Specifying maxlength for multiline textbox

Use a regular expression validator instead. This will work on the client side using JavaScript, but also when JavaScript is disabled (as the length check will be performed on the server as well).

The following example checks that the entered value is between 0 and 100 characters long:

<asp:RegularExpressionValidator runat="server" ID="valInput"
    ControlToValidate="txtInput"
    ValidationExpression="^[\s\S]{0,100}$"
    ErrorMessage="Please enter a maximum of 100 characters"
    Display="Dynamic">*</asp:RegularExpressionValidator>

There are of course more complex regexs you can use to better suit your purposes.

try this javascript:

function checkTextAreaMaxLength(textBox,e, length)
{

        var mLen = textBox["MaxLength"];
        if(null==mLen)
            mLen=length;

        var maxLength = parseInt(mLen);
        if(!checkSpecialKeys(e))
        {
         if(textBox.value.length > maxLength-1)
         {
            if(window.event)//IE
              e.returnValue = false;
            else//Firefox
                e.preventDefault();
         }
    }   
}
function checkSpecialKeys(e)
{
    if(e.keyCode !=8 && e.keyCode!=46 && e.keyCode!=37 && e.keyCode!=38 && e.keyCode!=39 && e.keyCode!=40)
        return false;
    else
        return true;
}

On the control invoke it like this:

<asp:TextBox Rows="5" Columns="80" ID="txtCommentsForSearch" MaxLength='1999' onkeyDown="checkTextAreaMaxLength(this,event,'1999');"  TextMode="multiLine" runat="server"> </asp:TextBox>

You could also just use the checkSpecialKeys function to validate the input on your javascript implementation.

keep it simple. Most modern browsers support a maxlength attribute on a text area (IE included), so simply add that attribute in code-behind. No JS, no Jquery, no inheritance, custom code, no fuss, no muss.

VB.Net:

fld_description.attributes("maxlength") = 255

C#

fld_description.Attributes["maxlength"] = 255