Access MDI Parent StatusStrip in Child Window VB.NET 2015 - vb.net

Question

VB.NET 2015 -- Have placed StatusStrip control with 2 ToolStripStatusLabel on it in a MDI window. when i open a new form, this would be the Child of the MDI window.
How do i read from info ToolStripStatusLabel.
For Each does not loop through all items in StatusStrip, and from what i have learnt, ToolStripStatusLabel is not a Control as such so the For each loop does not work.
Me.Owner.Controls also does not work to access ToolStripStatusLabel for the same reason as above
What to Do ?

Answer 1

The proper way for any child form to get data from its parent is for the child form to raise an event and the parent form to pass the data back to the child via the event args. This way, the child never has to know anything specific about the parent form so, in theory, many different parent forms could display the same child form and pass it data. This is an example of loose coupling.
The child form would look something like this, providing an event that is raised when it needs data and it gets that data back via the custom EventArgs object that it created:
Public Class Form2
Public Event StatusDataNeeded As EventHandler(Of StatusDataNeededEventArgs)
Protected Overridable Sub OnStatusDataNeeded(e As StatusDataNeededEventArgs)
RaiseEvent StatusDataNeeded(Me, e)
End Sub
Private Sub GetStatusData()
Dim e As New StatusDataNeededEventArgs
OnStatusDataNeeded(e)
MessageBox.Show(e.StatusData)
End Sub
'...
End Class
Public Class StatusDataNeededEventArgs
Public Property StatusData As String
End Class
As you can see, there's no reliance on any specific type of parent form there and there's also no reliance on this form being an MDI child. It simply raises its event and anyone listening can provide the status data, no matter the relationship.
In your case, the MDI parent form might look something like this:
Public Class Form1
'Stores the data that will be displayed in the StatusStrip.
Private statusData As String
'Display the status data in the StatusStrip.
Private Sub SetStatusText()
ToolStripStatusLabel1.Text = statusData
End Sub
'Create and display a child form.
Private Sub DisplayChildForm()
Dim childForm As New Form2 With {.MdiParent = Me}
'Handle the event raised when the child requires the status data.
AddHandler childForm.StatusDataNeeded, AddressOf ChildForm_StatusDataNeeded
childForm.Show()
End Sub
'Pass the status data to the child form.
Private Sub ChildForm_StatusDataNeeded(sender As Object, e As StatusDataNeededEventArgs)
e.StatusData = statusData
End Sub
'...
End Class
As you can see, the status data is stored in its own field. The StatusStrip is for display of status data, not storage. The parent form creates and displays a child form and handles the event. In the event handler, it simply passes the status data to the property of the e parameter.
To learn more about creating your own events, see here.

Answer 2

The Event approach by jmcilhinney is definitely a better way however as a quick solution the My Namespace can be used in VB.Net.
My.Forms.<Form Name>.<Control name>.<property>
eg:
My.Forms.AM_MDI.ToolStripStatusLabel1.Text
For those who would love read more on My Namespace -
Namespaces in VB.NET
https://www.thoughtco.com/namespaces-in-vbnet-3424445
Do you use the 'My' namespace in VB.NET?
Do you use the 'My' namespace in VB.NET?