Show Form Issue

I am officially getting into .NET and I am having a hard time making
the transition from VB6. I am trying to show a second form from a
first form upon a simple button click. No problem there, but when
the second form closes I want the first form to come back. When
the second form is being shown the first form is hidden. So how
do I get it back?

VB Code:

'Second form
    Private Sub cmdClose_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles cmdClose.Click
        Me.Close()
        Form2.Show() 'Doesnt work
    End Sub
End Class

Thanks for any help.

I am doing this from the first form to bring up the second form, but
I dont want the first form to be visible while the second form is
open.

VB Code:

Private Sub cmdOk_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles cmdOk.Click
        Dim oReport As New Form2
        Form1.ActiveForm.Hide()
        oReport.ShowDialog()
    End Sub
End Class

Doh!

VB Code:

'Form1
    Private Sub cmdOk_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles cmdOk.Click
        Dim oReport As New Form2
        Me.Hide()
        oReport.ShowDialog()
        Me.Show()
    End Sub
End Class

OK, let's see if I write this right without taxes yelling at me...

VB Code:

'In module:
 
 
    Public f1 As New Form1
    Public f2 As Form2
 
    Public Sub Main()
 
        Application.Run(f1)
 
    End Sub
 
 
'in form1 button click event
 
 
        f2 = New Form2
        Me.Hide()
        f2.Show()
 
'in form2 close event
 
 f1.Show()

HTH.

When I do it, I create a variable on the form you are showing like this:

VB Code:

Dim myCaller as Form

So when you call the form, the code would be something like this:

VB Code:

Dim x As New frmX
 
x.myCaller = Me
Me.Hide()
x.Show()

And in the form that is shown, when I need to reshow the calling form, just use

VB Code:

myCaller.Show

Of course, you could also put this into the forms Sub New then you can't forget to set it.

Why cant you just reference the form object in the form itself
like you can do in vb6? I'm sure there is a good reason, but just
wish it was the same as it was for 6.

I understand the code posted but still why does it have to be
that way?

Because forms are classes and like any class, you need a reference to be able to modify the data stored in the class.

Declaring a variable such as

VB Code:

Dim MainForm As frmMain

Doesn't contain any data, rather is an object holder. If you were to try and use some of the methods that class contains, you will get an Object reference not set to an instance of an object. exception. So to give it a value that you can use, you can either pass a reference of an already created object to the holder, or create a new one such as:

VB Code:

Dim MainForm As New frmMain

By doing this, you can then modify public properties and methods of the form such as showing it or retrieving a textbox value.

One important note to remember,

VB Code:

Dim Form1 As New frmMain
Dim Form2 As New frmMain

Although they look the same, they are infact two different objects, so if you set the text for Form1, Form2 will not have the same text.

To finish off, think of it as a blueprint, the same blueprint can make unlimited buildings, but you cannot put a computer in a plan of a room and use it, unless you physically place it into the room of the constructed building, and even then, if there are a number of buildings that are the same with the same type of computer, there will be different things on them at the same time.

Thanks guys. I think I got it now. I also went through some
tutorials on the M$ site.

Thanks for the replies.