Accessing Controls Inside Templates

The following example demonstrates how to find RadDropDownList control nested in a NodeTemplate of a RadNavigation.

Here follows the markup:

<telerik:RadNavigation runat="server" ID="RadNavigation1" Skin="Silk">
    <Nodes>
        <telerik:NavigationNode Text="Node with RadDropDownList">
            <NodeTemplate>
                <telerik:RadDropDownList ID="RadDropDownList1" runat="server"></telerik:RadDropDownList>
            </NodeTemplate>
        </telerik:NavigationNode>
    </Nodes>
</telerik:RadNavigation>

How to find RadDropDownList object server-side

You need to search for the RadDropDownList in the Controls collection of the RadNavigation's nodes:

RadDropDownList dropDownList = (RadDropDownList)RadNavigation1.Nodes[0].FindControl("RadDropDownList1");

Dim dropDownList As RadDropDownList = DirectCast(RadNavigation1.Nodes(0).FindControl("RadDropDownList1"), RadDropDownList)

How to find RadDropDownList object client-side

Here are the available options to find the RadTreeView object in RadComboBox, on the client:

var dropDownList = $find("<%= RadNavigation1.FindNodeByText("Node with RadDropDownList").FindControl("RadDropDownList1").ClientID %>");