[RESOLVED] [2005] Application Properties Question

[dminder]

Currently I have an admin page that has 2 listboxes. One has a list of states that once one is selected supplies a list of counties for the other listbox. Both are set using the listboxes datasource property set to a stringcollection in the application settings.

I am also setting it up so that you can add item(s) to the state list. When an item is added to the state list it also adds a new countylist to the application settings (as a string collection).

The good news is that all this works fine. The problem I have is that when a user adds a new state, how do I reference the associated county list? I started with a case statement but once a user adds a value the case statement goes out the window. I tried to access it using

My.Settings.Properties.Item(st & "CountyList")

No good. Any ideas??

Thanks,

D

[kleinma]

maybe im confused, when the user picks a state the other list fills with countries??? or is it the other way around?

Either way, how are you making you associations between the 2 collections now? IE, how do you determine what items to load in list2 when a user makes a selection in list1?

[dminder]

maybe im confused, when the user picks a state the other list fills with countries??? or is it the other way around?

LOL not countries, counties within each state (i.e. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania). To populate the box I have a string collection setup for each state so for example if the user picks "MD" as their state the county list box databinds to the string collection "MDCountyList". Which is stored in the application.settings. This may not be the "best" way, which is why I am here!!

Anyways, thanks for taking a look kleinma.

D

EDIT: My ultimate goal is to have a list of states that a user can edit and a list of counties for each state (kind of like a master detail kind of thing). I need to make it available to the entire application which is why I chose application settings. I may just have to use XML though huh?

[Hack]

Why not use DB tables?

[dminder]

That is certainly an option and one I have considered. I was hoping to keep them separate but in trying to finish up this app quickly, I may not have a choice....

Thanks Hack!

D

[kleinma]

why not use an XML file??? You can store it in the application settings, you can edit/append the XML file (its just text) by loading it up into an XMLDocument class, and you can store it back in your settings.

It would look something like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<states>
  <state>
    <name>Some State</name>
    <county>Some County 1</county>
    <county>Some County 2</county>
    <county>Some County 3</county>
  </state>
  <state>
    <name>Some Other State</name>
    <county>Some Other County 1</county>
    <county>Some Other County 2</county>
    <county>Some Other County 3</county>
  </state>
</states>

This code should get you started (added the above XML as a user setting string called MyXML)

imports system.xml 'at top

        'CREATE XML DOCUMENT
        Dim XMLDoc As New XmlDocument
        'LOAD ITS CONTENTS FROM THE APPLICATION SETTINGS
        XMLDoc.LoadXml(My.Settings.MyXML)

        'STRING BUILDER IS JUST TO DISPLAY THE OUTPUT FOR THE EXAMPLE
        Dim Output As New System.Text.StringBuilder

        'FOR EACH STATE ELEMENT IN THE XML FILE, LOOP AND GET ITS NAME
        For Each State As XmlElement In XMLDoc.DocumentElement.GetElementsByTagName("state")
            Output.AppendLine("State: " & State.Item("name").InnerText)
            Output.AppendLine()
            Output.AppendLine("Counties:")
            'THEN FOR EACH COUNTY ELEMENT INSIDE THE GIVEN STATE ELEMENT, GET THE COUNTY NAME
            For Each County As XmlElement In State.GetElementsByTagName("county")
                Output.AppendLine(County.InnerText)
            Next
            Output.AppendLine()
            Output.AppendLine()
        Next
        'SHOW OUTPUT
        MessageBox.Show(Output.ToString)

[dminder]

I am getting an error when I try to loadxml. It is saying "Data at the root level is invalid Line 1 Position 1. Here is the xml file:

<? xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<states>
 <state>
    <name>DE</name>
    <county>New Castle</county>
    <county>Kent</county>
    <county>Sussex</county>
 </state>
 <state>
    <name>MD</name>
    <county>Anne Arundel</county>
    <county>Caroline</county>
    <county>Cecil</county>
    <county>Kent</county>
    <county>Prince George's</county>
    <county>Queen Anne's</county>
    <county>Talbot</county>
  </state>
  <state>
    <name>NJ</name>
    <county>Atlantic</county>
    <county>Bergen</county>
    <county>Burlington</county>
    <county>Camden</county>
    <county>Cape May</county>
    <county>Cumberland</county>
    <county>Essex</county>
    <county>Gloucester</county>
    <county>Hudson</county>
    <county>Hunterdon</county>
    <county>Mercer</county>
    <county>Middlesex</county>
    <county>Monmouth</county>
    <county>Morris</county>
    <county>Ocean</county>
    <county>Passaic</county>
    <county>Salem</county>
    <county>Somerset</county>
    <county>Sussex</county>
    <county>Union</county>
    <county>Warren</county>
  </state>
  <state>
    <name>PA</name>
    <county>Montgomery</county>
    <county>Bucks</county>
    <county>Philadelphia</county>
    <county>Snyder</county>
  </state>
</states>

Here is the line of code that errors on me:

xmlStateCountyList.LoadXml(My.Settings.StateXMLLoc)

I am researching google as we speak. Hoping for a quick easy answer.

[dminder]

Nevermind, I got it figured out. I am using an external doc so I need to use the Load method. Thanks kleinma for your help.

D

[kleinma]

this
<? xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
shoudl be this
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>

note no space after the ?