选择插入下拉列表值

Question

I've tried every combination of code from examples I've seen but can't figure this out. All I want to do is insert the value of the dropdownlist the user selects on the form. I want to insert it into refDepartmentID. Below is the code for how I populate the ddl and the actual insert. I'm not getting an error, but instead it's inserting the first ID in the dropdown list which has the "selected" attribute. It's always "1" and won't insert the one I'm choosing. Thanks!

// populates Departments dropdownlist
using (dbOrganizationEntities1 myEntities = new dbOrganizationEntities1())
{       
   var allDepartments = from tbDepartments in myEntities.tbDepartments
                        select tbDepartments;
   ddlDepartments.DataSource = allDepartments;
   ddlDepartments.DataValueField = "DepartmentID";
   ddlDepartments.DataTextField = "DepartmentName";
   ddlDepartments.DataBind();
}

protected void btnRequest_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
   insertNewProject();
}

private void insertNewProject()
{
   using (dbPSREntities1 context = new dbPSREntities1())
   {
      //Create a new instance of the Customer object
      tbProject proj = new tbProject { //Add new values to each fields
      ProjectContactInfo = txtContactPhone.Text, //trying to insert this
      refDepartmentID = Convert.ToInt32(ddlDepartments.SelectedValue) };
      context.tbProjects.AddObject(proj);
      context.SaveChanges();
   }
}

Answer 1

Can you check that you're not accidentally re-binding the list before your call to insertNewProject ? Otherwise whatever value you've chosen will be lost and it will always be returning the first item in the list as SelectedValue

Answer 2

You've not posted the Page_Load method but I think you are forgetting to check if it's postback or not. Page_Load should look like this:

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if(!IsPostBack)
    {
        // populates Departments dropdownlist
        using (dbOrganizationEntities1 myEntities = new dbOrganizationEntities1())
        {       
           var allDepartments = from tbDepartments in myEntities.tbDepartments
                    select tbDepartments;
           ddlDepartments.DataSource = allDepartments;
           ddlDepartments.DataValueField = "DepartmentID";
           ddlDepartments.DataTextField = "DepartmentName";
           ddlDepartments.DataBind();
        }
    }
}

Answer 3

You're close. To get the ID you just need to do ddlDepartment.SelectedItem.Value