Populate DropDownList in GridView and retain selected value from Database using C# and VB.Net in ASP.Net

Hi roon3y,

I have created sample that full-fill your requirement. You need to bind all the dropdownlist ang grid from database.

HTML

<asp:GridView ID="GridView1" runat="server" AutoGenerateColumns="false" OnRowDataBound="OnRowDataBound">
    <Columns>
        <asp:BoundField HeaderText="Name" DataField="Name" />
        <asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Hire">
            <ItemTemplate>
                <asp:Label ID="lblHire" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("Hire") %>' Visible="false" />
                <asp:DropDownList ID="ddlHire" runat="server" AppendDataBoundItems="true">
                    <asp:ListItem Text="Select" />
                </asp:DropDownList>
            </ItemTemplate>
        </asp:TemplateField>
        <asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Status">
            <ItemTemplate>
                <asp:Label ID="lblStatus" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("Status") %>' Visible="false" />
                <asp:DropDownList ID="ddlStatus" runat="server" AppendDataBoundItems="true">
                    <asp:ListItem Text="Select" />
                </asp:DropDownList>
            </ItemTemplate>
        </asp:TemplateField>
        <asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Training">
            <ItemTemplate>
                <asp:Label ID="lblTraining" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("Training") %>' Visible="false" />
                <asp:DropDownList ID="ddlTraining" runat="server" AppendDataBoundItems="true">
                    <asp:ListItem Text="Select" />
                </asp:DropDownList>
            </ItemTemplate>
        </asp:TemplateField>
    </Columns>
</asp:GridView>

C#

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (!IsPostBack)
    {
        DataTable dt = new DataTable();
        dt.Columns.AddRange(new DataColumn[4] { 
            new DataColumn("Name"), new DataColumn("Hire"),
            new DataColumn("Status"), new DataColumn("Training")});
        dt.Rows.Add("Name 1", "Hire 1", "Status 2", "Training 3");
        dt.Rows.Add("Name 4", "Hire 3", "Status 1", "Training 2");
        dt.Rows.Add("Name 2", "Hire 4", "Status 3", "Training 1");
        dt.Rows.Add("Name 3", "Hire 2", "Status 4", "Training 4");
        GridView1.DataSource = dt;
        GridView1.DataBind();
    }
}
private DataTable HireDataTable()
{
    DataTable dt = new DataTable();
    dt.Columns.AddRange(new DataColumn[2] { new DataColumn("Id", typeof(int)), new DataColumn("Name", typeof(string)) });
    dt.Rows.Add(1, "Hire 1");
    dt.Rows.Add(2, "Hire 2");
    dt.Rows.Add(3, "Hire 3");
    dt.Rows.Add(4, "Hire 4");
    return dt;
}
private DataTable StatusDataTable()
{
    DataTable dt = new DataTable();
    dt.Columns.AddRange(new DataColumn[2] { new DataColumn("Id", typeof(int)), new DataColumn("Name", typeof(string)) });
    dt.Rows.Add(1, "Status 1");
    dt.Rows.Add(2, "Status 2");
    dt.Rows.Add(3, "Status 3");
    dt.Rows.Add(4, "Status 4");
    return dt;
}
private DataTable TrainingDataTable()
{
    DataTable dt = new DataTable();
    dt.Columns.AddRange(new DataColumn[2] { new DataColumn("Id", typeof(int)), new DataColumn("Name", typeof(string)) });
    dt.Rows.Add(1, "Training 1");
    dt.Rows.Add(2, "Training 2");
    dt.Rows.Add(3, "Training 3");
    dt.Rows.Add(4, "Training 4");
    return dt;
}
protected void OnRowDataBound(object sender, GridViewRowEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.Row.RowType == DataControlRowType.DataRow)
    {
        DropDownList ddlHire = (e.Row.FindControl("ddlHire") as DropDownList);
        DropDownList ddlStatus = (e.Row.FindControl("ddlStatus") as DropDownList);
        DropDownList ddlTraining = (e.Row.FindControl("ddlTraining") as DropDownList);
        ddlHire.DataSource = HireDataTable();
        ddlHire.DataTextField = "Name";
        ddlHire.DataValueField = "Name";
        ddlHire.DataBind();
        ddlStatus.DataSource = StatusDataTable();
        ddlStatus.DataTextField = "Name";
        ddlStatus.DataValueField = "Name";
        ddlStatus.DataBind();
        ddlTraining.DataSource = TrainingDataTable();
        ddlTraining.DataTextField = "Name";
        ddlTraining.DataValueField = "Name";
        ddlTraining.DataBind();
        string hire = (e.Row.FindControl("lblHire") as Label).Text;
        ddlHire.Items.FindByValue(hire).Selected = true;
        string status = (e.Row.FindControl("lblStatus") as Label).Text;
        ddlStatus.Items.FindByValue(status).Selected = true;
        string training = (e.Row.FindControl("lblTraining") as Label).Text;
        ddlTraining.Items.FindByValue(training).Selected = true;
    }
}

