Passing object to different windows forms

Passing object to different windows forms - c#

I want to pass a C# object between win forms. At the moment, I have setup a basic project to learn how to do this which consists of two forms - form1 and form2 and a class called class1.cs which contains get and set methods to set a string variable with a value entered in form1. (Form 2 is supposed to get the value stored in the class1 object)
How can I get the string value from the object that was set in form1? Do I need to pass it as a parameter to form2?
Any comments/help will be appeciated!
Thanks,
EDIT: Here's the code I have at the moment: (form1.cs)
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
this.Hide();
Form2 form2 = new Form2();
form2.Show();
}
private void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (textBox1.Text != "")
{
Class1 class1 = new Class1();
class1.setStringValue(textBox1.Text);
}
}
}
}

There are a few different ways to do this, you could use a static class object, the above example would be ideal for this activity.
public static class MyStaticClass
{
public static string MyStringMessage {get;set;}
}
You don't need to instance the class, just call it
MyStaticClass.MyStringMessage = "Hello World";
Console.WriteLine (MyStaticClass.MyStringMessage);
If you want an instance of the object you can pass the class object that you create on Form1 into Form2 with the following.
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
this.Hide();
Form2 form2 = new Form2();
form2.MyClass = class1;
form2.Show();
}
Then create a property on Form2 to accept the class object.
public Class1 MyClass {get;set;}
remember to make the Class1 object a global variable rather than create it within button 2 itself.

Yes, in Form1 you declare an instance of Class1 and then set the parameters as needed, then you pass it to Form2. You could for example have a constructor in Form2 and have a Class1 parameter in it. Assuming that Form1 creates Form2, otherwise you have to have some way for Form1 to find Form2 to pass the instance across.

Since I have been working in ASP.Net the last couple years I have found myself working with Newtonsoft.Json a lot. Turns out to be great within WinForms too, and in this case seemed to simplify passing objects between forms... even complex ones are a breeze!
The implementation is like this:
// Set Object Property within Form
public partial class FlashNotify : Form
{
public string Json { get; set; }
}
On the form load event you can then grab your object:
private void FlashNotify_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Deserialize from string back to object
CommUserGroupMessage msg = new CommUserGroupMessage();
msg = Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<CommUserGroupMessage>(Json);
}
Lastly is passing the object to the form:
// Serialize the Object into a string to pass
string json = Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.SerializeObject(msg);
FlashNotify fn = new FlashNotify();
fn.Json = json;
fn.Show();
Granted the original selected answer is probably easier, however I like this approach as it avoids the need to replicate the class within your form, which I think makes it easier to maintain (Correction: Miss correctly read the static class in the example, I at first thought it was replicated within the form).

Using Delegate you can easily pass data to a form.
Technically, a delegate is a reference type used to encapsulate a method with a specific signature and return type
Step 1
Add a delegate signature to form1 as below:
public delegate void delPassDataToFrom(Object obj);
Step 2
In form1’s any button click event handler, instantiate form2 class and delegate. Assign a function in form2 to the delegate and call the delegate as below:
private void btnSend_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
Form2 frm = new Form2();
delPassDataToFrom del = new delPassDataToFrom(frm.retrieveData);
del(objectToPass);
frm.Show();
}
Step 3
In form2, add a function to which the delegate should point to. This function will use the object passed:
public void retrieveData(Object objPassedFromParent)
{
//use the objPassedFromParent object as needed
}

Related

Update Parent Form from Child Form C# [duplicate]

I have two forms, one is the main form and the other is an options form. So say for example that the user clicks on my menu on the main form: Tools -> Options, this would cause my options form to be shown.
My question is how can I send data from my options form back to my main form? I know I could use properties, but I have a lot of options and this seems like an tedious odd thing to do.
So what is the best way?

