WinForms Startup Event not being handled - vb.net

I have a Windows Forms Application in .NET 5 with Application Framework activated and the startup object set to (my) MainForm.
Using "View Application Events" in the application's properties, I auto-generated the ApplicationEvents.vb file and with the given controls auto-generated a method to do something on Startup (as I understand before even the MainForm loads) - but nothing in this method gets run, not even breakpoints are triggered.
I would assume an auto-generated sub in an auto-generated file designed for this should work and every other event handling sub does, just not Startup's.
This is my ApplicationEvents.vb (without the auto-generated comment):
Imports Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices
Namespace My
Partial Friend Class MyApplication
Private Sub MyApplication_Startup(sender As Object, e As StartupEventArgs) Handles Me.Startup
Debug.Print("Test")
MsgBox("Test")
End Sub
End Class
End Namespace
Background:
I'm trying to enable high DPI scaling for my application.
For this I've tried using the app.manifest file (opened by "View Windows Settings" in the application's properties), but no combination of tags I found in the docs worked (I'm running the required version of Windows 10 of cause).
The same for the app.config file, but I expected this because it's a .NET Framework feature to use it for that.
So I landed on Application.SetHighDpiMode(HighDpiMode). This worked when put into the MainForm's Loadevent, but it only did what was intended when the form was already loaded and it was then put on a scaled up screen / the screen was scaled up while it was already loaded.
If it was started on an already scaled screen, it looked jumbled.
So I figured that enabling it only on the form loading is just a bit too late and it should be run asap, so I landed on Startup.

The startup object has to be Sub Main for the Startup event to work, not MainForm (or any form at all).
(Thanks to #Hans Passant for the tip.)
If you want to change which one is the main form later on you have to do the following:
Close your project in Visual Studio.
Open your project's folder in explorer.
In it, open folder My Project.
Open Application.myapp with any text editor.
Change the form between the <MainForm> tags to your (new) main forms name.
Save and close.
Open ApplicationDesigner.vb with any text editor.
Find the following line and change YourMainFormsName to your (new) main forms name:
Protected Overrides Sub OnCreateMainForm()
Me.MainForm = Global.YourProjectsName.YourMainFormsName
End Sub
Save and close.
Open your project again and start it up. The startup form should have changed.
This way you can keep the application framework and don't have to write your own Sub Main.

Related

Only Form1 in Startup Form in VS2022

I'm coding a project in Visual Basic using Visual Studio 2022 and want to start the program with a particular form. I have currently 8 forms. When I go to Solution Explorer/Properties/Application and select Startup Form, only a form named Form1 is in the dropdown list.
I have tried as much as I'm game as I'm afraid of messing it all up. I'm a new self taught programmer. Hope someone can help with not too much tech jargon.
Leif
I have the same issue. Both "Startup form" and "Enable application framework" are broken in Visual Studio 2022 when using VB.NET, WinForms, and .NET Framework. These both work if you target .NET 6.
My workaround is to close VS 2022, open the solution in VS 2019, set the Startup form, save, close VS 2019, and then re-open the solution in VS 2022.
I think In Visual studio 2022 IDE Designer tool deleted the application.designer.vb file content when startup form need to be change instead of modifying it.
This bug associate with enable application framework.
Create another framework project and make a backup of this file and modify as you want.
Don't stick with IDE...
they also creating IDE HELL (previously DLL l0l)
for example I paste application.designer.vb file content here
Option Strict On
Option Explicit On
Namespace My
Partial Friend Class MyApplication
<Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThroughAttribute()> _
Public Sub New()
MyBase.New(Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices.AuthenticationMode.Windows)
Me.IsSingleInstance = false
Me.EnableVisualStyles = true
Me.SaveMySettingsOnExit = true
Me.ShutDownStyle = Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices.ShutdownMode.AfterMainFormCloses
End Sub
<Global.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThroughAttribute()> _
Protected Overrides Sub OnCreateMainForm()
Me.MainForm = Global.WindowsApp1.Form1
End Sub
End Class
End Namespace
=========================
IF want to stick with IDE
Just change the Application.MyApp file and edit MainForm tag
<MainForm> Write form name (without extension) </MainForm>
Write whatever your form name and get it on list....
no need to modify code...
Look in the Main method, there should be an Application.Run(New Form1()) call or similar. You can change Form1 to the form you want to run.
Remember that in the project properties you must set Main as the start object.
With .NET Framework you can create a class (eg. Program) with a static method (Shared in VB) called Main and set this method as startup object in the project properties and, as above mentioned, uncheck Enable application framework flag.
In the Main method you can start your preferred form using Application.Run.
Public Class Program
Shared Sub Main()
Application.EnableVisualStyles()
Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(True)
Application.Run(New Form2())
End Sub
End Class

