Getting a Label control's text to update

[groston]

I am working on a small application that includes several Label controls and I would like to update the text in these controls. Thus far, the only things that works is to delete the control, then recreate it. I am certain that there is a better way, but I have not yet found it.

Following is a simplified version of my code that shows what I have tried that doesn't work.

Public Class frmMyTime
    Dim gTime As String
    Dim lblTime As Label

    Private Sub frmMyTime_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
        lblTime = New label
        Me.Controls.Add(lblTime)
    End Sub

    Private Sub frmMyTime_Paint(sender As Object, e As PaintEventArgs) Handles Me.Paint
        lblTime.Text = gTime
    End Sub

    Private ub GetTime()
        gTime = DateTime.Now.ToString("HH:mm:ss")
        Me.Refresh()
    End Sub

    Public Sub frmMyTime_MouseDown(sender As Object, e As MouseEventArgs) Handles MyBase.MouseDown
        GetTime()
    End Sub
End Class

Can you please tell me what to change to make this work. Thanks!

[groston]

Damn - I just tried this simplified code and it works - kinda. The time is being shown, but not in the Label control.

[techgnome]

If you want something to show up in a textbox, then assign the text to the .Text of the textbox ... just like you are with the label. Also, why add the label at run-time? Just add it to the form at designtime,.... give it a name, then use LableName.Text = ...


-tg

[groston]

Thanks for the reply. I create the Label at run time because that way, I know that I can get the exact placement that I want. Not sure why you mentioned Textbox - it is a Label control with which I am being challenged. More importantly, assigning the text to the .Text property does not seem to be working.

[jmcilhinney]

Why would you think that using the Paint event that way is a good idea? That is not a rhetorical question; I really want to know. It is not, I assure you. If you explain what you're actually trying to achieve then we can explain how to achieve it. Setting the Text property will work fine, if you do it in a sensible way.

[groston]

I am not an expert when it comes to 'graphics' programming. In my app, I need to update the text field of some Label controls and some images in Image controls. Based on my 'deep' research, it seemed like the Paint event was the way to do that. Obviously, I erred. Please suggest a different approach (and note that the configuration of the above code make sense since the GetTime sub is called from a Timer.

[passel]

Just updating the text when you change it should work.

Public Class frmMyTime
    Dim gTime As String
    Dim lblTime As Label

    Private Sub frmMyTime_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
        lblTime = New label
        Me.Controls.Add(lblTime)
    End Sub

    Private ub GetTime()
        gTime = DateTime.Now.ToString("HH:mm:ss")
        lblTime.Text = gTime
    End Sub

    Public Sub frmMyTime_MouseDown(sender As Object, e As MouseEventArgs) Handles MyBase.MouseDown
        GetTime()
    End Sub
End Class

But since this is simplified test code and not what you want to do, i.e. updating graphics and using a timer, then it may not be really applicable to how you need to do it in your real case. jmcilhinney is correct in saying we need to know more details of what you are trying to do, before we can suggest an approach.

p.s. It should be updating the label, but since you don't position it and it has no border by default, perhaps you think it is updating text on the form. You can set the borderstyle and reposition the label in your example code to verify it is the label that is being updated.

  Private Sub frmMyTime_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
    lblTime = New Label
    lblTime.BorderStyle = BorderStyle.Fixed3D
    lblTime.Location = New Point(100, 50)
    Me.Controls.Add(lblTime)
  End Sub

[.paul.]

jmcilhinney is correct in saying we need to know more details of what you are trying to do, before we can suggest an approach.

I agree…’

[groston]

I think I now know why I was doing this wrongly: I drew a few lines in the form and had to do that from the Paint event and then tries to do everything else from there. Working much better now - just need to figure out the PictureBox control...

[jmcilhinney]

The reason you use the Paint event to do things like draw lines is that such drawing will disappear on each event, so you need to reinstate it. Property values like Text don't disappear because something gets painted. The Image property of a PictureBox is the same. Just assign an Image object to the property at the appropriate time, e.g. on the Click of a Button, and the control will handle the rest.