Hi all, this is my first post on this forum, so here goes nothing.

What I need to be able to do is to add a static element to an asp.net drop down list that is being dynamically generated via a database.

For example, let's say that I have a table in my database containing all of the States and their 2 digit state codes (AL, AK, etc etc)

I go into Dreamweaver and create a DataSet that returns just the 2 digit codes...no problem.

Then I create an AspropDownList and assign the ListItems to be from a database, and select the prior mentioned dataset.

My drop-down list will now be created and the first item in the drop down will be the first item coming back from the database.

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
&lt;% STATE.SelectedIndex = STATE.Items.IndexOf(STATE.Items.FindByValue(""); %&gt;
&lt;asp:dropdownlist id="STATE"
DataSource="&lt;%# DataSet_DistinctState.DefaultView %&gt;"
DataTextField="STATE"
DataValueField="STATE"
runat="server"&gt;
&lt;/asp:dropdownlist&gt;
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

What I want to be able to do is insert a ListItem (manually, by hand, and static)...something like "Please select a state..." with a value of blank or null.

How can I, given the code that dreamweaver has created in order to create the dynamic drop down, add the static element that I need to add.

Thank you in advance to anyone who can offer me some help,
Mike

::: I wonder, if I told everyone that Macromedia support said that this was impossible, if it would scare them all off...or make them want to help me figure it out more :::

couple of ways you can do this in asp, not sure how to do it in dreamweaver, but if you do this:

&lt;% STATE.SelectedIndex = STATE.Items.IndexOf(STATE.Items.FindByValue(""); %&gt;
&lt;asp:dropdownlist id="STATE"
DataSource="&lt;%# DataSet_DistinctState.DefaultView %&gt;"
DataTextField="STATE"
DataValueField="STATE"
runat="server"&gt;
&lt;asp:ListItem Value=""&gt;Please select an option&lt;/asp:ListItem&gt;
&lt;/asp:dropdownlist&gt;

it might work.

Alternatively, if that doesnt work, then add this to the code behind portion of your page:

STATE.Items.Add("Please Select"

or you could try making a post page loading javascript to add an option at the top of the select list,

or if all else fails, change the code from an asp:droplist to a asp:repeater and format the output into option tags, and add the static one at the top.

STATE.Items.Add("Please Select" will not work. Use STATE.Items.Insert(0, "Please Select"; where first one is the index to insert and second parameter is the string value to insert at that index.

try like this

ListItem[] items = new ListItem[3];
items[0] = new ListItem("One", "1";
items[1] = new ListItem("Two", "2";
items[2] = new ListItem("Three", "3";

DropDownList1.Items.AddRange(items);
DropDownList1.DataBind();


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