Embedding multiple user controls into a page? - asp.net

Question

I've embedded multiple user controls into the same page. The user controls typically have 2 different views, an edit/default view and a completed view. When the user completes an edit then I switch the MultiView to the completed state. This pattern works okay in pages.
The problem is when I go back to the master view/page then the user brings back the control, the view is still in the completed state.
What are some simple methods for resetting/correcting the multiview state? I could have a Reset() function on every control but it feels like I may be able to avoid that.
Update:
This page is designed to show an account/profile view and it has the following parts:
<asp:MultiView>
...read only view
<asp:EmailEditView>
<asp:AccountEditView>
etc..
And then each of those views has a user control. Inside the user control, we have something like this
<asp:multiview>
<asp:view id="edit"/>
<asp:view id="completed"/>
I've found the following problems with this design:
When the user completes an action of user control such as changing an email. The view stays in the finished state even when they go back to it a second time.
When the user goes back to the original form the data is stale. This design really screws with the postback mechanism. If I don't use !IsPostBack on the main form for databding then my dropdownlist on the sub forms will not work. However, once I add the !isPostBack on the main form then the data becomes stale.
I can add a "reset" flag to every user control and add something like this
if ((!IsPostback) || (reset) )
As well as resetting the view. In the other scenario, I can add an event handler to load the reload/bind the data when the user clicks "back", i.e where I change the form back.

Answer 1

I'm trying to recreate the functionality of your problem while taking out the complexity of user controls. Here's my best guess so far (please correct me if I'm wrong)
<asp:MultiView runat="server" ID="MainMultiView" ActiveViewIndex="0">
<asp:View runat="server" ID="DefaultView">
Default View
<asp:Button runat="server" ID="EditEmailButton" Text="Edit Email" OnClick="EditEmailButton_Click" />
<asp:Button runat="server" ID="EditAccountButton" Text="Edit Account" OnClick="EditAccountButton_Click" />
</asp:View>
<asp:View runat="server" ID="EmailView">
<asp:MultiView runat="server" ID="EmailMultiView" ActiveViewIndex="0">
<asp:View runat="server" ID="EmailEditView">
Edit Email
<asp:Button runat="server" ID="SaveEmailButton" Text="Save"
onclick="SaveEmailButton_Click" />
<asp:Button runat="server" ID="CancelEmailButton" Text="Cancel"
onclick="CancelEmailButton_Click" />
</asp:View>
<asp:View runat="server" ID="EmailCompleteView">
Email Edit Complete!
</asp:View>
</asp:MultiView>
</asp:View>
<asp:View runat="server" ID="AccountView">
<asp:MultiView runat="server" ID="AccountMultiView" ActiveViewIndex="0">
<asp:View runat="server" ID="AccountEditView">
Edit Account
<asp:Button runat="server" ID="SaveAccountButton" Text="Save"
onclick="SaveAccountButton_Click" />
<asp:Button runat="server" ID="CancelAccountButton" Text="Cancel"
onclick="CancelAccountButton_Click" />
</asp:View>
<asp:View runat="server" ID="AccountCompleteView">
Account Edit Complete!
</asp:View>
</asp:MultiView>
</asp:View>
</asp:MultiView>
-- code behind
protected void EditEmailButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
MainMultiView.SetActiveView(EmailView);
}
protected void EditAccountButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
MainMultiView.SetActiveView(AccountView);
}
protected void SaveEmailButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Save();
EmailMultiView.SetActiveView(EmailCompleteView);
}
protected void CancelEmailButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
EmailMultiView.SetActiveView(EmailCompleteView);
}
protected void SaveAccountButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Save();
AccountMultiView.SetActiveView(AccountCompleteView);
}
protected void CancelAccountButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
AccountMultiView.SetActiveView(AccountCompleteView);
}