Data Binding in React DropDownList component

25 Oct 2021 / 5 minutes to read

The DropDownList loads the data either from local data sources or remote data services using the dataSource property. It supports the data type of array or DataManager.

The DropDownList also supports different kinds of data services such as OData, OData V4, and Web API, and data formats such as XML, JSON, and JSONP with the help of DataManager adaptors.

Fields	Type	Description
text	`string`	Specifies the display text of each list item.
value	`number or string`	Specifies the hidden data value mapped to each list item that should contain a unique value.
groupBy	`string`	Specifies the category under which the list item has to be grouped.
iconCss	`string`	Specifies the icon class of each list item.

When binding complex data to the DropDownList, fields should be mapped correctly. Otherwise, the selected item remains undefined.

Binding local data

Local data can be represented in two ways as described below.

1. Array of simple data

The DropDownList has support to load array of primitive data such as strings and numbers. Here, both value and text field act the same.

Source

Preview

index.tsx

index.html

import { DropDownListComponent } from '@syncfusion/ej2-react-dropdowns';
import * as React from 'react';
import * as ReactDOM from 'react-dom';

export default class App extends React.Component<{}, {}> {

// define the array of string
private sportsData: string[] = ['Badminton', 'Cricket', 'Football', 'Golf', 'Tennis'];

public render() {
    return (
          // specifies the tag for render the DropDownList component
        <DropDownListComponent id="ddlelement" dataSource={this.sportsData} placeholder="Select a game" />
    );
}
}
ReactDOM.render(<App />, document.getElementById('sample'));

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">

<head>
    <title>Syncfusion React DropDownList</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <meta name="description" content="Essential JS 2 for React Components" />
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion" />
    <link href="//cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="//cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/ej2-react-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="//cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/ej2-react-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/systemjs/0.19.38/system.js"></script>
    <script src="systemjs.config.js"></script>
    <style>
        #loader {
            color: #008cff;
            height: 40px;
            left: 45%;
            position: absolute;
            top: 45%;
            width: 30%;
        }
    </style>
</head>

<body>
    <div id='sample' style="margin: 20px auto 0; width:250px;">
        <div id='loader'>Loading....</div>
    </div>
</body>

</html>

2. Array of JSON data

The DropDownList can generate its list items through an array of complex data. For this, the appropriate columns should be mapped to the fields property.

In the following example, Id column and Game column from complex data have been mapped to the value field and text field, respectively.

Source

Preview

index.tsx

index.html

import { DropDownListComponent } from '@syncfusion/ej2-react-dropdowns';
import * as React from 'react';
import * as ReactDOM from 'react-dom';

export default class App extends React.Component<{}, {}> {

// define the JSON of data
private sportsData: { [key: string]: Object }[] = [
    { Id: 'game1', Game: 'Badminton' },
    { Id: 'game2', Game: 'Football' },
    { Id: 'game3', Game: 'Tennis' }
];

// maps the appropriate column to fields property
private fields: object = { text: 'Game', value: 'Id' };

public render() {
    return (
         // specifies the tag for render the DropDownList component
        <DropDownListComponent id="ddlelement" dataSource={this.sportsData} fields={this.fields} placeholder="Select a game" />
    );
}
}
ReactDOM.render(<App />, document.getElementById('sample'));

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">

<head>
    <title>Syncfusion React DropDownList</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <meta name="description" content="Essential JS 2 for React Components" />
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion" />
    <link href="//cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="//cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/ej2-react-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="//cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/ej2-react-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/systemjs/0.19.38/system.js"></script>
    <script src="systemjs.config.js"></script>
    <style>
        #loader {
            color: #008cff;
            height: 40px;
            left: 45%;
            position: absolute;
            top: 45%;
            width: 30%;
        }
    </style>
</head>

<body>
    <div id='sample' style="margin: 20px auto 0; width:250px;">
        <div id='loader'>Loading....</div>
    </div>
</body>

</html>

3. Array of Complex data

The DropDownList can generate its list items through an array of complex data. For this, the appropriate columns should be mapped to the fields property.

In the following example, Code.Id column and Country.Name column from complex data have been mapped to the value field and text field, respectively.

