ASP.NET C# - Dropdown list by using User Control - asp.net

Question

I am new to ASP.NET
Someone in this forum helped me how to get the dropdown list work wth user countrol and it is working.
In my user control file, VendorListControl.ascx, I have this code below. Please assume that the VendorListControl.ascx.cs works correctly, which is when I select a VendorName, it will fired "ddlVendor_SelectedIndexChanged" to refreshed the "ddlVendorBUList" dropdown list.
<%# Control Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="VendorListControl.ascx.cs" Inherits="MyNamespace.VendorListControl" %>
<asp:DropDownList runat="server" ID="ddlVendorList" onselectedindexchanged="ddlVendor_SelectedIndexChanged" AutoPostBack="True" />
<asp:DropDownList runat="server" ID="ddlVendorBUList" AutoPostBack="True" />
<asp:Label runat="server" ID="lblMessage" />
My VendorListControl.ascx.cs code:
using System;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
namespace MyNamespace
{
public partial class VendorListControl : System.Web.UI.UserControl
{
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (!IsPostBack)
{
FillVendors();
}
}
protected void ddlVendor_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
int VendorID = Convert.ToInt32(ddlVendorList.SelectedValue.ToString());
FillVendorBU(VendorID);
}
private void FillVendors()
{
string strConn = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["ConnectionString"].ConnectionString;
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection conn = new System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection(strConn);
SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand();
cmd.Connection = conn;
cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
cmd.CommandText = "SELECT VendorID, VendorName FROM MDF_Vendor";
DataSet objDs = new DataSet();
SqlDataAdapter dAdapter = new SqlDataAdapter();
dAdapter.SelectCommand = cmd; ;
conn.Open();
dAdapter.Fill(objDs);
conn.Close();
if (objDs.Tables[0].Rows.Count > 0)
{
this.ddlVendorList.DataSource = objDs.Tables[0];
this.ddlVendorList.DataTextField = "VendorName";
this.ddlVendorList.DataValueField = "VendorID";
this.ddlVendorList.DataBind();
this.ddlVendorList.Items.Insert(0, "-- Select --");
}
else
{
this.lblMessage.Text = "No Vendor Found";
}
}
private void FillVendorBU(int VendorID)
{
string strConn = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["ConnectionString"].ConnectionString;
SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(strConn);
SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand();
cmd.Connection = con;
cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
cmd.CommandText = "SELECT VendorBUID, VendorBUName FROM dbo.MDF_VendorBU WHERE VendorID = #VendorID";
cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("#VendorID", VendorID);
DataSet objDs = new DataSet();
SqlDataAdapter dAdapter = new SqlDataAdapter();
dAdapter.SelectCommand = cmd;
con.Open();
dAdapter.Fill(objDs);
con.Close();
if (objDs.Tables[0].Rows.Count > 0)
{
ddlVendorBUList.DataSource = objDs.Tables[0];
ddlVendorBUList.DataTextField = "VendorBUName";
ddlVendorBUList.DataValueField = "VendorBUID";
ddlVendorBUList.DataBind();
ddlVendorBUList.Items.Insert(0, "--Select--");
}
else
{
lblMessage.Text = "No states found";
}
}
}
}
Next, in my CreateNewRecord.aspx page, I have this code to include both dropdown list from user control. And I can see the dropdown lists works properly.
<%# Register TagPrefix="uc" TagName="VendorListControl" Src="Controls/VendorListControl.ascx" %>
// Some where in the form
<tr>
<td class="right" width="20%">Vendor Name:</td>
<td>
<uc:VendorListControl runat="server" />
</td>
</tr>
The problem is related to the ID of those two dropdown lists. When I attemp to do the insert record, it seems not to detect the ID for "ddlVendorList" and "ddlVendorBUList" come from user control ascx page. Error " The name 'ddlVendorList' does not exist in the current context"
ExecuteInsert(ddlVendorList.SelectedItem.Text,
ddlVendorBUList.SelectedItem.Text,
MDFAmount.Text,
StartDate.Text,
EndDate.Text,
VendorQuarter.Text,
MDFName.Text,
MDFSummary.Text,
Status.SelectedItem.Text,
CreatedBy.Value
);
Response.Write("<b>Record was successfully added!</b>");
I know I am new to ASP.NET, so please help.

Answer 1

You can put two properties in your VendorListControl to get the ddlVendorList selectedItem text and the ddlVendorBUList selectedItem text.
In VendorListControl.ascx.cs :
public string GetDdlVendorListSelectedItemText
{
get { return this.ddlVendorList.text; }
}
public string GetDdlVendorBUListSelectedItemText
{
get { return this.ddlVendorBUList.text; }
}
Then from your page CreateNewRecord, you can access those properties. You just need to add an id to your control :
<%# Register TagPrefix="uc" TagName="VendorListControl" Src="Controls/VendorListControl.ascx" %>
// Some where in the form
<tr>
<td class="right" width="20%">Vendor Name:</td>
<td>
<uc:VendorListControl id="vendorListControl" runat="server" />
</td>
</tr>
And you can access your properties like this in CreateNewRecord.aspx.cs :
ExecuteInsert(this.vendorListControl.GetDdlVendorListSelectedItemText,
this.vendorListControl.GetDdlVendorBUListSelectedItemText,
MDFAmount.Text,
StartDate.Text,
EndDate.Text,
VendorQuarter.Text,
MDFName.Text,
MDFSummary.Text,
Status.SelectedItem.Text,
CreatedBy.Value
);

Answer 2

You define public property who return SelectedItem.Text in your UserControl.
User Control (Ascx)
public string YourValue
{
get
{
return ddlVendorList.SelectedItem.Text;
}
}
Page (Aspx)
You can use your public property : YourValue.
ExecuteInsert(YourValue,
....... );
Nota : if you wish set value, you define setter on your property
After your update add theses properties
public string YourDdlVendorListSelectedItemText
{
get
{
return this.ddlVendorList.text;
}
}
public string YourDdlVendorBUListSelectedItemText
{
get
{
return this.ddlVendorBUList.text;
}
}