I have a list of items I need in a combo box, is there a way to put both the item ID value and the TEXT that is displayed. then they slelect one I get the ID Value not the text value

Example

my data

ID TEXT

1 Texas

5 Illinois

16 New York

I show them the TEXT but ID is the number I capture

Dim objconn As New SqlConnection(Connstring)

Dim ocomm As New SqlCommand("Select rtN_Routename from tblRoutename order by 1", objconn)

Dim myreader As SqlDataReader = ocomm.ExecuteReader

Do While myreader.Read()

cboRoute.Items.Add(myreader.Item("rtN_Routename"))

Loop

You won't be able to bind to your data reader. Instead, use a data adapter or table adapter and fill a data table. You can bind to a data table.

I strongly encourage you to use a TableAdapter, and create a strongly typed DataSet. They are much nicer to work with than generic DataSets and DataReaders because you get autocompletion, type checking and field name verification at compile time.

You are almost there...

Instead of adding items 'manualy', you need to set the combobox DataSource to the SqlDataReader object and set the ValueMember and DisplayMember to the Text and ID you want:

comboBox1.ValueMember = "IDField";

comboBox1.DisplayMember = "TextField";

so instead of doing the loop

Do While myreader.Read()

cboRoute.Items.Add(myreader.Item("rtN_Routename"))

Loop

getting error

You won't be able to bind to your data reader. Instead, use a data adapter or table adapter and fill a data table. You can bind to a data table.

I strongly encourage you to use a TableAdapter, and create a strongly typed DataSet. They are much nicer to work with than generic DataSets and DataReaders because you get autocompletion, type checking and field name verification at compile time.

Opps. Sorry for the wrong example...

Christopher is right, a strongly types DataSet is a good way to go.

If you want just a simple databinding, you can load the SqlReader into a DataTable and use it as the DataSource.

System.Data.DataTable dt = new System.Data.DataTable();