How to open a Form??

Very basic...

I'm brand new to Visual Basic.NET and trying to figure it out (making the first "Hello World") :)

How does I operate forms like in VB6:

VB Code:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
Form2.Show
End Sub

VB Code:

Private Sub Command2_Click()
Form2.Hide
End Sub

Claus

You can show a form several ways. This is to show it modally.

VB Code:

Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
    Dim oForm As New Form2
    oForm2.ShowDialog
End Sub

oform2.showdialog() will make it so the user must finish with that form before moving on.

oform2.show() will just make it appear.

- Josh

The main difference is that you have to set a variable to the form, and then access the forms properties through that variable. The form can also be hidden in VB .NET, but I'm not sure if you want to hide it, or close it. Closing it will give you back resources. Hiding keeps the resources in use and the form still loaded in memory and accessible through code. If you're not going to use the form anytime soon or it's a one shot, best close it. If you're going to keep using it but don't want it visible all the time then hide would probably be better so you're not constantly opening and closing it.

The above code could be written like this:

VB Code:

Dim myForm as new Form2
 
Private Sub Command1_Click()
myForm.ShowDialog
End Sub

VB Code:

Private Sub Command2_Click()
myForm.close ' or myForm.hide
End Sub

Actually, the form is instanciated only once in your example so when it is .Closed it will no longer be able to be shown.
You should have it like this to allow the button click to show the form over and over and yet keep resources low.

VB Code:

Dim myForm As Form2
 
Private Sub Command1_Click()
    If myForm Is Nothing Then
        myForm = New Form2
    End If
    myForm.ShowDialog
End Sub
 
Private Sub Command2_Click()
    myForm.Close  ' or myForm.hide
End Sub

Thanks...

That helped me get started!!

Claus

Not wanting to jump in on someone else's thread, but this pertains to what I'm doing... I've got a TreeView which has 4 nested nodes, much like a Windows Explorer tree, except that it will never go more than 4 nodes deep.

Each subcatagory opens a different form (a dialog box) inside the main (parent) form. Only 1 of these forms will ever be seen at any given time. Should I instanciate all 4 forms and then just show the correct one and repopulate it, or should I dispose of each one when it is not needed?

In the On_Click event for the TreeView I have code like this:

Dim frmComp, frmDept, frmLoc, frmMachine, frmAssess As Form

frmComp = New frmCompany
frmComp.MdiParent = Me
frmDept = New frmDepartment
frmDept.MdiParent = Me
frmLoc = New frmLocation
frmLoc.MdiParent = Me
frmMachine = New DataForm2
frmMachine.MdiParent = Me

Then, I show the form like this:

If TreeView1.SelectedNode.Tag = "company" Then

frmComp.Show()
ElseIf TreeView1.SelectedNode.Tag = "department" Then
frmDept.Show()
ElseIf TreeView1.SelectedNode.Tag = "location" Then
frmLoc.Show()
ElseIf TreeView1.SelectedNode.Tag = "WE" Then
frmMachine.Show()
x = "WE"
End If
If x = "WE" Then
gstrPassedNode = TreeView1.SelectedNode.Tag
Else
gstrPassedNode = TreeView1.SelectedNode.Text
End If


Just wondering if I'm on the right track here. Thanks.

john