# How to bind a drop-down list in GridView with the Form Designer

**URL:** https://discuss.workflowgen.com/t/how-to-bind-a-drop-down-list-in-gridview-with-the-form-designer/286
**Category:** Form Designer
**Created:** [May 22, 2015, 2:27am UTC](https://discuss.workflowgen.com/t/how-to-bind-a-drop-down-list-in-gridview-with-the-form-designer/286 "2015-05-22T02:27:17Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![wfg-admin](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discuss.workflowgen.com/wfg-admin/32/714_2.png) [@wfg-admin](https://discuss.workflowgen.com/u/wfg-admin)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2015, 2:27am UTC](https://discuss.workflowgen.com/t/how-to-bind-a-drop-down-list-in-gridview-with-the-form-designer/286/1 "2015-05-22T02:27:17Z")

</div>

Adding a GridView to the Form Designer and using a drop-down list in one of the columns bound from a database source/table causes the following .NET error when loading the form at runtime:

`[FIELD] has a SelectedValue which is invalid because it does not exist in the list of items.&nbsp; Parameter name: value`

This is because the drop-down list default is a `String.Empty` value, and so it cannot find a valid item with an empty value in the drop-down list, since it is bound to a database table that doesn’t contain a record of which value column has a `String.Empty` value.

The solution is to define a static default item in the drop-down list. To do this:

1. In the **Form Designer** , click the pencil icon next to the drop-down list to open the **Settings** window.

2. On the **Items** tab, add a static default item with the `value=""` (without blank spaces) and `Text="Select..."`

3. On the **Databind** tab, check the **Append data bound items** option.