Thanks that worked a treat I supose the problem was converting object to string. but it seems rediculas that it did not know that whatever is in a combo box must be a string. I presume this is the case as it is just a fancy textbox or am I showing my ignorance yet again I wish I could find a basic referance book that doesn't cost the earth all my knowlege is self taught so there are big gaps!!! anyway thanks for the tip you have saved me hours of messing around experimenting.