Question

On my page I have a DropDownList which I populate with database values from an SqlDataSource (see code below).

How can I add my own text or a blank line before the values?

<asp:DropDownList ID="drpClient" runat="server" Width="200px" 
    AutoPostBack="True" DataSourceID="dsClients" DataTextField="name" 
        DataValueField="client_id">
</asp:DropDownList>
<asp:SqlDataSource ID="dsClients" runat="server" 
    ConnectionString="my_connection_string" 
    ProviderName="System.Data.SqlClient" 
    SelectCommand="SELECT [client_id], [name] FROM [clients]">
</asp:SqlDataSource>

Thanks.

P.S. Do you recommend using a SqlDataSource or is it better to populate another way?

Answer 1

You can simply add a ListItem inside the DropDownList Markup. All the values from the DataSource will be appended after that.

<asp:DropDownList ID="drpClient" runat="server" Width="200px" 
          AutoPostBack="True" DataSourceID="dsClients" DataTextField="name" 
          DataValueField="client_id" AppendDataBoundItems="true">
   <asp:ListItem>-- pick one --</asp:ListItem>
</asp:DropDownList>