Form1 triggers Form2 to open. Form2 has overloaded constructor which takes calling form as argument and provides its reference to Form2 members. This solves the communication problem. For example I've exposed Label Property as public in Form1 which is modified in Form2.
With this approach you can do communication in different ways.
Download Link for Sample Project
//Your Form1
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Form2 frm = new Form2(this);
frm.Show();
}
public string LabelText
{
get { return Lbl.Text; }
set { Lbl.Text = value; }
}
}
//Your Form2
public partial class Form2 : Form
{
public Form2()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private Form1 mainForm = null;
public Form2(Form callingForm)
{
mainForm = callingForm as Form1;
InitializeComponent();
}
private void Form2_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
}
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
this.mainForm.LabelText = txtMessage.Text;
}
}
(source: ruchitsurati.net)
(source: ruchitsurati.net)

In the comments to the accepted answer, Neeraj Gulia writes:
This leads to tight coupling of the forms Form1 and Form2, I guess instead one should use custom events for such kind of scenarios.
The comment is exactly right. The accepted answer is not bad; for simple programs, and especially for people just learning programming and trying to get basic scenarios to work, it's a very useful example of how a pair of forms can interact.
However, it's true that the coupling that example causes can and should be avoided, and that in the particular example, an event would accomplish the same thing in a general-purpose, decoupled way.
Here's an example, using the accepted answer's code as the baseline:
Form1.cs:
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Form2 frm = new Form2();
frm.Button1Click += (s1, e1) => Lbl.Text = ((Form2)s1).Message;
frm.Show();
}
}
The above code creates a new instance of Form2, and then before showing it, adds an event handler to that form's Button1Click event.
Note that the expression (s1, e1) => Lbl.Text = ((Form2)s1).Message is converted automatically by the compiler to a method that looks something similar to (but definitely not exactly like) this:
private void frm_Message(object s1, EventArgs e1)
{
Lbl.Text = ((Form2)s1).Message;
}
There are actually lots of ways/syntaxes to implement and subscribe the event handler. For example, using an anonymous method as the above, you don't really need to cast the sender parameter; instead you can just use the frm local variable directly: (s1, e1) => Lbl.Text = frm.Message.
Going the other way, you don't need to use an anonymous method. You could in fact just declare a regular method just like the compiler-generated one I show above, and then subscribe that method to the event: frm.Button1Click += frm_Message; (where you have of course used the name frm_Message for the method, just as in my example above).
Regardless of how you do it, of course you will need for Form2 to actually implement that Button1Click event. That's very simple…
Form2.cs:
public partial class Form2 : Form
{
public event EventHandler Button1Click;
public string Message { get { return txtMessage.Text; } }
public Form2()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
EventHandler handler = Button1Click;
if (handler != null)
{
handler(this, EventArgs.Empty);
}
}
}
In addition to the event, I've also declared a property Message that exposes the Text property (and only the Text property, and only as read-only in fact) of the txtMessage control. This allows the subscriber to the event to get the value and do whatever it needs to with it.
Note that all that the event does is to alert the subscriber that the button has in fact been clicked. It's up to the subscriber to decide how to interpret or react to that event (e.g. by retrieving the value of the Message property and assigning it to something).
Alternatively, you could in fact deliver the text along with the event itself, by declaring a new EventArgs sub-class and using that for the event instead:
public class MessageEventArgs : EventArgs
{
public string Message { get; private set; }
public MessageEventArgs(string message)
{
Message = message;
}
}
public partial class Form2 : Form
{
public event EventHandler<MessageEventArgs> Button1Click;
public Form2()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
EventHandler handler = Button1Click;
if (handler != null)
{
handler(this, new MessageEventArgs(txtMessage.Text));
}
}
}
Then the subscriber can just retrieve the message value directly from the event object:
frm.Button1Click += (sender, e) => Lbl.Text = e.Message;
The important thing note in all of the above variations is that at no point does the class Form2 need to know anything about Form1. Having Form1 know about Form2 is unavoidable; after all, that's the object that will create a new Form2 instance and use it. But the relationship can be asymmetrical, with Form2 being usable by any object that needs the features it offers. By exposing the functionality as an event (and optionally with a property), it makes itself useful without limiting its usefulness to only the Form1 class.

The best in this case would be to have some OptionsService class/interface that is accessible via IServiceProvider.
Just add an event when something changes, and the rest of the app can respond to it.

