In this article I will explain with an
example, how to populate ASP.Net ListBox control using SqlDataReader (DataReader) in C# and VB.Net.
The data will be populated from database table using DataReader.
Database
I have made use of the following table Customers with the schema as follows.
![Bind (Populate) ASP.Net ListBox using DataReader in C# and VB.Net]()
I have already inserted few records in the table.
![Bind (Populate) ASP.Net ListBox using DataReader in C# and VB.Net]()
Note: You can download the database table SQL by clicking the download link below.
HTML Markup
The HTML Markup consists of an ASP.Net ListBox which will be populated from database.
<asp:ListBox ID = "lstCustomers" runat="server">
</asp:ListBox>
Namespaces
You will need to import the following namespaces.
C#
using System.Data;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
VB.Net
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Configuration
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Populating ListBox control using DataReader in ASP.Net
Inside the Page Load event of the page, the ListBox is populated with the records of the Customers Table.
The CustomerId and the Name column values are fetched from the database using SqlDataReader and are assigned to the DataTextField and DataValueField properties of the ListBox control.
DataTextField – The values of the Column set as DataTextField are visible to the user.
DataValueField – The values of the Column set as DataValueField are not visible to the user. Generally ID or Primary Key columns are set as values in order to uniquely identify a ListBox Item.
C#
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (!this.IsPostBack)
{
string constr = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["constr"].ConnectionString;
using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(constr))
{
using (SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SELECT CustomerId, Name FROM Customers"))
{
cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
cmd.Connection = con;
con.Open();
lstCustomers.DataSource = cmd.ExecuteReader();
lstCustomers.DataTextField = "Name";
lstCustomers.DataValueField = "CustomerId";
lstCustomers.DataBind();
con.Close();
}
}
}
}
VB.Net
Protected Sub Page_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
If Not Me.IsPostBack Then
Dim constr As String = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("constr").ConnectionString
Using con As New SqlConnection(constr)
Using cmd As New SqlCommand("SELECT CustomerId, Name FROM Customers")
cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text
cmd.Connection = con
con.Open()
lstCustomers.DataSource = cmd.ExecuteReader()
lstCustomers.DataTextField = "Name"
lstCustomers.DataValueField = "CustomerId"
lstCustomers.DataBind()
con.Close()
End Using
End Using
End If
End Sub
Screenshot
![Bind (Populate) ASP.Net ListBox using DataReader in C# and VB.Net]()
Demo
Downloads
