Why am I receiving "Input string not in correct format" while retreiving Gridview row index

Question

I am receiving the error "Input string was not in a correct format" on the line:

    int index = Convert.ToInt32(e.CommandArgument);

My goal is to get the ID (both letters and numbers) from my Gridview (Cell 1 of the selected row), for processing the records in the DB associated with that ID.

Most of the pages that I found said to use the above code to find the row number for gridview.

My aspx page:

    <asp:gridview ID="gridview1" runat="server" DataKeyNames="ID" AutoGenerateColumns="false" OnRowCommand="gridview1_RowCommand">
        <columns>
            <asp:TemplateField>
                <ItemTemplate>
                    <asp:LinkButton ID="btn_select" runat="server" Text="Select" CommandName="Select" />
                </ItemTemplate>
            </asp:TemplateField>
            <asp:BoundField HeaderText="Record_ID" DataField="ID" />
            <asp:BoundField HeaderText="Record_Date" DataField="Date" />
        </Columns>
    </asp:gridview>

My Code Behind:

    SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand();
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        //code stuff
        final();
    }
    protected void final()
    {
        //code stuff for populating the gridview.  Gridview populates as expected.
    }
    protected void gridview1_RowCommand(object sender, GridViewCommandEventArgs e)
    {
        if (e.CommandName == "Select")
        {
            int index = Convert.ToInt32(e.CommandArgument);//where I receive the error.
            string id = gridview1.Rows[index].Cells[1].Text;
            using (SqlConnection connection string)
            {
                try
                {
                    cmd = new SqlCommand("DBSP", connection);
                    cmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;
                    cmd.Parameters.Add("@id", SqlDbType.Char).Value = id;

                    connection.Open();
                    cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
                    connection.Close();

                    final();
                }
                catch (Exception ex)
                {
                    //code stuff
                }
            }
        }
    }

A couple of other things I have tried are from:

Accessing GridView Cells Value

How to get cell value in GridView (WITHOUT using cell index)

Get the cell value of a GridView row

Getting value from a Gridview cell

as well as others.

Do you know what the value of `e.CommandArgument` is? Sounds like it might have one or more letters in it. If that's the case, you need to use a regex or something to isolate the digits. — 15ee8f99-57ff-4f92-890c-b56153, Jul 28 '16 at 19:07
@EdPlunkett, yes, the first char of the ID is an alpha char. — user3549282, Jul 28 '16 at 19:41

ConnorsFan · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-28T20:10:56.407

1

You should assign the ID value to the CommandArgument of the LinkButton:

<asp:LinkButton ... CommandName="Select" CommandArgument='<%# Eval("ID") %>' />

The following line would give you the ID value, without having to get the text of the cell:

string ID = e.CommandArgument.ToString();

Alternatively, you could use the DataKeys to retrieve the ID value:

protected void gridview1_RowCommand(object sender, GridViewCommandEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.CommandName == "Select")
    {
        GridViewRow row = (e.CommandSource as Control).NamingContainer as GridViewRow;
        string ID = gridView1.DataKeys[row.RowIndex].Values["ID"].ToString();
        ...
    }
}

edited Jul 28 '16 at 20:10

answered Jul 28 '16 at 19:07

ConnorsFan

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Thank you, works great! I had to change the int to string, drop the (int) and add .ToString() at the end – user3549282 Jul 28 '16 at 19:46
OK. So your ID field is a string. I will adapt my answer. – ConnorsFan Jul 28 '16 at 20:09

Why am I receiving "Input string not in correct format" while retreiving Gridview row index

1 Answers1