Question

I have several DropDownLists on a form which are dynamically populated as they move down the form pulling data from a DB. The data is all HTMLEncoded so I need to HTMLDecode the data to display the text.

I created a method to do this and trigger it ‘ondatabound’ for each DDL

ondatabound="SortHTMLModel"

BUT whats annoying I have the same method just changing the DDL name on each one. I want a generic single method each DDL could call. Here is the one for the DDL called ddlfuel

protected void SortHTML(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    foreach (ListItem item in ddlFuel.Items)
    {
        item.Text = Server.HtmlDecode(item.Text);
    }
}

And one for the DDL called ddlModel

protected void SortHTMLModel(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    foreach (ListItem item in ddlModel.Items)
    {
        item.Text = Server.HtmlDecode(item.Text);
    }
}

You see my predicament! So annoying I just can’t figure out the syntax for one method

Answer 1

IIRC, the sender of an event is the actual control, so you could also say

protected void SortHTML(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    foreach (ListItem item in ((DropDownList)sender).Items)
    {
        item.Text = Server.HtmlDecode(item.Text);
    }
}

and bind each DropDownList’s DataBound event to SortHTML