Failed to convert parameter value from a List`1 to a String - vb.net

Question

I am getting the error message:
"Failed to convert parameter value from a List`1 to a String"
and I am not sure how to correct the issue. It happens when I attempt to save a cleaningList to a Cleaner object in a database.
I am very new to visual basic and appreciate any feedback to help make this program work.
Public Class FrmMain
Dim currentRoom As String
Dim lastId As Integer
Dim cleaners As New BindingList(Of Cleaner)
'new instance of cleaner and storing it in a reference variable
Dim currentCleaner As New Cleaner()
'-------------Functions----------------
Private Function connectWithDb() As SqlConnection
'create a connection string
Dim connectionString As String = "Server=(LocalDB)\MSSQLLocalDB;Integrated Security=true;AttachDbFileName=C:\Users\Julia\Desktop\JklimeckFinalProject\JklimeckFinalProject\cleanerLists.mdf;"
'create connection object and tell it how to connect using connectionString
Dim dbConnection As New SqlConnection(connectionString)
'open the connection
dbConnection.Open()
'return the connection
Return dbConnection
End Function
'function to change the list to a string seperated by commas
Public Function changeToString() As String
'turn the list of strings into a single string for the database
'trim the leading white space so it won't show up when the list is
'converted back later
currentCleaner.CleaningList = LTrim(String.Join(",", currentCleaner.ItemList.ToArray()))
Return currentCleaner.CleaningList
End Function
'public function to get index of items that are selected
Public Function GetAllItems(index As Integer) As CheckState
End Function
'function to generate a cleaning list
Public Function getCleanList() As List(Of String)
'if statement to display tasks in lbxTasks
Dim indexChecked As Integer
'variable to hold the tasks that are listed depending on the room
'selected ' for current cleaner
Dim itemList As New List(Of String)
'determine the room and create the list of tasks depending on the checked boxes
If currentRoom = "Living Room" Then
itemList.AddRange(currentCleaner.LivRoomTasks)
ElseIf currentRoom = "Kitchen" Then
itemList.AddRange(currentCleaner.KitchenTasks)
ElseIf currentRoom = "Bathroom" Then
itemList.AddRange(currentCleaner.BathroomTasks)
ElseIf currentRoom = "Bedroom" Then
itemList.AddRange(currentCleaner.BedroomTasks)
ElseIf currentRoom = "Dining Room" Then
itemList.AddRange(currentCleaner.DinRoomTasks)
ElseIf currentRoom = "Office" Then
itemList.AddRange(currentCleaner.OfficeTasks)
ElseIf currentRoom = "Laundry Room" Then
itemList.AddRange(currentCleaner.LauRoomTasks)
ElseIf currentRoom = "General" Then
itemList.AddRange(currentCleaner.GeneralTasks)
End If
For Each indexChecked In cbxRoomItems.CheckedIndices
lbxTasks.Items.Add(itemList.Item(indexChecked).ToString)
Next
Return itemList
End Function
'function to seperated the string version of the list
Public Function changeToList() As List(Of String)
'change the comma separated sting back to a list by spliting it at the commas
lbxTasks.Items.AddRange(currentCleaner.CleaningList.Split(New Char() {","c}))
Return currentCleaner.ItemList
End Function
Private Sub FrmMain_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
'when the application loads, show list of cleaners and display by name
lbxNames.DataSource = cleaners
lbxNames.DisplayMember = "Name"
Dim dbConnection As SqlConnection = connectWithDb()
'string of sql
Dim sqlString As String = "SELECT * FROM Cleaner"
'command object pass in what to run and the object
Dim selectCommand As New SqlCommand(sqlString, dbConnection)
'place in a try catch block to keep exceptions from crashing application
Try
'variable to hold the sqlDataReader object
Dim reader As SqlDataReader = selectCommand.ExecuteReader()
If reader.HasRows Then
'read is boolean
While reader.Read
'call the sub
populateCleaners(reader)
End While
End If
reader.Close()
'determine the highest ID number in the database
'and store it in a class level variable so we can access it
'where ever it is needed
Dim identSql As String = "SELECT IDENT_CURRENT('Cleaner') as lastID"
Dim identCom As New SqlCommand(identSql, dbConnection)
Dim identReader As SqlDataReader = identCom.ExecuteReader
If identReader.HasRows Then
identReader.Read()
lastId = CInt(identReader.Item("lastId"))
End If
Catch ex As Exception
End Try
'close and dispose the connection to the db
dbConnection.Close()
dbConnection.Dispose()
End Sub
'Sub to populate the database with a new character
