[RESOLVED] access to forms

[RonR]

I have attached a small project.


i have trouble getting access to controls on forms from other forms.



form3 cannot get access to the textbox on form2.

could someone look this over to see how I can access form 2 from form3??

[bigMeUp]

I haven't opened your zip file, but this is a quick access method:

Dim f As Form = Application.OpenForms("Form2")

You now have a variable referencing Form2; do with it what you will...

[RonR]

your code looks similar to the code below, it does not allow access to all forms, only some. open my code and look. I have approx. 35 forms and I want to use the method of calling them up that I already have if possible, other wise i will have too much code to change.




dim o2 as form1



in a command button:


o2 = new form2


o2.showdialog()

[bigMeUp]

you seem to be labouring a different requirement here.

if showdialog works, but you can't access the textbox, then I wager that you have not set the textbox's modifier property to friend or public...

i don't open zip files, by the way.

[RonR]

oh, ok.


I will check the modifier property.

[RonR]

i can modify the textbox from form 2 but not from form3.


sorry, your solution did not help.

[bigMeUp]

by the way, i sure as hell hope that you attempt to modify the textbox BEFORE you use the showdialog method. you realise, of course, that no code in form3 will execute until you have closed form2...?!

[bigMeUp]

(in other words, use the show method, not the showdialog...)

[RonR]

I cannot use the .show method. it messes up the way the forms work.

[bigMeUp]

since you have several forms, you will need to create a base form class which overloads showdialog (note that line 6 is for demo purposes only and should not be included in your production code):

Public Class Form2
    Private _f As Form
 
    Overloads Sub ShowDialog(ByVal f As Form, ByVal e As MyEventArgs)
        _f = f  ' _f now holds a reference to Form1, the public properties and fields of which can now be accessed
        Me.TextBox1.Text = e.TextString  ' writes to the wretched textbox!
        Me.ShowDialog(_f)
    End Sub
End Class
 
 
Public Class MyEventArgs
    ' whatever needs to be passed to the forms, probably as a collection. this example uses a string only
    Private _msg As String
 
    Public Sub New(ByVal msg As String)
        _msg = msg
    End Sub
 
    ReadOnly Property TextString() As String
        Get
            Return _msg
        End Get
    End Property
End Class

You will build MyEventArgs to house the most efficient collection type for handling the info you will be sending to your 30-something forms. You will call derived classes like this:

Private Sub Button3_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button3.Click
        Dim f As Form2 = New Form2
        Dim fe As MyEventArgs = New MyEventArgs("Hello World")
        f.ShowDialog(Me, fe)
End Sub

[RonR]

ok, i will start on it tomorrow.

i notice that most times there seem to be "Line Numbers" in vb.net code or is this just for the forum only?


thanks!!!!!

[bigMeUp]

no. you can set line numbers to show in your vb ide by Tools > Options > Text Editor > Basic > General / (Display) Line Numbers.

[RonR]

ok and thanks!!!

[jmcilhinney]

ok, i will start on it tomorrow.

i notice that most times there seem to be "Line Numbers" in vb.net code or is this just for the forum only?


thanks!!!!!

The line numbers you see in posts on this forum are created by this forum. They have no relation to the line numbers in the original code, if it even came from an IDE. While you can turn line numbers on in VS I don't really see the point. It takes away some space that could otherwise be displaying code for one thing. 24" wide-screen, 1920x1200 monitor in portrait mode and I work with VS maximised all the time and I often wish the screen was wider. I don't know how people cope with smaller monitors. Also, how often do you really need to to see the line numbers? The IDE shows the current line number in the status bar so if you really need to get to a particular line you can using that.

[user name]

What is the problem with just doing this, it lets you do what you want ?

Form2.ShowDialog()

'and

Form3.ShowDialog()

[RonR]

What is the problem with just doing this, it lets you do what you want ?

Form2.ShowDialog()

'and

Form3.ShowDialog()

no, it does not work when I have 3 forms on the screen and I want to access form 1.

[RonR]

The line numbers you see in posts on this forum are created by this forum. They have no relation to the line numbers in the original code, if it even came from an IDE. While you can turn line numbers on in VS I don't really see the point. It takes away some space that could otherwise be displaying code for one thing. 24" wide-screen, 1920x1200 monitor in portrait mode and I work with VS maximised all the time and I often wish the screen was wider. I don't know how people cope with smaller monitors. Also, how often do you really need to to see the line numbers? The IDE shows the current line number in the status bar so if you really need to get to a particular line you can using that.

now i know where BOTH line numbers come from.

[.paul.]

The line numbers you see in posts on this forum are created by this forum. They have no relation to the line numbers in the original code, if it even came from an IDE. While you can turn line numbers on in VS I don't really see the point. It takes away some space that could otherwise be displaying code for one thing. 24" wide-screen, 1920x1200 monitor in portrait mode and I work with VS maximised all the time and I often wish the screen was wider. I don't know how people cope with smaller monitors. Also, how often do you really need to to see the line numbers? The IDE shows the current line number in the status bar so if you really need to get to a particular line you can using that.

you've got a 24" wide-screen monitor!?
don't you just see a larger version of the same thing with a big monitor?

[user name]

no, it does not work when I have 3 forms on the screen and I want to access form 1.

I have just opened your test project, changed the code to Form2.ShowDialog and Form3.ShowDialog and everything was ok.

[RonR]

I have just opened your test project, changed the code to Form2.ShowDialog and Form3.ShowDialog and everything was ok.

try to get the text to display in form 2 from form3

[user name]

You mean by pressing "to form 2" button like i did ?

[RonR]

You mean by pressing "to form 2" button like i did ?

it does not work for me.

maybe it is because I have vb 2008 xe?

[user name]

Just as a test for you, i have opened it in 2008pro, changed the code and zipped it back up.

[RonR]

Just as a test for you, i have opened it in 2008pro, changed the code and zipped it back up.

i thought that i had to use the: o1 as new form3


does this create potential other issues??

[jmcilhinney]

you've got a 24" wide-screen monitor!?
don't you just see a larger version of the same thing with a big monitor?

If you have an A4 sheet of paper and an A3 sheet of paper, if the font is the same size on both then you get twice as much text on the A3 sheet. If you were to double the size of the font then then you get the same amount of text at twice the size.

If you've got more pixels on a screen you can fit more on it. If your screen is 1024x768 and you have a window a 1024x768 then it occupies the whole screen. The same form on a screen at 1920x1200 occupies only a fraction of the entire screen.