VB.Net

Protected Sub Page_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
    If Not IsPostBack Then
        Dim dt As New DataTable()
        dt.Columns.AddRange(New DataColumn(3) {New DataColumn("Name"), New DataColumn("Hire"), New DataColumn("Status"), New DataColumn("Training")})
        dt.Rows.Add("Name 1", "Hire 1", "Status 2", "Training 3")
        dt.Rows.Add("Name 4", "Hire 3", "Status 1", "Training 2")
        dt.Rows.Add("Name 2", "Hire 4", "Status 3", "Training 1")
        dt.Rows.Add("Name 3", "Hire 2", "Status 4", "Training 4")
        GridView1.DataSource = dt
        GridView1.DataBind()
    End If
End Sub
Private Function HireDataTable() As DataTable
    Dim dt As New DataTable()
    dt.Columns.AddRange(New DataColumn(1) {New DataColumn("Id", GetType(Integer)), New DataColumn("Name", GetType(String))})
    dt.Rows.Add(1, "Hire 1")
    dt.Rows.Add(2, "Hire 2")
    dt.Rows.Add(3, "Hire 3")
    dt.Rows.Add(4, "Hire 4")
    Return dt
End Function
Private Function StatusDataTable() As DataTable
    Dim dt As New DataTable()
    dt.Columns.AddRange(New DataColumn(1) {New DataColumn("Id", GetType(Integer)), New DataColumn("Name", GetType(String))})
    dt.Rows.Add(1, "Status 1")
    dt.Rows.Add(2, "Status 2")
    dt.Rows.Add(3, "Status 3")
    dt.Rows.Add(4, "Status 4")
    Return dt
End Function
Private Function TrainingDataTable() As DataTable
    Dim dt As New DataTable()
    dt.Columns.AddRange(New DataColumn(1) {New DataColumn("Id", GetType(Integer)), New DataColumn("Name", GetType(String))})
    dt.Rows.Add(1, "Training 1")
    dt.Rows.Add(2, "Training 2")
    dt.Rows.Add(3, "Training 3")
    dt.Rows.Add(4, "Training 4")
    Return dt
End Function
Protected Sub OnRowDataBound(sender As Object, e As GridViewRowEventArgs)
    If e.Row.RowType = DataControlRowType.DataRow Then
        Dim ddlHire As DropDownList = TryCast(e.Row.FindControl("ddlHire"), DropDownList)
        Dim ddlStatus As DropDownList = TryCast(e.Row.FindControl("ddlStatus"), DropDownList)
        Dim ddlTraining As DropDownList = TryCast(e.Row.FindControl("ddlTraining"), DropDownList)
        ddlHire.DataSource = HireDataTable()
        ddlHire.DataTextField = "Name"
        ddlHire.DataValueField = "Name"
        ddlHire.DataBind()
        ddlStatus.DataSource = StatusDataTable()
        ddlStatus.DataTextField = "Name"
        ddlStatus.DataValueField = "Name"
        ddlStatus.DataBind()
        ddlTraining.DataSource = TrainingDataTable()
        ddlTraining.DataTextField = "Name"
        ddlTraining.DataValueField = "Name"
        ddlTraining.DataBind()
        Dim hire As String = TryCast(e.Row.FindControl("lblHire"), Label).Text
        ddlHire.Items.FindByValue(hire).Selected = True
        Dim status As String = TryCast(e.Row.FindControl("lblStatus"), Label).Text
        ddlStatus.Items.FindByValue(status).Selected = True
        Dim training As String = TryCast(e.Row.FindControl("lblTraining"), Label).Text
        ddlTraining.Items.FindByValue(training).Selected = True
    End If
End Sub

Screenshot