How to find controls in a repeater header or footer

I was wondering how one would find the controls in the HeaderTemplate or FooterTemplate of an Asp.Net Repeater control.

I can access them on the ItemDataBound event, but I was wondering how to get them after (for example to retrieve a value of an input in the header/footer).

Note: I posted this question here after finding the answer just so that I remember it (and maybe other people might find this useful).

As noted in the comments, this only works AFTER you've DataBound your repeater.

To find a control in the header:

lblControl = repeater1.Controls[0].Controls[0].FindControl("lblControl");

To find a control in the footer:

lblControl = repeater1.Controls[repeater1.Controls.Count - 1].Controls[0].FindControl("lblControl");

With extension methods

public static class RepeaterExtensionMethods
{
    public static Control FindControlInHeader(this Repeater repeater, string controlName)
    {
        return repeater.Controls[0].Controls[0].FindControl(controlName);
    }

    public static Control FindControlInFooter(this Repeater repeater, string controlName)
    {
        return repeater.Controls[repeater.Controls.Count - 1].Controls[0].FindControl(controlName);
    }
}

Better solution

You can check item type in ItemCreated event:

protected void rptSummary_ItemCreated(Object sender, RepeaterItemEventArgs e) {
    if (e.Item.ItemType == ListItemType.Footer) {
        e.Item.FindControl(ctrl);
    }
    if (e.Item.ItemType == ListItemType.Header) {
        e.Item.FindControl(ctrl);
    }
}

You can take a reference on the control on the ItemCreated event, and then use it later.

Find control into Repeater (Header, Item, Footer)

public static class FindControlInRepeater
{
    public static Control FindControl(this Repeater repeater, string controlName)
    {
        for (int i = 0; i < repeater.Controls.Count; i++)
            if (repeater.Controls[i].Controls[0].FindControl(controlName) != null)
                return repeater.Controls[i].Controls[0].FindControl(controlName);
        return null;
    }
}