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Include form tag only in master page if content page not contains <form> tag?

I am using <asp:ScriptManager> and link in master page which require <Form> tag but issue is here that i have included already <form> tags in all the child content pages.
I know i just need to include <form> tag just in master page and remove from all child pages but unfortunately its not possible because there are so many content child pages which connected to this master page and also each child <form> tags contains different classes like horizental inline etc.
So i just want that i just want to include <form> tag only in master page if form tag not exist in content/child page.
If i use both in master and child/content, its showing error, its must 1 form tag.
Master page
<form id="Form2" runat="server" novalidate="" role="form" runat="server" class="form-horizontal">
<asp:ScriptManager ID="ScriptManager1" runat="server"></asp:ScriptManager>
<h3>Session Idle: <span id="secondsIdle"></span> seconds.</h3>
<asp:LinkButton ID="lnkFake" runat="server" />
<cc1:modalpopupextender id="mpeTimeout" behaviorid="mpeTimeout"
runat="server" popupcontrolid="pnlPopup" targetcontrolid="lnkFake"
okcontrolid="btnYes" cancelcontrolid="btnNo"
backgroundcssclass="modalBackground" onokscript="ResetSession()">
</cc1:modalpopupextender>
<asp:Panel ID="pnlPopup" runat="server" CssClass="modalPopup" Style="display: none">
<div class="header">
Session Expiring!
</div>
<div class="body">
Your Session will expire in <span id="seconds"></span> seconds.<br />
Do you want to reset?
</div>
<div class="footer" align="right">
<asp:Button ID="btnYes" runat="server" Text="Yes" CssClass="yes" />
<asp:Button ID="btnNo" runat="server" Text="No" CssClass="no" />
</div>
</asp:Panel>
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder ID="body" runat="server">
</asp:ContentPlaceHolder>
</form>
I just want to use form tag only if not in child page. how can i tackle this situation,
Thanks,

As far as I know, the ASP.NET WebForms do not support multiple form elements with runat="server" attribute. So, there is no work around to this as it is something hard coded into the project.
Anyhow, if there are suppose a thousand child pages that also have form element with runat="server" attribute, and you are too lazy to replace all of them one by one, Then you can use Visual Studio's text replacing feature and can change the form element to a div element. For that you just need to press Ctrl + H which will open a little window on top right corner asking for the text that you want to replace and another text that you want to have instead of that. See:
Notice in the screenshot I have shared, I am selecting Current Project from the drop down menu. This will search and replace every text with <form to <div in the project.
And once it has replaced all the tags starting with <form to <div then you can modify the closing text of the form tag by replacing </form with </div. Now you only have left one page.
Now, there is only the MasterPage left that you can replace back the div to form. So, this way you are manually changing only one page.
You need to click the second button that will replace all the values. There are other options to handle the find and replace that you can use as well. But, unfortunately, you cannot have multiple form tags with runat="server" attributes on it.
PS
It won't cause problem with the designs that you have and classes such as horizontal inline will be applied to those divs instead of forms and will be rendered same as the forms were being rendered on the UI.
It is always a good approach to take a backup before modifying things in bulk or changing something that is crucial and could cause a lot mess.

Access HTML Inputs on Postback in ASP.NET

I've struggled with this for days now, trying to access html inputs, i.e. checkboxes or textboxex generated at runtime based on DB results. My HTML which is added as a literal control to a asp placeholder looks like this:
<div class='cart-item'>
<div class='product-name'> <h3>gold baseball figure</h3></div>
<img src='Graphics/gold-trophy.png'></img>
<div class='inventory-short-description'> <p>A finely crafted gold plated baseball figuring to top your choice of trophey base (sold seperatly).</p></div>
<div class='clear'></div>
<div class='item-price'><p>$22.95</p></div>
<div class='cart-item-checkbox'><label><input type='checkbox' id='1' name='1' runat='server'/> Select </label>
<a href='products.aspx?viewItem=1'>view item </a></div></div
Question is, how do I access this check box in the .cs code behind page?
My code which is generating this html and adding it to the page is in the overrided OnInit method. Looking at the placeholder on postback shows that the checkbox is in the literal control.
I've tried:
Page.FindControl() returns null when searching for dynamic control
ASP.NET page_init event?
FindControl() return null
http://forums.asp.net/t/1336244.aspx?finding+HTML+control
....And countless others.
Yesterday I used a hackish way to set the value of these checkboxes to a asp.net hidden field using jquery. My coworkers (all java devs) say this seems to be the wrong way to access these elements. Is there a better way? I'm beginning to think I've coded myself into a spot I can't get out of.
Thanks for the help.

