I am working on a quiz for my computer science program and the idea is having keywords and definitions. The User will be shown a keyword that gets randomized and three definitions in radiobuttons, one must be the correct answer.
I decided to put my keywords and my defintions in the same file like so:
Keyword1 = Definition1
Keyword2 = Definition2
Keyword3 = Definition3
etc.
On my main form I have the following loop:
For Each line As String In System.IO.File.ReadAllLines("my-file-path-here")
Dim Pair() As String = line.split("=")
LabelKeyword.text = Trim(Pair(0)) ' Needs Randomizing
RadioButtonDef1.text = Trim(Pair(1)) ' Needs randomizing
'RadioButtonDef2.text = 'Don't know needs randomizing
'RadioButtonDef3.text = 'Don't know needs randomizing
Next
What I can't seem to figure out is how to randomize the keywords and the definitions. Also I have 15 lines in my text file and it always seems to only read the last line.
So my questions are:
How can I randomize the keywords and the definitions always having one of the definitions the answer to the current keyword.
Why does it only read the very last line of my text file and how can I fix it?
I also need to be able to make the quiz only finish when every keyword has been matched to its definition twice. Their time taken also needs to be recored as they play.
You are looping through all of the lines in your text file, but you are displaying all of them in the same control. Therefore, each time you iterate through the loop, it overwrites the values in the controls from the last iteration. I would strongly suggest storing your values in some sort of data-structure in memory. Then you can access the values randomly at will. For instance, you could store all the values in a Dictionary, like this:
Dim dict As New Dictionary(Of String, String)()
For Each line As String In File.ReadAllLines("...")
Dim pair() As String = line.Split("=")
dict(pair(0)) = pair(1)
Next
Related
Here is what i have tried so far , but no new shot variable is being declared
Module Module1
Dim shotlist As New List(Of Boolean)
Dim shono As Integer = 0
Dim shonos As String
Dim shotname As String
Dim fshot As Boolean
Dim shots As String
Sub Main()
For i As Integer = 0 To 1000
Dim ("shots" & i) as String = "shots" & i
fshot = Convert.ToBoolean(shots)
Next
End Sub
End Module
You can't do things this way. The variable names you see when you write a program are lost, turned into memory addresses by the compiler when it compiles your program. You cannot store any information using a variable's name - the name is just a reference for you, the programmer, during the time you write a program (design time)
Think of variables like buckets, with labels on the outside. Buckets only hold certain kinds of data inside
Dim shotname as String
This declares a bucket labelled shotname on the outside and it can hold a string inside. You can put a string inside it:
shotname = "Shot 1"
You can put any string you like inside this bucket, and thus anything you can reasonably represent as a string can also be put inside this bucket:
shotname = DateTime.Now.ToString()
This takes the current time and turns it into a string that looks like a date/time, and puts it in the bucket. The thing in the bucket is always a string, and lots of things (nearly anything actually) can be represented as a string, but we don't type all our buckets as strings because it isn't very useful - if you have two buckets that hold numbers for example, you can multiply them:
Dim a as Integer
a=2
Dim b as Integer
b=3
Dim c as Integer
c=a*b
But you can't multiply strings, even if they're strings trust look like numbers; strings would have to be converted to numbers first. Storing everything as a string and converting it to some other type before working on it then converting it back to a string to store it would be very wearisome
So that's all well and good and solves the problem of storing varying information in the computer memory and giving it a name that you can reference it by, but it means the developer has to know all the info that will ever be entered into the program. shotname is just one bucket storing one bit of info. Sure you could have
Dim shotname1 as String
Dim shotname2 as String
Dim shotname3 as String
But it would be quite tedious copy paste exercise to do this for a thousand shotname, and after you've done it you have to refer to all of them individually using their full name. There isn't a way to dynamically refer to bucket labels when you write a program, so this won't work:
For i = 0 To 1000
shotname&i = "This is shotname number " & i
Next i
Remember, shotname is lost when compiling, and i is too, so shotname&i just flat out cannot work. Both these things become, in essence, memory addresses that mean something to the compiler and you can't join two memory addresses together to get a third memory address that stores some data. They were only ever nice names for you to help you understand how to write the program, pick good names and and not get confused about what is what
Instead you need the mechanism that was invented to allow varying amounts of data not known at the design-time of the program - arrays
At their heart, arrays are what you're trying to do. You're trying to have load of buckets with a name you can vary and form the name programmatically.