There are lots of ways to perform communication between two Forms.
Some of them have already been explained to you. I am showing you the other way around.
Assuming you have to update some settings from the child form to the parent form. You can make use of these two ways as well :
Using System.Action (Here you simply pass the main forms function as the parameter to the child form like a callback function)
OpenForms Method ( You directly call one of your open forms)
Using System.Action
You can think of it as a callback function passed to the child form.
// -------- IN THE MAIN FORM --------
// CALLING THE CHILD FORM IN YOUR CODE LOOKS LIKE THIS
Options frmOptions = new Options(UpdateSettings);
frmOptions.Show();
// YOUR FUNCTION IN THE MAIN FORM TO BE EXECUTED
public void UpdateSettings(string data)
{
// DO YOUR STUFF HERE
}
// -------- IN THE CHILD FORM --------
Action<string> UpdateSettings = null;
// IN THE CHILD FORMS CONSTRUCTOR
public Options(Action<string> UpdateSettings)
{
InitializeComponent();
this.UpdateSettings = UpdateSettings;
}
private void btnUpdate_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// CALLING THE CALLBACK FUNCTION
if (UpdateSettings != null)
UpdateSettings("some data");
}
OpenForms Method
This method is easy (2 lines). But only works with forms that are open.
All you need to do is add these two lines where ever you want to pass some data.
Main frmMain = (Main)Application.OpenForms["Main"];
frmMain.UpdateSettings("Some data");

Properties is one option, shared static class - another option, events - another option...

You might try AutoMapper. Keep your options in a separate class and then use AutoMapper to shuttle the data between the class and the form.

Create a Class and put all your properties inside the class .. Create a Property in the parent class and set it from your child (options) form

You can have a function in Form B like so:
public SettingsResults GetNewSettings()
{
if(this.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.Ok)
{
return new SettingsResult { ... };
}
else
{
return null;
}
}
And you can call it like this:
...
using(var fb = new FormB())
{
var s = fb.GetNewSettings();
...
// Notify other parts of the application that settings have changed.
}

MVC, MVP, MVVM -- slight overkill for someone admittedly saying they want tutorials. Those are theories that have entire courses dedicated to them.
As already posted, passing an object around is probably easiest. If treating a class as an object (interchangeable in this sense) is new, then you may want to spend another 2-4 weeks figuring out properties and constructors and such.
I'm not a C# master by any means, but these concepts need to be pretty concrete if you want to go much further beyond passing values between two forms (also classes/objects in their own right). Not trying to be mean here at all, it just sounds like you're moving from something like VB6 (or any language with globals) to something far more structured.
Eventually, it will click.

This is probably sidestepping your problem a little bit, but my settings dialog uses the Application Settings construct. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/k4s6c3a0.aspx
I can't find a good example that's similar to how I do it (which is actually having an actual class+object), but this covers another way of doing it:
Reading default application settings in C#

A form is a class, just like any other class. Add some public variables to your form class and set them when they click the button to close the form (technically they are just hiding it).
A VB.NET example, but you'll get the idea -
In your OptionsForm class:
Public Option1 as String = ""
etc. Set them when they hit the "Ok" button.
So in your main form, when they hit the "options" button - you create your options form:
OptionsForm.ShowDialog()
when it exits, you harvest your option settings from the public variables on the form:
option1 = OptionsForm.Option1
etc.

The best way to deal with communication between containers is to implement an observer class
The observer pattern is a software design pattern in which an object, called the subject, maintains a list of its dependents, called observers, and notifies them automatically of any state changes, usually by calling one of their methods.
(Wikipedia)
the way i do this is creating an Observer class, and inside it write something like this:
1 public delegate void dlFuncToBeImplemented(string signal);
2 public static event dlFuncToBeImplemented OnFuncToBeImplemented;
3 public static void FuncToBeImplemented(string signal)
4 {
5 OnFuncToBeImplemented(signal);
6 }
so basically: the first line says that there would be a function that somebody else will implement
the second line is creating an event that occurs when the delegated function will call
and the third line is the creation of the function that calls the event
so in your UserControl, you should add a function like this:
private void ObserverRegister()//will contain all observer function registration
{
Observer.OnFuncToBeImplemented += Observer_OnFuncToBeImplemented;
/*and more observer function registration............*/
}
void Observer_OnFuncToBeImplemented(string signal)//the function that will occur when FuncToBeImplemented(signal) will call
{
MessageBox.Show("Signal "+signal+" received!", "Atention!", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Exclamation);
}
and in your Form you should do something like:
public static int signal = 0;
public void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Observer.FuncToBeImplemented(signal);//will call the event in the user control
}
and now, you can register this function to a whole bunch of other controls and containers and they will all get the signal
I hope this would help :)

Is there a way to make variables over forms?

