Text property for a Drop Down List

I have a form that ties to a database. On the form are three drop down boxes that I want to be drop down lists so that the users have to choose from a restricted selection. However, the box also has to be able to display text when the user is just browsing the records. When I try to insert text from the database into the box I get the good old "Property is read only." Is there a way to either A) Make the drop down list accept an input for the .Text field or B) Make a combobox such that the user has to use one of the existing selections?

You can remove the ability to type text into the combo box by changing the Style Property to Dropdown List.

I've done that, but then I get "Property is Read-Only" when the database puts a piece of data into the box. Is there a way around this?

You may have to use the list property to fill the combo box.

VB Code:

While Not rs.EOF
    ComboBox.List(Index) = rs.Fields(<Your Field>)
    Call rs.MoveNext
Wend

Thats the basic idea anyway.

Are you binding this ComboBox to a datasource? If you are then this may not work.

You're not quite getting what I'm trying to do. I populate the box from code. That's not a problem. But it's bound to a field in the database. When the user is thumbing through records, I get a "Property is Read Only" when it tries to assign the value in the database to the .text field of the drop down list. If I leave the drop down a combo it works fine, but then users can enter whatever they want in the text field and it invalidates my data structure.

May be this helps...
ComboBox DropDown Style Property

• 0 - DropDown Combo 'The Text Can Be Edited
• 1 - Simple Combo 'No Drop Down Just SpinControl
• 2 - DropDown List 'U Should Select This Then U Have No Problem

You will only get that error if the value does not exist in the drop down list. Are you sure the text is there?

If the text doesn't exist in the combo then add it using
the .AddItem method.

Also, you can use the SendMessage API with the
CB_FINDSTRINGEXACT const. to search the combo and set
the .ListIndex property to the results. If it is not found then the
API returns a -1 basically setting the combo text to a Nullstring.
No errors. If it is found the it sets it to an item in the combo.

HTH.