Defining Variables that are accessible page wide - vb.net

Question

Good morning guys,
I am working on vb.net. The aim is to make a CodeFile run some sql queries and then return the values to the webpage as an sqldatasource query parameter on page load.
I have the following vb code
Partial Class Consult
Inherits Page
Public totalCount As Integer = "0"
'*******Here i declare the variable***************
Public Property PatNo() As String
Get
Return ViewState("PatNo")
End Get
Set(ByVal value As String)
ViewState("PatNo") = value
End Set
End Property
Public PatNam As String = "abc"
Public ConID As String = "abc"
Public TreatType As String = "abc"
Public HPC As Char = "abc"
Public LvTyp As RadioButtonList
Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
Me.PatNo = Request.QueryString("pNo")
Session("PatientNo") = PatNo
Dim ConsultationID As String = Request.QueryString("consultID")
ConID = ConsultationID
Response.Write(PatNo)
Dim constr As String = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("DefaultConnection").ConnectionString
Using con As New SqlConnection(constr)
'**********BELOW LINE CAUSES ERROR**************
Dim query As String = "SELECT * FROM hPatients WHERE pNO=#PatNo"
query += "SELECT * FROM hPatients WHERE pNO='001/000034824'"
Using cmd As New SqlCommand(query)
cmd.Parameters.Add("#PatNo", SqlDbType.NVarChar).Value = PatNo
Using sda As New SqlDataAdapter()
cmd.Connection = con
sda.SelectCommand = cmd
Using ds As New DataSet()
sda.Fill(ds)
gvPatientInfo.DataSource = ds.Tables(0)
'Return ds.Tables(0).Rows(0).Item(2)
'Response.Write(ds.Tables(0).Rows(0).Item(2))
gvPatientInfo.DataBind()
gvClientInfo.DataSource = ds.Tables(1)
gvClientInfo.DataBind()
End Using
End Using
End Using
End Using
If Not Me.IsPostBack Then
'Dim di As DataInfo = Me.GetInfo()
'Populating a DataTable from database.
Dim dt As DataTable = Me.GetData()
'Response.Write(ConID + " " + PatNo)
'Building an HTML string.
Dim html As New StringBuilder()
'Table start.
html.Append("<table border = '1' class = 'table'>")
'Building the Header row.
html.Append("<tr>")
For Each column As DataColumn In dt.Columns
html.Append("<th>")
html.Append(column.ColumnName)
html.Append("</th>")
Next
html.Append("</tr>")
'Building the Data rows.
For Each row As DataRow In dt.Rows
html.Append("<tr>")
For Each column As DataColumn In dt.Columns
html.Append("<td>")
html.Append(row(column.ColumnName))
html.Append("</td>")
Next
html.Append("</tr>")
Next
'Table end.
html.Append("</table>")
'Append the HTML string to Placeholder.
PlaceHolder1.Controls.Add(New Literal() With { _
.Text = html.ToString() _
})
End If
End Sub
The error i get is
Must declare the scalar variable "#PatNo".
The error occurs in the first step of getting the variable to execute the query in the page_load function.
The second step would be to get the result of the query and use on the webpage.
Somebody, Anybody, Please HELP!!!.

Answer 1

I think the problem is with this line:
cmd.Parameters.Add("PatNo", SqlDbType.NVarChar).Value = PatNo
Change the name from "PatNo" to "#PatNo" and it should work.