Array naming is simple; an array has a name like any other variable (what I've been calling a bucket up to now - going to switch to calling them variables because everyone else does) and the name refers to the array as a whole, but the array is divided up into multiple slots all of which store the same type of data and have a unique index. Though the name of the array itself is fixed, the index can be varied; together they form a reference to a slot within the array and provide a mechanism for having names that can be generated dynamically
Dim shotnames(999) as String
This here is an array of 1000 strings, and it's called shotnames. It's good to use a plural name because it helps remind you that it's an array, holding multiple something. The 999 defines the last valid slot in the array - arrays start at 0, so with this one running 0 to 999 means there are 1000 entries in it
And critically, though the shotnames part of the variable name remains fixed and must be what you use to refer to the array itself(if you want to do something with the entire thing, like pass it to a function), referring to an individual element/slot in the array is done by tacking a number onto the end within brackets:
shotnames(587) = "The 588th shotname"
Keep in mind that "starts at 0 thing"
This 587 can come from anything that supplies a number; it doesn't have to be hard coded by you when you write the program:
For i = 0 to 999
shotnames(i) = "The " & (i+1) & "th shotname"
Next i
Or things that generate numbers:
shotnames(DateTime.Now.Minute) = "X"
If it's 12:59 when this code runs, then shotnames(59), the sixtieth slot in the array, will become filled with X
There are other kinds of varying storage; a list or a dictionary are commonly used examples, but they follow these same notions - you'll get a variable where part of the name is fixed and part of the name is an index you can vary.
At their heart they are just arrays too- if you looked inside a List you'd find an array with some extra code surrounding it that, when the array gets full, it makes a new array of twice the size and copies everything over. This way it provides "an array that expands" type functionality - something that arrays don't do natively.
Dictionaries are worth mentioning because they provide a way to index by other things than a number and can achieve storage of a great number of things not known at design time as a result:
Dim x as New Dictionary(Of String, Object)
This creates a dictionary indexed by a string that stores objects (I.e. anything - dates, strings, numbers, people..)
You could do like:
x("name") = "John"
x("age") = 32
You could even realize what you were trying to do earlier:
For i = 0 to 999
x("shotname"&i) = "The " & (i+1) & "th shotname"
Next i
(Though you'd probably do this in a Dictionary(Of string, string), ie a dictionary that is both indexed by string and stores strings.. and you probably wouldn't go to this level of effort to have a dictionary that stores x("shotname587") when it's simpler to declare an array shotname(587))
But the original premise remains true: your variable has a fixed part of the name (ie x) and a changeable part of the name (ie the string in the brackets) that is used as an index.
And there is no magic to the indexing by string either. If you opened up a dictionary and looked inside it, you'd find an array, together with some bits of code that take the string you passed in as an index, and turn it into a number like 587, and store the info you want in index 587. And there is a routine to deal with the case where two different strings both become 587 when converted, but other than that it's all just "if you want a variable where part of the name is changeable/formable programmatically rather than by the developer, it's an array"
I am trying to program a way to read a text file and match all the values and their quantites. For example if the text file is like this:
Bread-10 Flour-2 Orange-2 Bread-3
I want to create a list with the total quantity of all the common words. I began my code, but I am having trouble understanding to to sum the values. I'm not asking for anyone to write the code for me but I am having trouble finding resources. I have the following code:
Dim query = From data In IO.File.ReadAllLines("C:\User\Desktop\doc.txt")
Let name As String = data.Split("-")(0)
Let quantity As Integer = CInt(data.Split("-")(1))
Let sum As Integer = 0
For i As Integer = 0 To query.Count - 1
For j As Integer = i To
Next
Thanks
Ok, lets break this down. And I not seen the LET command used for a long time (back in the GWBASIC days!).
