Develop Reference

Is there a faster way of assigning an image to lots of buttons?

I have a Windows Forms Application that I need to assign an image to all 100 buttons, the problem is, that I need to do it randomly every time... Is there a faster way of doing this?
My first idea was to use the basic method of assigning that image to a variable and then assigning the image to the button:
Bitmap P_Farm = new Bitmap(#"IMAGE PATH.jpeg");
this.button1.Image = P_Farm;
But the problem with that is that I will need to do this for all 100 buttons.
this.button1.Image = P_Farm; // "P_Farm is just the path to the image"
this.button2.Image = P_Farm;
this.button3.Image = P_Farm;
this.button4.Image = P_Farm;
I want to keep my code as dry as possible.
The reason I can't just do it through the "Image" option in the "Properties" window is because eventually I will have a random image for every button on every load of the app. So first it will be
this.button1.Image = Z_Farm;
this.button2.Image = C_Farm;
this.button3.Image = P_Farm;
this.button4.Image = P_Farm;
then
this.button1.Image = P_Farm;
this.button2.Image = P_Farm;
this.button3.Image = Z_Farm;
this.button4.Image = Z_Farm;
I was wondering if it was possible to do something like reading every line in a text file but instead of the line changing with each try, the button changes
int i = 0;
while (true) // Something like this loop but changing not the line, but the button
{
this.button[i].image = P_Farm; // this obviously doesn't work
I++;
}
Hopefully this makes sense
Thanks a lot!

You can also loop through all the controls in your form, find the ones that are buttons and change their image that way. Of course you don't want to change them all. What I usually do is set a number to the Tag property:
foreach (Control control in Controls)
{
if (control is Button theButton && (int)theButton.Tag == 5)
{
theButton.Image = P_Farm;
}
}
This will not work if you have panels with buttons that you want to change too. You will have to write a recursive function that involves all the possible containers in your form such as panels.
If you want to change all the buttons in a container like a panel you would only change your foreach line to something like foreach (Control control in panel.Controls).
In the future, when you decide that not all buttons will have the same image, you could set an image based on the tag property like this:
foreach (Control control in Controls)
{
if (control is Button theButton && (int)theButton.Tag >= 5)
{
switch ((int) theButton.Tag)
{
case 100:
theButton.Image = P_Farm;
break;
case 101:
theButton.Image = Z_Farm;
break;
}
}
}
Because we are assuming that all buttons have an int in their tag property, you should add a number to all buttons, including those that should not change like your Cancel and Ok buttons. Something like a zero to exclude them from the image assignement.
I'm sure that there are better ways. I haven't done WinForms in a while.

Programmatically added LinkLabel not visible

I am encountering a strange phenomenon: I have a WinForms application with four GroupBoxes, all four initially empty. I use this to track new followers/unfollowers on Twitter, planning on expanding its use once this functions properly.
It does work properly for new followers. For these I have a GroupBox called grpFollow, to which I add LinkLabels with the ScreenNames of my new followers like this:
var folTop = new Point(grpFollow.Left + 5, grpFollow.Top + 5);
lblFollowers.Text = Properties.Settings.Default.FollowersNow.Count.ToString();
lblFriends.Text = Properties.Settings.Default.FriendsNow.Count.ToString();
var ctr = 1;
foreach (var fol in newFollowers)
{
var kvp = LookupUser(fol);
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(kvp.Key)) continue;
var linklabel = new LinkLabel()
{
Text = kvp.Value,
Width = 200,
Height = 15,
Location = folTop,
Visible = true,
Name = $"follbl{ctr}"
};
ctr++;
linklabel.Links.Add(0, linklabel.Width-1, $"https://twitter.com/{kvp.Key}");
linklabel.Click += Linklabel_Click;
grpFollow.Controls.Add(linklabel);
folTop.Y += 25;
}
LookupUser is just a function that passes the user id to the Twitter API and returns the name & screen_name of that user. Works fine, no problem. LinkLabels added nicely, no problem there either.
The trouble is with the other group boxes, e.g. the one for new friends:
folTop = new Point(grpFriends.Left + 15, grpFriends.Top + 15);
ctr = 1;
foreach (var fol in newFriends)
{
var kvp = LookupUser(fol);
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(kvp.Key)) continue;
var llabel = new LinkLabel()
{
Text = kvp.Value,
Width = 200,
Height = 15,
Location = folTop,
Visible = true,
Name = $"frdlbl{ctr}"
};
ctr++;
llabel.Links.Add(0, llabel.Width - 1, $"https://twitter.com/{kvp.Key}");
llabel.Click += Linklabel_Click;
grpFriends.Controls.Add(llabel);
folTop.Y += 25;
}
As you can see, the logic is identical (because I want to extract this part to a separate method to avoid repetition). The location is set relative to the grpFriends group box, everything else is the same. Yet, the LinkLabel does not show, i.e. the second group box remains (visually) empty!
I have set a breakpoint to check what might go wrong. I single stepped through: the correct screen name is being retrieved, the location is correct, the control is added - but nothing ever shows up.
P.S: This code is in the RunWorkerCompleted method of a background worker, no further code is executed after this point.
Any idea why the Label isn't displayed?
Edit: I'll be damned!
I just changed the location of the grpFriends LinkLabel to 10,10: it appears, juuust clipping the lower border of my friends' group.
Now here is where this gets weird for me:
As you can see, the group has a Y value of 351. Point (10,10) should not even be in the box. So, it seems that the location is the culprit and the original code created the label outside the form.
Replacing grpFriends.Top as Y value with grpFriends.Top - grpFriends.Height got me closer. The LinkLabel is farther down from the top than I'd like but that's not so bad.
Very strange.

