Hello Gary,
> I want to from CODE BEHIND update the text of PaymentStatus but I am
> unable to reference this object, and I have tried for hours to use
> FindControl to no real progress.
I suggest that you use the Rows property (whics is a collection) to access
the rows (and controls thereafter) in your DetailsView component instead of
using FindControl. FindControl should work, but the problem is that many
component names have dynamically created names, and might not be what you
expect.
Instead, try using the Rows property with an index. For example, you could
use code similar to this:
----------
DetailsViewRow row = MyDetailsView.Rows[2]; // third row
TextBox myTextBox = (TextBox)row.Cells[1].Controls[0]; // text box in second
cell
myTextBox.Text = ...
----------
Hope this helps!

Signature
Regards,
Mr. Jani Järvinen
C# MVP
Helsinki, Finland
janij@removethis.dystopia.fi
http://www.saunalahti.fi/janij/