[Solved] Databinding methods such as Eval(), XPath(), and Bind() can only be used in the context of a databound control

Hi paulsb011,

Refer the below sample.

HTML

<asp:FormView ID="FormView1" runat="server">
    <ItemTemplate>
        <asp:DropDownList ID="ddlNames" runat="server">
        </asp:DropDownList>
    </ItemTemplate>
</asp:FormView>

Namespaces

C#

using System.Net;
using System.Web.Script.Serialization;

VB.Net

Imports System.Net
Imports System.Web.Script.Serialization

Code

C#

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (!this.IsPostBack)
    {
        FormView1.DataSource = GetCustomers();
        FormView1.DataBind();

        string name = "Mudassar Khan";
        var ddlNames = (DropDownList)FormView1.FindControl("ddlNames");
        ddlNames.DataSource = from p in GetCustomers()
                                select p;
        ddlNames.DataTextField = "Name";
        ddlNames.DataValueField = "Name";
        ddlNames.DataBind();
        ddlNames.Items.Insert(0, new ListItem { Text = "Select", Value = "" });
        ddlNames.ClearSelection();
        if (ddlNames.Items.FindByValue(name) != null)
        {
            ddlNames.Items.FindByValue(name).Selected = true;
        }
    }
}

private List<Customer> GetCustomers()
{
    ServicePointManager.Expect100Continue = true;
    ServicePointManager.SecurityProtocol = SecurityProtocolType.Tls12;
    string json = (new WebClient()).DownloadString("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aspsnippets/test/master/Customers.json");
    JavaScriptSerializer serializer = new JavaScriptSerializer();
    return serializer.Deserialize<List<Customer>>(json);
}

public class Customer
{
    public string CustomerId { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string Country { get; set; }
}

VB.Net

Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
    If Not Me.IsPostBack Then
        FormView1.DataSource = GetCustomers()
        FormView1.DataBind()
        Dim name As String = "Mudassar Khan"
        Dim ddlNames = CType(FormView1.FindControl("ddlNames"), DropDownList)
        ddlNames.DataSource = From p In GetCustomers()
                               Select p
        ddlNames.DataTextField = "Name"
        ddlNames.DataValueField = "Name"
        ddlNames.DataBind()
        ddlNames.Items.Insert(0, New ListItem With {
            .Text = "Select",
            .Value = ""
        })
        ddlNames.ClearSelection()
        If ddlNames.Items.FindByValue(name) IsNot Nothing Then
            ddlNames.Items.FindByValue(name).Selected = True
        End If
    End If
End Sub

Private Function GetCustomers() As List(Of Customer)
    ServicePointManager.Expect100Continue = True
    ServicePointManager.SecurityProtocol = SecurityProtocolType.Tls12
    Dim json As String = (New WebClient()).DownloadString("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aspsnippets/test/master/Customers.json")
    Dim serializer As JavaScriptSerializer = New JavaScriptSerializer()
    Return serializer.Deserialize(Of List(Of Customer))(json)
End Function

Public Class Customer
    Public Property CustomerId As String
    Public Property Name As String
    Public Property Country As String
End Class

Screenshot