Question

// aspx code

   <asp:DropDownList ID="DropDownList1" runat="server" DataTextField="fullname" DataValueField="username" AutoPostBack="True" Width="125px" Height="22px"></asp:DropDownList>

// Code behind

 SqlConnection myConnection = new SqlConnection("Server=xyz;Database=db;Uid=db;Pwd=12345");
 myConnection.Open();         
 SqlDataReader myReaderddl = null;
 SqlCommand myCommandddl = new SqlCommand("SELECT [username], [fullname] FROM [qa_users]", myConnection);
 myReaderddl = myCommandddl.ExecuteReader();
 myReaderddl.Read();
 ddlrep.DataSource = myReaderddl;                    
 ddlrep.DataValueField = "[username]";
 ddlrep.DataTextField = "[fullname]";
 ddlrep.DataBind();
 myReaderddl.Close();

Answer 1

I haven’t tested this code, but it should work.

using (var myConnection = new SqlConnection("Server=xyz;Database=db;Uid=db;Pwd=12345"))
{
    using (var myCommandddl = new SqlCommand("SELECT [username], [fullname] FROM [qa_users]", myConnection))
    {
        var table = new DataTable();

        using(var myAdapter = new SqlDataAdapter(myCommandddl))
            myAdapter.Fill(table);

        ddlrep.DataSource = table;
        ddlrep.DataValueField = "username";
        ddlrep.DataTextField = "fullname";
        ddlrep.DataBind();
    }
}

There’s a couple changes I made that you should note:

• Use of a USING statement. This offers a number of benefits, such as automatically calling Dispose() on your IDisposable objects, regardless of whether an Exception is thrown. In my opinion, it’s a nice visual for showing when and where an object is being disposed. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/yh598w02.aspx
• Not using a SqlDataRader directly, rather, use of the SqlDataAdapter to fill the table: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/879f39d8