 <p><strong>This should do it for you without an array...</strong></p> <pre><code> Dim intcount As Integer = 0 'Used to make sure commas are in order For Each item As Integer In myReader("SchType_ID").ToString.Split("~") If intcount &gt;= 1 Then builder.Append(",") builder.Append(item.ToString) Else builder.Append(item.ToString) intcount += 1 End If Next </code></pre> <p><strong>Another example adding the items to an array</strong></p> <pre><code> Dim strArray As New List(Of Integer) Dim intcount As Integer = 0 'Used to make sure commas are in order 'Add items to the array For Each item As Integer In myReader("SchType_ID").ToString.Split("~") strArray.Add(item) Next 'Add each item to the string builder For Each intItem As Integer In strArray If intcount &gt;= 1 Then builder.Append(",") builder.Append(intItem.ToString) Else builder.Append(intItem.ToString) intcount += 1 End If Next MessageBox.Show(builder.ToString) 'Only for testing purposes </code></pre> <p><strong>Here's a function for you as well</strong></p> <pre><code> Public Function BuildArray(ByVal strItems As String) As List(Of Integer) Dim lstArray As New List(Of Integer) For Each item As Integer In strItems.Split("~") lstArray.Add(item) Next Return lstArray End Function </code></pre> <p>*To use the function, you can use it this way...</p> <pre><code> Dim lstArray As List(Of Integer) Dim intcount As Integer = 0 lstArray = New List(Of Integer)(BuildArray(myReader("SchType_ID").ToString)) 'Add each item to the string builder For Each intItem As Integer In lstArray If intcount &gt;= 1 Then builder.Append(",") builder.Append(intItem.ToString) Else builder.Append(intItem.ToString) intcount += 1 End If Next MessageBox.Show(builder.ToString) 'Testing purpose only </code></pre> <p>Happy Coding!</p>