Getting value from GridDropDownColumn when NOT in Edit mode

[Steele]

Hi All,
I have the need to get the selected value from a GridDropDownColumn while the row is not in Edit mode.
My Grid is defined as :

<telerik:RadGrid ID="rgCriterias" runat="server" GridLines="None" OnDeleteCommand="rgCriterias_DeleteCommand"
    OnInsertCommand="rgCriterias_InsertCommand" OnItemCommand="rgCriterias_ItemCommand"
    OnItemDataBound="rgCriterias_ItemDataBound" OnNeedDataSource="rgCriterias_NeedDataSource"
    OnPreRender="rgCriterias_PreRender" OnUpdateCommand="rgCriterias_UpdateCommand"
    OnCreateColumnEditor="rgCriterias_CreateColumnEditor">
    <ClientSettings EnableRowHoverStyle="True">
        <Selecting AllowRowSelect="True" />
        <Scrolling AllowScroll="True" ScrollHeight="400px" UseStaticHeaders="True" />
    </ClientSettings>
    <MasterTableView DataKeyNames="Id,Version,CategoryId" AutoGenerateColumns="False"
        CommandItemDisplay="Top" EditMode="EditForms">
        <CommandItemSettings ExportToPdfText="Export to Pdf"></CommandItemSettings>
        <RowIndicatorColumn>
            <HeaderStyle Width="20px"></HeaderStyle>
        </RowIndicatorColumn>
        <ExpandCollapseColumn>
            <HeaderStyle Width="20px"></HeaderStyle>
        </ExpandCollapseColumn>
        <Columns>
            <telerik:GridEditCommandColumn ButtonType="ImageButton">
                <HeaderStyle Width="8%" />
            </telerik:GridEditCommandColumn>
            <telerik:GridBoundColumn DataField="Sequence" DataType="System.Int32" HeaderText="Sequence"
                UniqueName="Sequence" ReadOnly="True">
                <HeaderStyle Width="12%" />
            </telerik:GridBoundColumn>
            <telerik:GridBoundColumn DataField="Description" HeaderText="Description" UniqueName="Description">
                <HeaderStyle Width="15%" />
            </telerik:GridBoundColumn>
            <telerik:GridHTMLEditorColumn DataField="Notes" HeaderText="Notes" UniqueName="Notes"
                ConvertEmptyStringToNull="False">
                <HeaderStyle Width="20%" />
            </telerik:GridHTMLEditorColumn>
            <telerik:GridHTMLEditorColumn DataField="TypicalResponse" HeaderText="Typical Response"
                UniqueName="TypicalResponse" ConvertEmptyStringToNull="False">
                <HeaderStyle Width="20%" />
            </telerik:GridHTMLEditorColumn>
            <telerik:GridDropDownColumn DataField="RoleId" EmptyListItemText="-- Select Role --"
                EmptyListItemValue="-1" EnableEmptyListItem="True" HeaderText="Role" ListTextField="desc"
                ListValueField="code" UniqueName="Role">
                <HeaderStyle Width="10%" />
            </telerik:GridDropDownColumn>
            <telerik:GridNumericColumn DataField="Weighting" DataType="System.Decimal" DefaultInsertValue="0"
                EmptyDataText="0" HeaderText="Weighting" UniqueName="Weighting" DataFormatString="{0:###.00}">
                <HeaderStyle Width="10%" />
            </telerik:GridNumericColumn>
            <telerik:GridButtonColumn CommandName="Delete" Text="Delete" UniqueName="column1"
                ButtonType="ImageButton" ConfirmDialogType="RadWindow">
                <HeaderStyle Width="5%" />
            </telerik:GridButtonColumn>
        </Columns>
        <EditFormSettings>
            <EditColumn UniqueName="EditCommandColumn1">
            </EditColumn>
        </EditFormSettings>
    </MasterTableView>
    <HeaderContextMenu EnableImageSprites="True" CssClass="GridContextMenu GridContextMenu_Default">
    </HeaderContextMenu>
</telerik:RadGrid>

I have a button I click that I then need to fill out an object with the selected rows data.  I am able to do so mostly by using the GridDataItem from the MasterTableView.GetSelectedItems(). From there, I access the .Text property of the table cell.
But with a GridDropDownColumn, I am after the Value of the dropdownlist item, not the Text.
How do I access this?
Thanks for any info.
Steele.

[Marin]

Hi Steele,

When the row is in display mode, the DropDown control is not rendered. Therefore is not databound and you do not have the actual DataValues for this field. One possible solution is, since you can get the actual display text, you can make a query to the underlying data model and retrieve the actual value corresponding to this text. 

Regards,
Marin
the Telerik team

[Steele]

Thanks Marin, but this does not suit as it requires the Text element to be a unique data key within the dataset - which may not be the case.
Any other ideas?
Access to the Value field is a requirement for me.
Thanks,
Steele.

[Marin]

Hi Steele,

You can use the DataKeyValues from the MasterTableView. This will give you the ID of the selected row. After that you can make a query that retrieves the field connected with combo box in the DropDownColumn for this record (i.e. the RoleId field). Here is code snippet showing this approach:

GridDataItem gridDataItem = RadGrid1.MasterTableView.GetSelectedItems()[0] as GridDataItem;
            int id = (int)RadGrid1.MasterTableView.DataKeyValues[gridDataItem.ItemIndex]["DataKeyName"];
//select the value of combo box field where dataKeyName field = id

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Sincerely yours,
Marin
the Telerik team

[Steele]

This seems awfully long winded to retrieve data that has already been queried to bind to the grid.
Plus, if I go back to the DB to get the value, I am not guaranteed concurrency (as the underlying row may have been changed by another user since the last bind of the grid).
I think I will need to create a template column here to fill this gap. Using a hidden and bound textbox to store the value along with the visible label for displaying the text. That way I can get the data directly.
Does this seem feasible to you?
Thanks,
Steele.

[Marin]

Hi Steele,

Yes, adding a hidden column that holds this value is another possible option. If you do need to have this value retrieved from the database when the grid is bound, you can either use a template column or additional column with visibility="false" that is bound to that value.

Regards,
Marin
the Telerik team