DropDownList SelectedIndex problem in C# (from working VB.NET)

[Rishad Quazi]

Hello All,

I've been diligently going through the examples in Scott Mitchell's
"ASP Data Web Controls" book (I would recommend this work -- cleared
up a lot of questions for me). All of the examples are in VB.NET and
though I've been able to convert pretty much all of the examples so
far into C# (my preferred language), there's one critical example that
has me stumped. In Chapter 9, he demonstrates how to create a DataGrid
containing a column with a DropDownList containing a foreign key to
another table (using the pubs database, displaying the books table
with FK to publishers name table).

Here's the working VB.NET example:

http://2602a.frsc01.forestry.ubc.ca/KickStartVB/Listing9.7.aspx

I managed to get the VB.NET example to work perfectly, but am stumped
at a critical step of converting it to C#.

Here's the code for the VB.NET example:

..
..
..
..


<aspataGrid runat="server" id="dgTitle" Font-Name="Verdana"
Font-Size="9pt"

CellPadding="5"
AlternatingItemStyle-BackColor="#dddddd" AutoGenerateColumns="False"

DataKeyField="title_id"
OnEditCommand="dgTitle_EditRow" OnUpdateCommand="dgTitle_UpdateRow"

OnCancelCommand="dgTitle_CancelRow">
<HeaderStyle BackColor="Navy" ForeColor="White" Font-Size="13pt"
Font-Bold="True"

HorizontalAlign="Center" />
<Columns>
<asp:EditCommandColumn ButtonType="LinkButton" HeaderText="Edit"

EditText="Edit" UpdateText="Update" CancelText="Cancel" />
<asp:BoundColumn DataField="title" HeaderText="Title" ReadOnly="True"
/>
<asp:TemplateColumn HeaderText="Publisher">
<ItemTemplate>
<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "pub_name") %>
</ItemTemplate>
<EditItemTemplate>
<aspropDownList id="ddlPublisher" runat="server"
DataTextField="pub_name"
DataValueField="pub_id"
DataSource="<%# GetPublishers() %>"
SelectedIndex='<%# GetSelectedIndex(Container.DataItem("pub_id")) %>'
/>
</EditItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateColumn>
<asp:BoundColumn DataField="price" DataFormatString="{0:c}"

HeaderText="Price" ReadOnly="True" />
</Columns>
</aspataGrid>


And the server-side code:

Private Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As
System.EventArgs) Handles

MyBase.Load
'Put user code to initialize the page here
If Not Page.IsPostBack Then
BindData()
End If

End Sub

Dim ddlDataSet As DataSet = New DataSet

Sub BindData()
'1. Create a connection
Const strConnString As String =
"server=XXX;uid=pubs;pwd=XXX;database=pubs"
Dim objConn As New SqlConnection(strConnString)

'2. Create a command object for the query
Dim strSQL As String = _
"SELECT title_id, title, t.pub_id, p.pub_name, price FROM titles t " &
_
"INNER JOIN publishers p ON t.pub_id = p.pub_id ORDER BY title"
Dim objCmd As New SqlCommand(strSQL, objConn)

objConn.Open() 'Open the connection

'Finally, specify the DataSource and call DataBind()
dgTitle.DataSource =
objCmd.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior.CloseConnection)
dgTitle.DataBind()

objConn.Close() 'Close the connection
End Sub


Function GetPublishers() As DataSet
'1. Create a connection
Const strConnString As String =
"server=XXX;uid=pubs;pwd=XXX;database=pubs"
Dim objConn As New SqlConnection(strConnString)

'2. Create a command object for the query
Const strSQL As String = _
"SELECT pub_id, pub_name FROM publishers ORDER BY pub_name"

Dim myDataAdapter As SqlDataAdapter
myDataAdapter = New SqlDataAdapter(strSQL, objConn)

'Fill the DataSet
objConn.Open() 'Open the connection
myDataAdapter.Fill(ddlDataSet, "Publishers")
objConn.Close() 'Close the connection

