Custom Data Binding

You can configure the Telerik UI ComboBox for data binding to use a custom DataSource and thus bind to a ToDataSourceResult instance.

For a runnable example, refer to the demo on customizing the data source of the ComboBox.

1. Create an action method which renders the view.

   public ActionResult Index()
   {
       return View();
   }
   

2. Create a new action method and pass the Products table as JSON result.

   public JsonResult GetProducts([DataSourceRequest] DataSourceRequest request)
   {
       NorthwindDataContext northwind = new NorthwindDataContext();
   
       return Json(northwind.Products.ToDataSourceResult(request));
   }
   

3. Add an Ajax-bound ComboBox.

        @(Html.Kendo().ComboBox()
            .Name("productComboBox") // The name of the ComboBox is mandatory. It specifies the "id" attribute of the widget.
            .DataTextField("ProductName") // Specify which property of the Product to be used by the ComboBox as a text.
            .DataValueField("ProductID") // Specify which property of the Product to be used by the ComboBox as a value.
            .DataSource(source =>
            {
                source.Custom()
                        .ServerFiltering(true)
                        .Type("aspnetmvc-ajax") // Set this type if you want to use DataSourceRequest and ToDataSourceResult instances.
                        .Transport(transport =>
                        {
                            transport.Read("GetProducts", "Home");
                        })
                        .Schema(schema =>
                        {
                            schema.Data("Data") // Define the [data](https://docs.telerik.com/kendo-ui/api/javascript/data/datasource#configuration-schema.data) option.
                                .Total("Total"); // Define the [total](https://docs.telerik.com/kendo-ui/api/javascript/data/datasource#configuration-schema.total) option.
                        });
            })
        )

<kendo-combobox name="productComboBox"
                datatextfield="ProductName"
                datavaluefield="ProductID">
    <datasource type="DataSourceTagHelperType.Custom"
                server-filtering="true"
                custom-type="aspnetmvc-ajax">
        <transport>
            <read url="@Url.Action("GetProducts", "Home")"/>
        </transport>
        <schema data="Data" total="Total">
        </schema>
    </datasource>
</kendo-combobox>

See Also

• Customizing the Data Source of the ComboBox HtmlHelper for ASP.NET Core (Demo)
• Server-Side API