I have a program that has two forms in it. Is there a way that I can make a variable in Form1 show up in Form2 without having to make a class or function?
I made form2 by doing:
Form2 form2 = new Form2();
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
form2.show();
}

If you open Form2 from Form1, you can do it in several ways:
Create a constructor on Form2 that would accept a value you want to pass.
Create a property on Form2 and set it before showing Form2.
You may opt to pass a reference to Form1 (via a constructor or property) and use it in Form2 to read values of properties of Form1.

You can "share" a object between two forms is through their constructors (dependency injection).
e.g.
Form1Ctor(SharedObject obj)
Form2Ctor(SharedObject obj)
var obj = new SharedObject();
var form1 = new Form1(obj);
var form2 = new Form2(obj);

If the property is only used in a single form you could make it a static
e.g.
public static string s { get; set; }

Update form from another form using delegate and event

I keep forgetting how this is done..
I want to update the UI on the main form from Form2 without creating an instance of the form.
I remember using a delegate / event and possibly passing in an instance of the first form somehow, but totally went blank.
Help me out, thanks.
Add something to listBox1 on Form1 from Form2.

Yes, delegate and event are correct key words
Implement your EventArgs class somewhere:
public class MyEventArgs : EventArgs
{
private List<string> EventInfo;
public MyEventArgs(List<string> strings)
{
EventInfo = strings;
}
public List<string> GetInfo()
{
return EventInfo;
}
}
In Form2:
public class Form2
{
public event EventHandler<MyEventArgs> OnMyChange;
//call it then you need to update:
if(OnMyChange!= null)
{
MyEventArgs e = new MyEventArgs();
List<string> content = new List<string>();
content.Add("abc");
e.EventInfo = content;
OnMyChange(this, e);
}
}
In Form1:
Form2 MyForm2 = new Form2();
MyForm2.OnMyChange += MyChanged;
static void MyChanged(object source, MyEventArgs e)
{
//e.EventInfo will contain list
Console.WriteLine("changed");
}

You cannot update an object that you did not instantiate.
What you can do is either register some function as handler for a change event in form2. If the function is a member of the main form it can then affect the components of that form.
Passing a delegate is basically the same but would allow you to use an arbitrary function of your choosing. Most of the time this is not worth the overhead, though.

Its hard to get exactly what you need from the question, but it sounds like you could pass an Action to your form for adding the items. You could change the constructor in Form2 to ensure you always have the callback - e.g.
private Action<string> addItemsToParent;
public Form2(Action<string> addItemsToParent)
{
this.addItemsToParent = addItemsToParent;
}
public void AddItems()
{
addItemsToParent("item 1");
}

Calling a method from another Form in C#

I want that when I insert or update records in another form (Form2), the DataGridView on Form1 should automatically refresh (call btnRefresh) after each operation or preferably wait until all change operations have finished, and update the DataGridView form Form2's closing event with all changes.
I believe in VB.NET this is achieved with Form1.DataGridView.Refresh, but I am not sure in C#. I was told that I pass the reference of the DataGridView on Form1 to Form2 using properties but since I'm new to C#, I didn't know how to. How can I resolve this issue?
My refresh button code:
private void btnRefresh_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
GVThesis.DataSource = thesisRepository.GetThesis();
GVThesis.Refresh();
}

Firs, wrap your refresh code into a method of its own, and call that from your click event handler method, like so:
private void btnRefresh_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
this.RefreshData();
}
public void RefreshData()
{
GVThesis.DataSource = thesisRepository.GetThesis();
GVThesis.Refresh();
}
Then, asuming you are instantiating and launching the new form (Form2) from your Form1, simply go into the code of Form2 and create yourself a new constructor overload which will accept a reference to Form1, and store it in a private variable, like so:
public partial class Form2 : Form
{
private Form1 frm1;
public Form2()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
public Form2(Form1 otherForm)
{
InitializeComponent();
this.frm1 = otherForm;
}
}
Then you can call the "refresh" from anywhere you like in Form2 like so:
this.frm1.RefreshData();
EDIT:I created a small sample, I cannot upload it here...but here is a screenshot of both the program itself in VS, as well as a screenshot of the result of running it and performing the function...hopefully that will help.
The program (zoom your view if it appears too small)
The Result:

How to change text in a textbox on another form in Visual C#?