Return ddlDataSet 'Return the DataSet
End Function


Function GetSelectedIndex(ByVal pub_id As String) As Integer
'Loop through the DataSet ddlDataSet
Dim iLoop As Integer
Dim dt As DataTable = ddlDataSet.Tables("Publishers")
For iLoop = 0 To dt.Rows.Count - 1
If pub_id = dt.Rows(iLoop)("pub_id").ToString() Then
Return iLoop
End If
Next iLoop
End Function


Sub dgTitle_EditRow(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As
DataGridCommandEventArgs)
dgTitle.EditItemIndex = e.Item.ItemIndex
BindData()
End Sub

Sub dgTitle_UpdateRow(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As
DataGridCommandEventArgs)
'Get information from columns...
Dim ddlPublishers As DropDownList =
e.Item.Cells(2).FindControl("ddlPublisher")

Dim titleID As String = dgTitle.DataKeys(e.Item.ItemIndex)


'Update the database...
Dim strSQL As String
strSQL = "UPDATE titles SET pub_id = @pubIDParam " & _
"WHERE title_id = @titleIDParam"

Const strConnString As String =
"server=XXX;uid=pubs;pwd=XXX;database=pubs"
Dim objConn As New SqlConnection(strConnString)

Dim objCmd As New SqlCommand(strSQL, objConn)

Dim pubIDParam As New SqlParameter("@pubIDParam", SqlDbType.Char, 4)
Dim titleIDParam As New SqlParameter("@titleIDParam",
SqlDbType.VarChar, 6)

pubIDParam.Value = ddlPublishers.SelectedItem.Value
objCmd.Parameters.Add(pubIDParam)

titleIDParam.Value = titleID
objCmd.Parameters.Add(titleIDParam)

'Issue the SQL command
objConn.Open()
objCmd.ExecuteNonQuery()
objConn.Close()

dgTitle.EditItemIndex = -1
BindData()
End Sub

Sub dgTitle_CancelRow(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As
DataGridCommandEventArgs)
dgTitle.EditItemIndex = -1
BindData()
End Sub



..
..
..
..
..
and here is my non-working C# version. The part that does not work is
the SelectionIndex section of the front-end code - if I omit it, the
page works fine, except that when I go into edit mode for a row, the
dropdown list defaults to the first entry in the list, as expected.

..
..
..
..


<aspataGrid runat="server" id="dgTitle" Font-Name="Verdana"

Font-Size="9pt" CellPadding="5"
AlternatingItemStyle-BackColor="#dddddd"

AutoGenerateColumns="False" DataKeyField="title_id"
OnEditCommand="dgTitle_EditRow" OnUpdateCommand="dgTitle_UpdateRow"

OnCancelCommand="dgTitle_CancelRow"
Font-Names="Verdana">
<AlternatingItemStyle BackColor="#DDDDDD"></AlternatingItemStyle>
<HeaderStyle Font-Size="13pt" Font-Bold="True"

HorizontalAlign="Center" ForeColor="White"
BackColor="Navy"></HeaderStyle>
<Columns>
<asp:EditCommandColumn ButtonType="LinkButton"

UpdateText="Update" HeaderText="Edit" CancelText="Cancel"
EditText="Edit"></asp:EditCommandColumn>
<asp:BoundColumn DataField="title" ReadOnly="True"
HeaderText="Title"></asp:BoundColumn>
<asp:TemplateColumn HeaderText="Publisher"> <ItemTemplate>
<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "pub_name") %>
</ItemTemplate>
<EditItemTemplate>
<aspropDownList id="ddlPublisher"
runat="server" DataTextField="pub_name" DataValueField="pub_id"
DataSource="<%# GetPublishers() %>"

*** PROBLEM CODE IS HERE ***
SelectedIndex='< % # GetSelectedIndex(Container.DataItem("pub_id")) %

'

