>>If I set cboTarget.SelectedIndex to a numeric value it works correctly - that is it displays the record of interest.
>>>
>>>Tom
>
>Just FYI
>
>I'm assuming that yor are aware that all arrays, lists (including drop down lists (ddl's) and list boxes), datasets, etc. are all zero based - i.e. the first item is at position zero.
>
>Regarding cboTarget.SelectedIndex, yes it can only be a numeric value and in one environment (can't remember off the top of my head whether it is WebForms or WinForms) it can be -1 to indicate no item selected.
>
>cboTarget.Items.IndexOf( ListItem ) returns numeric
>
>cboTarget.Items.FindByValue( cValueToFind) returns a ListItem, as does FindByText.
>
>Also just FYI, here is the VB.Net code I use to populate combo's preceded by a sample showing typical values in a call.

'Call from WebForm code behind:
>Dim cCurrentValue As String = "5"
>g.populateCombo( Me.cboDistricts _
>		, "SELECT ID, DistrictName FROM Districts WHERE ID > 0" _
>		, cCurrentValue _
>		, "0", "No Districts Available" _
>		, "0", "Please Select District" )
>
>
>' Sub in Global.asax
>Public Sub populateCombo(ByRef cboTarget As DropDownList _
>			, ByRef cSQL As String _
>			, ByVal cInitialValue As String _
>			, ByVal cBlankValue As String, ByVal cBlankDisplay As String _
>			, ByVal cFirstValue As String, ByVal cFirstDisplay As String)
>
>	Dim tblTemp As DataTable = Me.getTable(cSQL)
>
>	cboTarget.Items.Clear()
>	If tblTemp.Rows.Count = 0 Then
>		cboTarget.Items.Add(New ListItem(cBlankDisplay, cBlankValue))
>	Else
>		If cFirstValue.Length > 0 Then
>			cboTarget.Items.Add(New ListItem(cFirstDisplay, cFirstValue))
>		End If
>		Dim drTemp As DataRow
>		For Each drTemp In tblTemp.Rows
>			cboTarget.Items.Add(New ListItem(CStr(drTemp(1)), CStr(drTemp(0))))
>		Next
>		If Not IsNothing(cInitialValue) Then
>			cboTarget.SelectedIndex _
>				= cboTarget.Items.IndexOf( _
>					cboTarget.Items.FindByValue(cInitialValue))
>		End If
>	End If
>End Sub

Houston;

Thank you for the above code.

Tom