CODEWITHSUNDEEP
asp.netdrop-down-menu
atconway
atconway

Reputation: 21304

How to clear ONLY the databound items from a ASP.NET DropDownList and NOT any items added in Source?

The title pretty much asks the whole question - How can I clear ONLY the databound items from a ASP.NET DropDownList and NOT any items added in Source? If I have the following ddl:

<asp:DropDownList ID="ddl1" runat="server" 
                  Width="300px" AppendDataBoundItems="true">
    <asp:ListItem Text="(Please Select)" Value="0" />
</asp:DropDownList>

...and then call the following:

ddl1.Items.Clear()

The all the DDL ListItems go away and next time I rebind, the "(Please Select)" default option is gone.

Is there a more streamlined or elegant way to clear only the databound items but leave the "(Please Select)" default ListItem added in the source? I think I could call the Items.Clear() and pop that default item back in like ddl1.Items.Add(New ListItem("(Please Select)", "0")) as a new ListItem object, but I wondered if there was a better way to do this?

Thanks!

Upvotes: 3

Views: 6217

Answers (3)

Hooman
Hooman

Reputation: 1925

How about this easy trick. The best advantage of using this trick is that if you make a custom dropdown list as well, It will work. It has been tested and worked perfectly. 

while (ddl1.Items.Count != 1)
    {
        ddl1.Items.RemoveAt(1);
    }

Upvotes: 1

atconway
atconway

Reputation: 21304

I found no other streamlined or better way than clearing the list and then adding the default item back into the collection like shown below:

ddl1.Items.Clear()
ddl1.Items.Add(New ListItem("(Please Select)", "0"))

Upvotes: 7

Robert McBean
Robert McBean

Reputation: 67

if the prompt is always the first element, then it will be the 0th item in the items collection. so you could iterate through the items deleting from 1 to N. there is a function to delete by index.

Upvotes: 0

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