ASP.NET MVC DropDownList Overview

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The DropDownList is part of Telerik UI for ASP.NET MVC, a professional grade UI library with 110+ components for building modern and feature-rich applications. To try it out sign up for a free 30-day trial.

The Telerik UI DropDownList HtmlHelper for ASP.NET MVC is a server-side wrapper for the Kendo UI DropDownList widget.

The DropDownList displays a list of values and allows for a single selection from the list. The user input is restricted within the predefined options.

Initializing the DropDownList

The following example demonstrates how to define the DropDownList.

    @(Html.Kendo().DropDownList()
        .Name("dropdownlist")
        .DataTextField("ProductName")
        .DataValueField("ProductID")
        .DataSource(source => {
            source.Read(read =>
            {
                read.Action("Products_Read", "DropDownList");
            });
        })
    )

    public class DropDownListController : Controller
    {
        public IActionResult Index()
        {
            return View();
        }

        public JsonResult Products_Read()
        {
            var result = Enumerable.Range(0, 50).Select(i => new ProductViewModel
            {
                ProductID = "" + i,
                ProductName = "Product " + i
            });

            return Json(result);
        }
    }

Basic Configuration

The DropDownList configuration options are passed as attributes.

    @(Html.Kendo().DropDownList()
        .Name("dropdownlist")
        .DataTextField("ProductName")
        .DataValueField("ProductID")
        .HtmlAttributes(new { style = "width:100%" })
        .Filter("contains")
        .MinLength(3)
        .Height(290)
        .HeaderTemplate(
            "<div class=\"dropdown-header k-widget k-header\">" +
                "<span>Products</span>" +
            "</div>")
        .FooterTemplate("Total <strong>#: instance.dataSource.total() #</strong> items found")
        .DataSource(source =>
        {
            source.Read(read =>
            {
                read.Action("Products_Read2", "DropDownList");
            })
            .ServerFiltering(false);
        })
        .Events(e => e
            .Change("onChange")
            .Select("onSelect")
            .Open("onOpen")
            .Close("onClose")
            .DataBound("onDataBound")
            .Filtering("onFiltering")
        )
    )

    <script type="text/javascript">
        $(function () {
            // The Name() of the DropDownList is used to get its client-side instance.
            var dropdownlist = $("#dropdownlist").data("kendoDropDownList");
            console.log(dropdownlist);
        });
    </script>

Functionality and Features

  • Binding—The DropDownList supports multiple data binding approaches: server, model, custom, and ajax binding.
  • Grouping—You can bind the DropDownList to grouped data sources.
  • Virtualization—The virtualization feature of the DropDownList allows you to display large datasets.
  • Templates—To control how the items, selected value, or a pop-up header are rendered, you can use the available templates.
  • Accessibility—The DropDownList is accessible by screen readers and provides WAI-ARIA, Section 508, WCAG 2.1, and keyboard support.

Next Steps

See Also

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