EmptyText

The EmptyText property allows you to specify a string that will be shown when there is no selection.

Example 1: Setting the EmptyText property

XAML

	<telerik:RadComboBox Width="200"
						 ItemsSource="12345"
						 EmptyText="Select an item">
	</telerik:RadComboBox>

Figure 1: RadComboBox with IsEditable property set to True and EmptyText in the Office2016 theme

Figure 2: RadComboBox with IsEditable property set to False(default) and EmptyText in the Office2016 theme

f the IsEditable property of the RadComboBox is set to True and the control has focus the EmptyText is not displayed.

EmptySelectionBoxTemplate

The EmptySelectionBoxTemplate gives you the ability to define a separate DataTemplate to be shown when there is no selected item. Example 2 demonstrates how to create and apply an EmptySelectionBoxTemplate.

Example 2: Set the EmptySelectionBoxTemplate property

XAML

	<StackPanel>
        <StackPanel.Resources>
            <DataTemplate x:Key="EmptyTemplate">
                <TextBlock FontWeight="Bold" FontFamily="Comic Sans" FontStyle="Italic" Text="Please select an agency" />
            </DataTemplate>
        </StackPanel.Resources>
        <telerik:RadComboBox Width="200"
                             ItemsSource="12345"
                             EmptySelectionBoxTemplate="{StaticResource EmptyTemplate}">
        </telerik:RadComboBox>
    </StackPanel>

Figure 2: RadComboBox with EmptySelectionBoxTemplate in the Office2016 theme

he EmptySelectionBoxTemplate property only works if the RadComboBox is in non-editable mode, i.e its IsEditable property is set to False. Otherwise, the EmptyText will be applied.