Public Shared Function GetCountryID(ByVal strCountry As String, ByVal _
     strBundesland As String) As Long
      Dim locobjConnection As SqlConnection
      Dim locobjCommand As New SqlCommand
      Dim locobjResult As Object
      Dim locstrSQL As String
 
      locobjConnection = New SqlConnection( _
        System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.AppSettings("XXXX"))
 
      Try
 
         locstrSQL = "SELECT ID FROM tblLandBundasland WHERE Land='" & _
           strCountry & "' AND Bundesland='" & strBundesland & "'"
 
         locobjConnection.Open()
 
         locobjCommand.CommandText = locstrSQL
         locobjCommand.Connection = locobjConnection
         locobjResult = locobjCommand.ExecuteScalar
 
         Return CLng(locobjResult)
 
      Catch ex As Exception
         Throw New Exception("CGeo.GetID", ex)
         Return Nothing
 
      Finally
         locobjCommand.Dispose()
         locobjConnection.Close()
 
      End Try
 
   End Function