[2005] Notepad-like New/Open/Save/SaveAs/Exit behaviour

[NickThissen]

Hi,


EDIT START
As you may have seen I've deleted the example project from this post. I have updated the code slightly so that it compiles with Option Strict On, and I've replaced some MsgBoxResults with DialogResults. I did not want the code I post here to be different from the example project, and since I didn't really see any need for the example project anyway (what's the point if you got all the code?) I just deleted it.

If you need any help implementing the code just ask.
EDIT END


Just created this quickly for someone.

It's a small application with one form with a menubar and a richtextbox. It looks similar to Notepad and behaves exactly the same with the New file, Open file, Save file, Save file As, and Exit functions.

The code is heavily commented so will be easy to understand.

It also keeps track of the Filepath and FileTitle of the opened file.

Most of this can also be used by other programs that don't behave similar to notepad. The 'algorithms' that check wether to just open a new file or wether to save it first (for example) can be used for nearly anything. The Notepad like usage of these functions (Clear RTB text in case of NewFile for example) are in seperate subs.

Here is the full code and attached is the VS2005 project.

Option Strict On

Public Class Form1

    '// Declare variables
    Dim DocumentChanged, DocumentSaved As Boolean
    Dim sFilePath, sFileTitle As String


#Region " MENU BAR ITEMS "

    Private Sub NewToolStripMenuItem_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles NewToolStripMenuItem.Click
        '// Check if doc has changed
        If DocumentChanged = True Then

            '// Doc has changed, ask wether to save old doc or not
            Dim dialogRes As DialogResult = MessageBox.Show("Document has changed since you last saved it. Do you want to save?", "NotepadExample", MessageBoxButtons.YesNoCancel, MessageBoxIcon.Question)

            If dialogRes = DialogResult.Yes Then
                '// Save
                '// Check if already saved or "Untitled"
                If DocumentSaved = True Then
                    '// Already saved before, so save to old path
                    SaveFile()
                    '// Open new file
                    NewFile()
                Else
                    '// Never saved before, show dialog
                    SaveFileAs()
                    '// Open new file
                    NewFile()
                End If
            ElseIf dialogRes = DialogResult.No Then
                '// Don't save, just open new file
                NewFile()
            End If

        Else

            '// Doc has not changed so it's safe to open a new file
            NewFile()
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Sub OpenToolStripMenuItem_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles OpenToolStripMenuItem.Click
        '// Check if doc has changed
        If DocumentChanged = True Then

            '// Doc has changed, ask wether to save old doc or not
            Dim dialogRes As DialogResult = MessageBox.Show("Document has changed since you last saved it. Do you want to save?", "NotepadExample", MessageBoxButtons.YesNoCancel, MessageBoxIcon.Question)

            If dialogRes = DialogResult.Yes Then
                '// Save
                '// Check if already saved or "Untitled"
                If DocumentSaved = True Then
                    '// Already saved before, so save to old path
                    SaveFile()
                    '// Open file
                    OpenFile()
                Else
                    '// Never saved before, show dialog
                    SaveFileAs()
                    '// Open file
                    OpenFile()
                End If
            ElseIf dialogRes = DialogResult.No Then
                '// Don't save, just open file
                OpenFile()
            End If

        Else

            '// Doc has not changed so it's safe to open another file
            OpenFile()
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Sub SaveToolStripMenuItem_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles SaveToolStripMenuItem.Click
        '// Check if saved before
        If DocumentSaved = True Then
            '// Saved before, so just save to old path
            SaveFile()
        Else
            '// Never saved before, show dialog
            SaveFileAs()
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Sub SaveAsToolStripMenuItem_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles SaveAsToolStripMenuItem.Click
        '// Just save file as
        SaveFileAs()
    End Sub

    Private Sub ExitToolStripMenuItem_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles ExitToolStripMenuItem.Click
        '// Close the app
        '// Saved/Changed checks are in FormClosing event so they also fire when user presses the X
        Me.Close()
    End Sub

#End Region

#Region " NEW/OPEN/SAVE/SAVEALL SUBS "

    Private Sub NewFile()
        '// Open a new file

        '// Clear RTB text and set the filetitle/path
        RTB.Clear()
        sFilePath = ""
        sFileTitle = "Untitled"

