Premise:-
We have a list of key value pairs.
The Item count of this list will vary.
We have a form with a bunch of default buttons on it. (Edit - Built earlier in the designer, not at runtime.)
The buttons are named "button1, button2, ..."
We have more buttons than items in the list.
At runtime we want to transfer information from the list elements to the buttons and hide the unused buttons.
My question is how to address those buttons from withing a loop?
Using a for loop in VBA I could say this:-
Me.Controls("TB_Item" & Format(i, "00")).Visible = False
In C# I have this minimal example as a starting point (The form has 10 buttons):-
public UF_ButtonLoop()
{
InitializeComponent();
List<KeyValuePair<string, string>> MyItems = new List<KeyValuePair<string, string>>
{
new KeyValuePair<string, string>("Apple", "Green Fruit"),
new KeyValuePair<string, string>("Orange", "Orange Fruit"),
new KeyValuePair<string, string>("Sprout", "Spawn of the Devil"),
new KeyValuePair<string, string>("Hershey Bar", "A bit like chocolate"),
new KeyValuePair<string, string>("Beefburger", "Man Food")
};
//Loop through the 10 buttons
for (int i = 1; i < 11; i++)
{
if (i <= MyItems.Count )
{
//Transfer Data from list to button
//Pseudo code
Control("Button" + i).Text = (MyItems.ElementAt(i).Key);
Control("Button" + i).Tag = (MyItems.ElementAt(i).Value);
}
else
{
//Hide the button as we've reached the end of the list so have no use for it.
//Pseudo code
Control("button" + 1).Hide();
}
// Note, VBA methos is:-
// Me.Controls("TB_Item" & Format(i, "00")).Visible = False
}
}
Control("Button" + i) is not correct syntax.
Can I do this in C#, if so how?
If not what is the correct way?
Also I'm new here so if I'm asking things in the wrong way please don't be shy in telling me so!
Many thanks,
Owen S.
Firstly thanks for the help, it's appreciated, especially the nudge towards doing it via other methods, or even different controls.
The answer to the question is probably split into two options:-
(Answer 1) - Do it properly by creating just what you need at runtime, rather than using the static designer and then hiding what was over-built.
(Answer 2) - Quick "bodge" to get the code in my initial question working. (My C# experience can be measured in hours so I have plenty to learn but also need to get code working today for work...)
So one bodge method that works is to put the buttons in their own list and then reference that. Like so:-
public UF_ButtonLoop()
{
InitializeComponent();
//TransferListToButtone_Rev1();
List<KeyValuePair<string, string>> MyItems = new List<KeyValuePair<string, string>>
{
new KeyValuePair<string, string>("Apple", "Green Fruit"),
new KeyValuePair<string, string>("Orange", "Orange Fruit"),
new KeyValuePair<string, string>("Sprout", "Spawn of the Devil"),
new KeyValuePair<string, string>("Hershey Bar", "A bit like chocolate"),
new KeyValuePair<string, string>("Beefburger", "Man Food")
};
List<Control> ListOfButtons = new List<Control>
{
button1, button2, button3, button4, button5, button6, button7, button8, button9, button10
};
void A_Button_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine((sender as Button).Text + " = " + (sender as Button).Tag);
}
//Loop through the 10 buttons
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
{
if (i < MyItems.Count )
{
//Transfer Data from list to button
ListOfButtons.ElementAt(i).Text = (MyItems.ElementAt(i).Key);
ListOfButtons.ElementAt(i).Tag = (MyItems.ElementAt(i).Value);
//Set Click Event
ListOfButtons.ElementAt(i).Click += new EventHandler(A_Button_Click);
}
else
{
//Hide the button as we've reached the end of the list so have no use for it.
ListOfButtons.ElementAt(i).Hide();
}
}
}
Cheers all,
Owen S.
I would recommend to create those buttons when you read the list. Do not create the buttons statically in designer. You need to create a List of buttons in the main Form and then add the buttons programmatically.
List creation
List<Button> buttons = new List<Button>();
Then in some loop where you go thru your data list
Button MyButton = new Button();
Mybutton.Location = new Point(YourX, YourY);
Mybutton.Text = "AnyText";
Mybutton.AutoSize = false;
MyButton.Size = new Size(width, height);
Mybutton.BackColor = Color.LightBlue;
Mybutton.Padding = new Padding(6);
buttons.add(MyButton);
Ad1.
The best practice is to create your own "SpecialButton" class which is Inheritted from original Button class. Then you can add some special attributes to the button as is reference on some other element which should the SpecialButton control and etc...
Related
I'm working on an inventory program and have finished the main functionality as a command line console app. I am now working on a version for winforms. I want to enable it to dynamically generate a Groupbox that holds some textboxes. I'd rather not design 50+ lines of multiple textboxes. Keep in mind I'm rather new to programming, having started with C# a year ago. I know next to nothing on Winforms.
