Some times we want to disable a control not to edit or change the value, but disabling a control becomes a bad look. An alternative is read only, it is possible to make a textbox as readonly by the property ReadOnly setting as true. but it is not possible for the DropDownList control.
We can't make a DropDownList control for read only in Asp.Net unlike doing in windows applications.
One good solution is to disable all items except the selected one. The following DropDownList control (ddlAuctionStatus) has some items and an item is selected, then using the code will provide a readonly approach by disabling all unselected items
foreach (ListItem it in (ddlAuctionStatus.Items)
{
if (it.Selected != true)
it.Enabled = false;
}
The DropDownList box will show the selectedvalue only (may be selected by SelectedValue or SelectedIndex properties). It is realy like a read only box, we can't select other items.
To hide items dynamically by code as per the application's need, use the following example.
//To hide 1 & 3
(ddlAuctionStatus.Items[0] as ListItem).Enabled = false;
(ddlAuctionStatus.Items[2] as ListItem).Enabled = false;
The items 1 & 3 will disappear.
