Add “Please Select” to Drop-down list that retrieves values from Data base

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SQL-Server-2008R2

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I have a drop-down list and uses the SQL data source for it where I am retrieving the product names from SQL server. Now, I want to add "Please Select a product" Option to the drop-down list.
As far as my knowledge, I add options to drop-down list by using

C#

<asp:ListItem Selected ="true" Value = "1">1</asp:ListItem>

Since, I am not adding the values but retrieving the values from DB, how to achieve this Option additionally and add to it as first position to my drop-down list?

I tried the below code, but not able to do get at first position.Also, each time I am getting extra "please select" option whenever I am selecting other values.

C#

protected void NameDropDownList_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
     NameDropDownList.Items.Insert(0, new ListItem("Please Select a product", "Please Select a product");
     SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SELECT ProductID, Price, Description, Rating FROM Product_Info Where Name = '" + NameDropDownList.Text + "'", conn);
     SqlDataReader myReader;
     conn.Open();
     myReader = cmd.ExecuteReader();
     while (myReader.Read()) {
     //Logic
    }
      conn.Close();
      myReader.Close();

Here is my code behind where I bind the data:

C#

<tr>
        <td class="style2">Name</td>
         <td>
               <asp:DropDownList ID="NameDropDownList" runat="server" Height="16px"
                   Width="130px" AutoPostBack="True" DataSourceID="NameSqlDataSource"
                   DataTextField="Name" DataValueField="Name"
                   onselectedindexchanged="NameDropDownList_SelectedIndexChanged">
               </asp:DropDownList>

               <asp:SqlDataSource ID="NameSqlDataSource" runat="server"
                   ConnectionString="<%$ ConnectionStrings:ProductsConnectionString %>"
                   SelectCommand="SELECT [Name] FROM [Product_Info]"></asp:SqlDataSource>
           </td>
   </tr>

I also enables the Auto post back to true.Thanks in advance

Posted 25-May-15 12:46pm

Member 10392328

Updated 26-May-15 9:01am

v4

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4 solutions

Solution 1

Try

C#

NameDropDownList.Items.Add("Please Select a product");

If you clear the list first then the "Please Select a Product" will be the first item in the list and then populate the rest of the list.

Personally I would not put help information in the list but put it in on a tooltip or separate label.

This assumes you do not have a bound list..

If data bound use

SQL

NameDropDownList.Items.Insert(0, new ListItem("Please Select a product", "Please Select a product");

Posted 25-May-15 13:00pm

RossMW

Updated 25-May-15 13:08pm

v2

Comments

Member 10392328 26-May-15 12:35pm

I have a drop-down list where I am retrieving the product names from the data base. So when I select a name, I am successfully able to retrieve other details related to name. Now, I want to add an Option "Please Select" for improvements.
I tried this, but not able to do get at first position. Also, each time I am getting extra "Please select " Option when I select a product.

Solution 2

DropDownList1.Items.Insert(0,"Please Select Options");

Posted 25-May-15 20:55pm

lucky parmar

v2

Solution 3

C#

DropDownList1.DataSource = dt;
     DropDownList1.DataTextField = "Name";
     DropDownList1.DataValueField = "ID";
     DropDownList1.DataBind(); 
DropDownList1.Items.Insert(0,"Please Select Options");`

Posted 25-May-15 23:58pm

Santhosh Babu Mahimairaj

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Member 10392328 · Accepted Answer · 2015-06-01T09:23:00

C#

Thanks for your responses. I figured out the actual problem and able to done it in simple step. First, I make the AppendDataBoundItems behavior of my drop-down list To TRUE and kept the following code and it works perfectly.

 protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        if (!Page.IsPostBack)
        {
           NameDropDownList.Items.Insert(0, new ListItem("Please Select a Product", "Please Select a Product"));
        }

   }