I've tried to use dynamic item = new Groupbox();as a similar method allowed generation of objects at runtime. In the command line app, the way it works is that based on information given, a certain amount of objects are passed into the list _AllItems. I was thinking of generating the Groupboxes by using:
private void InitializeGroupBox()
{
foreach (Product product in Product._AllItems)
{
dynamic Item = new GroupBox();
}
}
But I have the feeling I'm nowhere near the correct method. Thanks to anybody who helps.
You will need to learn a bit more, but here is what I usually do to achieve what you asked.
internal class DynamicForm : Form
{
private FlowLayoutPanel mFlowLayoutPanel;
public DynamicForm()
{
mFlowLayoutPanel = new FlowLayoutPanel();
mFlowLayoutPanel.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
// Add to this Form
this.Controls.Add(mFlowLayoutPanel);
InitializeGroupBox();
}
private void InitializeGroupBox()
{
mFlowLayoutPanel.SuspendLayout(); // Performance
for (int i = 1; i <= 20; i++) {
var groupBox = new GroupBox();
groupBox.Text = "GroupBox #" + i;
groupBox.Size = new Size(200, 50);
var textBox = new TextBox();
textBox.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
// Add the TextBox to GroupBox
groupBox.Controls.Add(textBox);
// Add to this Form
mFlowLayoutPanel.Controls.Add(groupBox);
}
mFlowLayoutPanel.ResumeLayout(); // after suspend, resume!
}
}
I'm still new at coding. I'm making a calculator but I also want a lot of other things in it. like a conversion calculator, cook book, and kanji radical dictionary in c# WindowsFormsApplication I want to change from one to the next using a comboBox so I was going to make a array with all the control I wish to hide/show
string[] numList = {"button0","button1","button2", "button3"};//this will have all number and .
for (int i = 0; i < numList.Length; i++)
{
numList[i].Hide();
}
But it tell me there no definition for 'Hide' but when I switch numList[i] to button0 it work but I don't wish to wright the same 11 control for every time i add something to the comboBox anyway to fixes this or any other method
If you want to hide all Buttons then try this:
foreach (Button control in Controls.OfType<Button>())
{
(control).Hide();
}
This iterate through all Buttons of the form and hide them. But if you want to just hide a specific buttons then you can set the Tag property of that buttons to something like OP then to hide only that Buttons:
foreach (Button control in Controls.OfType<Button>())
{
if (control.Tag.ToString() == "OP")
{
(control).Hide();
}
}
Or with linq:
foreach (Button control in Controls.OfType<Button>().Where(control => control.Tag.ToString() == "OP"))
{
(control).Hide();
}
try below code
private void btnHide_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
string[] buttonList = { "button1", "button2", "button3" };
for (int i = 0; i < buttonList.Length; i++)
{
Control[] ctrl = this.Controls.Find(buttonList[i], true);
((Button)ctrl[0]).Visible = false;
}
}
You are keeping a list of strings, you should actually add the buttons in to the list in order to have the Hide method visible
Control[] numList = {button0, button1, button2, button3 };
I have a series of lists in a static class (used as a global class)
public static class globalClass
{
public static List<classA> aList = new List<classA>();
public static List<classB> bList = new List<classB>();
public static List<classC> cList = new List<classC>();
}
I want to generate a xaml button for each list, and was told reflection was a bad idea. This is how I handled it using reflection.
//get FieldInfo for globalClass
TypeInfo typeInfo = IntrospectionExtensions.GetTypeInfo(typeof(globalClass));
IEnumerable<FieldInfo> FieldInfoList = typeInfo.DeclaredFields;
foreach (FieldInfo f in FieldInfoList)
{
//Only look at lists
if(f.FieldType.ToString().StartsWith("System.Collections.Generic.List`1")){
StackPanel s = new StackPanel();
s.Orientation = Orientation.Horizontal;
TextBlock textBlock = new TextBlock();
textBlock.FontSize = 45;
textBlock.Text = f.Name.ToString();
Button addButton = new Button();
addButton.Click += delegate(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
Frame.Navigate(typeof(addObjectToLibraryPage), f);
};
addButton.Margin = new Thickness(10);
addButton.Name = "addButton";
addButton.Content = "add";
Button deleteButton = new Button();
deleteButton.Click += delegate(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
Frame.Navigate(typeof(deleteObjectFromLibraryPage), f);
};
deleteButton.Margin = new Thickness(10);
deleteButton.Name = "deleteButton";
deleteButton.Content = "delete";
s.Children.Add(addButton);
s.Children.Add(deleteButton);
//add new textBlock and stackpanel to existing xaml
stackPanel.Items.Add(textBlock);
stackPanel.Items.Add(s);
}
}
Is there any cleaner way to do this? Hopefully I would like to be able to pass the actual list instead of a FieldInfo.
