Combobox not updating bindtable fields in VB - vb.net

I have a combobox that is of type dropdown, i.e. allows user to either select something from the list or to type in a new value. Based on this combo value, other values are selected in the form automatically as they are databound.
Customer_ID is the field that needs to be picked or typed in, and based on it Customer first name and second name are updated in the form automatically. This works fine if I pick some value from dropdown, lets say Customer Id = 1111.
Now in place of picking, if i type in this value and press tab, no udpate happens on the Name fields. Please suggest what am I missing here.

I think the best you are going to do with the standard ComboBox is to handle the Leave event, or possibly the TextChanged event. I did some experimenting and typing in a value does not add to the list, it just changes the Text property. It doesn't even change the value of the item you typed over. And, it doesn't fire SelectedItem or IndexChanged events.
So if you handle the Leave event, you have a place to do your lookup when someone tabs off the ComboBox. But the item won't get added to the list.
If you need functionality not provided in the default control, you could redesign your UI with perhaps a TextBox and Button that add an item. Or, you could look for third party implementations of ComboBox controls that would have more functionality.
Private Sub ComboBox1_Leave(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles ComboBox1.Leave
Dim theCB As ComboBox = DirectCast(sender, ComboBox)
DoLookup(theCB.Text)
End Sub

Related

How can I set my ComboBox to allow the user to type in the first few characters and then automatically select the item by pressing ENTER?

I have a feeling this is a very simple thing that I'm overlooking.
I have two ComboBoxes that allow users to search for/select the record that they want to view. One is filled with Customer Names and the other is filled with Customer Numbers, so the user can look for a particular record by either selecting the Name or Number.
Each ComboBox is filled by a Data Table returned from a SQL Server database.
Each ComboBox has DropDownStyle set to DropDown, AutoCompleteMode set to SuggestAppend and AutoCompleteSource set to ListItems.
The user can either select by clicking the DropDown arrow and then clicking on the item they was or they can begin by typing and the ComboBox narrows the number of items in the list based on the characters the user is typing.
Using the mouse to click on the item in the list that they want works fine...it fires off a routine to retrieve the selected item from the database.
However, when the user types in the desired selection and presses ENTER, nothing happens. They must click the DropDown arrow and click on the item in order for the program to pull the appropriate record.
How do I get the ComboBox to pull the appropriate record when the user hits enter?
I'm using Visual Basic.
From the sounds of it, you need three events.
You need to use a timer to know when the user has stopped typing. To do that, you need one event would be when that field they're typing in has it's value change (<control's name>.TextChanged). That would start/restart a timer ticking (so that the user has a couple seconds to pause before the next event fires).
The next event would be the Tick event for that timer. That event would stop the timer, and then give focus to the right field so that when the user hits ENTER, they're not hitting ENTER in the field they've been typing in. You'll need to write a function to look up the right item in the ComboBox and call that.
Then you'd have a third event, either KeyPress, KeyDown, or KeyUp on the ComboBox itself. I'd lean towards the KeyUp to avoid issues if the user holds ENTER for whatever reason. That'd be what selects the item.
As a final FYI, I'm assuming you're using Visual Studio to write your code. If not, you should, and if you are/once you are, you can select the field you want to work with in the drop-down at the top left of the editor and then look at the associated events in the top right drop-down.
Thank you to JMichael for getting me on the right track with this one. I'm posting my solution here just in case it helps someone who has a similar question in the future:
The code that I added to the ComboBox's SelectionChangeCommitted event needed also to be added to the ComboBox's KeyUp event:
Private Sub cboPolicySearch_KeyUp(sended as Object, e As KeyEventArgs) Handles cboPolicySearch.KeyUp
If e.KeyCode = Keys.Enter Then
GetSelectedPolicySearchRecord()
e.Handled = True
End If
End Sub 'cboPolicySearch_KeyUp
The GetSelectedPolicySearchRecord() sub contained all of the information I needed to call my SQL Stored Procedure to select the data for the record that the user selected in the ComboBox.
Previously, this was only being called from the ComboBox's "SelectionChangeCommitted" event which is executed when the user clicks the drop down and then clicks a policy number from the drop down list.
I needed to add the same call to the GetSelectedPolicySearchRecord in the ComboBox's "KeyUp" event for when the user presses enter.

How to reference events on objects in a subform from inside the main form

Imagine a form that, for demontration purposes, contains only a subform and a textbox that need to mirror each other.
I tried to accomplish this by setting the Control Source on the textbox to the value of the field in the subform and this worked to make them mirror each other, but the textbox isn't editable so this is an unsuitable solution.
The next thing I decided to try was using the AfterUpdate event on both controls to run code that sets the value of the other control.
This is easy for the textbox:
'Set value of Notes field on subform whenever value of the corresponding textbox
Private Sub Notes_Textbox_AfterUpdate()
Me.subform.Form![Notes] = Me.Notes_Textbox.Text
End Sub
However, this isn't as simple for the subform field. I don't know how to reference an event on a field in a subform in a way that will still allow me to reference controls outside that subform.
As a demonstration, I need a way to do this:
Private Sub subform_Notes_AfterUpdate()
Me.Notes_Textbox.Text = Me.subform.Form![Notes]
End Sub
I can access the subform fields AfterUpdate event within the scope of the subform but if I do that, then I can't access the Textbox because it is in the main form, not the subform.
So I either need a way to define an event function on a field in a subform from within the scope of the main form, or a way to make the textbox part of the subform while maintaining the subforms ability to open in datasheet view.
Not sure I get the whole problem (how does datasheet view come into play?), but this should do what you want:
(in the subform)
Private Sub Notes_AfterUpdate()
Me.Parent!Notes_Textbox.Value = Me![Notes].Value
End Sub
Edit from comment: By far the easiest solution would be a continuous form instead of a datasheet in a subform.
You can have two textboxes, a one-liner in the Details section, and a large one in the form header or footer. Both have the same control source and are automatically updated when the other one is edited. No code required.
If it must be a subform-datasheet, you can use a similar approach: bind the main form to the same recordsource, and in On Current of the subform, move the main form to the same current record.

