Getting selected Index of dropdown using asp.net C#

Question

I have a dropdown like this:

   <asp:DropDownList ID="CompaniesDropDownList" runat="server" DataSourceID="CompaniesObjectDataSource"
                     DataTextField="NameLang1" DataValueField="CompanyID" AppendDataBoundItems="True"
                     AutoPostBack="true">
        <asp:ListItem Value="0" Text="select a company"></asp:ListItem>
   </asp:DropDownList>
   &nbsp;
   <asp:ObjectDataSource ID="CompaniesObjectDataSource" runat="server" TypeName="HRCompany"
       SelectMethod="GetList"></asp:ObjectDataSource>
   <asp:CustomValidator ID="CompanyCustomValidator" runat="server" ErrorMessage="select a company"></asp:CustomValidator>

I am setting its selected value like this:

CompaniesDropDownList.SelectedItem.Value = "3";

and it is working.

after setting this value, I am checking in if condition, the selected index or value like this:

if (CompaniesDropDownList.SelectedValue == "0")

or

if (CompaniesDropDownList.SelectedIndex == 0)

and it is always true. Although in dropdownlist on front end, item with value 3 is selected.

How to get selected index of this dropdown ?

Please suggest

Answer 1

that is what i want. i want to get the value from db and set selected index on page load.

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    try {
        if (!IsPostBack) {
            LoadValues();  // this function is used to load the value in DDL
        }
    } catch (Exception ex) {

    }
}

Load Values function

private void LoadValues()
{
    try {
        DataSet SampleDs = YourDS; // Your dataset values from DB 

        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(SampleDs.Tables(0).Rows(0)("yourvalue").ToString)) {
            CompaniesDropDownList.SelectedValue = SampleDs.Tables(0).Rows(0)("yourvalue").ToString;  // assuming the data in the table is value of DDL
        }
    } catch (Exception ex) {

    }
}