I don't want to have to handle each list individually because I may end up with 20+ lists and am using them all in a very similar way.
An example of what I am trying to do:
Suppose I have a grocery/nutrition App, and I want users to be able to record what they eat/need from the store. They can select from a list of Fruit, Vegetables, Meat, Dairy, Sweets, Canned Goods, Etc..
But, I want them to be able to (as an advanced option) be able to edit the list of possible fruits, or any other food category. And I don't want to just have a list of "food" because meat will record things like minimum cooking temperature or something like that.
So, under advanced options, I would want two buttons for each category (add to fruit, delete from fruit). And theoretically add an Import/Export page so I can share my list of fruits with other people or something.
It doesn't seem like the answers pointing to using a superclass will work. See: C# polymorphism simple question
You can create a list to contain all the existing lists you have. You can then iterate over the list to create the buttons. If you wish to maintain a label for each list you could use a dictionary with the key as the label text and list as the value.
The proposed solution aside, do take into account the comments given from Sayse.
I have a BindingList< KeyValuePair < string, string > > that is bound to a ComboBox control. Based on some conditions, the BindingList will be added a new KeyValuePair. Now, the Newly added item shows up at index 0 of the Combobox, instead of at the end.
While debugging, I found that the BindingList has got the right order. (i.e, the new KeyValuePair is appended)
Also, I check the SelectedValue of the ComboBox in it's SelectedIndexChanged handler and it seems to be not of the ListItem that got selected. Instead, it is that of the supposed ListItem, if the ComboBox had got the right order as in its DataSource, - the BindingList..
The code is a small part of a large project.. Plz let me know if the question is not clear. I can put the relevant parts of the code as per our context.
How could something like this happen? What can I do differently?
I have this class something like this.
public class DropdownEntity
{
//removed all except one members and properties
private string frontEndName
public string FrontEndName
{
get {return this.frontEndName; }
set {this.frontEndName= value; }
}
//One Constructor
public DropdownEntity(string _frontEndName)
{
this.FrontEndName = _frontEndName;
//Removed code which initializes several members...
}
//All methods removed..
public override string ToString()
{
return frontEndName;
}
}
In my windows form, I have a tab control with several tabs. In one of the tabs pages, I have a DataGridView. The user is supposed to edit the cells and click on a Next - button. Then, some processing will be done, and the TabControl will be navigated to the next tab page.
The next tab page has the combobox that has the problem I mentioned. This page also has a back button, which will take back.. the user can modify the gridview cells again.. and click on the next button. This is when the order gets messed up.
I am posting here the Click event handler of the Next Button.. Along with the class, with the rest of the code removed.
public partial class AddUpdateWizard : Form
{
//Removed all members..
BindingList<KeyValuePair<string, string>> DropdownsCollection;
Dictionary<string, DropdownEntity> DropdownsDict;
//Defined in a partial definition of the class..
DataGridView SPInsertGridView = new DataGridView();
ComboBox DropdownsCmbBox = new ComboBox();
Button NextBtn2 = new Button();
Button BackBtn3 = new Button();
//Of course these controls are added to one of the panels
public AddUpdateWizard(MainForm mainForm)
{
InitializeComponent();
DropdownsDict = new Dictionary<string, DropdownEntity>();
}
private void NextBtn2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
string sqlArgName;
string frontEndName;
string fieldType;
for (int i = 0; i < SPInsertGridView.Rows.Count; i++)
{
sqlArgName = "";
frontEndName = "";
fieldType = "";
sqlArgName = SPInsertGridView.Rows[i].Cells["InsertArgName"].Value.ToString().Trim();
if (SPInsertGridView.Rows[i].Cells["InsertArgFrontEndName"].Value != null)
{
frontEndName = SPInsertGridView.Rows[i].Cells["InsertArgFrontEndName"].Value.ToString().Trim();
}
if (SPInsertGridView.Rows[i].Cells["InsertArgFieldType"].Value != null)
{
fieldType = SPInsertGridView.Rows[i].Cells["InsertArgFieldType"].Value.ToString().Trim();
}
//I could have used an enum here, but this is better.. for many reasons.
if (fieldType == "DROPDOWN")
{
if (!DropdownsDict.ContainsKey(sqlArgName))
DropdownsDict.Add(sqlArgName, new DropdownEntity(frontEndName));
else
DropdownsDict[sqlArgName].FrontEndName = frontEndName;
}
else
{
if (fieldType == "NONE")
nonFieldCount++;
if (DropdownsDict.ContainsKey(sqlArgName))
{
DropdownsDict.Remove(sqlArgName);
}
}
}
//DropdownsCollection is a BindingList<KeyValuePair<string, string>>.