In your .aspx
<asp:Repeater ID="rptItems" runat="server" EnableViewState="False">
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:TextBox ID="txtName" runat="server" />
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:Repeater>
In your .aspx.cs file you can access repeater in postback events as below
foreach (RepeaterItem rptItem in rptItems.Items)
{
TextBox txtName = (TextBox)rptItem.FindControl("txtName");
if (txtName != null) { System.Diagnostics.Debug.Write(txtName.Text); }
}

CSS Style not being set Dynamically in ASP.NET Code behind

I'm trying to change the CSS class and attributes of a set of asp.net controls via the code behind using this:
ASP.NET:
<span id="followbtn_mainbtn" runat="server" class="follow-btner" onclick="profile_followers_follow(this)">
<img id="img_followingbtn" runat="server" class="profile-single-profile-follow-btn-img" src="icons/profico/following.png" style="display: none;">
<img id="img_unfollowbtn" runat="server" class="profile-single-profile-unfollow-btn-img" src="icons/profico/unfollow.png" style="display: none;">
<img id="img_followicon" runat="server" class="profile-single-profile-follow-icon" src="icons/profico/followIcon.png">
<span id="span_following_text" runat="server" class="profile-single-profile-follow-btn-following">Follow</span>
<span id="span_unfollow_text" runat="server" class="profile-single-profile-follow-btn-unfollow" style="display: none;">Unfollow</span>
</span>
Code:
followbtn_mainbtn.Attributes.CssStyle.Add("className", "follow-btner-no-hoverer");
span_unfollow_text.InnerText = "Following";
img_followingbtn.Attributes.CssStyle.Add("display", "block");
img_unfollowbtn.Attributes.CssStyle.Add("display", "block");
span_unfollow_text.Attributes.CssStyle.Add("display", "block");
However when I run this, I do not see the desired results. If I hard code the appropriate classes to the controls, they work properly but the code doesn't do it dynamically.
What am I doing wrong?

Are you updating the css during a postback? First try adding the changes to your Page_Load method on the form and that will tell you that your code is working when setting the styles and classes. If the code works then I would make sure you have EnableViewState="false" on your page and/or parent control of the span.

It was actually a simple error. I've used the wrong code to change the css class of the span named "followbtn_mainbtn".
I replaced this
followbtn_mainbtn.Attributes.CssStyle.Add("className", "follow-btner-no-hoverer");
with this
followbtn_mainbtn.Attributes["class"] = "follow-btner-no-hoverer";
Voila! Done deal. Thanks for all your answers and comments though :)

You can use this code to change css in code behind
img_followingbtn.Style.Add("display", "block");

Asp.net render control client id in custom attribute of input field

I have following html in my aspx page
<asp:Textbox id="myTextField" runat="server" cssclass="mycssclass" data-control-id="<%= search.ClientID %>"></asp:textbox>
<asp:Button ID="search" runat="server" Text="Search" />
the problem is "<%= search.ClientID %>" render as it is in the aspx file. i need to render the client id of control.

Thy this :
And call
this.DataBind(); in page_Load
(notice change in <%#)
<asp:Textbox id="myTextField" runat="server" cssclass="mycssclass" data-control-id="<%# search.ClientID %>"></asp:textbox>
Another (more convenient solution) is to use html elements which are not server side :
<input type='text' id="myTextField" runat="server" class="mycssclass" data-control-id="<%= search.ClientID %>" />
and then get it via Request.Form[...] ( via name attribute)

If you want to know what the client ID will be, then search and read about the setting "ClientIDMode" - setting it to Static, for example, will set the client-side ID in the DOM equal to the server side ID that you set. Just make sure have only one instance of that Control on your page otherwise you have more than one control with that ID, and that won't fly. If that control will be in a repeater, item template or any other "repeating" control, then add an index counter for the loop to dynamically alter then ID slightly.

How to solve the following compilation error in C#?

My .aspx looks like the following:
<div id="valueIntroduction" type="text" class="labelarea" runat="server">
<input name="$labeluniversityid" type="text" id="labeluniversityid" style="color:#7D110C;border:0;background-color:#C0D5F2;width:100%" />
</div>
.cs File looks like:
if (results.Read())
{
labeluniversityid.value = results["TEXT_CONTENT"].ToString();
}
Exactly what am trying do is am getting the data from the database and displaying it in the valueIntroduction div. That is workiing fine. Now i added a text box with readonly mode. So that in my page if I press EDIT button, the value could be edited.

Use a TexBox component:
<asp:TextBox ID="labeluniversityid" runat="server" CssClass="yourcssclass"></asp:TextBox>
As for the styling:
.yourcssclass
{
color:#7D110C;
border:0;
background-color:#C0D5F2;
width:100%
}
Then, in your code behind you can easily use it like this:
labeluniversityid.Text = results["TEXT_CONTENT"].ToString();
Keep in mind that ASP.NET Controls are translated into common HTML tags, so you can wrap it and style it as you would with any other normal input of type text.
Also: type="text" is not valid for div

Try putting runat="server" attribute in <input id="labeluniversityid"> tag.
Or use a <asp:TextBox> control as areks suggests.

You need to add -
runat="server"
to your input field
Or, even better, use an
<asp:textBox ..>