title: ASP.NET Setting SelectedValue that doesn't belong to the list does not trigger Exception
body: <p>I have an ASP.Net form where I use a DropDownList control to display data retrieved from a table. However setting the SelectedValue of the DropDownList to a value not existing in the dropdown list does not trigger an exception.</p>
  
  <pre><code>Try
      dropDownList.SelectedValue = value
  Catch ex as Exception
      Throw
  End Try
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>In the code above, if I assign a value that does not belong to the list's item, it does not throw an Exception. It just selects the first item in the list when the HTML is rendered.</p>
  
  <p>Any ideas why?</p>
  
  <p>By the way, I have a blank (String.Empty) item as the first item in the list. I also used DataBind() to bind the listItem to a DataTable. Does that make any difference?</p>