[RESOLVED] How can I loop an InputBox to have different function

[Nana5]

I have here a code that displays an InputBox when I item of the combobox is selected.
I want my application to display different InputBoxes ......for Eg. after asking the user for their last name , it should also ask for their gender and continuously

        If ComboBox1.Text = "General Science" Then
            Dim lname As String = InputBox("Enter your Last Name", Me.Text, "NoName")

         
        End If

    End Sub

[si_the_geek]

You don't need a loop etc, you just need to add more lines that will show an InputBox, eg:

        If ComboBox1.Text = "General Science" Then
            Dim lname As String = InputBox("Enter your Last Name", Me.Text, "NoName")
            Dim gender As String = InputBox("Enter your Gender", Me.Text, "NoGender")
            Dim somethingElse As String = InputBox("Enter Something Else", Me.Text, "NothingElse")
         
        End If

...however, wouldn't it be better to show a form which has textboxes for each of the items you want to enter?

Maybe even have the controls on your current form, and just have them hidden (perhaps by putting them in a Panel and hiding that) until you want them displayed.

[Nana5]

Hello si_the_geek i tried what you said and it worked, thank you for that but how can your suggestion be done does it mean that i should have 13 forms which have textboxes on each of them. Because when i use the inputbox, i will want it to display 13 times

below is a picture of what i'm to do but I want to know what you would have if asked that as the programmer
the number 3
Attachment 177724

[Shaggy Hiker]

You REALLY don't want either of those solutions. Just think about using a program that pops up 13 inputboxes in a row. How annoying would that be? They wouldn't even show up at the same place, so you'd be chasing them around the screen. It would be horrible. When people want to ask thirteen questions, they make a single form with thirteen questions on it and thirteen textboxes on it.

[si_the_geek]

You should have all 13 textboxes on just one form.

I would recommend having them one under the other, with a Label to the left of each to say what you are supposed to enter (eg: "Last Name" and "Gender").



edit: oops, it seems I was slow!

[Nana5]

wait if i want to understand you better the textboxes will be under one another and the labels will be hidden till i click the value from the combobox to show it, right?
but won't this make the application faulty since i was not asked to add any button to show next textbox.
this image is what i should follow to build my application
Attachment 177725
so i want to know what best is suitable for my application

thanks for all suggestions @Shaggy Hiker and si_the_geek

[wes4dbt]

Your attachment link doesn't work.

[passel]

You REALLY don't want either of those solutions. Just think about using a program that pops up 13 inputboxes in a row. How annoying would that be? They wouldn't even show up at the same place, so you'd be chasing them around the screen. It would be horrible. When people want to ask thirteen questions, they make a single form with thirteen questions on it and thirteen textboxes on it.

Can't really veer to far from the assigned form layout and methods. Could hurt the grade.

[Shaggy Hiker]

wait if i want to understand you better the textboxes will be under one another and the labels will be hidden till i click the value from the combobox to show it, right?
but won't this make the application faulty since i was not asked to add any button to show next textbox.
this image is what i should follow to build my application
Attachment 177725
so i want to know what best is suitable for my application

thanks for all suggestions @Shaggy Hiker and si_the_geek

It very well might make it faulty. If you have a requirement, then you have to meet that requirement. I was thinking this wasn't an assignment, in which case you make it useable. If this is an assignment, you have to follow the assignment, whether the end result is good or bad.

The attachment clearly didn't work, but what was it supposed to be? You added a picture, earlier, and as you have probably noticed, pictures don't work very well on this site. They tend to be shrunk down to the point where they aren't readable. If the assignment is text, you would be better off copying and pasting it into a post.

[Nana5]

2. On the “Check Eligibility” form, the applicant must select from a drop-down control the
following programmes (General Science, Business Administration, General Arts).

3. For each option selected, the applicant must be able to enter their results based on the
subjects specific to the choice. Also, the applicant must be able to enter their name (first
name, last name), Date of Birth, Gender, Name of previous school. The “Check” button on this
form must be inactive until the applicant enters all required fields.

4. After clicking “Check” the program should calculate the applicant’s grade, verify if they qualify
for admission for the selected programmed and display a message to that effect. The details
of the applicant should be saved in a table “Applicants” and the “Qualified” column of the
table should be “Yes”. For unsuccessful applicants the data should be saved into the same
table and “No” saved into the “Qualified” column.

Okay @ShaggyHiker so that is what can be found in the picture..i'm on number 3 but i'm kinda confused on what to use
whether the inputbox or textbox for such a process

[Shaggy Hiker]

That does make it more clear. I don't believe they want you to be using InputBox at all for this. I also understand your confusion, the question is poorly worded. The first sentence and the second sentence could have been two entirely separate points, rather than being stuffed into number 3. At best, they would have been 3a, 3b, and 3c, the way I see it.

