# Custom Binding

You can configure the Telerik UI DropDownList for data binding to use a custom DataSource and thus bind to a `ToDataSourceResult` instance.

1. Create an action method which renders the view.

   ```C#
       public ActionResult Index()
       {
           return View();
       }
   ```

2. Create a new action method and pass the **Products** table as JSON result.

   ```C#
       public JsonResult GetProducts([DataSourceRequest] DataSourceRequest request)
       {
           NorthwindDataContext northwind = new NorthwindDataContext();

           return Json(northwind.Products.ToDataSourceResult(request));
       }
   ```

3. Add an Ajax-bound DropDownList.

   ```Razor HtmlHelper
       @(Html.Kendo().DropDownList()
           .Name("productDropDownList") // The name of the DropDownList is mandatory. It specifies the "id" attribute of the widget.
           .DataTextField("ProductName") // Specify which property of the Product to be used by the DropDownList as a text.
           .DataValueField("ProductID") // Specify which property of the Product to be used by the DropDownList as a value.
           .DataSource(source =>
           {
               source.Custom()
                       .ServerFiltering(true)
                       .Type("aspnetmvc-ajax") // Set this type if you want to use DataSourceRequest and ToDataSourceResult instances.
                       .Transport(transport =>
                       {
                           transport.Read("GetProducts", "Home");
                   })
                       .Schema(schema =>
                       {
                           schema.Data("Data") // Define the [data](https://docs.telerik.com/kendo-ui/api/data/datasource#configuration-schema.data) option.
                               .Total("Total"); // Define the [total](https://docs.telerik.com/kendo-ui/api/data/datasource#configuration-schema.total) option.
                       });
           })
       )
   ```

## See Also

* [Customizing the Data Source of the DropDownList HtmlHelper for ASP.NET MVC (Demo)](https://demos.telerik.com/aspnet-mvc/dropdownlist/custom-datasource)
* [Server-Side API](https://www.telerik.com/aspnet-mvc/documentation/api/dropdownlist)