Formatting Drop-down Lists

[iamguyster]

Hi,

 

I have a drop-down list that is databound to a dataset. For the sake of this question the fields in the dataset are Field1, Field2, Field3 and Field4.

 

In the Properties for the DDL I have previously set the the following values:

 

DataTextField = Field1

DataValueField = Field4

 

Now I want to display in the Text of the DDL the following:

 

Field2 - Field3, Field4

 

I understand that I can do this type of formatting in the DataTextFormatField but I can only get it to display the field entered into the DataTextField (using {0}).

 

Can ayone tell me how to expose further fields to use in this property, so that I can enter for example,

 

DataTextFormatField = {0} - {1}, {2}

 

Thanks for any help on this.

 

Cheers,

IAmGuyster:D

[iamguyster]

Done and Done

 

After a fair bit of searching, I found something that tells me I cannot expose two of the fields using the properties UI. Instead it has to be done programmatically. If anyone is interested I will post a smple of the code I used. It's very simple.

 

Cheers,

IAmGuyster

[Robby]

A simple solution would to format the Select from your DB...

 

SELECT (F2 + ' - ' + F3 + ', ' + F4) as SomeF, F4 From ....

 

Then do something like this...

 

DataTextField = SomeF

DataValueField = F4

[devylzangel]

In the dataset where you are holding the dropdownlist data, you should be able to assign the text for the ddl by using the following structure to populate the ddl:

 

{Assume the query returns the fields in this order: Field1, Field2, Field3, Field4, where field1 is item 0, field2 is item 1, etc.}

{Also assume that the name of your drop down list is myddl}

 

Dim myset as Dataset = [you dataset info here]

Dim mytable As DataTable = myset.Tables(0)

Dim j As Integer

For j = 0 to mytable.rows.count - 1

Dim mylistitem As New System.Web.UI.WebControls.ListItem

mylistitem.Text = mytable.Rows(j).Item(1) & " - " & mytable.rows(j).Item(2) & ", " & mytable.rows.Item(3)

mylistitem.Value = mytable.Rows(j).Item(1)

myddl.Add(mylistitem)

mylistitem = Nothing

Next

 

Hope this helps!