*** PROBLEM CODE ENDS HERE ***
/>
</EditItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateColumn>
<asp:BoundColumn DataField="price" ReadOnly="True" HeaderText="Price"
DataFormatString="{0:c}"></asp:BoundColumn>
</Columns>
</aspataGrid>


Server side code:

..
..
..

public class ForeignKeyDDL : System.Web.UI.Page
{
protected System.Web.UI.WebControls.DataGrid dgTitle;
protected DataSet ddlDataSet = new DataSet();

private void Page_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{

if (!IsPostBack)
BindData();

}


private void BindData() {

// create conn string
string strConn = "server=XXX;uid=pubs;pwd=XXX";

SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(strConn);

// create command obj for the query
string strSQL = "SELECT title_id, title, t.pub_id, p.pub_name, price
FROM

titles t ";
strSQL += "INNER JOIN publishers p ON t.pub_id = p.pub_id

ORDER BY title";

SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(strSQL, conn);

conn.Open();

dgTitle.DataSource =
cmd.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior.CloseConnection);
dgTitle.DataBind();

conn.Close();

}

protected DataSet GetPublishers() {

// create conn string
string strConn = "server=XXX;uid=pubs;pwd=XXX";

SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(strConn);

// create command obj for the query
string strSQL = "SELECT pub_id, pub_name from publishers order by

pub_name";

SqlDataAdapter da = new SqlDataAdapter();

da = new SqlDataAdapter(strSQL, conn);

conn.Open();
da.Fill(ddlDataSet, "Publishers");
conn.Close();

return ddlDataSet;

}

protected int GetSelectedIndex(string pub_id) {

int iLoop;
DataTable dt = ddlDataSet.Tables["Publishers"];

for (iLoop=0; iLoop<dt.Rows.Count - 1; iLoop++) {

if (pub_id.Equals(dt.Rows[iLoop]["pub_id"].ToString()))
return iLoop;
};

return 0;

}

protected void dgTitle_EditRow(object sender, DataGridCommandEventArgs
e) {

dgTitle.EditItemIndex = e.Item.ItemIndex;
BindData();

}

protected void dgTitle_UpdateRow(object sender,
DataGridCommandEventArgs e) {

// get information from columns
DropDownList ddlPublishers = (DropDownList)

e.Item.Cells[2].FindControl("ddlPublisher");

string titleID = dgTitle.DataKeys[e.Item.ItemIndex].ToString();

// update the database
string strSQL = "UPDATE titles set pub_id= @pubIDParam where

title_id=@titleIDParam";

string strConn = "server=XXX;uid=pubs;pwd=XXX;database=pubs;";

SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(strConn);

SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(strSQL, conn);

SqlParameter pubIDParam = new SqlParameter("@pubIDParam",
SqlDbType.Char,

4);
SqlParameter titleIDParam = new SqlParameter("@titleIDParam",

SqlDbType.VarChar, 6);

pubIDParam.Value = ddlPublishers.SelectedItem.Value;
cmd.Parameters.Add(pubIDParam);

titleIDParam.Value = titleID;
cmd.Parameters.Add(titleIDParam);

// issue the SQL command
conn.Open();
cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
conn.Close();

dgTitle.EditItemIndex = -1;
BindData();

}

protected void dgTitle_CancelRow(object sender,
DataGridCommandEventArgs e) {

dgTitle.EditItemIndex = -1;
BindData();

}


..
..
..



I think the C# server side code is working fine. My problem is with
the syntax in the front-end .aspx code. When I try to run the code, I
get the following compile time error:

..
..
..

Description: An error occurred during the compilation of a resource
required to service this
request. Please review the following specific error details and modify
your source code appropriately.