Source

Preview

index.tsx

index.html

import { DropDownListComponent } from '@syncfusion/ej2-react-dropdowns';
import * as React from 'react';
import * as ReactDOM from 'react-dom';

export default class App extends React.Component<{}, {}> {

// define the JSON of data
private countriesData: { [key: string]: Object }[] = [
    { Country: { Name: 'Australia' }, Code: { Id: 'AU' }},
    { Country: { Name: 'Bermuda' },Code: { Id: 'BM' }},
    { Country:{ Name: 'Canada'}, Code:{ Id: 'CA'} },
    { Country:{Name: 'Cameroon'}, Code:{ Id: 'CM'} },
    { Country:{Name: 'Denmark'}, Code:{ Id: 'DK' }},
    { Country:{Name: 'France'}, Code: { Id:'FR'} }
];

// maps the appropriate column to fields property
private fields: object = { text: 'Country.Name', value: 'Code.Id' };

public render() {
    return (
         // specifies the tag for render the DropDownList component
        <DropDownListComponent id="ddlelement" dataSource={this.countriesData} fields={this.fields} placeholder="Select a country" />
    );
}
}
ReactDOM.render(<App />, document.getElementById('sample'));

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">

<head>
    <title>Syncfusion React DropDownList</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <meta name="description" content="Essential JS 2 for React Components" />
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion" />
    <link href="//cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="//cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/ej2-react-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="//cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/ej2-react-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/systemjs/0.19.38/system.js"></script>
    <script src="systemjs.config.js"></script>
    <style>
        #loader {
            color: #008cff;
            height: 40px;
            left: 45%;
            position: absolute;
            top: 45%;
            width: 30%;
        }
    </style>
</head>

<body>
    <div id='sample' style="margin: 20px auto 0; width:250px;">
        <div id='loader'>Loading....</div>
    </div>
</body>

</html>

Binding remote data

The DropDownList supports retrieval of data from remote data services with the help of DataManager component. The Query property is used to fetch data from the database and bind it to the DropDownList.

The following sample displays the first 6 contacts from “Customers” table of the Northwind Data Service.

Source

Preview

index.tsx

index.html

// import DataManager related classes
import { DataManager, ODataV4Adaptor, Query } from '@syncfusion/ej2-data';
import { SortOrder } from '@syncfusion/ej2-lists';
import { DropDownListComponent } from '@syncfusion/ej2-react-dropdowns';
import * as React from 'react';
import * as ReactDOM from 'react-dom';


export default class App extends React.Component<{}, {}> {
// bind the DataManager instance to dataSource property
private customerData: DataManager = new DataManager({
  adaptor: new ODataV4Adaptor,
  crossDomain: true,
    url: 'https://services.odata.org/V4/Northwind/Northwind.svc/'
});
// bind the Query instance to query property
private query: Query = new Query().from('Customers').select(['ContactName', 'CustomerID']).take(6);
// maps the appropriate column to fields property
private fields: object = { text: 'ContactName', value: 'CustomerID' };
// sort the resulted items
private sortOrder: SortOrder = 'Ascending';

public render() {
    return (
          // specifies the tag for render the DropDownList component
        <DropDownListComponent id="ddlelement" query={this.query} dataSource={this.customerData}
        fields={this.fields} sortOrder={this.sortOrder} placeholder="Select a customer" />
    );
}
}
ReactDOM.render(<App />, document.getElementById('sample'));

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">

<head>
    <title>Syncfusion React DropDownList</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <meta name="description" content="Essential JS 2 for React Components" />
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion" />
    <link href="//cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="//cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/ej2-react-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <link href="//cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/ej2-react-dropdowns/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/systemjs/0.19.38/system.js"></script>
    <script src="systemjs.config.js"></script>
    <style>
        #loader {
            color: #008cff;
            height: 40px;
            left: 45%;
            position: absolute;
            top: 45%;
            width: 30%;
        }
    </style>
</head>

<body>
    <div id='sample' style="margin: 20px auto 0; width:250px;">
        <div id='loader'>Loading....</div>
    </div>
</body>

</html>

Data Binding in React DropDownList component

Binding local data

1. Array of simple data

2. Array of JSON data

3. Array of Complex data

Binding remote data

See Also