Binding combobox selected value to a specific column of current row (not a datagridview)

I have a database that I am using in a VB 2010 project. What I did was removed a textbox for a database field that I dragged onto the form and replaced it with a combobox. The field name was orderstatus.
The problem is this: since I removed the textbox field from the form, I can't seem to bind the combobox value to the field in the active record. In other words, orderstatus textbox doesn't exist anymore. I want to let the user pick a status from the combobox and store that value to orderstatus so that it's saved to the current record my database.
I want to do something like this:
Private Sub Button16_Click_1(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button16.Click
orderstatus = ComboBox13.SelectedValue
Me.OrdersDataSet.orders(0).orderstatus = orderstatus
Me.Validate()
Me.OrdersBindingSource.EndEdit()
Me.TableAdapterManager12.UpdateAll(Me.OrdersDataSet)
End Sub
but it doesn't like my second line where I try to assign the value to the field, saying there is no row 0. All I want to do is put the selected value of the combobox into the orderstatus field of the record being created (or updated).
I've also tried using:
Me.OrdersDataSet.orders.orderstatusColumn = orderstatus
and I get a message saying that the property of the column is ReadOnly. I'm not sure how that's possible because I configured the dataset to update, etc.
I should probably mention that I'm not using a datagridview but a details view, if that makes a difference. I've seen some talk about how to do this using datagridview and don't know if that would work in my case.
What am I doing wrong? What should I use to update just the column I want in the current row?
Ugh, turns out I had forgot to set the databinding properties of the field in question to save directly to the binding source and also select the selecteditem to bind. It was right there and I didn't realize. Ya live and learn. :)

Make a button have multiple uses

okay... How do I explain this without being totally confusing?... Alright, I have this form that has MenuScripts (top-levels and second-levels). The problem that I am having is one of the second-levels is "Add" which brings you to another form when clicked. This other form has a button ("Record") and text boxes. This other form allows the user to input data and when the record button is clicked, the inputted data is written into a text file. Ok, so back to the first form. Another second-level MenuScript is "Update" which also brings the user to the other form; but first, the user has to click an item within a listbox to proceed. How do I get the data from the selected item to appear in the appropriate textboxes and how do I get the record button to update data instead of being confused and thinking it is only a add-data button?
Is there a way to use an "if" statement to say something like "if mnuAdd is clicked then" "elseif mnuUpdate is clicked then". Would something like that work for giving the record button multiple uses?
Also, if someone can give me some pointers on making sure the user selects an item within the listbox would definitely be a plus! Thanks, guys!
Unfortunately, I cannot add images since my reputation is too low.
Here is a visual representation of my ultimate goal
Easiest way: before displaying the second form set it's Tag property to something distinct – say "Add" or "Update" – depending on which menu item is selected. Then you just test the Tag value in the button's Click event and proceed accordingly.
As for determining whether a list item is selected: well if there isn't the ListBox's SelectedIndex property will be set to -1.
You need to put a public property on the second form (Details) which specifies which mode it is in. For instance, you could create a mode enumeration like this:
Public Enum EntryModes
AddBook
UpdateBook
End Enum
Then, define a public mode property on the second form, like this:
Public Property EntryMode As EntryModes
Get
Return _entryMode
End Get
Set(ByVal value As EntryMode)
_entryMode = value
End Set
End Property
Private _entryMode As EntryMode
Then, when you show the second form from the menu, just set the property first, before showing it:
Private Sub mnuAdd_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
Dim dialog As New DetailsDialog()
dialog.EntryMode = EntryModes.AddBook
dialog.ShowDialog()
End Sub
Private Sub mnuUpdate_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
Dim dialog As New DetailsDialog()
dialog.EntryMode = EntryModes.UpdateBook
dialog.BookToUpdate = ListBox1.SelectedItem
dialog.ShowDialog()
End Sub
As you can see, in the Upate menu click, I also added a line that passes the information for which book should be updated.

WinForms binding

I have some controls bound to a BindingSource control.
I want to do a calculation when the value changes in one control and set the result on another control.
Do I update the textbox the property is bound to or do I update the underlying entity which would update the control anyway (I hope)?
When I change combobox A (OnPropertyChange) textbox B is updated with the new calculated result. This works fine, but I have noticed that when I leave combobox A it reverts back to its original value. What is going on here!
Private Sub ComboBoxEditCostCode_EditValueChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles ComboBoxEditCostCode.EditValueChanged
Select Case ComboBoxEditCostCode.EditValue
Case "7"
CType(TransactionEntityBindingSource.Current, TblTransactionsEntity).Qbdescription = "7-is here"
Case "2"
CType(TransactionEntityBindingSource.Current, TblTransactionsEntity).Qbdescription = "2-is here"
Case Else
CType(TransactionEntityBindingSource.Current, TblTransactionsEntity).Qbdescription = "7-is here"
End Select
End Sub
if we bind a control to a source, then if the source changes, we can make the its value automatically reflected in the control. About the problem you are facing, it would be better if you show the code snippet.
Tell more about your changing, how second text box is bound?
You have to change your initial data instead of changing textbox b value.
Also when textbox A loses it focus raises EndEdit event and I think binding mechanism refreshes value in textbox B.
You can control on which action editing is done when you setting your binding to textboxes.
as a rule of thumb, if you are using a binding source you always CRUD the data through it. Don't forget to call BindingSource.EndEdit when you are done, hope this helps