        '// Set saved/changed status
        DocumentSaved = False
        DocumentChanged = False

        '// Update title
        UpdateTitle()
    End Sub

    Private Sub OpenFile()
        '// Show OpenFileDialog and open selected file
        Using ofd As New OpenFileDialog

            '// Set properties
            ofd.Title = "Open File"
            ofd.Filter = "Text files (*.txt)|*.txt|All files|*.*"

            '// Show dialog and only continue when OK was pressed
            If ofd.ShowDialog = Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then

                '// Set filepath
                sFilePath = ofd.FileName
                '// Get fileTitle via function
                sFileTitle = IO.Path.GetFileName(sFilePath)

                '// Load file into RTB
                RTB.LoadFile(sFilePath, RichTextBoxStreamType.PlainText)

                '// Set changed/saved status
                DocumentChanged = False
                DocumentSaved = True

                '// Update title
                UpdateTitle()
            End If
        End Using
    End Sub

    Private Sub SaveFile()
        '// Save file to old sFilePath path
        RTB.SaveFile(sFilePath, RichTextBoxStreamType.PlainText)

        '// Set changed/saved status
        DocumentChanged = False
        DocumentSaved = True

        '// Update title
        UpdateTitle()
    End Sub

    Private Sub SaveFileAs()
        '// Show SaveFileDialog and save to selected path
        Using sfd As New SaveFileDialog

            '// Set properties
            sfd.Title = "Save File"
            sfd.Filter = "Text files (*.txt)|*.txt|All files|*.*"

            '// Show dialog and only continue when user presses OK
            If sfd.ShowDialog() = Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then

                '// Set paths
                sFilePath = sfd.FileName
                sFileTitle = IO.Path.GetFileName(sFilePath)

                '// Save file
                RTB.SaveFile(sFilePath, RichTextBoxStreamType.PlainText)

                '// Set status and update title
                DocumentChanged = False
                DocumentSaved = True
                UpdateTitle()
            End If
        End Using
    End Sub

#End Region

#Region " MISC FUNCTIONS "

    Private Sub UpdateTitle()
        '// Set form text to show filetitle
        Me.Text = sFileTitle & " - [ NotepadExample ]"

        '// Add a * if doc has changed
        If DocumentChanged = True Then Me.Text &= "*"
    End Sub

#End Region

#Region " FORM AND RTB RELATED "

    Private Sub Form1_FormClosing(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.FormClosingEventArgs) Handles Me.FormClosing
        '// Form is closing so check if doc is saved
        If DocumentChanged = True Then
            Dim dialogRes As DialogResult = MessageBox.Show("Document has changed since it was last saved. Do you want to save before closing?", "NotepadExample", MessageBoxButtons.YesNoCancel)

            If dialogRes = DialogResult.Yes Then
                '// Save
                If DocumentSaved = True Then
                    SaveFile()
                Else
                    SaveFileAs()
                End If
            ElseIf dialogRes = DialogResult.Cancel Then
                e.Cancel = True
            End If
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        '// Load new file
        NewFile()
    End Sub

    Private Sub RTB_TextChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles RTB.TextChanged
        '// If doc has not changed then set it to changed
        If DocumentChanged = False Then
            Me.Text &= "*"
            DocumentChanged = True
        End If
    End Sub

#End Region

End Class

[Hack]

If you have access to Winzip, a zip file would be helpful as that is what most of our members use.

Thanks.

[NickThissen]

Alright I attached the zip file aswell in the first post. Thanks.

[morkie]

thanks....

[Stealth1337]

hi.. i have problems with this:

If DocumentSaved = True Then
                    SaveFile()
                Else
                    SaveFileAs()
                End If
            ElseIf dialogRes = DialogResult.Cancel Then
                e.Cancel = True

e.Cancel is not a member of System.EventArgs it says.. so idk what to replace it with.. i use vs 2008
SaveFile() needs to be declared it says.. but as what? Thanks

[Hack]

From where are you calling/executing this code?

[Stealth1337]

e.Cancel issue solved.. forgot the edit the executing thing.. but this still gives me errores

If DocumentSaved = True Then
                    SaveFile()
                Else
                    SaveFileAs()
                End If

SaveFile() and SaveFileAs() needs to be declared.. =/

[Hack]

I would expect that would give you errors unless you have written subs/functions called "SaveFile" or "SaveFileAs"

Post the code that you have written for these...

