Is it possible to force a combobox to request events every time it is opened?

[John]

I have a combobox created server side as so:

myComboBox = new RadComboBox
{
    ID = "myComboBoxID",
    EnableLoadOnDemand = true,
    EnableItemCaching = false,
    ShowMoreResultsBox = false,
    EnableVirtualScrolling = true,
    ItemsPerRequest = -1
};

myComboBox.WebServiceSettings.Path = myWebServicePath;
myComboBox.WebServiceSettings.Method = myWebServiceMethod;
myComboBox.OnClientItemsRequesting = myClientItemsRequestingEvent;

with the clientside event defined as:

myClientItemsRequestingEvent = function (sender, eventArgs) {
    var context = eventArgs.get_context();
    context.refID = this.get_myRefID;
};

The webservice call populates the combobox depending on the value of refID. My problem is that this value is dynamic. It changes depending on other elements on the page, and the combobox should be populated appropriately. The problem is, the combobox only seems to call the itemRequestEvent once, when it is opened the first time after page load.

Ideally I would like this event to fire every single time the dropdown is opened, with the combobox being repopulated each time. Is this possible?

[Rory]

Hi John one quick way would be use the OnClientDropDownOpening to add some text that will request all your items.
See Below:

<telerik:RadComboBox ID="cboRecipient" runat="server"
    EnableLoadOnDemand="true"
    AllowCustomText="false"
    Height="150px"
    MarkFirstMatch="false"
    OnClientDropDownOpening="SetValue">
</telerik:RadComboBox>

function SetValue(sender,args)

{
var cbo = $find("<%= cboRecipient.ClientID %>");

       cbo.clearItems();

       cbo.set_text('%');

}

[John]

That worked great, thanks. Calling clearItems alone forces the combobox to reload from the webservice.

function SetValue(sender,args)
{
sender.clearItems();
}

[Ivana]

Hi John,

One solution is to subscribe on client side OnClientDropDownOpening event and initiate a request for items using the client-side requestItems method when the drop-down of the RadComboBox is opening.
Ex:

aspx:
<telerik:RadComboBox ID="RadComboBox1" runat="server" EnableLoadOnDemand="true"
            OnClientDropDownOpening="OnClientDropDownOpening">
        </telerik:RadComboBox>

        <script type="text/javascript">
            function OnClientDropDownOpening(sender, arg) {
                if (sender.get_items().get_count() == 0) {
                    return;
                }
                else {
                    sender.requestItems("parameter", true);
                }
            }
        </script>

Best wishes,

Ivana

the Telerik team

[Maulin]

This doesn't work if radcombobox is on radgrid cell. Any thoughts why?

[Peter Milchev]

Hello Maulin,

Would you please provide us a sample code snippet showing how the ComboBox is nested in the Grid or a sample project with your implementation of the scenario that does not behave as expected? Thus we could give a more specific answer to your question. 

Regards,
Peter Milchev
Telerik by Progress