But, that's ok.
So, first up, we going to assume your text file is like this:
Bread-10
Flour-2
Orange-2
Bread-3
As opposed to this:
Bread-10 Flour-2 Orange-2 Bread-3
Now, we could read one line, and then process the information. Or we can read all lines of text, and THEN process the data. If the file is not huge (say a few 100 lines), then performance is not much of a issue, so lets just read in the whole file in one shot (and your code also had this idea).
Your start code is good. So, lets keep it (well ok, very close).
A few things:
We don't need the LET for assignment. While older BASIC languages had this, and vb.net still supports this? We don't need it. (but you will see examples of that still floating around in vb.net - especially for what we call "class" module code, or "custom classes". But again lets just leave that for another day.
Now the next part? We could start building up a array, look for the existing value, and then add it. However, this would require a few extra arrays, and a few extra loops.
However, in .net land, we have a cool thing called a dictionary.
And that's just a fancy term of for a collection VERY much like an array, but it has some extra "fancy" features. The fancy feature is that it allows one to put into the handly list things by a "key" name, and then pull that "value" out by the key.
This saves us a good number of extra looping type of code.
And it also means we don't need a array for the results.
This key system is ALSO very fast (behind the scene it uses some cool concepts - hash coding).
So, our code to do this would look like this:
Note I could have saved a few lines here or there - but that would make this code hard to read.
Given that you look to have Fortran, or older BASIC language experience, then lets try to keep the code style somewhat similar. it is stunning that vb.net seems to consume even 40 year old GWBASIC type of syntax here.
Do note that arrays() in vb.net do have some fancy "find" options, but the dictionary structure is even nicer. It also means we can often traverse the results with out say needing a for i = 1 to end of array, and having to pull out values that way.
We can use for each.
So this would work:
Dim MyData() As String ' an array() of strings - one line per array
MyData = File.ReadAllLines("c:\test5\doc.txt") ' read each line to array()
Dim colSums As New Dictionary(Of String, Integer) ' to hold our values and sum them
Dim sKey As String
Dim sValue As Integer
For Each strLine As String In MyData
sKey = Split(strLine, "-")(0)
sValue = Split(strLine, "-")(1)
If colSums.ContainsKey(sKey) Then
colSums(sKey) = colSums(sKey) + sValue
Else
colSums.Add(sKey, sValue)
End If
Next
' display results
Dim KeyPair As KeyValuePair(Of String, Integer)
For Each KeyPair In colSums
Debug.Print(KeyPair.Key & " = " & KeyPair.Value)
Next
The above results in this output in the debug window:
Bread = 13
Flour = 2
Orange = 2
I was tempted here to write this code using just pure array() in vb.net, as that would give you a good idea of the "older" types of coding and syntax we could use here, and a approach that harks all the way back to those older PC basic systems.
While the dictionary feature is more advanced, it is worth the learning curve here, and it makes this problem a lot easier. I mean, if this was for a longer list? Then I would start to consider introduction of some kind of data base system.
However, without some data system, then the dictionary feature is a welcome approach due to that "key" value lookup ability, and not having to loop. It also a very high speed system, so the result is not much looping code, and better yet we write less code.
First, I am not a programmer, I mainly just do simple scripts however there are somethings that are just easier to do in VB, I am pretty much self taught so forgive me if this sounds basic or if I can't explain it to well.
I have run into an issue trying to load a multi-column text file into a list box. There are two separate issues.
First issue is to read the text file and only grab the first column to use in the listbox, I am currently using ReadAllLines to copy the text file to a string first.
