How to add a data-attribute to a dropdown menu with C#

Question

I have a standard dropdown list and am able to databind to the list.

<asp:DropDownList runat="server" ID="ddlMake" ClientIDMode="Static" DataTextField="Name" DataValueField="URL" AppendDataBoundItems="true">
    <asp:ListItem>Select Make</asp:ListItem>
</asp:DropDownList>

I would like to add a data-attribute to the option like below:

<asp:ListItem data-siteid="<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "SiteID") %>">Select Make</asp:ListItem>

I'm obviously getting an error because it doesn't recognize the data-siteid.

The list is databound.

Any tips would be handy

Answer 1

You could do this in the code-behind. I'm not sure if this is the most elegant approach, but it should work.

Dim dataSrc() As String = {"ABC", "123", "!@*#"}
drp.DataSource = dataSrc
drp.DataBind()
For i = 0 To drp.Items.Count - 1
    drp.Items(i).Attributes.Add("data-siteId", dataSrc(i))
Next

Also, if this is just something which is not databound, you could consider using the HtmlSelect control which should work as well:

<select id="drp2" runat="server">
  <option data-siteId="2">ABC</option>
  <option data-siteId="3">123</option>
  <option data-siteId="4">@*!&</option>
</select>

Answer 2

I ended up using a repeater since the page didn't need to repost. This allowed me not to have to work with an ondatabound event.

<asp:Repeater runat="server" ID="rptDropDown">
    <HeaderTemplate>
        <select id="ddlMake">
            <option value="">Select Make</option>
    </HeaderTemplate>
    <ItemTemplate>
        <option data-siteid="<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "SiteID") %>" value="<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "URL") %>"><%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "Name") %></option>
    </ItemTemplate>
    <FooterTemplate>
        </select>
    </FooterTemplate>        
</asp:Repeater>