Save and Load dynamically generated checkedlistbox items - vb.net

Question

I'm pretty new to VB, so bear with me. On form load, a list of values is pulled from a database, and the values are used to generate a list of checkedlistbox items.
A user will select which checkboxes they want, and then click save, at which point the checked items are stored to a system.collections.arraylist type user setting.
I am able to save the values of the checkboxes to the user settings, but I'm trying to load the saved settings the next time the application is opened, but I'm unsure how to do this. The only way I've been able to do it only gets the checked items, which isn't what I want.
Here's what I'm using to save the items:
Dim list As New ArrayList
For i As Integer = 0 To CheckedListBox1.Items.Count - 1
list.Add(CheckedListBox1.Items(i))
i = i + 1
Next
My.Settings.selectedlistbox = list
My.Settings.Save()
And this is what I've currently got to load the settings, which isn't working at all:
Dim counter As Integer
counter = 0
While counter <= My.Settings.selectedlistbox.Count - 1
CheckedListBox1.SetItemChecked(counter, list(counter))
counter = counter + 1
End While
On a related note, I'm calling the above code prior to the code where the database connection is opened, so I'm thinking this may be a problem too, since I think the checkboxes won't be able to be accessed until they're actually in the application. I tried placing the code after where the checkedlistbox is loaded, but that didn't work either.

Answer 1

Assume that My.Settings.Useropts is a StringCollection, to skip the ArrayList:
' CLEAR OUT OLD SELECTIONS so they do not accumulate
My.Settings.Useropts.Clear
' save items checked
For i As Integer = 0 To CheckedListBox1.CheckedIitems.Count - 1
My.Settings.Useropts.Add(CheckedListBox1.CheckedItems(i))
Next
My.Settings.Save()
Or iterate the checkedindicies collection:
For i As Integer = 0 To CheckedListBox1.CheckedIndicies.Count - 1
My.Settings.Useropts.Add(CheckedListBox1.Items(CheckedIndicies(i))
Next
My.Settings.Save()
' reload from settings
Dim ndx As Integer
For Each s as string in My.Settings.Useropts
ndx = CheckedListBox1.Items.indexOf(s) ' find this string in the list
' if NDX is -1 then the item does not exist;
If ndx <> -1 then
' set the check for the related INDEX, if found:
CheckedListBox1.SetItemChecked(ndx, True)
Else
CheckedListBox1.SetItemChecked(ndx, False)
End If
Next
If there arent default items in the collection you may need to initialize it on FormLoad. The text for the CheckedList box cant change or items wont be found.
Since the Items collection can store Objects, you could devise a Class of {Name, Key} where key uniquely identifies each item, which Name might change as needed. Store the Keys, then find them in the CLB to set that Item's checkstate as above
Fixed typo in SetItemChecked(n, --> `SetItemChecked(ndx,
Added warning about clearing old settings, annotated the restore loop