Looking For C#/ASP.NET Help

[Bob Schroeck]

I'm hoping someone here can give me a pointer on a problem I've run into.  I've tried a couple different solutions, none of which have worked; I feel like I'm circling the answer but not quite reaching it.

I'm working with a fairly complex custom control, written by someone else a few years ago.  It's got a couple levels of tabbed panels, a lot of links that either go to new pages or open new windows, several repeaters used to generate tables on the various tabs, stuff like that.  I've added a button to it that, when clicked, is supposed to run some server-side code.  Except it doesn't -- the PageLoad() event for the page on which it displays runs to its end without the control getting a chance to act.

I've figured out that I basically have to turn on the ability for the control to respond to the postback event in its turn.  But I can't figure out -- and my experiments haven't clarified this -- if it's the whole complex control that I need to make postback-aware, or just the button I want to respond to.  Every example of what to do I've found has either slightly or wildly different code that I "should" use.  And perversely, the more complicated the solutions I've found are, the less likely the person writing them is to have a grasp on proper English.

So, I'm hoping a forum member might have a clue what's the right thing to do, and be willing to share that clue with me.