I have DataKeyField Property set in my DataGrid and I can retrieve its value using

Dim CustomerID As String = dg_Customers.DataKeys(e.Item.ItemIndex)

but, when I use another approach (hidden bound column) I am having difficulty reteriveing its value. What I am doing wrong? Please advise. Earlier approach won't work If i have composite primary key

'Retrieving primarykey
Dim CustomerID As String = e.Item.Cells(2).Text

'My datagrid declaration
<asp:DataGrid id="dg_Customers" runat="server" AutoGenerateColumns="False" OnEditCommand="dg_Edit"
                OnCancelCommand="dg_Cancel" OnUpdateCommand="dg_Update" OnDeleteCommand="dg_Delete" DataKeyField="CustomerID">

<Columns>
<asp:ButtonColumn Text="Delete" CommandName="Delete"></asp:ButtonColumn>
<asp:EditCommandColumn ButtonType="LinkButton" UpdateText="Update" HeaderText="Edit Info" CancelText="Cancel" EditText="Edit"></asp:EditCommandColumn>
<asp:BoundColumn Visible="False" DataField="CustomerID"></asp:BoundColumn>
<asp:BoundColumn DataField="CompanyName" HeaderText="Company Name"></asp:BoundColumn>
<asp:BoundColumn DataField="ContactName" HeaderText="Contact Name"></asp:BoundColumn>
<asp:BoundColumn DataField="ContactTitle" HeaderText="Contact Title"></asp:BoundColumn>
<asp:HyperLinkColumn DataNavigateUrlField="CustomerId" DataNavigateUrlFormatString="edit_customer.aspx?Cu stomerId={0}"
DataTextField="CustomerID" HeaderText="View Details"></asp:HyperLinkColumn>
</Columns>
</asp:DataGrid>

PS. I am working with northwind.mdb, Customers table and customerID is MS Access text data type

Can you elaborate on what exactly the problem/difficulty is?
Are you getting an error?

Not getting an error.
my update module is not working, it works fine when I use
Dim CustomerID As String = dg_Customers.DataKeys(e.Item.ItemIndex)
but it is not working when I use (hidden bound control instead of datakeyfield value
'datagrid code is posted earlier
Dim CustomerID As String = e.Item.Cells(2).Text

Below is the code for Update Sub. Thanks in advance

Sub dg_Update(ByVal Sender As Object, ByVal e As
DataGridCommandEventArgs)

'Dim CustomerID As String = dg_Customers.DataKeys(e.Item.ItemIndex)
 Dim CustomerID As String = e.Item.Cells(2).Text
 Dim CompanyName As String = CType(e.Item.Cells(3).Controls(0), TextBox).Text
 Dim ContactName As String = CType(e.Item.Cells(4).Controls(0), TextBox).Text
 Dim ContactTitle As String = CType(e.Item.Cells(5).Controls(0), TextBox).Text

        Dim update_SQL As String = "UPDATE [Customers] SET CompanyName = ?, " & _
                "ContactName = ?, ContactTitle = ? WHERE [CustomerID]=" & _
                "?"

        Dim objConn As New OleDbConnection(ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings( "ConnectionString"))

        Dim myCmd As New OleDbCommand(update_SQL, objConn)

        myCmd.Parameters.Add(New OleDbParameter("CompanyName", CompanyName))
        myCmd.Parameters.Add(New OleDbParameter("ContactName", ContactName))
        myCmd.Parameters.Add(New OleDbParameter("ContactTitle", ContactTitle))
        myCmd.Parameters.Add(New OleDbParameter("CustomerID", CustomerID))
        objConn.Open()
        myCmd.ExecuteNonQuery()


        objConn.Close()
        dg_Customers.EditItemIndex = -1
        BindData()


    End Sub

I suspect the problem you are having has to do with the behavior of the column.

<asp:BoundColumn Visible="False" DataField="CustomerID"></asp:BoundColumn>

This is a standard bound column, meaning that when a grid item is in edit mode, the contents of the column will be contained within a textbox control, not just as plain text. So when you ask for e.Item.Cells(2).Text you get nothing because there is no text content, but rather a single textbox control (just like in the standard editable visible bound columns). Make the column readonly and it should work.

<asp:BoundColumn Visible="False" DataField="CustomerID" ReadOnly="true"></asp:BoundColumn>


Peter
-------------------------
Work smarter, not harder

I changed the Readonly Property to True and it is working now. Thank you Peter, I appreciate your help

Glad I could help.

It took me some time to figure that idea out when I was first learning datagrids. I'm curious why you aren't just using the datakeys collection. The only reason I can think that you would need to use a hidden column is it you have more than just a single key field (which is very likely).

You got it right. Datakeys collection won't work when you have composite primary key? I did mention it in my first post.

Oh right. My bad. I read a lot of posts, so I occassionally miss details.

Sanchi, I saw this post and wanted to ask you a question. I am doing something similar to you. I need the value of the column(primary key) from my datagrid and based on the key, I want to move to a detail page with detail information for editing. I tried to you datakeyfield property and used the e.item.itemindex, but I get a compilation error that "mytablename is not declared". what am i missing. Please help!
Renu

Can you tell us what "mytablename" is?