[RESOLVED] Choosing between multiple comboboxes

[RichardKnox]

Hello one more,

I have a program issue I am trying to work on. I have multiple comboboxes
(12 total) on a form.

I am attempting to update some settings from what ever the user selects from the combo boxes.

I am trying to keep the code as small as possible, so I thought about having all the comboboxes have similar names only different by a number being changed at the end. (ex: cbo_1, cbo_2, cbo_3, etc...)

And using a For next loop to advance through each combobox and update the settings as the for next loop advances.

(This might be a stupid way of doing it, but its the first idea that came to mind.)

[CODE]
Public Sub btn_Update_Click(etc....)

For i = 1 to 12 <--- Loops 12 times


My.Settings.Item("Setting_" & i) = cbo_ & i.SelectedItem

Next

Any help would be greatly appreceated.

[kleinma]

There are 2 ways to go about that (maybe more, but 2 general ways).

One is to create an array of these comboboxes and you can loop through them. Like this:

        Dim myCombos() As ComboBox = {ComboBox1, ComboBox2, ComboBox3}
        For i As Integer = 1 To 12

            My.Settings.Item("Setting_" & i) = myCombos(i).SelectedItem

        Next

the other is to use the forms controls property to access the controls by a string name.

        For i As Integer = 1 To 12

            My.Settings.Item("Setting_" & i) = DirectCast(Me.Controls("cbo_" & i.ToString), ComboBox).SelectedItem

        Next

note if the combos are not directly on the form, but in a container like panel or groupbox, you would use that containers name instead of the "Me" keyword which is a reference to the form.