Private Sub populateCleaners(reader As SqlDataReader)
Dim dbCleaner As New Cleaner()
changeToString()
'get info from reader and store into new object
dbCleaner.Id = CInt(reader.Item("Id"))
dbCleaner.Name = reader.Item("Name").ToString
dbCleaner.CleaningList = reader.Item("CleaningList").ToString
'add to binding list
cleaners.Add(dbCleaner)
End Sub
'----------------Butttons------------------
'add to list button
Private Sub btnClean_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnClean.Click
'label to show the correct list is being displayed
lblCurrentCleaner.Text = currentCleaner.Name
getCleanList()
End Sub
'save cleaning list
Private Sub btnSave_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnSave.Click
Dim newCleaner As New Cleaner()
'referencing object and assigning it to the Name property for the new cleaner
newCleaner.Name = txtName.Text
'exception if the user does not enter a name
Try
newCleaner.Name = txtName.Text
Catch ex As Exception
MessageBox.Show("a cleaner has no name")
End Try
For ctr = 0 To lbxTasks.Items.Count - 1
newCleaner.ItemList.Add(lbxTasks.Items(ctr).ToString)
'change this list to a string
changeToString()
Next
newCleaner.CleaningList = changeToString()
lbxTasks.Items.Clear()
cleaners.Add(newCleaner)
currentCleaner = newCleaner
'update a cleaning list if the Id is already in the database, or create a new object
Dim dbConnection As SqlConnection = connectWithDb()
Dim sqlString As String
If currentCleaner.Id > 0 Then
sqlString = "UPDATE Cleaner SET Name = #name, CleaningList = #cleaningList WHERE Id = #id"
Else
sqlString = "INSERT INTO Cleaner (Name, CleaningList) VALUES(#name, #cleaningList)"
'increment the last Id and save that id number to the new entry in the db
lastId += 1
currentCleaner.Id = lastId
End If
Dim com As New SqlCommand(sqlString, dbConnection)
'set the values of current cleaner in the database
com.Parameters.Add("#id", SqlDbType.Int).Value = currentCleaner.Id
com.Parameters.Add("#name", SqlDbType.VarChar).Value = currentCleaner.Name
com.Parameters.Add("#cleaningList", SqlDbType.NVarChar).Value = currentCleaner.ItemList
Try
Dim result = com.ExecuteNonQuery()
MessageBox.Show(result.ToString)
Catch ex As Exception
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message)
End Try
End Sub
I have a Cleaner class that stores the public properties.
In the program the user clicks on different buttons that populate a checklistbox with different items found in that room, by selecting the items and clicking btnClean it populates a listbox with a list of tasks associated with the items the user selected. My problem seems to be centered around that list; it is stored in a list(of String), but I made a function to turn that list into a single string separated by commas so it can be stored in a database and another function to separated that list so it can be displayed back in the listbox when the user's name is selected.
I am not sure where it is I am going wrong.
The exception is being thrown in:
'save cleaning list
Private Sub btnSave_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnSave.Click
Dim newCleaner As New Cleaner()
'referencing object and assigning it to the Name property for the new cleaner
newCleaner.Name = txtName.Text
'exception if the user does not enter a name
Try
newCleaner.Name = txtName.Text
Catch ex As Exception
MessageBox.Show("a cleaner has no name")
End Try
For ctr = 0 To lbxTasks.Items.Count - 1
newCleaner.ItemList.Add(lbxTasks.Items(ctr).ToString)
'change this list to a string
changeToString()
Next
lbxTasks.Items.Clear()
cleaners.Add(newCleaner)
currentCleaner = newCleaner
'update a cleaning list if the Id is already in the database, or create a new object
Dim dbConnection As SqlConnection = connectWithDb()
Dim sqlString As String
If currentCleaner.Id > 0 Then
sqlString = "UPDATE Cleaner SET Name = #name, CleaningList = #cleaningList WHERE Id = #id"
Else
sqlString = "INSERT INTO Cleaner (Name, CleaningList) VALUES(#name, #cleaningList)"
'increment the last Id and save that id number to the new entry in the db
lastId += 1
currentCleaner.Id = lastId
End If
Dim com As New SqlCommand(sqlString, dbConnection)
com.Parameters.Add("#name", SqlDbType.VarChar).Value = currentCleaner.Name
com.Parameters.Add("#cleaningList", SqlDbType.NVarChar).Value = currentCleaner.ItemList
Try
Dim result = com.ExecuteNonQuery()
MessageBox.Show(result.ToString)
Catch ex As Exception
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message)
End Try
End Sub
Again thank you for any suggestions/help!