Combines two fields in asp.net dropdownlist - asp.net

Question

I need to make a dropdownlist combining two fields from an xml file...
XML file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<exchangeRates>
<rate country="aud" >0.97</rate>
<rate country="usd" >1.01</rate>
</exchangeRates>
I need for the dropdownlist to show country and the rate like
aud 0.97
usd 1.01
Something like
SELECT country + rate AS NewColumn FROM XML above
And then use NewColumn for the DataValueFIeld:
<asp:DropDownList ID="DropDownList1" runat="server"
DataSourceID="SqlDBSrc" DataTextField="NAME" DataValueField="NewColumn"
>
<asp:XmlDataSource ID="ListItems" runat="server" DataFile="~/ExchangeRates.xml">
</asp:XmlDataSource>
How do I do this correctly in asp.net?

Answer 1

You could probably use LINQ to XML.
Something like (not tested)
dim selectList = (from x in xmldoc
select new SelectListItem { Text = x.Attribute("country") + ' '+ x.Value, Value = x.Id });

Answer 2

You could ad a pre-render event to the control and modify the control there
<asp:DropDownList ID="DropDownList1" runat="server" onprerender="DropDownList1_PreRender"
DataSourceID="SqlDBSrc" DataTextField="Country" DataValueField="Value"
>
Note: adjust the DataText and DataValue Fields to populate the unmodified data.
In your code behind, this modifies the :
protected void DropDownList1_PreRender(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
foreach (ListItem item in DropDownList1.Items)
{
item.Text = item.Text + " " + item.Value;
}
}
This is one way to do it but there may be other better ways before binding the list.

Answer 3

<asp:DropDownList ID="DropDownList9" runat="server"
DataSourceID="SqlDataSource3" DataTextField="**CALL_NAMESURNAME**"
DataValueField="CALL_NAME">
</asp:DropDownList>
<asp:SqlDataSource ID="SqlDataSource3" runat="server"
ConnectionString="<%$ ConnectionStrings:McCarthyConnectionString %>"
SelectCommand="SELECT [CALL_NAME], [SURNAME],**CALL_NAME + SURNAME AS [CALL_NAMESURNAME]** FROM [Sheet1$] where COY_NAME LIKE '%abc%'">
</asp:SqlDataSource>
Check the ** ** parts.