Visual basic. Change default startup form in code, depending on value of variable

I have been working on a Visual Basic project in Visual Studio and have encountered a problem.
I understand that the Startup form property in the Application page of the Project Designer can be changed to a default form, however what I require is a way to do this through code in ApplicationEvents.vb depending on the value of a variable within application settings.
The goal is that if a user completes a form then a value is assigned to a variable, e.g. variable username = "xxx". If this value is true, then the default startup is a login form (as the user has already registered), and if it is false then the user is taken to a register form.
I appreciate that I could use another form to determine this, however this seems like I would be squandering the capabilities of ApplicationEvents and not using it correctly (I also want to avoid the inevitable flicker of a blank form as it decides).
I know that the default form is stored in Application.myapp, however with the final publication of the .exe this file will (presumably) not be exported with it, so I want to avoid writing directly to it. I have also read into the windowsformsapplicationbase.mainform property, however cannot figure out how to use it?
Here is a example piece of code from ApplicationEvents.vb to demonstrate my question.
If String.IsNullOrEmpty(My.Settings.username) Then
MsgBox("You have not registered")
'set register as default form
Else
MsgBox("You have registered")
'set login as default form
End If
Usually, if you need that much control over what happens at start-up, you just want to disable the a application framework. To do so, just un-check the Enable application framework check-box in the Application tab of the My Project settings designer window. Once you un-check that, you will be able to change the Startup object to Sub Main. Then you can add a new module with a Main method, like this:
Module Module1
Public Sub Main()
Application.EnableVisualStyles()
If String.IsNullOrEmpty(My.Settings.username) Then
Application.Run(New RegisterForm())
Else
Application.Run(New LoginForm())
End If
End Sub
End Module
Be aware, however--by disabling the application framework, you will loose the other automatic functionality that it provides, such as ApplicationEvents. If you want to use the application framework, you can accomplish the same thing by simply setting the MyApplication.MainForm property in the MyApplication.Startup event:
Partial Friend Class MyApplication
Private Sub MyApplication_Startup(sender As Object, e As ApplicationServices.StartupEventArgs) Handles Me.Startup
If String.IsNullOrEmpty(My.Settings.username) Then
Me.MainForm = New RegisterForm()
Else
Me.MainForm = New LoginForm()
End If
End Sub
End Class
Alternatively, you could always show the same form, but then have the form contain nothing but a single UserControl. Then you can simply switch which UserControl is displayed depending upon the settings. The user-controls would need to include all of the controls that would have otherwise been placed on the two different forms.