Compiler Error Message: CS0118:
'System.Web.UI.WebControls.DataGridItem.DataItem' denotes a

'property' where a 'method' was expected

Source Error:



Line 26: </ItemTemplate>
Line 27: <EditItemTemplate>
Line 28: <aspropDownList id="ddlPublisher"

runat="server" DataTextField="pub_name" DataValueField="pub_id"
DataSource="<%# GetPublishers() %>"
Line 29: SelectedIndex='<%#
GetSelectedIndex(Container.DataItem("pub_id")) %>'

/>
Line 30: </EditItemTemplate>

..
..
..

I've pretty sure the problem is with my expression of the
SelectedIndex attribute of the
EditItemTemplate, but I've tried quite a few combinations and nothing
seems to work.

Sorry about the long post folks.

Thanks again for any help anyone can provide.

Regards,

- Rishad

 

[Rishad Quazi]

Hi Folks,

Ok, after an afternoon of scouring the net, and generally coming up
empty, I reverted to my strategy of trial-and-error. And lo and
behold, I hit upon it! (and subsequently did the coder's victory dance
around my office

Alright, here is the solution to the lengthy problem described below:

The piece of code that invokes the SelectedIndex handler in VB.NET
appears as:

<aspropDownList id="ddlPublisher" runat="server"
DataTextField="pub_name"
DataValueField="pub_id"
DataSource="<%# GetPublishers() %>"
SelectedIndex='<%# GetSelectedIndex(Container.DataItem("pub_id")) %>'
/>

..... and the corresponding C# version is (drum roll):

<aspropDownList
id="ddlPublisher"
runat="server"
DataTextField="pub_name"
DataValueField="pub_id"
DataSource="<%# GetPublishers() %>"
SelectedIndex='<%# GetSelectedIndex(DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem,
"pub_id").ToString()) %>' >

The last line makes all the difference. I have a feeling that it could
be shortened or expressed more succintly, but it works, and I can go
home happy tonight!

Thanks everyone,

- RQ

Hello All,

I've been diligently going through the examples in Scott Mitchell's
"ASP Data Web Controls" book (I would recommend this work -- cleared
up a lot of questions for me). All of the examples are in VB.NET and
though I've been able to convert pretty much all of the examples so
far into C# (my preferred language), there's one critical example that
has me stumped. In Chapter 9, he demonstrates how to create a DataGrid
containing a column with a DropDownList containing a foreign key to
another table (using the pubs database, displaying the books table
with FK to publishers name table).

Here's the working VB.NET example:

http://2602a.frsc01.forestry.ubc.ca/KickStartVB/Listing9.7.aspx

I managed to get the VB.NET example to work perfectly, but am stumped
at a critical step of converting it to C#.

Here's the code for the VB.NET example:

.
.
.
.


<aspataGrid runat="server" id="dgTitle" Font-Name="Verdana"
Font-Size="9pt"

CellPadding="5"
AlternatingItemStyle-BackColor="#dddddd" AutoGenerateColumns="False"

DataKeyField="title_id"
OnEditCommand="dgTitle_EditRow" OnUpdateCommand="dgTitle_UpdateRow"

OnCancelCommand="dgTitle_CancelRow">
<HeaderStyle BackColor="Navy" ForeColor="White" Font-Size="13pt"
Font-Bold="True"

HorizontalAlign="Center" />
<Columns>
<asp:EditCommandColumn ButtonType="LinkButton" HeaderText="Edit"

EditText="Edit" UpdateText="Update" CancelText="Cancel" />
<asp:BoundColumn DataField="title" HeaderText="Title" ReadOnly="True"
/>
<asp:TemplateColumn HeaderText="Publisher">
<ItemTemplate>
<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "pub_name") %>
</ItemTemplate>
<EditItemTemplate>
<aspropDownList id="ddlPublisher" runat="server"
DataTextField="pub_name"
DataValueField="pub_id"
DataSource="<%# GetPublishers() %>"
SelectedIndex='<%# GetSelectedIndex(Container.DataItem("pub_id")) %>'
/>
</EditItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateColumn>
<asp:BoundColumn DataField="price" DataFormatString="{0:c}"

HeaderText="Price" ReadOnly="True" />
</Columns>
</aspataGrid>


And the server-side code:

