How to set selected value from Combobox?

I use combobox in c# windows form. I bound the item list as below:

var employmentStatus = new BindingList<KeyValuePair<string, string>>();

employmentStatus.Add(new KeyValuePair<string, string>("0", "[Select Status]"));
employmentStatus.Add(new KeyValuePair<string, string>("1", "Contract"));
employmentStatus.Add(new KeyValuePair<string, string>("2", "Part Time"));
employmentStatus.Add(new KeyValuePair<string, string>("3", "Permanent"));
employmentStatus.Add(new KeyValuePair<string, string>("4", "Probation"));

employmentStatus.Add(new KeyValuePair<string, string>("5", "Other"));
cmbEmployeeStatus.DataSource = employmentStatus;
cmbEmployeeStatus.ValueMember = "Key";
cmbEmployeeStatus.DisplayMember = "Value";
cmbEmployeeStatus.SelectedIndex = 0;

I save the selected value in database eg.1 or 2. Now I want to set selected value from database item like:

cmbEmployeeStatus.SelectedValue =employee.employmentstatus;     

But combobox not selected with value. How can I do that?

Solution 1:

Try this one.

cmbEmployeeStatus.SelectedIndex = cmbEmployeeStatus.FindString(employee.employmentstatus);

Hope that helps. :)

Solution 2:

In order to do the database style ComboBoxes manually trying to setup a relationship between a number (internal) and some text (visible), I've found you have to:

1. Store you items in a list (You are close - except the string,string - need int,string)
2. DataSource property to the list (You are good)
3. DataMember,DataValue (You are good)
4. Load default value (You are good)
5. Put in value from database (Your question)
6. Get value to put back in database (Your next question)

First things first. Change your KeyValuePair to so it looks like:

(0,"Select") (1,"Option 1")

Now, when you run your sql "Select empstatus from employees where blah" and get back an integer, you need to set the combobox without wasting a bunch of time.

Simply: *** SelectedVALUE - not Item ****

cmbEmployeeStatus.SelectedValue = 3;   //or

cmbEmployeeStatus.SelectedValue = intResultFromQuery;   

This will work whether you have manually loaded the combobox with code values, as you did, or if you load the comboBox from a query.

If your foreign keys are integers, (which for what I do, they all are), life is easy. After the user makes the change to the comboBox, the value you will store in the database is SelectedValue. (Cast to int as needed.)

Here is my code to set the ComboBox to the value from the database:

if (t is DBInt) //Typical for ComboBox stuff
    {
    cb.SelectedValue = ((DBInt)t).value;
    }

And to retrieve:

((DBInt)t).value = (int) cb.SelectedValue;

DBInt is a wrapper for an Integer, but this is part of my ORM that gives me manual control over databinding, and reduces code errors.

Why did I answer this so late? I was struggling with this also, as there seems to be no good info on the web about how to do this. I figured it out, and thought I'd be nice and post it for someone else to see.

Solution 3:

In windows Appliation we use like this

 DDLChangeImpact.SelectedIndex = DDLChangeImpact.FindStringExact(ds.Tables[0].Rows[0]["tmchgimp"].ToString());
 DDLRequestType.SelectedIndex = DDLRequestType.FindStringExact(ds.Tables[0].Rows[0]["rmtype"].ToString());