What I believe they want would best be seen by reading the second sentence first, then the first sentence, and finally the third. So, what I would be expecting is a textbox for first name, a textbox for last name, a DateTimePicker for date of birth (a textbox would also work, but would be MUCH harder to get right), two or more radio buttons for gender, then another textbox for previous school.

There would also be the combobox, or a listbox (take your pick), as you currently have, which I would put below those other controls. However, I don't know what this means:

the applicant must be able to enter their results based on the
subjects specific to the choice

They have to enter something based on a selection. Can they select more than one thing, or only one? Also, what are their results? Is that a number, text, or something else? The way that is worded, I'm not sure if it is one value or many values. Depending on what that means, the solution to that could be as simple as a textbox, or as complicated as an entire second form.

Finally, the third sentence is clear, but can be a bit tricky to implement. All that means is that there is a button that is set to .Enabled = False to begin with. Whenever the user enters anything into any of the other controls, you'd have to check that something valid has been entered into ALL the controls, and if every control has a valid value, then the button .Enabled should be set to True. Doing that well, is difficult. Fortunately, since this is an assignment, doing it well isn't a requirement.

[Delaney]

For the check button, inactive doesn't necessarily mean enabled = false , it could be also : "nothing happen if you click and one or more textbox is empty" (I happen to have a input form just like that in an application)

 Private Sub OK_Button_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles OK_Button.Click
        For Each ctrl As TextBox In Me.Controls.OfType(Of TextBox)()
            If ctrl.Text = "" Then Exit Sub
        Next

        'do what you want here if it is ok
    End Sub

[Nana5]

@ShaggyHiker subjects specific to the choice that refers to the grades of some subjects found in the programme selected
For eg, General Science can have subjects like Biology, Chemistry and Physics ......where grades are from A1 to F9 but the check button will find the total of the numbers only

[Shaggy Hiker]

If you are entering "A1" or "F9", then a textbox would likely work best. If you are just entering 1 for A or 9 for F, then using a NumericUpDown control would be much better than using a textbox.

So, if I understand it right, there is a drop down that has General Science in it. If they select that, then they are asked for Biology, then Chemistry, then Physics?

[Nana5]

Yes they ask of grades of these subjects (Physics, Biology and Chemistry) when General Science is selected from the drop down list or General Arts (History, Literature, French)

Also, is there a possibility that having a textbox that i enter A1, B2, B3 to F9 as the grades of these subjects I can sum the numbers only?

[Shaggy Hiker]

As long as a grade is always one character followed by a number, then there is a way. You might do this, for example:

Dim yourString as String = "A1"
Dim num As Integer = CInt(yourString,1)

That's not a great solution, but it's a simple one. It will crash if the string is anything other than a single character followed by a number, and it will give you the wrong answer if the string was something like "10", but it would work for the exact situation you described. A safer solution, that would handle typos, and other errors, better, would be much more involved.

If there are always just three courses, then that would be simple. Beside the combobox (or listbox), you could have three labels with three textboxes to the right of them. When the user clicks a selection in the combobox, you would handle the SelectedIndexChanged event. In there, you'd see what they selected, then fill the three labels with the three course names. The user would then be able to enter the three grades into the three textboxes.

That would look fine, as long as every selection in the combobox results in the same number of subjects (could be all three, all four, or something else). If you don't have the same number of subjects for each selection, then you'd want to hide the label and textbox for any that weren't used.

Alternatively, you could actually use InputBox for this, so I see where you were coming from with that. It doesn't look like the assignment requires you to do so, though, and it wouldn't be a good thing to do. With InputBox, people would really only get one chance to get it right. You wouldn't have any easy way to go back to the last one, fix just one, or get out before the end. You could come up with a much more complicated interface that did allow you to do that, but it would be....much more complicated. Keeping it all on one form will ultimately be easier.

[Nana5]

yes, now yo got me anyways thanks very much. I was able to move forward on my project with the suggestions I had from @ShaggyHiker and everyone who helped. So therefore I will move this thread to a resolved one. Thank you

[ident]

For the check button, inactive doesn't necessarily mean enabled = false , it could be also : "nothing happen if you click and one or more textbox is empty" (I happen to have a input form just like that in an application)

 Private Sub OK_Button_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles OK_Button.Click
        For Each ctrl As TextBox In Me.Controls.OfType(Of TextBox)()
            If ctrl.Text = "" Then Exit Sub
        Next

        'do what you want here if it is ok
    End Sub

Thats' not the way to go about validating textboxes. You should be handling the Validating event of each TextBox. Then call ValidateChildren().

Either way

Public Class Form1
    Private Function CheckFields()
        Return Me.Controls.OfType(Of TextBox)().Any(Function(tb) tb.Text = String.Empty)
    End Function
End Class