Format DropDownList.TextValue

My stored procedure is like this

SELECT Id, StudentName
FROM xyz

I have a drop down list in asp.net, which I am loading as :

ddlA.DataSource = // Some source
ddlA.DataTextField = "Id" + " -" + "StudentName";
ddlA.DataValueField = "Id";
ddlA.DataBind();
ddlA.Items.Insert(0, new ListItem(" Select one", "0"));

But at the Databind() statement, I am getting this error:

System.Web.HttpException: DataBinding: ‘System.Data.DataRowView’ does not contain a property with the name ‘Id-StudentName’.

In text part of the dropdown list, I want to display the concatenated value of Id - StudentName.

How can I do it?

Answers:

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Method 1

You can use LINQ to make a new datasource containing a displayfield which is formatted, the way you want it to be, like:

var datasource = from x in products
                 select new {
                     x.Id,
                     x.Code,
                     x.Description,
                     DisplayField = String.Format("{0} ({1})", x.Code, x.Description)
                 };

comboBox.DataSource = datasource;
comboBox.DataValueField = "Id";
comboBox.DataTextField = "DisplayField";
comboBox.DataBind();

Method 2

DropDownList1.DataTextFormatString = "{0} - {1}";
DropDownList1.DataTextField = "Id,StudentName";

It seems that it’s not achievable automatically, e.g. see this MS Connect ticket.

Thus do that programmatically:

foreach (var row in table.Rows)
{
    row.Field<string>("text") = String.Format(..);
}

or

foreach (var item in data)
{
    new ListItem { Text = String.Format(..); }; 
}

Method 3

You can achieve it by following code

dsStudent.Tables[0].Columns.Add("IdWithStudenName",typeof(string),"Id + ' - ' + StudenName");
DropDownList1.DataSource = dsStudent;
DropDownList1.DataTextField = "IdWithStudenName";
DropDownList1.DataBind();
DropDownList1.Items.Insert(0, new ListItem("Please select"));

For more understanding refer here.

Method 4

If the DataSource is a DataTable, you can add an “expression” (calculated column) to the table. The expression for the new column would look like this:

newcolumn.Expression = "Id + ' - ' + StudentName";

Method 5

You can change your stored procedure to:

SELECT Id, Id + " - " StudentName as Text FROM xyz

And change the binding to:

ddlA.DataSource = // Some source
ddlA.DataTextField = "Text"
ddlA.DataValueField = "Id";     
ddlA.DataBind();     
ddlA.Items.Insert(0, new ListItem(" Select one", "0"));

Method 6

If you have list of class to fill drop down list, this is probably best to do;

List<FOO> foo = new List<FOO>();

ddlFoo.DataSource = foo.Select(x => 
    new ListItem { Text = x.Text1 + " - " + x.Text2, Value = x.Id.ToString() });
ddlFoo.DataBind();

Method 7

it’s very simple, only you have concat fields in the query

SELECT Id ,Id || ' ' || StudentName ""TEXT"", 
FROM xyz

then you build a drop down list

ddlA.DataSource = // Some source
ddlA.DataTextField = "TEXT";
ddlA.DataValueField = "Id";
ddlA.DataBind();
ddlA.Items.Insert(0, new ListItem(" Select one", "0"));

All methods was sourced from stackoverflow.com or stackexchange.com, is licensed under cc by-sa 2.5, cc by-sa 3.0 and cc by-sa 4.0