[Solved] RadComboBox Q1 2009 ItemTemplate Question

[Chris]

I am working with the ItemTemplate of the combo box and wanted to know how to add an item to the collection that didn't match the specified item template. Here's my example:

My declaration on the ASP.NET page:

<telerik:RadComboBox ID="drpObjects" runat="server" AutoPostBack="true" Skin="Vista" AllowCustomText="false"
    DropDownWidth="350px" Height="250px">
    <CollapseAnimation Type="InQuint" Duration="200" />
    <ExpandAnimation Type="OutQuint" Duration="200" />
    <ItemTemplate>
        <table style="border-bottom: 1px dotted #dfdfdf; margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 11px;"
            width="98%">
            <tr>
                <td>
                    <%#DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "LineItemID")%>
                </td>
                <td>
                    <%#DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "Description")%>
                </td>
            </tr>
        </table>
    </ItemTemplate>
</telerik:RadComboBox>

The object is a POCO object stored in a generic list:

Namespace Entities
    Public Class CostCenterObject
        Inherits BaseDataEntity

        Private _LineItemID As Integer = 0
        Private _Description As String = ""
        Private _CategoryID As Integer = 0
        Private _ReviewOnly As Boolean
        Private _CreateDate As DateTime
        Private _CreateBy As String = ""
        Private _ModifyDate As DateTime
        Private _ModifyBy As String = ""
        Private _Active As Boolean
        Private _Category As String = ""
        Private _CategoryGroupName As String = ""

        Public ReadOnly Property LineItemID() As Integer
            Get
                Return _LineItemID
            End Get
        End Property
        Public ReadOnly Property Description() As String
            Get
                Return _Description
            End Get
        End Property
        Public ReadOnly Property CategoryID() As Integer
            Get
                Return _CategoryID
            End Get
        End Property
        Public ReadOnly Property ReviewOnly() As Boolean
            Get
                Return _ReviewOnly
            End Get
        End Property
        Public ReadOnly Property CreateDate() As DateTime
            Get
                Return _CreateDate
            End Get
        End Property
        Public ReadOnly Property CreateBy() As String
            Get
                Return _CreateBy
            End Get
        End Property
        Public ReadOnly Property ModifyDate() As DateTime
            Get
                Return _ModifyDate
            End Get
        End Property
        Public ReadOnly Property ModifyBy() As String
            Get
                Return _ModifyBy
            End Get
        End Property
        Public ReadOnly Property Active() As Boolean
            Get
                Return _Active
            End Get
        End Property
        Public ReadOnly Property Category() As String
            Get
                Return _Category
            End Get
        End Property
        Public ReadOnly Property CategoryGroupName() As String
            Get
                Return _CategoryGroupName
            End Get
        End Property
    End Class
    ' Instantiation code omitted...

End Namespace

And my databinding:

        Dim Objects As List(Of CostCenterObject)

        Objects = _AppController.GetAvailableObjects(drpYear.SelectedValue)
        drpObjects.DataSource = Objects
        drpObjects.DataBind()

        drpObjects.Items.Insert(0, New RadComboBoxItem("- ALL -", "- ALL -"))

However, when I select an item in the list I see the namespace of the object declaration and the item I add doesn't match the template, so it displayes as an empty table. I would prefer to use the templates idea, but is this scenario possible?

[Veselin Vasilev]

Hi Chris,

You are right - the new item does not have DataItem so the template returns empty values.
Here is what you can do - change the template as follows:

<td>
     <%# Container.DataItem != null ? DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "LineItemID") : "- All -"%>
     </td>
<td>
     <%#Container.DataItem != null ? DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "Description") : "- All -"%>
     </td>

And do not forget to DataBind the new item:

drpObjects.Items.Insert(0, New RadComboBoxItem("- ALL -", "- ALL -"))
drpObjects.Items(0).DataBind()

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Veselin Vasilev
the Telerik team

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[Chris]

Thanks for the reply, but is there any chance of getting the code in VB.NET format? I'm not familiar with this format in C# to be able to translate it.

[Chris]

Never mind, I was able to translate it!

<tr>
    <td style="width: 75px;">
        <%#IIf(Container.DataItem() IsNot Nothing, DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "LineItemID"), "- All - ")%>
    </td>
    <td>
        <%#IIf(Container.DataItem IsNot Nothing, DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "Description"), "")%>
    </td>
</tr>

Thanks, that worked perfectly!