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h2. Intro
{excerpt}This guide will explain how to import a single row of values into a PowerPoint presentation using data markers. This assumes a basic understanding of [data markers|How to use Data Markers].{excerpt}

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h2. Setting up the Template

The template file should contain data markers following proper data marker syntax. Each copy of a given data marker will be populated with the same value. If the data marker appears in a table row or list entry, nothing will be automatically repeated if only one row is imported. 

h2. Binding Data

PowerPointTemplate has a single method for binding data to the data markers that are located in the template: {{[PowerPointTemplate.BindData]}}. Depending on the data source type and the number of rows in the data source, PowerPointWriter will either import a single row of data or [import multiple rows|Importing Multiple Rows of Data].

There are several ways to import a single row of data into a presentation:
# Use a single dimensional array
# Use a multi-dimensional data source AND
## the data source only has one row of data
## {{[DataBindingProperties.MaxRowsToImport]}} is set to 1 


h2. Single Dimensional Arrays

Arrays don't have built-in means to store column names. The user must specify the column names in a string array that is passed to {{PowerPointTemplate.BindData}} at run time.

{code:language=csharp}
            PowerPointTemplate pptt = new PowerPointTemplate();
            pptt.Open(@"C:\DataBinding\ArrayBindingTemplate.pptx");

            string[] values = {"Hello World", "subtitle"};
            string[] colNames = {"header", "subtitle"};
            DataBindingProperties DataProps = pptt.CreateDataBindingProperties();

            pptt.BindData(values, colNames, "DataSource1", DataProps);
            pptt.Process();
            pptt.Save(Page.Response,
               "ArrayBinding.pptx",
               false);
{code}
{code:language=csharp}
		Dim pptt As New PowerPointTemplate();
		pptt.Open("C:\DataBinding\ArrayBindingTemplate.pptx")
 
		Dim values = New String() {"Hello World", "subtitle"}
		Dim colNames = New String() {"header", "subtitle"}


		Dim DataProps As DataBindingProperites = pptt.CreateDataBindingProperties()
		pptt.BindData(values, colnames, "DataSource1", DataProps)
		pptt.Process()
		pptt.Save(Page.Repponse, "ArrayBinding.pptx", False)
{code}

h2. Multi-dimensional data sources

h3. Data source with one row of data

If a multi-dimensional data source has only one row of data, the automatic repeating behavior will not occur. This is consistent for any of the multi-dimensional data sources supported by [BindData|PowerPointTemplate.BindData]:
* Jagged and multi-dimensional arrays
* Custom objects (IEnumerable<T>)
* System.IDataReader and System.DataTable

h3. Setting MaxRowsToImport to 1

MaxRowsToImport is a property on the [DataBindingProperties] object that can be used to limit the number of rows that are imported, regardless of how many rows are actually in the data source. 

{csharp}
DataBindingProperties dataProps = ppt.CreateDataBindingProperties();
dataProps.MaxRowsToImport = 1;
ppt.BindData(getDataTable(), "DataSourceName", dataProps);
{csharp}