Dim RDPItems() As String = IO.File.ReadAllLines(MyDocsDir & "\RDPservers.txt")
However I am having a difficult time finding the correct code to only grab the first Column of this string to put in the listbox, if I use the split option I get an error that "Value of type '1-dimensional array of String' cannot be converted to 'String'"
The code looked like
frmRDP.lstRDP.Items.Add() = Split(RDPItems, ";", CompareMethod.Text)
This is the first hurdle, the second issue is what I want to do is if an item is selected from the List box, the value of the second column gets pulled into a variable to use.
This part I'm not even sure where to begin.
Example data of the text file
Server1 ; 10.1.1.1:3389
Server2 ; 192.168.1.1:8080
Server3 ; 172.16.0.1:9833
.....
When it's working the application will read a text file with a list of servers and their IPs and put the servers in a listbox, when you select the server from the listbox it and click a connect button it will then launch
c:\windows\system32\mstsc.exe /v:serverip
Any help would be appreciated, as I can hard code a large list of this into the VB application it would be easier to just have a text file with a list of servers and IPs to load instead.
The best practise for this would probably be to store your "columns" in a Dictionary. Declare this at class level (that is, outside any Sub or Function):
Dim Servers As New Dictionary(Of String, String)
When you load your items you read the file line-by-line, adding the items to the Dictionary and the ListBox at the same time:
Using Reader As New IO.StreamReader(IO.Path.Combine(MyDocsDir, "RDPservers.txt")) 'Open the file.
While Reader.EndOfStream = False 'Loop until the StreamReader has read the whole file.
Dim Line As String = Reader.ReadLine() 'Read a line.
Dim LineParts() As String = Line.Split(New String() {" ; "}, StringSplitOptions.None) 'Split the line into two parts.
Servers.Add(LineParts(0), LineParts(1)) 'Add them to the Dictionary. LineParts(0) is the name, LineParts(1) is the IP-address.
lstRDP.Items.Add(LineParts(0)) 'Add the name to the ListBox.
End While
End Using 'Dispose the StreamReader.
(Note that I used IO.Path.Combine() instead of simply concatenating the strings. I recommend using that instead for joining paths together)
Now, whenever you want to get the IP-address from the selected item you can just do for example:
Dim IP As String = Servers(lstRDP.SelectedItem.ToString())
Hope this helps!
EDIT:
Missed that you wanted to start a process with it... But it's like charliefox2 wrote:
Process.Start("c:\windows\system32\mstsc.exe", "/v:" & Servers(lstRDP.SelectedItem.ToString()))
Edit: #Visual Vincent's answer is way cleaner. I'll leave mine, but I recommend using his solution instead. That said, scroll down a little for how to open the server. He's got that too! Upvote his answer, and mark it as correct!
It looks like you're trying to split an array. Also, ListBox.Items.Add() works a bit differently than the way you've written your code. Let's take a look.
ListBox.Items.Add() requires that you provide it with a string inside the parameters. So you would do it like this:
frmRDP.lstRDP.Items.Add(Split(RDPItems, ";", CompareMethod.Text))
But don't do that!
When you call Split(), you must supply it with a string, not an array. In this case, RDPItems is an array, so we can't split the entire thing at once. This is the source of the error you were getting. Instead, we'll have to do it one item at a time. For this, we can use a For Each loop. See here for more info if you're not familiar with the concept.
A For Each loop will execute a block of code for each item in a collection. Using this, we get:
For Each item In RDPItems
Dim splitline() As String = Split(item, ";") 'splits the item by semicolon, and puts each portion into the array
frmRDP.lstRDP.Items.Add(splitline(0)) 'adds the first item in the array
Next
OK, so that gets us our server list put in our ListBox. But now, we want to open the server that our user has selected. To do that, we'll need an event handler (to know when the user has double clicked something), we'll have to find out which server they selected, and then we'll have to open that server.
