In this article I will explain with an example, how to use EVAL function to set Selected Value of DropDownList inside GridView in ASP.Net using C# and VB.Net.
 
 
HTML Markup
The HTML Markup consists of an ASP.Net GridView containing two BoundField columns and a TemplateField column.
The TemplateField columns consist of a DropDownList which has been assigned the Selected Value by setting the EVAL function to the SelectedValue property.
<asp:GridView ID="GridView1" runat="server" AutoGenerateColumns="false">
    <Columns>
        <asp:BoundField DataField="Id" HeaderText="Customer Id" ItemStyle-Width="80" />
        <asp:BoundField DataField="Name" HeaderText="Name" ItemStyle-Width="120" />
        <asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Country" ItemStyle-Width="120">
            <ItemTemplate>
                <asp:DropDownList ID = "ddlCountries" runat="server" SelectedValue='<%# Eval("Country") %>'>
                    <asp:ListItem Text = "United States" Value = "United States"></asp:ListItem>
                    <asp:ListItem Text = "India" Value = "India"></asp:ListItem>
                    <asp:ListItem Text = "France" Value = "France"></asp:ListItem>
                    <asp:ListItem Text = "Russia" Value = "Russia"></asp:ListItem>
                </asp:DropDownList>
            </ItemTemplate>
        </asp:TemplateField>
    </Columns>
</asp:GridView>
 
 
Namespaces
You will need to import the following namespace.
C#
using System.Data;
 
VB.Net
Imports System.Data
 
 
Binding the ASP.Net GridView control
The GridView is populated with a dynamic DataTable with some dummy data inside the Page Load event.
Note: You can learn more about this dynamic DataTable in my article Create DataTable dynamically and bind to GridView in ASP.Net.
 
C#
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (!this.IsPostBack)
    {
        DataTable dt = new DataTable();
        dt.Columns.AddRange(new DataColumn[3] { new DataColumn("Id"), new DataColumn("Name"), new DataColumn("Country") });
        dt.Rows.Add(1, "John Hammond", "United States");
        dt.Rows.Add(2, "Mudassar Khan", "India");
        dt.Rows.Add(3, "Suzanne Mathews", "France");
        dt.Rows.Add(4, "Robert Schidner", "Russia");
        GridView1.DataSource = dt;
        GridView1.DataBind();
    }
}
 
VB.Net
Protected Sub Page_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
    If Not Me.IsPostBack Then
        Dim dt As New DataTable()
        dt.Columns.AddRange(New DataColumn(2) {New DataColumn("Id"), New DataColumn("Name"), New DataColumn("Country")})
        dt.Rows.Add(1, "John Hammond", "United States")
        dt.Rows.Add(2, "Mudassar Khan", "India")
        dt.Rows.Add(3, "Suzanne Mathews", "France")
        dt.Rows.Add(4, "Robert Schidner", "Russia")
        GridView1.DataSource = dt
        GridView1.DataBind()
    End If
End Sub
 
 
Screenshot
Using EVAL to set Selected Value of DropDownList inside GridView in ASP.Net
 
 
Demo
View Demo
 
 
Downloads
Download Code