C# Repeater.DataSource from 2 StringCollections

Question

I have 2 StringCollections:

StringCollection ParameterIDs
StringCollection ParameterValues

Is it able to map these both StringCollections as DataSource, something like:

repeater.DataSource = ParameterIDs (as row1) + ParameterValues (as row2);
repeater.DataBind();

and use them in repeater like:

                <asp:Repeater ID="repeatParameters" runat="server">
                    <HeaderTemplate>
                        <table>
                    </HeaderTemplate>
                    <ItemTemplate>
                        <tr>
                            <td class="formLabel">
                                <asp:Label ID="lblParameterID" Text="<% #DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem,"ParameterIDs") %>" runat="server" MaxLength="50"></asp:Label><br />
                            </td>
                            <td class="formInputText">
                                <asp:Label ID="lblParameterValue" Text="<%#DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem,"ParameterValues") %>" runat="server" MaxLength="50"></asp:Label><br />
                            </td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                    </ItemTemplate>
                    <FooterTemplate>
                        </table>
                    </FooterTemplate>
                </asp:Repeater>

Answer 1

First thought:
Mash them up in a Dictionary and use that as a datasource.

Second thought:
Create a DataSet with the values you need.

Third thought:
Use KeyValuePair.

As you see there are a lot of different ways of doing this but all of them share a common element:
Create a single object which stores and maps the corresponding values.

Answer 2

I would populate a Dictionary with your string collections and then bind to the Dictionary.

Answer 3

No, because the DataSource requires an object with the ICollection interface.

Like the others said, you could create a dictionary or something like:

List<KeyValuePair<string,string>>

Where the parameter id is the key, and the parameter value is the value in the KeyValuePair.

Answer 4

I would suggest 2 options 1. In .NET 1.1 you don't have generic lists, so you may join collections manually in your code, and then use joined collectionas a datasource

        StringCollection joined = new StringCollection();

        foreach(string s in stringCollection1)
            joined.Add(s);
        foreach (string s in stringCollection2)
        {
            if (!joined.Contains(s))
                joined.Add(s);
        }

1. In .NET 2.0 and more I would suggest you to use List instead of StringCollection With AddRange() you can add another list to an existing list.

2. In .NET 3.5 you can use Linq to intersect 2 lists

   public static IEnumerable<TSource> Intersect<TSource>(
   this IEnumerable<TSource> first,
   IEnumerable<TSource> second
   

   )

Answer 5

This will do exactly what you want, providing you are using .NET 3.5:

 StringCollection parameterIds = new StringCollection();
 StringCollection parameterValues = new StringCollection();
 parameterIds.Add("someID");
 parameterValues.Add("someValue");

 var dataSource = parameterIds.Cast<string>()
     .SelectMany(itemOne => parameterValues
     .Cast<string>(), (itemOne, item2) => new { Row1 = itemOne, Row2 = item2 });

 repeater.DataSource = dataSource;
 repeater.DataBind();

Like Bogdan_Ch has said, I recommend you move away from StringCollection to List<string> if you are using .NET 2.0 and above. Doing that has the added advantage that you don't need to use the Cast extension method.