We'll start by handling the double click by creating a sub to deal with it:
Private Sub lstRDP_MouseDoubleClick(sender As Object, e As MouseEventArgs) Handles lstRDP.MouseDoubleClick
Next, we'll get what the user has selected. Here, we're setting selection equal to the index that the user has selected (in this case, the first item is 0, the second is 1, and so on).
Dim selection As Integer = lstRDP.SelectedIndex
Lastly, we need to open the server. I'm assuming you want to do that in windows explorer, but if I'm mistaken please let me know.
Dim splitline() As String = Split(RDPItems(selection), ";")
Dim location As String = Trim(splitline(1))
We'll need to split the string again, but you'll notice this time I'm choosing the item whose location in the array is the same as the index of the list box the user has selected. Since we added our items to our listbox in the order they were added to our array, the first item in our listbox will be the first in the array, and so on. The location of the server will be the second part of the split function, or splitline(1). I've also included the Trim() function, which will remove any leading or trailing spaces.
Finally, we need to connect to our server. We'll use Process.Start() to launch the process.
Process.Start("c:\windows\system32\mstsc.exe", "/v:" & location)
For future reference, to first argument for Process.Start() is the location of the process, and the second argument is any argument the process might take (in this case, what to connect to).
Our final double click event handler looks something like this:
Private Sub lstRDP_MouseDoubleClick(sender As Object, e As MouseEventArgs) Handles lstRDP.MouseDoubleClick
Dim selection As Integer = lstRDP.SelectedIndex
Dim splitline() As String = Split(RDPItems(selection), ";")
Dim location As String = Trim(splitline(1))
Process.Start("c:\windows\system32\mstsc.exe", "/v:" & location)
End Sub
A final note: You may need to put
Dim RDPItems() As String = IO.File.ReadAllLines(MyDocsDir & "\RDPservers.txt")
outside of a sub, and instead just inside your class. This will ensure that both the click handler and your other sub where you populate the list box can both read from it.
Im sure someone out there can help, im totally new to coding but getting into it and really enjoying. I know this is such a simple question out there for you folks but i have the following, I load a spread sheet of strings (2 columns) into a datagridview the reason i do this because there is over 100,000 find and replaces and these will generally sit within and existing string when searching, then from there i want to simply search a txt file and find and replace a number of strings in it. So it would check each row in a datagrid take from column 1 the find and use column 2 to replace then outputs the string to another txt file once the find and replace has taken place. My current results are that it just takes what was in the first file and copies without replacing in the second find.
Any assistance is gratefully received, many thanks.
Please see below my amateur code:-
Private Sub CmdBtnTestReplace_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles CmdBtnTestReplace.Click
Dim fName As String = "c:\backup\logs\masterUser.txt"
Dim wrtFile As String = "c:\backup\logs\masterUserFormatted.txt"
Dim strRead As New System.IO.StreamReader(fName)
Dim strWrite As New System.IO.StreamWriter(wrtFile)
Dim s As String
Dim o As String
For Each row As DataGridViewRow In DataGridView1.Rows
If Not row.IsNewRow Then
Dim Find1 As String = row.Cells(0).Value.ToString
Dim Replace1 As String = row.Cells(1).Value.ToString
Cursor.Current = Cursors.WaitCursor
s = strRead.ReadToEnd()
o = s.Replace(Find1, Replace1)
strWrite.Write(o)
End If
Next
strRead.Close()
strWrite.Close()
Cursor.Current = Cursors.Default
MessageBox.Show("Finished Replacing")
End Sub
1. What you are doing is :
creating a StreamReader whose purpose is to read chars from a File/Stream in sequence.
creating a StreamWriter whose purpose is to add content to a File/Stream.
then looping
a) read the remaining content of file fName and put it in s
b) replace words from s and put the result in o
c) add o to the existing content of the file wrtFile
then the usual closing of the stream reader/writer...
