How to implement a DropDownList w/o a Table

I am using Visual Studio 2005 & SQL Server. How do i implement a DDL for users to select which value to input. like i can with Access. i do not need a table i think. if not the table would have only ID & Value.?

If you want a static set of items in the dropdown list you can define them in the property panel under the property Items you will find a collection, click the "..." and add items with value and text to appear in the dropdown list.

Best regards,
Per Salmi

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If you're trying to get the values from the database, you can do something like this:

Sub Page_Load(ByVal senderAs Object,ByVal eAs EventArgs)
If Not Page.IsPostBackThen GetData()End If
 End Sub
 Sub GetData()
Dim connStringAs String
 Dim conAs SqlConnection
Try connString = System.Web.Configuration.WebConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("ConnectionString1").ConnectionString
 con =New SqlConnection(connString)
Dim cmdAs SqlCommand =New SqlCommand()
Dim readerAs SqlDataReader
 cmd.Connection = con
 cmd.CommandText ="EXECUTE dbo.GetDepartmentCode" reader = cmd.ExecuteReaderIf reader.HasRowsThen
 While (reader.Read)
Dim newItemAs New ListItem
 newItem.Text = (reader.Item("DeptCode")).ToString
 newItem.Value = (reader.Item("DeptCode")).ToString
 deptCodeDDL.Items.Add(newItem)
End While
 End If reader.Close()Catch exAs Exception
 Response.Write(ex)
Finally con.Close() con.Dispose()End Try
 Catch exAs ApplicationException
 Response.Write("Could not load the database")
End Try
 End Sub

The ASP.Net side would like this:

<asp:DropDownList ID="deptCodeDDL" runat="server"></asp:DropDownList>

A few things to note though.

In the code I've posted, I use a stored procedure (sproc) to retrieve the data from the database. If you don't what sprocs are, you can read about themhere. Using sprocs is generally considered a better way of accessing the db.

Also, you will of course, have to replace DeptCode with the column name from where you will be getting the values.

Finally, I use a ConnectionString, which is being retrieved from the Web.config file. You should have that in you application folder.

If you don't, given below is a sample:

<!--
 Note: As an alternative to hand editing this file you can use the
 web admin tool to configure settings for your application. Use
 the Website->Asp.Net Configuration option in Visual Studio.
 A full list of settings and comments can be found in
 machine.config.comments usually located in
 \Windows\Microsoft.Net\Framework\v2.x\Config
--><configuration>
<appSettings/>
<connectionStrings>
<add name="ConnectionString1" connectionString="Data Source=SERVERNAME\SQLSERVER;Initial Catalog=DBNAME;Integrated Security=True" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient"/>
</connectionStrings>
<system.web>
<!--
 Set compilation debug="true" to insert debugging
 symbols into the compiled page. Because this
 affects performance, set this value to true only
 during development.
 --><compilation debug="false"
</compilation>
<!--
 The <authentication> section enables configuration
 of the security authentication mode used by
 ASP.NET to identify an incoming user.
 --><authentication mode="Windows"/>
<!--
 The <customErrors> section enables configuration
 of what to do if/when an unhandled error occurs
 during the execution of a request. Specifically,
 it enables developers to configure html error pages
 to be displayed in place of a error stack trace.
 <customErrors mode="RemoteOnly" defaultRedirect="GenericErrorPage.htm">
 <error statusCode="403" redirect="NoAccess.htm" />
 <error statusCode="404" redirect="FileNotFound.htm" />
 </customErrors>
 --></system.web>
</configuration>

You will have to replace SERVERNAME with you server name and DBNAME with your db name.