//key in the BindingList KeyValuePair will be that of the dictionary.
//The value will be from the ToString() function of the object in the Dictionary.
DropdownsCollection = new BindingList<KeyValuePair<string,string>>(DropdownsDict.Select(kvp => new KeyValuePair<string, string>(kvp.Key, kvp.Value.ToString())).ToList());
DropdownsCmbBox.DataSource = DropdownsCollection;
DropdownsCmbBox.DisplayMember = "Value";
DropdownsCmbBox.ValueMember = "Key";
//Go to the next tab
hiddenVirtualTabs1.SelectedIndex++;
}
private void BackBtn3_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
hiddenVirtualTabs1.SelectedIndex--;
}
//On Selected Index Changed of the mentioned Combobox..
private void DropdownsCmbBox_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (DropdownsCmbBox.SelectedValue != null)
{
if (DropdownsDict.ContainsKey((DropdownsCmbBox.SelectedValue.ToString())))
{
var dropdownEntity = DropdownsDict[DropdownsCmbBox.SelectedValue.ToString()];
DropdownEntityGB.Text = "Populate Dropdowns - " + dropdownEntity.ToString();
//Rest of the code here..
//I see that the Datasource of this ComboBox has got the items in the right order.
// The Combobox's SelectedValue is not that of the selected item. Very Strange behavior!!
}
}
}
}
The very first time the user clicks the Next Button, it's fine. But if he clicks the Back Button again and changes the Data Grid View cells.. The order will be gone.
I know, it can be frustrating to look at. It's a huge thing to ask for help. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Please let me know if you need elaboration at any part.
Thanks a lot :)
I think you have two problems here.
First, if you want to retain the order of the items you should use an OrderedDictionary instead of a regular one. A normal collection will not retain the order of the items when you use Remove method. You can see more info about this related to List here.
You could use such dictionary like this:
DropDownDict = new OrderedDictionary();
// Add method will work as expected (as you have it now)
// Below you have to cast it before using Select
DropDownCollection = new BindingList<KeyValuePair<string, string>>(DropDownDict.Cast<DictionaryEntry>().Select(kvp => new KeyValuePair<string, string>(kvp.Key.ToString(), kvp.Value.ToString())).ToList());
The second problem could be that you change the display name (FrontEndName) of already existing items, but the key is preserved. When you add a new item, try to remove the old one that you're not using anymore and add a new item.
The Sorted Property of the Combobox is set to True! I didn't check that until now. I messed up. Terribly sorry for wasting your time Adrian. Thanks a lot for putting up with my mess here.. :)
I'm trying to create a DevEx drop down button. Unfortunately, I'm running into two problems I can't figure out:
1) I can't get the popup menu to skin correctly, i.e. it doesn't skin as "Office 2010 Blue". The code I'm using is shown below:
private void InitializeSendToPricingSheetButton()
{
var barManager = new BarManager();
if (barManager.Controller == null) barManager.Controller = new BarAndDockingController();
barManager.Controller.PaintStyleName = "Skin";
barManager.Controller.LookAndFeel.UseDefaultLookAndFeel = false;
barManager.Controller.LookAndFeel.SkinName = "Office 2010 Blue";
barManager.ItemClick += HandleSendToPricingSheetClick;
barManager.Items.AddRange(new[] { new BarButtonItem(barManager, "Foo"), new BarButtonItem(barManager, "Bar"), new BarButtonItem(barManager, "Baz") });
var popupMenu = new PopupMenu { Manager = barManager };
foreach (var barItem in barManager.Items) popupMenu.ItemLinks.Add((BarItem)barItem);
popupMenu.ItemLinks[1].BeginGroup = true;
dropDownButtonSendToPricingSheet.DropDownControl = popupMenu;
}
2) This button is on a form. If the form loses focus (e.g. I click on Firefox), the pop-up menu still remains on-top. It won't go away until clicked.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks for helping me deal with DevEx insanity.
I have solution to your second question.
You should add drop down button event handler as below:
dropDownButton1.LostFocus += new EventHandler(HidePopUp);
Handler method should be as below:
private void HidePopUp(object sender,object e)
{
dropDownButton1.HideDropDown();
}
For your second question, you should assign value to the bar manager property as:
BarManager manager = new BarManager();
manager.Form = this; // refers to current form
Find below link for reference
https://www.devexpress.com/Support/Center/Question/Details/Q274641
It is probably simpler to use DefaultLookAndFeel
Add this comp to your form and set the theme you'd like to use.
There is no need to set the theme for individual components.
defaultLookAndFeel1.LookAndFeel.SetSkinStyle("Office 2010 Blue");