But that doesn't work because, on the secund iteration of the loop, strRead is already at the end of your loaded file, then there is nothing to read anymore, and s is always an empty string starting from the secund iteration.
Furthermore, because s is empty, o will be empty aswell.
And last of all, even if you manage to re-read the content of the file and replace the words, strWrite will not clear the initial content of the output file, but will write the resulting replaced string (o) after the previously updated content of the file.
2. Since you loaded the content of the file in a string (s = strRead.ReadToEnd()), why don't you :
load that s string before the For-Next block
loop the datagridview rows in a For-Next block
replace using the pair Find1/Replace1 s = s.Replace(Find1, Replace1)
then, save the content of s in the targeted file outside the For-Next block
3. However, improving your understanding of how streams work, what should be considered and what are forbidden is a bit outside the scope of SO I think; such documentation could be found/gathered on the MSDN page or with the help of your friend : google. The same applies for finding out/thinking of how you should arrange your code, how to achieve your goal.Let's take an example :
' Content of your file :
One Two Three Four Five Six
' Content of your DataGridView :
One | Two
Two | Three
Three | Four
Four | Five
Five | Six
Six | Seven
The resulting replacement text at the end of a similar routine as yours will be :
Seven Seven Seven Seven Seven Seven ' :/
' while the expected result would be :
Two Three Four Five Six Seven
And that's because of the iteration : already replaced portions of your file (or loaded file content) could get replaced again and again. To avoid that, either :
split the loaded content in single words, and use a "replaced" flag for each word (to avoid replacing that word more than once)
or preload all the pair Find/Replace, and parse the file content in sequence once, replacing that instance when required.
So, before using an interesting object in the framework :
you should know what it does and how it behaves
otherwise -> read the documentation
otherwise -> create a minimalistic test solution which purpose is to brute force testings on that particular object to debunck all its powers and flaws.
So, like I said in 2., move those ReadAllText() and Write() outside the For/Next block to start from and have a look at the resulting output (Ask specific questions in comments when google can't answer) Then if you're OK with it even if issue like the One Two Three example above could occur, then voila ! Otherwise, use google to gather more examples on "splitting text in words" and reformating the whole, have some tries, then get back here if you're stuck on precise issues.
I need your help, guys! :|
I've got myself a CSV file with the following contents:
1,The Compact,1.8GHz,1024MB,160GB,440
2,The Medium,2.4GHz,1024MB,180GB,500
3,The Workhorse,2.4GHz,2048MB,220GB,650
It's a list of computer systems, basically, that the user can purchase.
I need to read this file, line-by-line, into an array. Let's call this array csvline().
The first line of the text file would stored in csvline(0). Line two would be stored in csvline(1). And so on. (I've started with zero because that's where VB starts its arrays). A drop-down list would then enable the user to select 1, 2 or 3 (or however many lines/systems are stored in the file). Upon selecting a number - say, 1 - csvline(0) would be displayed inside a textbox (textbox1, let's say). If 2 was selected, csvline(1) would be displayed, and so on.
It's not the formatting I need help with, though; that's the easy part. I just need someone to help teach me how to read a CSV file line-by-line, putting each line into a string array - csvlines(count) - then increment count by one so that the next line is read into another slot.
So far, I've been able to paste the numbers of each system into an combobox:
Using csvfileparser As New Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.TextFieldParser _
("F:\folder\programname\programname\bin\Debug\systems.csv")
Dim csvalue As String()
csvfileparser.TextFieldType = Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.FieldType.Delimited
csvfileparser.Delimiters = New String() {","}
While Not csvfileparser.EndOfData
csvalue = csvfileparser.ReadFields()
combobox1.Items.Add(String.Format("{1}{0}", _
Environment.NewLine, _
csvalue(0)))
End While
End Using
But this only selects individual values. I need to figure out how selecting one of these numbers in the combobox can trigger textbox1 to be appended with just that line (I can handle the formatting, using the string.format stuff). If I try to do this using csvalue = csvtranslator.ReadLine , I get the following error message:
"Error 1 Value of type 'String' cannot be converted to '1-dimensional array of String'."
