Data Binding Overview

RadDropDownTree supports binding to various types of data sources:

• DataTable, DataSet, DataView

• Declarative DataSource types like SqlDataSource, ObjectDataSource and XmlDataSource

• Linq DataSource

• Entity DataSource

• Array, ArrayList and Generic List

Databinding Properties and Methods

The following properties and methods are used when binding the RadDropDownTree to a data source:

• DataSource property: Set to an instance of your data source. This is mandatory when binding the RadDropDownTree at runtime.

• DataSourceID property: Set to the ID of your data source. This is mandatory when binding the RadDropDownTree declaratively.

• DataFieldID property: This is the field name from the data source used to uniquely identify each row. This field is required when binding to hierarchical data.

• DataFieldParentID property: This is the field name from the data source used to identify the row for the parent node. This field is required when binding to hierarchical data.

• DataTextField property: This is the field name from the data source that populates each Node's Text property during binding.

• DataValueField property: This is the field name from the data source that populates each Node's Value property during binding.

Using Templates with RadDropDownTree

You can also use Templates with a data-bound RadDropDownTree. To bind template node to column values, you will need to use DataBinder. Eval expressions in the Template's definition.