[RESOLVED] Having Trouble Getting Runtime Generated Checkbox State

[J2Tuner]

Hey everybody. I am fairly new at VB 2010 and I am running into a bit of an issue that has caused me to come to a screeching halt on my current project...

I have been able to generate controls at runtime and obtain values from them without trouble until I generated a Groupbox at runtime and filled it with Checkboxes (obviously at runtime). How can I get the values of each of the runtime generated Checkboxes from each of the runtime generated Groupboxes?

Any help would be appreciated. Here is the code that I used to generate the controls at runtime. I am not quite sure how to go about retrieving the values. Typically I use:


Me.Controls.Item(control name).Text (For my text box controls)

But I am not sure how to get the values of a checkbox control if it is inside of another runtime generated groupbox control.



Sorry that my code shows how much of a beginner that I really am....

 Private Sub btnAddGroup_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnAddGroup.Click
        Dim strIBResult As String
        Dim intCurrentXPosition As Integer = 25
        Dim intCurrentYPosition As Integer = 120
        Dim intCurrentCBYPosition As Integer = 15
        'Dim intCurrentLabelXPosition As Integer = intCurrentXPosition + 50
        Dim intGroupBoxWidth As Integer = 200
        Dim intGroupBoxHeight As Integer = 200
        Dim intCurrentRow As Integer = 0
        Dim intTotalRows As Integer = m_DataTableClass.Rows.Count

        strIBResult = InputBox("How many groups would you like to add?", "Add Groups", " ")
        If Not IsNumeric(strIBResult) Then
            MessageBox.Show("Add group entry invalid", "Attention")
            Exit Sub
        End If

        intAddGroups = CInt(strIBResult)
        intTotalGroups += intAddGroups

        Do While intCurrentGroup <= intTotalGroups
            Dim grpNewGroupBox = New GroupBox
            grpNewGroupBox.Name = "grpGroup" & intCurrentGroup
            grpNewGroupBox.Text = "Group " & intCurrentGroup
            grpNewGroupBox.Location = New Point(intCurrentXPosition, intCurrentYPosition)
            grpNewGroupBox.Size = New Size(intGroupBoxWidth, intGroupBoxHeight)
            grpNewGroupBox.AutoSize = True

            Do While intCurrentRow < intTotalRows
                Dim chkClassCheckBox = New CheckBox
                chkClassCheckBox.Name = "chkClass" & intCurrentGroup & intCurrentRow
                chkClassCheckBox.Text = m_DataTableClass.Rows(intCurrentRow).Item("ClassName")
                chkClassCheckBox.Location = New Point(intCurrentXPosition, intCurrentCBYPosition)
                grpNewGroupBox.Controls.Add(chkClassCheckBox)

                intCurrentCBYPosition += 30
                intCurrentRow += 1
            Loop

            Me.Controls.Add(grpNewGroupBox)
            intCurrentRow = 0
            intCurrentGroup += 1
            intCurrentYPosition = intCurrentCBYPosition + intCurrentYPosition + 50
            intCurrentCBYPosition = 15
        Loop

        intCurrentGroup = intTotalGroups - 1
        intLastGroupBoxYPosition = intCurrentYPosition
    End Sub

Thanks!

[dday9]

You're on the right track, Me.Controls.Item(Item) would get the item for the controls on the form. Groupboxes have the same thing so GroupBox.Controls.Item(Item) would work. Take a look at my example:

Option Strict On
Option Explicit On
Public Class Form1
    'Declare the values at the form level
    Private gb As New GroupBox
    Private cb As CheckBox

    Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        'Set the groubbox's properties
        gb.Location = New Point(15, 15)
        gb.Text = "Groupbox to hold some checkboxes"
        gb.Size = New Size(300, 500)

        'Add it to Me.Controls
        Me.Controls.Add(gb)

        'Loop 9
        For i As Integer = 10 To 1 Step -1
            cb = New CheckBox
            cb.Text = "Checkbox" & i.ToString
            cb.Location = New Point(15, 25 * i)
            'Add the checkbox to the Groupbox's controls
            gb.Controls.Add(cb)
        Next
    End Sub

    Private Sub Button2_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button2.Click
        'Store a list of string
        Dim CheckedCheckBox As New List(Of String)

        'Enumerate through all the checkboxes in the groupbox
        For Each CheckBox In gb.Controls.OfType(Of CheckBox)()
            'If the checkbox is checked then...
            If CheckBox.Checked = True Then
                'Add it to the list
                CheckedCheckBox.Add(CheckBox.Text)
            End If
        Next

        'Display a messagebox for all the items in the list
        For i As Integer = CheckedCheckBox.Count - 1 To 0 Step -1
            MessageBox.Show(CheckedCheckBox(i))
        Next

        'Clear the list
        CheckedCheckBox.Clear()
    End Sub
End Class

[J2Tuner]

Thanks for the quick reply!

I was actually thinking about using a list, but I am still unsure of how to use all of its functions.

What would the best direction be if I were using multiple runtime generated groupboxes (the quantity of groupboxes is determined by the entry in the input box), all populated with runtime generated checkboxes? Should I use a list to store the names of all of the group boxes as well? How would I go about accessing all of the controls inside each groupbox if it is part of a list? (I may be all wrong about the list in general though)

Is there a way to access individual controls in runtime generated groupboxes like the following:

Me.runtime_generated_groupbox.Controls.Item(runtime_generated_checkbox).[I'm not quite sure what property of the checkbox would be available here, checked? text?]

I am assuming that I am pretty far out of the ballpark with this one...

Sorry if you already covered this, and I misunderstood your code... Thanks again

[kevininstructor]

You can use a Dictionary with the key as the GroupBox name and the value as a List(Of CheckBox). Before adding a GroupBox (as shown below) check to see if the name exists in the Dictionary, if not add or of course remove it and add. Although everything is hard coded in regards to the properties being set that can be dynamic. What the important thing is the code shows the concept.

Private Sub Button1_Click( _
   ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
   Dim GroupBoxNames As String() = {"GB1", "GB2", "GB3", "GB1"}
   Dim Dict As New Dictionary(Of String, List(Of CheckBox))
   For Each item In GroupBoxNames
      If Not Dict.ContainsKey(item) Then
         Dim GroupBox As New GroupBox With {.Name = item}
         Dim Items As New List(Of CheckBox)(New CheckBox() _
            { _
               New CheckBox With {.Name = "C1", .Checked = True}, _
               New CheckBox With {.Name = "C2", .Checked = False} _
            } _
         )
         Dict.Add(item, Items)
      End If
   Next

   For Each item In Dict
      Console.WriteLine("{0} - {1}", item.Key, item.Value.Count)
      For Each cb In item.Value
         If cb.Checked Then
            ' do something
         Else
            ' do something else
         End If
      Next
   Next

   Dict.Item("GB1").Item(0).Checked = False
   Dict.Item("GB1").Item(1).Checked = True
   ' Who is checked 
   Dim Result = (From T In Dict.Item("GB1") Where T.Checked = True Select T.Name).ToList
   For Each item In Result
      Console.WriteLine(item)
   Next
End Sub

[J2Tuner]

You guys are awesome! Thank you for all of the help. I really appreciate it.

I was in fact able to use the Dictionary and List Object, as well as a few For...Next loops to solve this issue.