Okay, thanks to #raBinn I figured it out. The mistake here was me assuming, the LinkLabels needed a location relative to the Form. However, when adding them to the Controls collection of a GroupBox, they automatically assume a location relative to the GroupBox, not the Form.
So, my code is now basically the same for all four group boxes and looks like this:
PopulateGroup(newFollowers, grpFollow);
PopulateGroup(unFollow, grpLost);
PopulateGroup(newFriends, grpFriends);
PopulateGroup(unFriend, grpDitched);
And:
private void PopulateGroup(List<string> collPeople, GroupBox groupBox)
{
var folTop = new Point(12, 25);
foreach (var fol in collPeople)
{
var kvp = LookupUser(fol);
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(kvp.Key)) continue;
var linklabel = new LinkLabel()
{
Text = kvp.Value,
Width = 200,
Height = 15,
Location = folTop
};
ctr++;
linklabel.Links.Add(0, linklabel.Width - 1, $"https://twitter.com/{kvp.Key}");
linklabel.Click += Linklabel_Click;
groupBox.Controls.Add(linklabel);
folTop.Y += 25;
}
}
So it doesn't really matter whether the group box is on the left or right, top or bottom of the form...

How can I make a Sharepoint textbox (input, type=text) dynamically Multiline?

I want a textbox on my Web Part that will grow vertically on demand. That is, it will be one line unless the user enters too much text for that line, at which point it word wraps and grows vertically to accommodate the verbosity of the user.
I am creating my controls/elements dynamically, and I create this element like so:
boxPaymentExplanation = new TextBox()
{
CssClass = "dplatypus-webform-field-input"
};
boxPaymentExplanation.Width = 660;
boxPaymentExplanation.Style.Add("display", "inline-block");
I tried adding this line, in the hopes of achieving this functionality:
boxPaymentExplanation.Style.Add("TextMode", "MultiLine");
...but it makes no apparent change to the textbox's behavior - I can enter text into it "until the bovines come back to the barn" but it simply keeps adding the characters to the end of the textbox on a single row. It never wraps, so it never grows.
UPDATE
This is the jQuery that works (derived from the link that Christopher Jennings provided):
$(document).on("keyup", "[id$=explainPaymentTextBox]", function (e) {
while ($(this).outerHeight() < this.scrollHeight + parseFloat($(this).css("borderTopWidth")) + parseFloat($(this).css("borderBottomWidth"))) {
$(this).height($(this).height() + 1);
};
});
...along with this C#:
boxPaymentExplanation = new TextBox()
{
CssClass = "dplatypus-webform-field-input",
ID = "explainPaymentTextBox"
};
boxPaymentExplanation.Width = 660;
boxPaymentExplanation.Style.Add("display", "inline-block");
boxPaymentExplanation.TextMode = TextBoxMode.MultiLine;
UPDATE 2
Unfortunately, although the descent-into-the-mælström-esque jQuery above works for dynamically growing the textbox, it doesn't work if the user removes text; I would like it also to shrink when that happens...

You're on the right track. You need to set the TextMode property to Multiline. However, the approach you took is to add an HTML tag attribute rather than set the .NET property. Simply replace boxPaymentExplanation.Style.Add("TextMode", "MultiLine"); with boxPaymentExplanation.TextMode = TextBoxMode.MultiLine;

creating dynamic textbox in wpf according to location

I'm trying to create dynamically text box in WPF. It is very essential that I will have the flexibility to determine where the text box will be - in pixel level.
I have found many answers which use stackpanel to create "run-time" text box - but couldn't find how to construct it according to specified location.
the textbox has to be "word wrap" and I'm using a button click event to create the text box
this is the code for now, I really don't know which methods or properties will be helpful.
thanks :)
private void button1_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
TextBox x = new TextBox();
x.Name = "new_textbox";
x.TextWrapping= TextWrapping.Wrap;
x.VerticalScrollBarVisibility=ScrollBarVisibility.Visible;
x.AcceptsReturn = true;
x.Margin = new Thickness(5, 10, 0, 0);
}

TextBox x = new TextBox();
x.Name = "new_textbox";
x.TextWrapping= TextWrapping.Wrap;
x.VerticalScrollBarVisibility=ScrollBarVisibility.Visible;
x.AcceptsReturn = true;
x.Margin = new Thickness(5, 10, 0, 0);
HouseCanvas.Children.Add(x);
Canvas.SetLeft(x, 20);
Canvas.SetTop(x, 20);

You probably want to place it in a Canvas, if you care about pixel placement of the textbox itself. You'll need to use x.SetValue(Canvas.LeftProperty, pixelX) [and .RightProperty, etc...] to get the position exactly right. Having not done this myself, I'd guess that you need to put the canvas in the right Z-order (on top), and make it transparent. There may also be issues with events, depending on the z-order. Good luck!
-Kev

Measuring a string vertically

I have a C# Winform application. In my form, I have a panel and in my panel, I have a label. The label gets created dynamically. I have the following code:
Label label1 = new Label();
label1.MaximumSize = new Size(400, 0);
label1.Location = new Point(posX, posY);
label1.Text = myText;
label1.AutoSize = true;
posY += 15;
Okay, everything is working. The text of the label automatically wraps after 400 pixels. The problem is, I need to create a second label, but how do I know what to set the the Location to? This new label need to be placed just below the first label and the first label might be 1 line long or 5 lines long. any help would be appreciated.

try to place your label within FlowLayoutPanel, set the FlowDirection to Top Down.

I would support the answer which provided by Int3, and another solution is to read the Height of label1 before set the Top of label2.
For example:
label2.Top = label1.Top + label1.Height + 10;

A GridLayout with some rows might be a solution