[Stealth1337]

I would expect that would give you errors unless you have written subs/functions called "SaveFile" or "SaveFileAs"

Post the code that you have written for these...

Private Sub SaveToolStripMenuItem_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles SaveToolStripMenuItem.Click
        Dim Save As New SaveFileDialog()
        Dim myStreamWriter As System.IO.StreamWriter
        Save.Filter = "Text [*.txt*]|*.txt|All Files [*.*]|*.*"
        Save.CheckPathExists = True
        Save.Title = "Save File"
        Save.ShowDialog(Me)
        Try
            myStreamWriter = System.IO.File.AppendText(Save.FileName)
            myStreamWriter.Write(RichTextBox1.Text)
            myStreamWriter.Flush()
        Catch ex As Exception
        End Try
    End Sub

i only have Save not save as
e

edit: ok i guess i will add Save As.. the code i have now is the one above.. but i will change it to the one in this tutorial since i think it's more reliable

[NickThissen]

If you look in my code, there's a method SaveFile and a method SaveFileAs. You'd need to have those methods too before you can call them.

This is meant as a complete example. Of course you can use bits and pieces from it, but you'll need to figure out for yourself which bits you need to change/replace/remove/add, because you won't be able to simply take a chunk out of the code and expect it to work.

[Stealth1337]

If you look in my code, there's a method SaveFile and a method SaveFileAs. You'd need to have those methods too before you can call them.

This is meant as a complete example. Of course you can use bits and pieces from it, but you'll need to figure out for yourself which bits you need to change/replace/remove/add, because you won't be able to simply take a chunk out of the code and expect it to work.

i guess you are speaking of this:

Private Sub NewFile()
        '// Open a new file

        '// Clear RTB text and set the filetitle/path
        RTB.Clear()
        sFilePath = ""
        sFileTitle = "Untitled"

        '// Set saved/changed status
        DocumentSaved = False
        DocumentChanged = False

        '// Update title
        UpdateTitle()
    End Sub

    Private Sub OpenFile()
        '// Show OpenFileDialog and open selected file
        Using ofd As New OpenFileDialog

            '// Set properties
            ofd.Title = "Open File"
            ofd.Filter = "Text files (*.txt)|*.txt|All files|*.*"

            '// Show dialog and only continue when OK was pressed
            If ofd.ShowDialog = Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then

                '// Set filepath
                sFilePath = ofd.FileName
                '// Get fileTitle via function
                sFileTitle = IO.Path.GetFileName(sFilePath)

                '// Load file into RTB
                RTB.LoadFile(sFilePath, RichTextBoxStreamType.PlainText)

                '// Set changed/saved status
                DocumentChanged = False
                DocumentSaved = True

                '// Update title
                UpdateTitle()
            End If
        End Using
    End Sub

    Private Sub SaveFile()
        '// Save file to old sFilePath path
        RTB.SaveFile(sFilePath, RichTextBoxStreamType.PlainText)

        '// Set changed/saved status
        DocumentChanged = False
        DocumentSaved = True

        '// Update title
        UpdateTitle()
    End Sub

    Private Sub SaveFileAs()
        '// Show SaveFileDialog and save to selected path
        Using sfd As New SaveFileDialog

            '// Set properties
            sfd.Title = "Save File"
            sfd.Filter = "Text files (*.txt)|*.txt|All files|*.*"

            '// Show dialog and only continue when user presses OK
            If sfd.ShowDialog() = Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then

                '// Set paths
                sFilePath = sfd.FileName
                sFileTitle = IO.Path.GetFileName(sFilePath)

                '// Save file
                RTB.SaveFile(sFilePath, RichTextBoxStreamType.PlainText)

                '// Set status and update title
                DocumentChanged = False
                DocumentSaved = True
                UpdateTitle()
            End If
        End Using
    End Sub

#End Region

#Region " MISC FUNCTIONS "

i'll try to do my best to figure this out.. thank u for this great help

[Stealth1337]

I think i have got everything working.. except one thing.. even if i don't write anything in a new file.. when i close.. it still asks if i want to save.. :S

edit: issue fixed.. it was a mistake of mine I have it all done and working.. and i understand mostly everything,, thank u very much for this