How do I pull value from a DataValueField?

Question

I have a drop down list that reads from the SQL database. depending on the option selected, I want to pull the actual 'value from the DataValueField. how do I do that?

Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
...
ddlOption.DataTextField = "Option";
ddlOptions.DataValueField = "OptCode";
...
}

protected void ddlOptionSelectionChange(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
...
string menuOption = "";//NEED ACTUAL VALUE BASED ON OPTION SELECTED IN OPTCODE
...
}

Answer 1

I think ddlOptions.SelectedValue is what you're looking for.

Please note that if no item is selected (ie. ddlOptions.SelectedIndex == -1), string.Empty is returned.