Comments on: How to Set the Default Value of a DropDownList in an ASP.NET Page

By: ANITA

ANITA — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:14:21 +0000

peter’s solution is working properly.
it’s working

By: Proby

Proby — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:41:50 +0000

Hi,

I’ve got a similar problem. I contruct this list :

data = TechnicienMgr.GetTechsOfGroupe(idGroupe);

lstTechniciens.DataSource = data;
lstTechniciens.DataValueField = “UTCLEUNIK”;
lstTechniciens.DataTextField = “NOM_PRENOM”;
lstTechniciens.DataBind();

and i want to select by default the item where “UTCLEUNIK” = “6545″

Can you help me ?

By: Ricardo

Ricardo — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:17:13 +0000

Just found this approach, it works great for me:

DropDownList1.SelectedIndex = DropDownList1.Items.IndexOf( DropDownList1.Items.FindByText( defaultText));

Vía http://techbrij.com/627/select-item-aspdotnet-dropdownlist-programmatically

By: gerd symptoms

gerd symptoms — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 12:58:33 +0000

I found your blog via google and am so glad I did! I’m doing exactly the same thing you are but for myself, not for a book … so you can bet I’ll be returning often!

By: kiruthika

kiruthika — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 10:58:48 +0000

yes.. peter’s solution is working properly.

By: uiouio

uiouio — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 22:22:09 +0000

gand tari mani

By: uiouio

uiouio — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 22:21:36 +0000

uiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

By: Leonard

Leonard — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 11:37:25 +0000

Thank you. it is working properly.

By: Shah

Shah — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 07:16:35 +0000

Peter’s solution is perfect as compare to other solutions because the only solution works for me is his solution when i used it with sharepoint web parts or other update panel cotainers.

By: Peter Kellner

Peter Kellner — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 05:01:07 +0000

I like almost everyones solutions better than mine. I just had to do this again in codecamp project for speakers picking shirt sizes and this is what I ended up with. Very similar to others:

ListItem listItem = DropDownListSpeakerShirtSize.Items.FindByValue(Attendee.ShirtSize);
if (listItem != null)
{
DropDownListSpeakerShirtSize.SelectedValue = listItem.Value;
}

By: Trev

Trev — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 22:28:28 +0000

Hi, although its a bit old now thanks for the above discussion as it lead me towards my solution. The problem is I wanted a dropdownlist to default to a specific value not the first in the list (from my database) and using:-

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
maxCostDDList.SelectedValue = “1500″;
}

just set the dropdown list to 1500 every time the page was submitted, not good. But thanks to suggestions on here this worked for me:-

protected void maxCostDDList_DataBound(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (maxCostDDList.Items.FindByValue(“1500″) != null)
{
maxCostDDList.SelectedValue = “1500″;
}
}

did try “-1″ but that didn’t work for me.

Cheers to all.

By: sakthi

sakthi — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:13:57 +0000

How can assign a item to dropdownlist in runtime..

that dropdownlist already loaded with somevalue like jan,feb,mar,apr

i want to assgin a value feb at runtime…

how can i assogn it…

By: Murugan Andezuthu Dharmaratnam

Murugan Andezuthu Dharmaratnam — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 14:05:11 +0000

You could easily set the value of the drop down list . Either using code or directly in the aspx file. http://muruganad.com/ASP.NET/ASP_.NET_Drop_Down_List_Default_Value.html Thanks! Murugan Andezuthu Dharmaratnam

By: Bob

Bob — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:01:28 +0000

Correction – The above worked for FF but not for IE (I’ve no idea why since its server side code) Anyway the below worked for both

protected void DropDownListOrg_DataBound(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (DropDownListOrg.Items.FindByValue(“-1″) != null)
DropDownListOrg.SelectedValue = “-1″;
}

By: Bob

Bob — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:07:03 +0000

I recommend a mixture of the abpve methods. This way you get the default value and protect against exceptions

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (DropDownListOrg.Items.FindByValue(“-1″) != null)
DropDownListOrg.SelectedValue = “-1″;
}

By: Frank Footer

Frank Footer — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:03:44 +0000

in the Page_Load method in the code behind for my apsx page I added this to set the initial value of a drop down list:

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
v_state.SelectedValue = “AK”;
}

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 20 May 2009 11:37:10 +0000

I’m not sure how, but I’m sure you could do it client side. -Peter

By: jjsoriano

jjsoriano — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:21:12 +0000

I see no reason why you need to do it in server side. is there anyway to do it in the client side?

By: Neo

Neo — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:29:51 +0000

Be careful.
DropDownListUser.Items.FindByValue(Context.User.Identity.Name) may return null. When it does, you may get “object is not an instance” exception.

By: jbfurlong

jbfurlong — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:23:54 +0000

I use Naveen’s approach too but at run time when databind occurs, if the SelectedIndex is not cleared to -1 first then you can get an http error that you cannot have more than one item selected. It goes something like
DropDownList.SelectIndex = -1;
DropDownListUser.Items.FindByValue(Context.User.Identity.Name).Selected = true;