How to set the dropdownlist value?

Question

I am using this technique: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2670327/is-there-a-way-to-hold-the-values-lost-in-postback

After it does the postback, how do I set which item is selected?
$(document).ready(function() {

     if (document.getElementById("txtHidData").value != "")<br>
        $("#country").val(document.getElementById("txtHidData").value);<br>
        //or<br>
        //$("#country")[0].selectedIndex = document.getElementById("txtHidData").value;<br>

Does not work either way, any help? Thanks.

EDIT:

$("#country").change(function() {

        debugger
         var _selected = $("#country option:selected").val();
         document.getElementById("txtHidData").value = "";
         document.getElementById("txtHidData").value = _selected;
         // $("#txtHidData").value = _selected;

....

Answer 1

I don't know exactly what your markup looks like, but here's a shot:

$(document).ready(function () {
    var val = $("#txtHidData").val();
    if (val !== "") {
        $("#country > option[value=" + val + "]").attr("selected", "selected");
    }
    ...
});

Try not to mix jQuery and the native DOM functions if jQuery provides equivalent functions. Doing so defeats the purpose of using jQuery.

Edit: had some incorrect open/close quotes.