Is there an ASP.NET WebControl for the <p> tag?

Question

Simple question, difficult to search for (due to the main part of the question being the single letter p)!

In ASP.NET, <asp:Panel/> is rendered as a <div></div> block, <asp:Label/> is rendered as a <span></span> block... is there one that renders as <p></p> block?

It doesn't look like it from MSDN for the WebControl class, but I thought I would ask in case I've missed something obvious.

(I realise the obvious solution is to just use <p runat="server" id="p1"></p> and use the generic html control class)

Answer 1

I've had exactly the same issue. After I started to use a similar technique Cory uses here, I found an even easier one, that basically does the same and solves your issues. However, it has one benefit when compared with the solution above: you don't have to render the whole control yourself.

Basically all you need to do is the following:

• Create you own control, inherit e.g. from the Label control.
• Override the RenderBeginTag() method.
• Write your own tag, e.g. p.
• The end tag will be written automatically.
• Your new tag will now replace the default tag (span in this example).

See code below:

    public class P : Label
    {
        public override void RenderBeginTag(HtmlTextWriter writer)
        {
            writer.RenderBeginTag("p");
        }
    }

Answer 2

No, there is no built-in control specifically for <p>. A LiteralControl or the <p runat="server" /> version you gave are the closest you will get.

You could always create your own control, though. You can create a class that implements WebControl, and override the Render method:

protected override void Render(HtmlTextWriter output)
{
   output.WriteFullBeginTag("p");
   output.Write(this.Text);
   output.WriteEndTag("p");
}

There are more instructions on how to write your own server controls here:

• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms366537(v=vs.100).aspx

And a list of all of the .NET web and server controls here:

• http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306459