I have a bound dropdownlist that will have null values for the company id. This causes problems with my dropdownlist however. I have tried several work arounds but none seem to fix my problem.

Here is my current code that works as long as I have a company id.
         <asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Bill To" SortExpression="CompanyID">
            <ItemTemplate>
               <asp:Label ID="lblCompany" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("CompanyName") %>'></asp:Label>
            </ItemTemplate>
            <EditItemTemplate>
               <asp:DropDownList ID="ddlCompany" runat="server" DataSourceID="objAllCompanys"
                  DataTextField="CompanyName" DataValueField="ID" SelectedValue='<%# Bind("CompanyID") %>' Width="300px" />
               <asp:ObjectDataSource ID="objAllCompanys" runat="server" SelectMethod="GetCompany"
                  TypeName="MB.DinoCorp.BLL.Shop.Company"></asp:ObjectDataSource>
            </EditItemTemplate>
         </asp:TemplateField>

The first workaround I tried was to add a null listitem as follows.
         <asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Bill To" SortExpression="CompanyID">
            <ItemTemplate>
               <asp:Label ID="lblCompany" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("CompanyName") %>'></asp:Label>
            </ItemTemplate>
            <EditItemTemplate>
               <asp:DropDownList ID="ddlCompany" runat="server" DataSourceID="objAllCompanys"
                  DataTextField="CompanyName" DataValueField="ID" SelectedValue='<%# Bind("CompanyID") %>' Width="300px">
                  <asp:ListItem Value="" Text="Select Value"></asp:ListItem>
               </asp:DropDownList> />
               <asp:ObjectDataSource ID="objAllCompanys" runat="server" SelectMethod="GetCompany"
                  TypeName="MB.DinoCorp.BLL.Shop.Company"></asp:ObjectDataSource>
            </EditItemTemplate>
         </asp:TemplateField>


Thanks for reading.

I don't understand how you could bill to a null company? Is there any reason why GetCompany must return null values? Can't you filter them out in the SQL?

Eric

It is not about billing to a null Company. We are more or less in the early stages of establishing a project and determining if we will get the bid. There are a couple of reasons why the Company may be null at this point, first the Company may not be set up in the system yet as we may only be in bidding phase of a project or it is an individual and will be a bill direct. We don't set up every company we do a bid for in our system only those that get signed to a contact.

Thanks,
J

Can you just create a new ID that means "N/A"? Stick a special number into those SQL records so it will come down to the page. If anyone tries to use that ID in actual processing you could give an error.

Maybe someone else has some better ideas?

Eric