Setting the selected item value in a dropdownlist?

Hello,

I have a dropdownlist (ddlState) that is bound by a table (tblState). A second table (tblPreferences) is queried to find what the selected value of the dropdownlist should be. This works fine.

However, Ive been getting a "Object reference not set to an instance of an object" error when trying to set the selected value of the dropdownlist. Heres a code snippet.

' dropdownlist has already been bound
' strState contains the selected value (i.e. Michigan)
DataReader.Read
 dim strState as string
 strState = dataReader( "LandState" )
 ddlState.SelectedItem.Value = strState

Any ideas?

Thanks,
DamonJust figured it out:

ddlState.Selectedindex = ddlState.Items.Indexof (ddlState.Items.FindByValue(strState))

[C#]
ListItem liSelect = ddlState.FindByValue(strState);
// if not found, then leave as is
if ( liSelect == null )
{
 ddlState.SelectedItem.Selected = false; // could be "Select"
 liSelect.Selected = true;
}
[VB.NET]
Dim liSelect As ListItem = ddlState.FindByValue(strState)
' if not found, leave as is
If Not liSelect Is Nothing Then
 ddlState.SelectedItem.Selected = False
 liSelect.Selected = True
End If

Pardon the intrusion, but I just have to mention this :-D

WithEasyListBox, you select an item this way:

myELB.SelectedValue = strState

(For C#, just slap a semicolon on there)

It'sjust as easy for multiple-select lists...