[2005] Appending strings

[steve_rm]

Hello,

i am using the following,

However, i am just wondering is they a better way to do this.

The user will enter an integer value into a text box, then select from a combo box. For example enter 3 in the text box, and select days from the combo box.

The end result would be: 3 Days.

'Append the duration from the combo box to the value entered into the text box.
    Private Sub cboDuration_SelectionChangeCommitted(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles cboDuration.SelectionChangeCommitted

        Try
            Dim value As String = Me.txtEstimatedDuration.Text
            Dim duration As String = Me.cboDuration.SelectedText

            Me.txtEstimatedDuration.Text = String.Format("{0} {1}", value, duration)

        Catch ex As Exception
            MsgBox(ex.Message)
        End Try
    End Sub

Many thanks for any ideas.

[steve_rm]

I forget to mention that the combo box is not bounded.

[jmcilhinney]

That's how I'd do it. It might be quicker by a few nanoseconds to use concatenation with so few substrings but I think String.Format is more readable.

Just note though that you are misusing the ComboBox.SelectedText property. You should be using the Text property. SelectedText is the portion of the Text that the user has selected. If none is selected then SelectedText is an empty string, even if there's text in the field.

[steve_rm]

Hello,

Thanks for your reply.

There was a problem using the text property. I found the selectedItem worked better, which return a string. It seems to me that the text property will not insert what has been selected by the user. But what was in there previous to the user selected the combo box. (so always 1 selection behind)

I did encounter another problem, was that if the user changed their mind, it would keep on appending was was selected from the combo box.

so you might end up with something like this: 10 days months weeks

I fixed this by using tryparse if there is a single integer and using the split method and getting the integer value out and discarding everything else. Not sure if my method is the best, but would be happy to have any comments to make it better.

Thanks for any comments,

'Append the duration from the combo box to the value entered into the text box.
    Private Sub cboDuration_SelectionChangeCommitted(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles cboDuration.SelectionChangeCommitted
 
        Try
            Dim testInteger As Integer = 0
            Dim value As String = String.Empty
            Dim duration As String = String.Empty
 
            If (Integer.TryParse(Me.txtEstimatedDuration.Text, testInteger)) Then
                'This is the first time the user has selected
                value = Me.txtEstimatedDuration.Text
                duration = Me.cboDuration.SelectedItem
                Me.txtEstimatedDuration.Text = String.Format("{0} {1}", value, duration)
            Else
                'The user has already entered from the combo box, so instead of appending another combo box value
                'clear the contents. User could have changed there mind.
                'Get the integer value and clear the rest of the contents
                value = Me.txtEstimatedDuration.Text
                Dim myValue(10) As String
                myValue = value.Split(" ")
                value = Convert.ToInt32(myValue(0))
                duration = Me.cboDuration.SelectedItem
                Me.txtEstimatedDuration.Text = String.Format("{0} {1}", value, duration)
 
            End If
        Catch ex As Exception
            MsgBox(ex.Message)
        End Try
    End Sub