Question

I have a function

protected void bindCurrencies(DropDownList drp)
    {
        drp.DataSource = dtCurrencies;
        drp.DataTextField = "CurrencyName";
        drp.DataValueField = "CurrencyID";
        drp.DataBind();
        drp.Items.Insert(0, new ListItem("Please Select"));
    }

I am binding a dropdown list using this. But sometimes I need to bind a ListBox also. I dont want to write a different function for listbox. How should I do this. I think Generics method is to be used here. But I dont have any idea about generics.

Answer 1

Both DropDownList and ListBox inherit from ListControl, so if you change your function to take a ListControl as parameter, it should work well with both types:

protected void bindCurrencies(ListControl drp)
{
    drp.DataSource = dtCurrencies;
    // and so on...