[RESOLVED] Referring to a control which created programmatically

Consider you've created a control inside a form as follows:

Code:

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Me.Controls.Add(New Label With {.Name = "Label1"})

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How can I access it right after creation line accordingly?

Code:

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Label1.Visible = True

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Its not declaration error will be shown consequently.
How about declaring controls with similar names? Required argument accepts string after all and humans can make mistakes.

How about adding controls inside a TableLayoutPanel? Are the logic dictation applies here too?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pourkascheff

Consider you've created a control inside a form as follows:

Code:

---

Me.Controls.Add(New Label With {.Name = "Label1"})

---

How can I access it right after creation line accordingly?

Code:

---

Label1.Visible = True

---

Its not declaration error will be shown consequently.
How about declaring controls with similar names? Required argument accepts string after all and humans can make mistakes.

How about adding controls inside a TableLayoutPanel? Are the logic dictation applies here too?

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Giving a control a name at runtime doesn't automatically create a variable of the same name. One way would be to create the variable explicitly and then add it to the collection e.g.

Code:

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Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click

    Dim l1 As New Label With {
        .Name = "Label1"
    }

    Me.Controls.Add(l1)
    l1.Visible = True
End Sub

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alternatively you could use the Find method on the Controls collection to locate the new Label and use that e.g.

Code:

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Me.Controls.Add(New Label With {.Name = "Label1"})

Dim l1 As Label = DirectCast(Me.Controls.Find("Label1", True).First(), Label)
l1.Visible = True

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another option would be to just set all the properties in one go when you create the control e.g.

Code:

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Me.Controls.Add(New Label With {
    .Name = "Label1",
    .Visible = True
    } )

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obviously that isn't any good if you do need to do other things with the control.

Thanks a lot, I also learned .Find here.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PlausiblyDamp

that isn't any good if you do need to do other things with the control.

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Consider you're arranging a huge matrix in TLP and you want to do things with its members (controls) they could be UserControl and .Visible was just an example. About TLP .GetControlFromPosition(x, y) would be our friend then.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pourkascheff

Thanks a lot, I also learned .Find here.

Consider you're arranging a huge matrix in TLP and you want to do things with its members (controls) they could be UserControl and .Visible was just an example. About TLP .GetControlFromPosition(x, y) would be our friend then.

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.GetControlFromPosition would probably be fine in that case, the only possible issue would be knowing what kind of control you are dealing with; however if the TLP has a predictable structure e.g. column 1 is always a particular control type then this would be pretty straightforward to do.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pourkascheff

Thanks a lot, I also learned .Find here.

Consider you're arranging a huge matrix in TLP and you want to do things with its members (controls) they could be UserControl and .Visible was just an example. About TLP .GetControlFromPosition(x, y) would be our friend then.

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Maybe if you told us EXACTLY what you are trying to accomplish... This feels like one of those questions that will keep wandering around.

edit: Make hint more pronounced.

If you know the name, type, and parent of control you dont need to find it

Code:

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Controls.Add(New Label With {.Name = "Label1"})
DirectCast(Controls("Label1"), Label).Visible = True

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Quote:

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.GetControlFromPosition(x, y) would be our friend then

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You lost me here, are you suggesting that it would be easier to reference a control by its location than it would be by its name and/or type?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dbasnett

This feels like one of those questions that will keep wandering around.

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Sorry, not intended to do such thing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by vbdotnut

are you suggesting that it would be easier to reference a control by its location than it would be by its name and/or type?

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Nah mate, getcontrolfromposition is useful when you are about to change something in a specific coordinate. But thanks for directcast anyways.