In Visual C# when I click a button, I want to load another form. But before that form loads, I want to fill the textboxes with some text. I tried to put some commands to do this before showing the form, but I get an error saying the textbox is inaccessible due to its protection level.
How can I set the textbox in a form before I show it?
private void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
fixgame changeCards = new fixgame();
changeCards.p1c1val.text = "3";
changeCards.Show();
}

When you create the new form in the button click event handler, you instantiate a new form object and then call its show method.
Once you have the form object you can also call any other methods or properties that are present on that class, including a property that sets the value of the textbox.
So, the code below adds a property to the Form2 class that sets your textbox (where textbox1 is the name of your textbox). I prefer this method method over making the TextBox itself visible by modifying its access modifier because it gives you better encapsulation, ensuring you have control over how the textbox is used.
public partial class Form2 : Form
{
public Form2()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
public string TextBoxValue
{
get { return textBox1.Text;}
set { textBox1.Text = value;}
}
}
And in the button click event of the first form you can just have code like:
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Form2 form2 = new Form2();
form2.TextBoxValue = "SomeValue";
form2.Show();
}

You can set "Modifiers" property of TextBox control to "Public"

Try this.. :)
Form1 f1 = (Form1)Application.OpenForms["Form1"];
TextBox tb = (TextBox)f1.Controls["TextBox1"];
tb.Text = "Value";

I know this was long time ago, but seems to be a pretty popular subject with many duplicate questions. Now I had a similar situation where I had a class that was called from other classes with many separate threads and I had to update one specific form from all these other threads. So creating a delegate event handler was the answer.
The solution that worked for me:
I created an event in the class I wanted to do the update on another form. (First of course I instantiated the form (called SubAsstToolTipWindow) in the class.)
Then I used this event (ToolTipShow) to create an event handler on the form I wanted to update the label on. Worked like a charm.
I used this description to devise my own code below in the class that does the update:
public static class SubAsstToolTip
{
private static SubAsstToolTipWindow ttip = new SubAsstToolTipWindow();
public delegate void ToolTipShowEventHandler();
public static event ToolTipShowEventHandler ToolTipShow;
public static void Show()
{
// This is a static boolean that I set here but is accessible from the form.
Vars.MyToolTipIsOn = true;
if (ToolTipShow != null)
{
ToolTipShow();
}
}
public static void Hide()
{
// This is a static boolean that I set here but is accessible from the form.
Vars.MyToolTipIsOn = false;
if (ToolTipShow != null)
{
ToolTipShow();
}
}
}
Then the code in my form that was updated:
public partial class SubAsstToolTipWindow : Form
{
public SubAsstToolTipWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
// Right after initializing create the event handler that
// traps the event in the class
SubAsstToolTip.ToolTipShow += SubAsstToolTip_ToolTipShow;
}
private void SubAsstToolTip_ToolTipShow()
{
if (Vars.MyToolTipIsOn) // This boolean is a static one that I set in the other class.
{
// Call other private method on the form or do whatever
ShowToolTip(Vars.MyToolTipText, Vars.MyToolTipX, Vars.MyToolTipY);
}
else
{
HideToolTip();
}
}
I hope this helps many of you still running into the same situation.

In the designer code-behind file simply change the declaration of the text box from the default:
private System.Windows.Forms.TextBox textBox1;
to:
protected System.Windows.Forms.TextBox textBox1;
The protected keyword is a member access modifier. A protected member is accessible from within the class in which it is declared, and from within any class derived from the class that declared this member (for more info, see this link).

I also had the same doubt, So I searched on internet and found a good way to pass variable values in between forms in C#, It is simple that I expected. It is nothing, but to assign a variable in the first Form and you can access that variable from any form. I have created a video tutorial on 'How to pass values to a form'
Go to the below link to see the Video Tutorial.
Passing Textbox Text to another form in Visual C#

private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Form2 frm = new Form2();
TextBox txt = (TextBox)frm.Controls.Find("p1c1val", true)[0];
txt.Text = "foo";
}

Develop Reference

C# (C-Sharp) is a programming language developed by Microsoft that runs on the .NET Framework.

Passing object to different windows forms - c#

Related

Update Parent Form from Child Form C# [duplicate]

Is there a way to make variables over forms?

Update form from another form using delegate and event

Calling a method from another Form in C#

How to change text in a textbox on another form in Visual C#?

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