Buttons change style at run time

I have a vb.net Windows Forms application using Visual Studio 2010. At design time my buttons look like this:
at run time they seem to revert to a Windows classic style:
It only happens for this project which I took over from a developer who left. I want them to look like they do at design time. I'm stumped. Any ideas?
If the app starts from a Sub Main rather than a main form (See Project -> Properties -> StartUp Object) it might be missing this:
Public Sub Main()
' probably missing:
Application.EnableVisualStyles()
Application.Run(New Form1)
End Sub
When starting from a Main sub, be sure that EnableVisualStyles() is invoked very early in the procedure before any UI Objects are created.
If it starts from a main form, go to the same Project properties and be sure that both Enable application framework and Enable XP Visual Styles are checked.
If it still doesnt work, turn on Show All Files in Solution Explorer and open Application.myApp under My Project. Make sure this setting is true:
<EnableVisualStyles>true</EnableVisualStyles>
This file/setting should be managed by VS, so if it is not being updated to match the IDE, you might have other issues.

Unable to Set Startup Form in Visual Studio 2012 (VB.NET)

Okay, in Visual Studio 2012 I have a VB.NET project with originally two forms. Form1 was originally set as the startup form and then obsoleted. Form2 is a nearly identical form that has all of the new desirable functionality.
In my project's settings, Form2 doesn't appear as an available option for Startup Form. (Though it is a normally-created form that inherits Form) After some "troubleshooting," Form1 has been deleted, resulting in the the "Enable Application Framework" option being disabled and no Startup Object being available. When I select anything from the Startup Object drop-down, either Sub Main or Form2, I have an error message stating either "Sub Main not found in Solution" or "Form2 is a type in Solution and cannot be used as an expression" respectively. If I try to enable "Enable Application Framework," I receive an error popup stating "Startup object must be a form when 'Enable application framework' is checked." And Application.Designer.vb is empty.
Some things I've tried:
Clean and Rebuild Solution
Restarting Visual Studio
Temporarily deleting Form1 (it's still excluded from project)
Added a new form, per Neolisk's advice. It appeared in the available objects. I selected it and turned on application framework. From here, I copied the initialization code from Form2's designer code into Form3's. All was alright. Then, I copied Form2's main code into Form3. Now, "Form3 is a type in Solution and cannot be used as an expression" appears in my error list.
With that said, my question is how can I get Visual Studio to recognize my form as a form and set Form2 as the startup object?
add InitializeComponent() in new() function in form2
Found it! The issue was an overload of the form's constructor taking a form as a parameter. Since this was the only constructor in the file, I guess it caused confusion. Commented that out and all was right with the world again.
Sometimes you have a different class name from the form file name.
Check if the class name is listed.

VS2010 VB.NET Winforms select startup form programmatically

I'm really struggling to find out how to dynamically load a form when starting a VB.NET winforms application in VS2010.
Looking at existing answers such as this: Programmatically change the startup form on application launch?
Has not helped. I do not have a main method (that I can see) in my winforms project and when I go into the project properties I can only select a start-up form. But I have one of two forms to display on start-up depending on the user accessing the application.
I tried to set a loading form up which, in it's load event would call .Show() on the correct loading form after it had determined it and then the loading form would close itself down, but doing this led to both forms being closed.
Below are steps for VS2010 VB.NET Winforms select startup form programmatically.
1 : Go to My project from Solution Explorer
2 : Click on Application Tab--->Uncheck Enable application Framework
3 : Then Inside module create Sub like this
Public Sub Main()
MsgBox("called Main") 'This is testing
Login.Show() 'Set your start up form here
End Sub
4 : Again My Project--->Application Tab--->Startup Object--->Sub Main
5 : Thats it, It will give you message box and will show Login form.
Hope It will help you.
Thanks
Mahesh
Nevermind. I found in the properties a button to generate the MyApplication class in which I can access the startup event.
Another option is to use an MDI form. When it loads you can determine which child form to display.
Using Sub Main is the way I have done this forever but for some reason, MS has decided to make the norm, difficult. To use the Sub Main way, create a "Module" if you dont already have one. Put this code in there:
Sub Main()
Stop
End Sub
Now, in your project properties, assuming your are doing a standard WinForms application, on the "Application" tab, uncheck the "Enable Application Framework". This will allow you to see (and select) "Sub Main" in the "Startup Object" drop-down.