Parse variable string

Question

I have some Items in a ComboBox. Each Item has an Id and a name.

     ______________
    │_____________▼│
    │111  Simon    │              
    │222  Patrick  │              
    │3333 John     │
    │155555 Ted    │
    └──────────────┘

I need to pass the Id of the selected item to a stored procedure. I will have to Parse part of the item to get only the Id. My problem is, how can I do this when I don't know the length of the Id. (It can be from 1 to 100 characters).

Answer 1

You can just split on the space character and take the first result:

var id = comboBox.SelectedText.Split(' ')[0]; // Using array index
var id = comboBox.SelectedText.Split(' ').First(); // Using LINQ

As an aside:

• If using the mobile framework ComboBox class I'd recommend using the ValueMember property to store the ID and then using this rather than just using the displayed text.
• If using the System.Windows.Forms ComboBox you can use the SelectedItem property to access the ID.
• If using the System.Windows.Controls ComboBox you can use the SelectedItem proeprty to access the ID.