Is there a way to assign values to a combobox without using a datasource?

Question

I'm using Entity Framework to throw together a combobox with values from my MSSQL database using the following

using (var context = new Entity())
{
    var things = (from p in context.Stuff 
                  where ((p.SourceId == StuffId && p.Domain.Value == "Stuff") 
                    || (p.SourceId == OtherStuffId && p.Domain.Value == "OtherStuff")) 
                    && p.Done == true orderby p.StuffId 
                  select p);

    foreach(var stuff in things)
        cboRejectTask.Items.Add(stuff.StuffId + ": " + stuff.StuffType.Description + " " + stuff.StuffType.DisplayName);
}

I'd like to assign values to each row so that when it comes time to grab what the user selected I don't have to do string manipulation to get what I want. I don't want to use a datasource if possible.

Solution:

Given there isn't a better way to do this than creating a custom class I went ahead and did so using the selected answer's code modified a bit for long-term use. (note: you could really use any given object as long as ToString() returned the "display text" and it had a Tag or any writeable property compatible with your needs)

public class ComboBoxItem
{
    public string Display;
    public object Value;

    public override string ToString()
    {
        return Display;
    }
}

Given this code I can now change my code to the following:

using (var context = new Entity())
{
    var things = (from p in context.Stuff 
                  where ((p.SourceId == StuffId && p.Domain.Value == "Stuff") 
                    || (p.SourceId == OtherStuffId && p.Domain.Value == "OtherStuff")) 
                    && p.Done == true orderby p.StuffId 
                  select p);

    foreach(var stuff in things)
        cboRejectTask.Items.Add(new ComboBoxItem() { Display = stuff.StuffId + ": " + stuff.StuffType.Description + " " + stuff.StuffType.DisplayName, Value = stuff.StuffId });
}

Answer 1

public partial class Form1 : Form
{
    public Form1()
    {
        InitializeComponent();

        var cbi1 = new ComboBoxItem("Item 1") { Id = 1 };
        var cbi2 = new ComboBoxItem("Item 2") { Id = 2 };
        var cbi3 = new ComboBoxItem("Item 3") { Id = 3 };
        comboBox1.Items.Add(cbi1);
        comboBox1.Items.Add(cbi2);
        comboBox1.Items.Add(cbi3);
    }

    private void comboBox1_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        var id = ((ComboBoxItem)comboBox1.SelectedItem).Id;

        MessageBox.Show(id.ToString());

    }
}

public class ComboBoxItem
{
    private readonly string text;

    public int Id { get; set; }

    public ComboBoxItem(string text)
    {
        this.text = text;
    }

    public override string ToString()
    {
        return text;
    }
}

Answer 2

I think you might find this usefull:

comboBox1.Items.Add(1);
comboBox1.Items.Add(2);
comboBox1.Items.Add(3);

private void comboBox1_Format(object sender, ListControlConvertEventArgs e)
{
    //this will set what gets displayed in the combobox, but does not change the value.
    e.Value = "display value";
}

private void comboBox1_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    MessageBox.Show((sender as ComboBox).SelectedItem.ToString());
}