
ViewState("ControlCounter") = CInt(ViewState("ControlCounter")) + 1
'Now that the "total controls counter" is upped by one,
'Let's recreate the controls in the placeholder to include the new dropdown
Build_Dynamic_Controls()
End Sub
...