How to data bind a ToolStripComboBox

Normally, the ToolStripComboBox doesn’t have any properties for data binding. But you can still data bind this combobox with the method I describe here. Since the ToolStripComboBox hosts a Control that inherits from ComboBox, you can type cast to a ComboBox and do the data binding.

In this example I will bind the ToolStripComboBox to an ArrayList which consists of objects of the type ColorTypes.

So, lets get started. First create the ColorType class:

namespace WindowsFormsApplication1 
{ 
  public class ColorType 
  { 
    private int _ID;
    public int ID 
    { 
      get 
      { 
        return _ID; 
      } 
      set 
      { 
        _ID = value;
      } 
    } 
    private string _Name; 
    public string Name 
    { 
      get 
      { 
        return _Name;
      } 
      set 
      {
        _Name = value;
      } 
    } 
    public ColorType(int id, string name) 
    { 
      _ID = id; 
      _Name = name; 
    } 
  }
}

Second, in the Form that hosts the TollStripComboBox, create an ArrayList of the objects. In the Load method, cast the ToolStripComboBox to a ComboBox and do the data binding. And finally, in the SelectedIndexChanged event for the ToolStripComboBox, type cast to a ComboBox and read out the SelectedValue property.

namespace WindowsFormsApplication1
{ 
  public partial class Form1 : Form 
  { 
    private ArrayList arrListColorTypes; 
 
 
    public Form1() 
    { 
      InitializeComponent(); 
      arrListColorTypes = new ArrayList(); 
      arrListColorTypes.Add(new ColorType(0, "Red")); 
      arrListColorTypes.Add(new ColorType(1, "Green")); 
      arrListColorTypes.Add(new ColorType(2, "Blue")); 
    } 
    private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) 
    { 
      ComboBox cb = ((ComboBox)toolStripComboBox1.Control); 
      cb.DisplayMember = "Name"; 
      cb.ValueMember = "ID"; 
      cb.DataSource = arrListColorTypes; 
    } 
    private void toolStripComboBox1_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e) 
    { 
      int index = Convert.ToInt32(((ComboBox)toolStripComboBox1.Control).SelectedValue); 
      switch (index) 
      { 
        case 0: // Do the Red dance  
          break; 
        case 1: // Do the Green dance  
          break; 
        case 2: // Do the Blue dance  
          break; 
      } 
    } 
  } 
}