6

I'm trying to get the selected value of a dropdown list item. Nothing works. 

SPFieldChoice dropdown = list.Fields["Admin Guide"] as SPFieldChoice;
var choices = dropdown.Choices;
var selection = dropdown.GetFieldValueAsText(choices).ToString();

Also tried: 

SPFieldChoice dropdown = list.Fields["Admin Guide"] as SPFieldChoice;
string selection = dropdown.GetFieldValueAsText(item["Admin Guide"]);

Tried other options as well, but nothing will grab the currently selected item.

Please help.

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3
  • It would be great if someone could provide working production code how to get the selected value.
    – psdpainter
    Commented Jun 6, 2014 at 18:02
  • 2
    Shouldn't you be trying to access the properties of the item that triggered the event and not be trying to access the list column?
    – Eric Alexander
    Commented Jun 6, 2014 at 18:30
  • Yes...I'm storing them as SPListItem item = properties.ListItem;
    – psdpainter
    Commented Jun 6, 2014 at 18:35

2 Answers 2

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12

The only way I could get the selected value of a dropdown choice column was with the following: 

SPFieldChoice dropdown = item.Fields.GetFieldByInternalName("AdminGuide") as SPFieldChoice;
string selectedValue = dropdown.GetFieldValueAsText(item["AdminGuide"]);

Thanks RJ and PirateEric for your comments!

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1

I just wrote a test case to validate this, and your second set of code is correct as long as this is a single value choice field (a dropdown) and not a multiple value choice field.

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4
  • That doesn't work. "Cannot apply indexing with [] to an expression of type Microsoft.SharePoint.SPList."
    – psdpainter
    Commented Jun 6, 2014 at 17:40
  • I'm not sure what problem you're facing, but I've updated my answer. Are you getting an error? If not, how was this column created?
    – RJ Cuthbertson
    Commented Jun 6, 2014 at 17:57
  • Yes, it's a regular Choice column as dropdown. It was created server side. I've tried adding this code to ItemAdded, ItemAdding, ItemUpdating, ItemUpdated events...all with no success. Every time the value returns null. The latest error reads: Unable to cast object of type 'Microsoft.SharePoint.SPFieldChoice' to type 'System.String'.
    – psdpainter
    Commented Jun 6, 2014 at 18:01
  • Maybe more context would help, because the code in your question doesn't ever cast an SPFieldChoice to a string...
    – RJ Cuthbertson
    Commented Jun 6, 2014 at 18:07

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