In this article I will explain how to dynamically add (insert) TextBox values to ListBox on Button click in ASP.Net using C# and VB.Net.
The TextBox values will be dynamically added to a DataTable which ultimately will be used to populate the ASP.Net ListBox control.
 
 
HTML Markup
The HTML Markup consists of an ASP.Net ListBox control, a TextBox and a Button.
<asp:ListBox ID="lstFruits" runat="server" Width = "150" Height = "60"></asp:ListBox>
<br />
<hr />
<asp:TextBox ID="txtFruit" runat="server" />
<asp:Button ID="Button1" Text="Add" runat="server" OnClick="AddValues" />
 
 
Namespaces
You will need to import the following namespace.
C#
using System.Data;
 
VB.Net
Imports System.Data
 
 
Dynamically adding TextBox values to ListBox on Button click in ASP.Net
Inside the Page Load event, a check is made whether a ViewState object containing the dynamic DataTable for populating the ListBox controls exists.
If the ViewState object does not exists then a DataTable containing two columns FruitId and FruitName is created and added to the ViewState object.
Note: The FruitId column is set as AutoIncrement in order to automatically generate unique IDs for the ListBox items.
When the Add button is clicked, the DataTable is fetched from the ViewState object and a new Row is created and added to the DataTable with the value fetched from the TextBox.
After adding the row, the DataTable is saved back in the ViewState object in order to retain the previously added ListBox items across PostBacks.
Finally the DataTable is bound to the ListBox control and which ultimately adds the TextBox value to the ListBox control.
C#
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (!IsPostBack)
    {
        if (ViewState["Fruits"] == null)
        {
            DataTable dtFruits = new DataTable();
            dtFruits.Columns.AddRange(new DataColumn[2] { new DataColumn("FruitId", typeof(int)),
                                    new DataColumn("FruitName", typeof(string)) });
            dtFruits.Columns["FruitId"].AutoIncrement = true;
            dtFruits.Columns["FruitId"].AutoIncrementSeed = 1;
            dtFruits.Columns["FruitId"].AutoIncrementStep = 1;
            ViewState["Fruits"] = dtFruits;
        }
    }
}
 
protected void AddValues(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    DataTable dtFruits = (DataTable)ViewState["Fruits"];
    dtFruits.Rows.Add();
    dtFruits.Rows[dtFruits.Rows.Count - 1]["FruitName"] = txtFruit.Text.Trim();
    txtFruit.Text = string.Empty;
    ViewState["Fruits"] = dtFruits;
 
    lstFruits.DataSource = dtFruits;
    lstFruits.DataTextField = "FruitName";
    lstFruits.DataValueField = "FruitId";
    lstFruits.DataBind();
}
 
VB.Net
Protected Sub Page_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
    If Not IsPostBack Then
        If ViewState("Fruits") Is Nothing Then
            Dim dtFruits As New DataTable()
            dtFruits.Columns.AddRange(New DataColumn(1) {New DataColumn("FruitId", GetType(Integer)), _
                                                         New DataColumn("FruitName", GetType(String))})
            dtFruits.Columns("FruitId").AutoIncrement = True
            dtFruits.Columns("FruitId").AutoIncrementSeed = 1
            dtFruits.Columns("FruitId").AutoIncrementStep = 1
            ViewState("Fruits") = dtFruits
        End If
    End If
End Sub
 
Protected Sub AddValues(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
    Dim dtFruits As DataTable = DirectCast(ViewState("Fruits"), DataTable)
    dtFruits.Rows.Add()
    dtFruits.Rows(dtFruits.Rows.Count - 1)("FruitName") = txtFruit.Text.Trim()
    txtFruit.Text = String.Empty
    ViewState("Fruits") = dtFruits
 
    lstFruits.DataSource = dtFruits
    lstFruits.DataTextField = "FruitName"
    lstFruits.DataValueField = "FruitId"
    lstFruits.DataBind()
End Sub
 
 
Screenshot
Add TextBox values to ListBox on Button click in ASP.Net using C# and VB.Net
 
 
Demo
View Demo
 
 
Downloads
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