Enable / Disable all buttons in a ToolStrip

[bakero]

Hi!

I have a toolStrip with several buttons. Each button opens a new form.

With some forms I disable just its button, but with others I disable three buttons.

After I close any form, I re-enable the button.

As it isn't always the same amount of buttons, I'd like to do a routine to re-enable the buttons after I close any form.

I've tried with:

        For Each Ctrl As Control In Me.Controls
            Ctrl.GetType()
            If (Ctrl Is ToolStripButton) Then
                   Ctrl.enabled = true
            End If
        Next

and

      For Each StripButton As ToolStripButton In MDIParent1.Controls
            If Controls.Equals(StripButton) Then
                StripButton.Enabled = True
            End If
        Next

But any of them work...

could anyone please, give me a hand with this?

Thanks in advance.

[jmcilhinney]

That would be because tool strip buttons are not controls in any Controls collection. They can be found in the Items collection of the ToolStrip.

[bakero]

Thank you for your reply.

Then, what should I write in my code?

Because I wrote

       For Each StripButton As ToolStripButton In MDIParent1.ToolStrip.Items
            If Controls.Equals(StripButton) Then
                StripButton.Enabled = True
            End If
        Next

and it still doesn't work...

[MarMan]

How is Controls defined?

[bakero]

The problem appears right on the For stament.

It says

"Cannot convert type 'System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripSeparator' to type 'System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripButton'"

[MarMan]

In that case you need to ignore any StripButton that is a "ToolStripSeparator".

[bakero]

How can I ignore the toolStripSeparator in that code?

Do I have to delete that separator from my ToolStrip Design?

[MarMan]

No. Just add an If statement before your If that checks to see if the object you have a reference to is a "ToolStripSeparator", if it isn't then continue. You may have to use GetType or there may be a property you can check.

Conversly you may be able to check if the object is a "ToolStripButton" and if so then continue on with your if.

[bakero]

The problem is that I can't get to the If statement.

Now, I tried with just this code:

For Each StripButton As ToolStripButton In MDIParent1.ToolStrip.Items
 
        Next

and even with that I get a mistake.

I think I should have a different variable type in the for each statement...am I right? I mean: To declare

For each aux_var as 'whatever_type' in MDIParent1.ToolStrip.Items

and there, get the type of aux_var...

[bakero]

Ok!

Forget about it. I found the problem. I should have written this:

For Each StripButton As ToolStripItem In MDIParent1.ToolStrip.Items
            If StripButton.Equals(StripButton) Then
                StripButton.Enabled = True
            End If
        Next

Now it works.

Thank you very much for your help and your time!!

[MarMan]

You're welcome. Glad you figured it out!!

[JuggaloBrotha]

Ok!

Forget about it. I found the problem. I should have written this:

For Each StripButton As ToolStripItem In MDIParent1.ToolStrip.Items
            If StripButton.Equals(StripButton) Then
                StripButton.Enabled = True
            End If
        Next

Now it works.

Thank you very much for your help and your time!!

You might want to read up on the TypeOf operator, last I know a variable (StripButton) will always equal itself. Luckily for you a ToolStripSeparator looks the same on in it's Enabled state as it does in it's disabled state & they aren't clickable (no Click event) anyways. But if you have other items in there that you don't want to become enabled/disabled, you'll want to check for just items that are of the type ToolStripButton:

      For Each StripButton As ToolStripItem In MDIParent1.ToolStrip.Items
            If TypeOf StripButton Is ToolStripButton Then
                'Only enable ToolStripButton's
                StripButton.Enabled = True
            End If
        Next

[jmcilhinney]

Assuming .NET 3.5 or later (please specify in future):

For Each button In MDIParent1.ToolStrip.Items.OfType(Of ToolStripButton)()
    button.Enabled = True
Next