First of all there has been questions ( DropDownList has a SelectedValue which is invalid because it does not exist in the list of items , DropDownList "has a SelectedValue which is invalid because it does not exist in the list of items" , asp:DropDownList Error: 'DropDownList1' has a SelectedValue which is invalid because it does not exist in the list of items ) about this and there are proposed workarounds but my question is really WHY this happens. What is more I am not satisfied with the suggested workarounds and I find them quite ugly.
So there is a page with a drop down list and a button:
<%@ Page Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeBehind="WebForm2.aspx.cs" Inherits="TestWebApplication.WebForm2" ViewStateMode="Disabled" %>
<html lang="en" >
<body>
<form id="form1" runat="server">
<div>
<asp:DropDownList ID="ddlTest" runat="server">
</asp:DropDownList>
<asp:Button Text="Test" ID="btnTest" runat="server" onclick="btnTest_Click" />
</div>
</form>
</body>
</html>
I bind ddlTest with some items on Page_Init and then in btnTest_Click I bind again:
using System;
namespace TestWebApplication
{
public partial class WebForm2 : System.Web.UI.Page
{
protected void Page_Init(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
//SelectedIndex is -1, SelectedValue is "", SelectedItem is null
ddlTest.DataSource = new[] { 1, 2, 3 };
ddlTest.DataBind();
ddlTest.SelectedValue = "3";
}
protected void btnTest_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
//SelectedIndex is 2, SelectedValue is "3", SelectedItem is {3}
ddlTest.ClearSelection();
//SelectedIndex is 0, SelectedValue is "1", SelectedItem is {1}
ddlTest.SelectedIndex = -1; //Nothing changes including SelectedIndex
ddlTest.SelectedValue = ""; //Nothing changes including SelectedValue
ddlTest.Items.Clear();
//SelectedIndex is -1, SelectedValue is "", SelectedItem is null
ddlTest.DataSource = null; //Nothing changes except for the DataSource property
ddlTest.DataSource = new[] { 1, 2 };
ddlTest.DataBind();//Exception!
//'ddlTest' has a SelectedValue which is invalid because it does not exist in the list of items.
//Parameter name: value
}
}
}
Why do I get the exception. I tried different versions of these and none of them works. I tried using only ClearSelection but still got the same exception. Is this bug in the control or something I miss. Are the ugly workarounds from the other questions the only solution?
Note - the bug is reproduceable even if the button is removed and the all the code is moved in a single event handler. Just bind once set selected value and bind again.
I had a similar problem and fixed it by adding a DataBinding method.
On design page...
1) As written, your example actually throws an exception on
ddlTest.SelectedValue = "";
, since there is no item in the collection with aValue
of "". I think this would be expected under any circumstance.2) I get an exception every time I try to set the
SelectedValue
orSelectedIndex
of the DDL to something that WILL BE invalid by the time the DDL is rendered. But the exception doesn't happen until theDropDownList.Items
collection is actually changed, for instance with aDropDownList.Databind()
. The first thing I did was make this change to Page_Init:Now what gets interesting is this first example throws an exception, but the second one doesn't. They both set a
SelectedValue
that is valid at the time, but the value in the first example ("3") will not be valid by the time the page renders:So, what conclusion can we draw from this? Well it seems the problem is due to setting the
SelectedIndex
orSelectedValue
property of the DDL before the contents of the DDL may be changed on the same page cycle. If the previously set value is still available in the new contents ofDropDownList.Items
, you're in business. But if it's not in there, you get an exception.My guess is this has something to do with thread-safeness but I'm no expert on that so hopefully someone can comment.
After Page_Init() is called, ddlTest has been bound to 3 items: "1", "2" and "3". You then set the SelectedValue to "3" and manipulate all sorts of things related to the DropDownList control. But the control is still bound to the previous list -- you haven't called .DataBind() again even though you've changed the DropDownList properties. The exception occurs because the control is still bound to the {1, 2, 3}, it's hanging on to the previous .SelectedValue and you've just tried to .DataBind() it to a list that does not include "3".
In my case I had
DropdownList
intemplatedfield
ofgridview
. Nowdatasource
of grid hademployeeid
item. I have this in stored proceedure,isnull(employeeid,0)
for datasource and guess whatDropdownList
does not have a value of 0 on its items; so i changed that to isnull(employeeid,1) because the first item inDropdownList
hasemployeeid =1
and this solved problemI've submitted a bug on Connect for the issue. It was resolved as "Won't fix" which in my mind means it is in fact a bug. A workaround was provided:
https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/666808/asp-net-dropdownlist-selectedvalue-is-persisted-which-results-in-exception-if-the-control-is-databound-second-time
I kind of consider this the answer.
Because there is no any datasource when your page is reloaded (postback happened), you should add SqlDataSource control in your .aspx file even in reloading page recognize DropDownList's DataSource. Then You can use InsertCommand, UpdateCommand, DeleteCommand and SelecCommand to obtain your DB.