Private Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As
System.EventArgs) Handles

MyBase.Load
'Put user code to initialize the page here
If Not Page.IsPostBack Then
BindData()
End If

End Sub

Dim ddlDataSet As DataSet = New DataSet

Sub BindData()
'1. Create a connection
Const strConnString As String =
"server=XXX;uid=pubs;pwd=XXX;database=pubs"
Dim objConn As New SqlConnection(strConnString)

'2. Create a command object for the query
Dim strSQL As String = _
"SELECT title_id, title, t.pub_id, p.pub_name, price FROM titles t " &
_
"INNER JOIN publishers p ON t.pub_id = p.pub_id ORDER BY title"
Dim objCmd As New SqlCommand(strSQL, objConn)

objConn.Open() 'Open the connection

'Finally, specify the DataSource and call DataBind()
dgTitle.DataSource =
objCmd.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior.CloseConnection)
dgTitle.DataBind()

objConn.Close() 'Close the connection
End Sub


Function GetPublishers() As DataSet
'1. Create a connection
Const strConnString As String =
"server=XXX;uid=pubs;pwd=XXX;database=pubs"
Dim objConn As New SqlConnection(strConnString)

'2. Create a command object for the query
Const strSQL As String = _
"SELECT pub_id, pub_name FROM publishers ORDER BY pub_name"

Dim myDataAdapter As SqlDataAdapter
myDataAdapter = New SqlDataAdapter(strSQL, objConn)

'Fill the DataSet
objConn.Open() 'Open the connection
myDataAdapter.Fill(ddlDataSet, "Publishers")
objConn.Close() 'Close the connection

Return ddlDataSet 'Return the DataSet
End Function


Function GetSelectedIndex(ByVal pub_id As String) As Integer
'Loop through the DataSet ddlDataSet
Dim iLoop As Integer
Dim dt As DataTable = ddlDataSet.Tables("Publishers")
For iLoop = 0 To dt.Rows.Count - 1
If pub_id = dt.Rows(iLoop)("pub_id").ToString() Then
Return iLoop
End If
Next iLoop
End Function


Sub dgTitle_EditRow(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As
DataGridCommandEventArgs)
dgTitle.EditItemIndex = e.Item.ItemIndex
BindData()
End Sub

Sub dgTitle_UpdateRow(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As
DataGridCommandEventArgs)
'Get information from columns...
Dim ddlPublishers As DropDownList =
e.Item.Cells(2).FindControl("ddlPublisher")

Dim titleID As String = dgTitle.DataKeys(e.Item.ItemIndex)


'Update the database...
Dim strSQL As String
strSQL = "UPDATE titles SET pub_id = @pubIDParam " & _
"WHERE title_id = @titleIDParam"

Const strConnString As String =
"server=XXX;uid=pubs;pwd=XXX;database=pubs"
Dim objConn As New SqlConnection(strConnString)

Dim objCmd As New SqlCommand(strSQL, objConn)

Dim pubIDParam As New SqlParameter("@pubIDParam", SqlDbType.Char, 4)
Dim titleIDParam As New SqlParameter("@titleIDParam",
SqlDbType.VarChar, 6)

pubIDParam.Value = ddlPublishers.SelectedItem.Value
objCmd.Parameters.Add(pubIDParam)

titleIDParam.Value = titleID
objCmd.Parameters.Add(titleIDParam)

'Issue the SQL command
objConn.Open()
objCmd.ExecuteNonQuery()
objConn.Close()

dgTitle.EditItemIndex = -1
BindData()
End Sub

Sub dgTitle_CancelRow(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As
DataGridCommandEventArgs)
dgTitle.EditItemIndex = -1
BindData()
End Sub



.
.
.
.
.
and here is my non-working C# version. The part that does not work is
the SelectionIndex section of the front-end code - if I omit it, the
page works fine, except that when I go into edit mode for a row, the
dropdown list defaults to the first entry in the list, as expected.

