Adding Custom Item to DataBound Dropdown List

We can use two methods bind data to a drop down. One we can loop through the data source, add each item to the drop down list and add the custom items to the dropdown.

private void BindMethod1()
    {
        DataTable DtData = new DataTable();
        DtData = createBindDatatable();
        DropDownList1.Items.Add(new ListItem("Select Below","0"));// Adding the custom item
        foreach (DataRow item in DtData.Rows)
        {
            DropDownList1.Items.Add(new ListItem(item["Country"].ToString(), item["ID"].ToString()));
        }
    }

Another method is we can assign the data source to the drop down list datasource property and set the data text and value properties.

private void BindMethod2()
    {
        DataTable DtData = new DataTable();
        DtData = createBindDatatable();
        DropDownList1.DataSource = DtData;
        DropDownList1.DataTextField = "Country";
        DropDownList1.DataValueField = "ID";
        DropDownList1.DataBind();
        DropDownList1.Items.Insert(0, new ListItem("Select Below", "0"));// Adding the custom item
    }