If I then put it as an array, ie: csvalue() = csvtranslator.ReadLine , I then get a different error message:
"Error 1 Number of indices is less than the number of dimensions of the indexed array."
What's the knack, guys? I've spent hours trying to figure this out.
Please go easy on me - and keep any responses ultra-simple for my newbie brain - I'm very new to all this programming malarkey and just starting out! :)
Structure systemstructure
Dim number As Byte
Dim name As String
Dim procspeed As String
Dim ram As String
Dim harddrive As String
Dim price As Integer
End Structure
Private Sub csvmanagement()
Dim systemspecs As New systemstructure
Using csvparser As New FileIO.TextFieldParser _
("F:\folder\programname\programname\bin\Debug\systems.csv")
Dim csvalue As String()
csvparser.TextFieldType = Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.FieldType.Delimited
csvparser.Delimiters = New String() {","}
csvalue = csvparser.ReadFields()
systemspecs.number = csvalue(0)
systemspecs.name = csvalue(1)
systemspecs.procspeed = csvalue(2)
systemspecs.ram = csvalue(3)
systemspecs.harddrive = csvalue(4)
systemspecs.optical = csvalue(5)
systemspecs.graphics = csvalue(6)
systemspecs.audio = csvalue(7)
systemspecs.monitor = csvalue(8)
systemspecs.software = csvalue(9)
systemspecs.price = csvalue(10)
While Not csvparser.EndOfData
csvalue = csvparser.ReadFields()
systemlist.Items.Add(systemspecs)
End While
End Using
End Sub
Edit:
Thanks for your help guys, I've managed to solve the problem now.
It was merely a matter calling loops at the right point in time.
I would recommend using FileHelpers to do the reading.
The binding shouldn't be an issue after that.
Here is the Quickstart for Delimited Records:
Dim engine As New FileHelperEngine(GetType( Customer))
// To Read Use:
Dim res As Customer() = DirectCast(engine.ReadFile("FileIn.txt"), Customer())
// To Write Use:
engine.WriteFile("FileOut.txt", res)
When you get the file read, put it into a normal class and just bind to the class or use the list of items you have to do custom stuff with the combobox. Basically, get it out of the file and into a real class asap, then things will be easier.
At least take a look at the library. After using it, we use a lot more simple flat files since it is so easy, and we haven't written a file access routine since (for that kinda stuff).
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/microsoft.visualbasic.fileio.textfieldparser.aspx
I think your main problem is understanding how arrays work (hence the error message).
You can use split and join functions to convert strings into and out of arrays
dim s() as string = split("1,2,3",",") gives and array of strings with 3 elements
dim ss as string = join(s,",") gives you the string back
Firstly, it's actually really good that you are using the TextFieldParser for reading CSV files - most don't but you won't have to worry about extra commas and quoted text etc...
The Readline method only gives you the raw string, hence the "Error 1 Value of type 'String' cannot be converted to '1-dimensional array of String'."
What you may find easier with combo boxes etc is to use an object (e.g. 'systemspecs') rather than strings. Assign the CSV data to the objects and override the "ToString" method of the 'systemspecs' class to display in the combo box how you want with formatting etc. That way when you handle the SelectedIndexChanged event (or similar) you get the "SelectedItem" from the combo box (which can be Nothing so check) and cast it as the 'systemspecs' to use it. The advantage is that you are not restricted to display the exact data in the combo etc.
' in "systemspecs"...
Public Overrides Function ToString() As String
Return Name ' or whatever...
End Function ' ToString
e.g.
dim item as new systemspecs
item.ID = csvalue(1)
item.Name = csvalue(2)
' etc...
combobox1.Items.Add(item)
Let me know if that makes sense!
PK :-)