.
.
.
.


<aspataGrid runat="server" id="dgTitle" Font-Name="Verdana"

Font-Size="9pt" CellPadding="5"
AlternatingItemStyle-BackColor="#dddddd"

AutoGenerateColumns="False" DataKeyField="title_id"
OnEditCommand="dgTitle_EditRow" OnUpdateCommand="dgTitle_UpdateRow"

OnCancelCommand="dgTitle_CancelRow"
Font-Names="Verdana">
<AlternatingItemStyle BackColor="#DDDDDD"></AlternatingItemStyle>
<HeaderStyle Font-Size="13pt" Font-Bold="True"

HorizontalAlign="Center" ForeColor="White"
BackColor="Navy"></HeaderStyle>
<Columns>
<asp:EditCommandColumn ButtonType="LinkButton"

UpdateText="Update" HeaderText="Edit" CancelText="Cancel"
EditText="Edit"></asp:EditCommandColumn>
<asp:BoundColumn DataField="title" ReadOnly="True"
HeaderText="Title"></asp:BoundColumn>
<asp:TemplateColumn HeaderText="Publisher"> <ItemTemplate>
<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "pub_name") %>
</ItemTemplate>
<EditItemTemplate>
<aspropDownList id="ddlPublisher"
runat="server" DataTextField="pub_name" DataValueField="pub_id"
DataSource="<%# GetPublishers() %>"

*** PROBLEM CODE IS HERE ***
SelectedIndex='< % # GetSelectedIndex(Container.DataItem("pub_id")) %

'

*** PROBLEM CODE ENDS HERE ***
/>
</EditItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateColumn>
<asp:BoundColumn DataField="price" ReadOnly="True" HeaderText="Price"
DataFormatString="{0:c}"></asp:BoundColumn>
</Columns>
</aspataGrid>


Server side code:

.
.
.

public class ForeignKeyDDL : System.Web.UI.Page
{
protected System.Web.UI.WebControls.DataGrid dgTitle;
protected DataSet ddlDataSet = new DataSet();

private void Page_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{

if (!IsPostBack)
BindData();

}


private void BindData() {

// create conn string
string strConn = "server=XXX;uid=pubs;pwd=XXX";

SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(strConn);

// create command obj for the query
string strSQL = "SELECT title_id, title, t.pub_id, p.pub_name, price
FROM

titles t ";
strSQL += "INNER JOIN publishers p ON t.pub_id = p.pub_id

ORDER BY title";

SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(strSQL, conn);

conn.Open();

dgTitle.DataSource =
cmd.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior.CloseConnection);
dgTitle.DataBind();

conn.Close();

}

protected DataSet GetPublishers() {

// create conn string
string strConn = "server=XXX;uid=pubs;pwd=XXX";

SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(strConn);

// create command obj for the query
string strSQL = "SELECT pub_id, pub_name from publishers order by

pub_name";

SqlDataAdapter da = new SqlDataAdapter();

da = new SqlDataAdapter(strSQL, conn);

conn.Open();
da.Fill(ddlDataSet, "Publishers");
conn.Close();

return ddlDataSet;

}

protected int GetSelectedIndex(string pub_id) {

int iLoop;
DataTable dt = ddlDataSet.Tables["Publishers"];

for (iLoop=0; iLoop<dt.Rows.Count - 1; iLoop++) {

if (pub_id.Equals(dt.Rows[iLoop]["pub_id"].ToString()))
return iLoop;
};

return 0;

}

protected void dgTitle_EditRow(object sender, DataGridCommandEventArgs
e) {

dgTitle.EditItemIndex = e.Item.ItemIndex;
BindData();

}

protected void dgTitle_UpdateRow(object sender,
DataGridCommandEventArgs e) {

// get information from columns
DropDownList ddlPublishers = (DropDownList)

e.Item.Cells[2].FindControl("ddlPublisher");

string titleID = dgTitle.DataKeys[e.Item.ItemIndex].ToString();

