Press F1 in Textbox1 to do this

I am still trying to get my head around the use of functions in my applications so I may not be explaining this clearly but .... I will try my best to be clear as I possibly can.

I have a form where I have 5 different text boxes. Lets say textbox 1 through 5. How do I write a function like the one below for use of all 5 controls.

The catch is that I need to know which textbox is responsible for the key down. So that if I am in textbox1 and press F1 I will get a message specific to textbox1.

Code:

---

        Dim intKey As Integer
        intKey = e.KeyCode

        Select Case intKey
            Case Keys.F1
                MsgBox("F1 Pressed")
            Case Keys.F2
                MsgBox("F2 Pressed")
            Case Keys.F3
                MsgBox("F3 Pressed")
            Case Keys.F4
                MsgBox("F4 Pressed")
            Case Keys.F5
                MsgBox("F5 Pressed")
        End Select

---

Thanks and I hope that makes sense.

Do you want a method for each text box? Like

VB Code:

Private Sub TextBox1_KeyDown(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.KeyEventArgs) Handles TextBox1.KeyDown
        If e.KeyCode = Keys.F1 Then
            MsgBox("F1 was pressed")
        End If
    End Sub
 
    Private Sub TextBox2_KeyDown(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.KeyEventArgs) Handles TextBox2.KeyDown
        If e.KeyCode = Keys.F1 Then
            MsgBox("F1 was pressed")
        End If
    End Sub

Or one method to handle all text boxes, something like

VB Code:

Private Sub Several_KeyDown(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.KeyEventArgs) Handles TextBox1.KeyDown, TextBox2.KeyDown
        If sender Is TextBox1 Then
            MsgBox("TextBox1")
        End If
        If sender Is TextBox2 Then
            MsgBox("TextBox2")
        End If
    End Sub

Looks like that is the keydown event. you can add more controls to the same event through the handles keyword. Notice at the end of the method declaration it has TextBox1-5. And the other parameter is sender which is the textbox the event is fired from.

VB Code:

Private Sub TextBox1_KeyDown(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.KeyEventArgs) Handles TextBox1.KeyDown, TextBox2.KeyDown, TextBox3.KeyDown, TextBox4.KeyDown, TextBox5.KeyDown
        'sender is the one firing the event
        Select Case e.KeyCode
            Case Keys.F1
                MsgBox("F1 Pressed", , DirectCast(sender, TextBox).Name)
            Case Keys.F2
                MsgBox("F2 Pressed", , DirectCast(sender, TextBox).Name)
            Case Keys.F3
                MsgBox("F3 Pressed", , DirectCast(sender, TextBox).Name)
            Case Keys.F4
                MsgBox("F4 Pressed", , DirectCast(sender, TextBox).Name)
            Case Keys.F5
                MsgBox("F5 Pressed", , DirectCast(sender, TextBox).Name)
        End Select
    End Sub

Looks like I'm a bit of a slow typer today.

Mike Hildner something like the second one you posted. I am not sure why the one Edneeis works but it seems to do the trick. However I have one more thing to do. I need to do an If Then or equivalant that can open the form based on these two pieces of known information.

I know the key down event was directed to me from textbox1 and it was an F1 key that was pressed so I need to show a Help Form for textbox1.

or

I know the key down event was directed to me from textbox1 and it was an F2 key that was pressed so I need to show a Field Info Form for textbox1.

And then do the same thing for textbox2 etc.

Edneeis was smarter with the DirectCast business. Reading you last post, are you still having troubles? It looks like you have all the information you need.

No I am still having problems with getting the textbox name into an argument.

Maybe this will clear it up.

Code:

---

    Private Sub TextBox1_KeyDown(ByVal sender As Object, _
        ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.KeyEventArgs) _
        Handles TextBox1.KeyDown, TextBox2.KeyDown

        Select Case e.KeyCode
            Case Keys.F1
                MsgBox("F1 Pressed", , _
                    DirectCast(sender, TextBox).Name)
                'If the sender is from textbox1 open Help Form for textbox1
                'If the sender is from textbox2 open Help Form for textbox2

            Case Keys.F2
                MsgBox("F2 Pressed", , _
                    DirectCast(sender, TextBox).Name)
                'If the sender is from textbox1 open More Info for textbox1
                'If the sender is from textbox2 open More Info for textbox2

        End Select
    End Sub

---

That's what DirectCast(sender, TextBox).Name does. If it's TextBox1 that returns TextBox1 etc.

Yup I get the textbox name in the messagebox but I need to evaluate the textbox name and this doesn't work.

Code:

---

      Select Case e.KeyCode
            Case Keys.F1
                MsgBox("F1 Pressed", , _
                    DirectCast(sender, TextBox).Name)
                If DirectCast(sender, TextBox).Name = TextBox1 Then
                    ' do something here
                ElseIf DirectCast(sender, TextBox).Name = TextBox2 Then
                    ' do something else here
                End If

---

You've got some squiggly lines there don't you?

Use quotes around the name you're checking against. The .Name property returns a string.

If DirectCast(sender, TextBox).Name = "TextBox1" Then


In your code you were attempting to assign the .Name property to the object TextBox1

You could join the two and use Mike's second post way instead of the name.

VB Code:

Select Case e.KeyCode
            Case Keys.F1
                MsgBox("F1 Pressed", , _
                    DirectCast(sender, TextBox).Name)
                If sender Is TextBox1 Then
                    ' do something here 
                ElseIf sender Is TextBox2 Then
                    ' do something else here 
                End If

You really only need to DirectCast it if you want to refer to a property of sender (i.e. Name, Text...)

I finaly got it. Thank you both for getting me there. Just in case somebody else if following this thread and wants to see how it all looks put together. Here is the completed sample.

Code:

---

  Public Sub capKeyDown_KeyDown(ByVal sender As Object, _
        ByVal e As KeyEventArgs)

        Select Case e.KeyCode
            Case Keys.F1
                If sender Is TextBox1 Then
                    MsgBox("F1 in Textbox1 was pressed")
                ElseIf sender Is TextBox2 Then
                    MsgBox("F1 in Textbox2 was pressed")
                End If
            Case Keys.F2
                If sender Is TextBox1 Then
                    MsgBox("F2 in Textbox1 was pressed")
                ElseIf sender Is TextBox2 Then
                    MsgBox("F2 in textbox2 was pressed")
                End If
        End Select

    End Sub

    Private Sub TextBox1_KeyDown(ByVal sender As Object, _
        ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.KeyEventArgs) _
        Handles TextBox1.KeyDown

        capKeyDown_KeyDown(TextBox1, e)

    End Sub

    Private Sub TextBox2_KeyDown(ByVal sender As Object, _
        ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.KeyEventArgs) _
        Handles TextBox2.KeyDown

        capKeyDown_KeyDown(TextBox2, e)

    End Sub

---

I hope it is usefull to someone else.

Alternatively you could just use:

VB Code:

Public Sub capKeyDown_KeyDown(ByVal sender As Object, _
        ByVal e As KeyEventArgs) [b]Handles TextBox1.Keydown,Textbox2.KeyDown[/b]
 
        Select Case e.KeyCode
            Case Keys.F1
                If sender Is TextBox1 Then
                    MsgBox("F1 in Textbox1 was pressed")
                ElseIf sender Is TextBox2 Then
                    MsgBox("F1 in Textbox2 was pressed")
                End If
            Case Keys.F2
                If sender Is TextBox1 Then
                    MsgBox("F2 in Textbox1 was pressed")
                ElseIf sender Is TextBox2 Then
                    MsgBox("F2 in textbox2 was pressed")
                End If
        End Select
 
    End Sub