Another good article on ASP.NET Jeff!  I always look forward to reading your MSDN column.  It usually has something I have overlooked or presents an existing well-known topic in a new light.

I particularly liked the part about LoadControl and Output Caching.  The extra check adds duplicate code, but with .NET 2.0 you can create a helper function to eliminate redundant code.

A rough sketch would go something like this:

private class Util

{

 public static T GetTypedCachedControl<T>(Control control) where T : class

 {

   T typedControl = control as T;

   if (typedControl == null)

   {

     PartialCachingControl cachingControl = control as PartialCachingControl;

     if (cachingControl != null)

     {

       typedControl = cachingControl.CachedControl as T;

     }

   }

   return typedControl;

 }

}

Calling it from your ASP.NET page might go something like this:

// after PlaceHolder1.Controls.Add(control);

MyUserControl muc = Util.GetTypedCachedControl<MyUserControl>(control);

if (muc != null)

{

   // Set its background color

   muc.BackColor = Color.Blue;

}

ugh...

The > and < references should be the left and right angle brackets associated with .NET 2.0 Generics.

You're blogging software threw a fit when I used the actual characters.  Well, actually ASP.NET threw the fit.  I hate the validateRequest attribute.  :(