// update the database
string strSQL = "UPDATE titles set pub_id= @pubIDParam where

title_id=@titleIDParam";

string strConn = "server=XXX;uid=pubs;pwd=XXX;database=pubs;";

SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(strConn);

SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(strSQL, conn);

SqlParameter pubIDParam = new SqlParameter("@pubIDParam",
SqlDbType.Char,

4);
SqlParameter titleIDParam = new SqlParameter("@titleIDParam",

SqlDbType.VarChar, 6);

pubIDParam.Value = ddlPublishers.SelectedItem.Value;
cmd.Parameters.Add(pubIDParam);

titleIDParam.Value = titleID;
cmd.Parameters.Add(titleIDParam);

// issue the SQL command
conn.Open();
cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
conn.Close();

dgTitle.EditItemIndex = -1;
BindData();

}

protected void dgTitle_CancelRow(object sender,
DataGridCommandEventArgs e) {

dgTitle.EditItemIndex = -1;
BindData();

}


.
.
.



I think the C# server side code is working fine. My problem is with
the syntax in the front-end .aspx code. When I try to run the code, I
get the following compile time error:

.
.
.

Description: An error occurred during the compilation of a resource
required to service this
request. Please review the following specific error details and modify
your source code appropriately.

Compiler Error Message: CS0118:
'System.Web.UI.WebControls.DataGridItem.DataItem' denotes a

'property' where a 'method' was expected

Source Error:



Line 26: </ItemTemplate>
Line 27: <EditItemTemplate>
Line 28: <aspropDownList id="ddlPublisher"

runat="server" DataTextField="pub_name" DataValueField="pub_id"
DataSource="<%# GetPublishers() %>"
Line 29: SelectedIndex='<%#
GetSelectedIndex(Container.DataItem("pub_id")) %>'

/>
Line 30: </EditItemTemplate>

.
.
.

I've pretty sure the problem is with my expression of the
SelectedIndex attribute of the
EditItemTemplate, but I've tried quite a few combinations and nothing
seems to work.

Sorry about the long post folks.

Thanks again for any help anyone can provide.

Regards,

- Rishad

 

[Scott Mitchell [MVP]]

The piece of code that invokes the SelectedIndex handler in VB.NET
appears as:

<aspropDownList id="ddlPublisher" runat="server"
DataTextField="pub_name"
DataValueField="pub_id"
DataSource="<%# GetPublishers() %>"
SelectedIndex='<%# GetSelectedIndex(Container.DataItem("pub_id")) %>'
/>

.... and the corresponding C# version is (drum roll):

<aspropDownList
id="ddlPublisher"
runat="server"
DataTextField="pub_name"
DataValueField="pub_id"
DataSource="<%# GetPublishers() %>"
SelectedIndex='<%# GetSelectedIndex(DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem,
"pub_id").ToString()) %>' >

The last line makes all the difference. I have a feeling that it could
be shortened or expressed more succintly, but it works, and I can go
home happy tonight!

Hi Rishad. First, thanks for your kind words about my book.

Second, you got it, congrats! There are a couple ways to surmount this
problem. See, the crux of it is that C# is strongly typed. VB.NET will
do some of the type conversions behind the covers for you. So, your
custom function expects a string, but DataBinder.Eval() returns an
object. So, you can either use .ToString() or cast the result to a
string using:

SelectedIndex='<%# GetSelectedIndex((string)
DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "pub_id")) %>'


Another option would be to change the function to accept an input
parameter of type object. You would then not have to convert the object
into a string in the .aspx page, but instead in your function. This is
the approach you need to take if the value you are passing into the
custom function might be NULL...

Hopefully this helps clarify things...

--

Scott Mitchell
(e-mail address removed)
http://www.4GuysFromRolla.com
http://www.ASPFAQs.com
http://www.ASPMessageboard.com

* When you think ASP, think 4GuysFromRolla.com!