Loading Items from XML
XML can also serve as a data provider for the RadComboBox control. The format of the XML, however, must follow a structure similar to the <Items></Items> section of an in-line RadComboBox declaration. It must have:
- A single root with the
<Items>tag:
<Items>
</Items>
- A number of child nodes with the
<Item></Item>tag:
<Items>
<Item Text="Africa" Value="1" />
<Item Text="Australia" Value="2" />
<Item Text="Asia" Value="3" />
<Item Text="Europe" Value="4" />
<Item Text="North America" Value="5" />
<Item Text="South America" Value="6" />
</Items>
- All item properties can be mapped on the respective XML nodes as attributes. In addition, you can use any custom attributes that are not available as properties:
<Items>
<Item Text="Africa" Value="1" Enabled="True" />
<Item Text="Australia" Value="2" Selected="False" />
<Item Text="Asia" Value="3" CustomAttribute="CustomData" />
</Items>
You can populate the RadComboBox from an XML, using one of the following methods:
From a static XML file, using the LoadContentFile method.
From a string of XML, using the LoadXml method.
Loading from an XML file
Create an XML file with content that complies with the rules described above and call the LoadContentFile method, passing in the path to the file:
RadComboBox1.LoadContentFile("~/App_Data/content.xml");
RadComboBox1.LoadContentFile("~/App_Data/content.xml")
Loading from an XML string
Create a string with valid XML content (or fetch it from a database, for example) and use the LoadXML method to populate the RadComboBox from the string:
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
sb.Append("<Items>");
sb.Append(" <Item Text='Africa' />");
sb.Append(" <Item Text='Australia' />");
sb.Append(" <Item Text='Asia' />");
sb.Append("</Items>");
string xmlString = sb.ToString();
RadComboBox1.LoadXml(xmlString);
Dim sb As New StringBuilder()
sb.Append("<Items>")
sb.Append(" <Item Text='Africa' />")
sb.Append(" <Item Text='Australia' />")
sb.Append(" <Item Text='Asia' />")
sb.Append("</Items>")
Dim xmlString As String = sb.ToString()
RadComboBox1.LoadXml(xmlString)