Use the BaseDataList.DataSourceID property to access the System.Web.UI.Control.ID property of the data source control that the data listing control should use to retrieve its data source. The data source control referenced by the BaseDataList.DataSourceID property can be any control that implements the System.Web.UI.IDataSource interface. The data source control must exist either in the same naming container as the data listing control that references it, or in a parent control of the data listing control. When you specify a value for this property, the data listing control automatically binds to the specified data source control. You do not need to write code that explicitly calls the BaseDataList.DataBind method.

Alternately, you can use the BaseDataList.DataSource property to specify the source of values to bind to a data listing control. The data source must be a collection that implements the IEnumerable interface (such as System.Data.DataView, ArrayList, or List`1) or the System.ComponentModel.IListSource interface to bind to a control derived from the System.Web.UI.WebControls.BaseDataList class. When you set the BaseDataList.DataSource property, you must manually write the code to perform data binding.

If values are specified for both the BaseDataList.DataSource property and the BaseDataList.DataSourceID property, ASP.NET is not able to resolve the data source and an System.Web.HttpException exception is thrown.

This property cannot be set by themes or style sheet themes. For more information, see System.Web.UI.ThemeableAttribute and ASP.NET Themes Overview.