CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#asp.net
Chris Purves
Chris Purves

Reputation: 399

add attribute other than value to DropDownList items when using SqlDataSource

I have a DropDownList bound to a SqlDataSource as follows:

<asp:DropDownList ID="ddlist" AppendDataBoundItems="True" DataSourceID="SqlDataSource1" DataTextField="name" DataValueField="value" AutoPostBack="True" runat="server">
    <asp:ListItem></asp:ListItem>
</asp:DropDownList>
<asp:SqlDataSource ID="SqlDataSource1" ConnectionString="<%$ ConnectionStrings:myConnectionString %>" SelectCommand="SELECT [name], [value] FROM [myTable]" runat="server"></asp:SqlDataSource>

I would like to bind a third database column to another attribute (not value), say database table column DefaultBit to ListItem attribute data-default so that the DropDownList renders as 

<select>
    <option></option>
    <option value="1" data-default="1">Line 1</option>
    <option value="2" data-default="0">Line 2</option>
</select>

I assume I need to do this programmatically in the code-behind file, but it's not clear to me if I would still bind a SqlDataSource to the DropDownList or if I should open a connection and iterate through the results using SqlReader and update the DropDownList "manually" or some other more elegant solution.

Upvotes: 2

Views: 3413

Answers (1)

ManP
ManP

Reputation: 231

Please try following solution:

  1. Add DropDownList and SqlDataSource mark up as (please note I have added OnDataBound="ddlist_DataBound" and third column in select statement)

    <asp:DropDownList ID="ddlist" AppendDataBoundItems="True" OnDataBound="ddlist_DataBound"
  DataSourceID="SqlDataSource1" DataTextField="name" DataValueField="value"
  AutoPostBack="True" runat="server">
    <asp:ListItem></asp:ListItem>
</asp:DropDownList>

<asp:SqlDataSource ID="SqlDataSource1" ConnectionString=
   "<%$ ConnectionStrings:myConnectionString %>" SelectCommand="SELECT [name], [value],
   [DefaultBit] FROM [myTable]" runat="server">
</asp:SqlDataSource>

  2. Add code behind method "ddlist_DataBound" as:(please note row[0] is name, row[1] is value and row[2] is DefaultBit)

    protected void ddlist_DataBound(object sender, EventArgs e) {
    System.Data.DataTable dt = new System.Data.DataTable();
    System.Data.DataView dv = (System.Data.DataView)SqlDataSource1.Select(DataSourceSelectArguments.Empty);
    dt = dv.ToTable();

    foreach (System.Data.DataRow row in dt.Rows) {
        ddlist.Items.FindByValue(row[1].ToString()).Attributes.Add("data-default", row[2].ToString());
    }
}

I have tested it in an application and works beautifully.

Upvotes: 2

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