asp.net – extract data from listbox

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I almost have my handy-dandy replacement application ready to go, but I ran into a little problem – users like to see dropdown boxes with codes and descriptions (e.g. d dog), and the table to be added/updated just wants the code. Although I’ve been able to set up a listbox that contains the field:
“Select salescode + ‘ ‘ + Description as DropCode FROM T_Mickey ORDER BY salescode”

when I try to take the left three for the DropCode and I set it up like:

dim txtRegion as TextBox
dim strRegion as String
……..
txtRegion = lstSRep.SelectedItem
strRegion = Left(txtRegion.Text, 3)

I get….

“Value of type ‘System.Web.UI.WebControls.ListItem’ cannot be converted to ‘System.Web.UI.WebControls.TextBox’.”

If I set up:

strRegion = Left(lstSRep.SelectedItem, 3)

I get:

Value of type ‘System.Web.UI.WebControls.ListItem’ cannot be converted to ‘String’

So how do I get the left 3 of DropCode? I think I’m missing something here, right?

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Peggy – I can’t help, but using the tags instead of the [small] may make your code a bit more readable!

Code:

dim txtRegion as TextBox
dim strRegion as String
........
txtRegion = lstSRep.SelectedItem
strRegion = Left(txtRegion.Text, 3)

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Sorry – Leif – I was just trying to separate the code from my blathering on and on.

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You shouldn’t need to use a TextBox object to capture the value from the selected list item.

Try this:

Dim mySelectedItem as ListItem
Dim region as String

mySelectedItem = lstSRep.SelectedItem
region = mySelectedItem.Value.Substring(0,3)

(I’m not sure if you’ll want ListItem.Value or ListItem.Text – it just depends on how you’ve built your list. If one doesn’t work, try the other.)

FYI – the “.NET” way to obtain the first 3 characters is to use Substring() instead of Left().

Hope this helps!

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Thanks Mark!

I’ll try this out and let you know.

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Mark,

My .aspx form didn’t like the ListItem. I struggled for awhile and then emailed this to a consultant who still owes us some time. Here’s what worked:

dim strRegion as string
………
strRegion = Convert.ToString(lstSRep.SelectedItem.Value)

I’m busy now getting all the verifications on the fields (please fill in field stuff) and then the application will be just like the end user is expecting.

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