Handle containers inside containers in for each control vb 2008 - vb.net

Question

I have created a function to translate my forms. I can loop through every control in a form to call this function, but I have made a situation, I cannot handle.
In one of my forms, I have groupbox in a groupbox.
This source works if I only have one groupbox.
Public Function translate_form(ByVal form As Form)
Dim control As Object
Dim controlname As String
form.Text = Get_Control_Name(form.Name, "Form")
Try
For i = 0 To form.Controls.Count - 1
control = form.Controls(i)
If TypeOf (control) Is MenuStrip Then
For j = 0 To control.items.count - 1
control.items(j).text = Get_Control_Name(form.Name, "MenuItem" & j)
Next
Else
controlname = Get_Control_Name(form.Name, control.Name)
control.Text = IIf(controlname Is Nothing, control.Text, controlname)
If TypeOf (control) Is GroupBox Then
For j = 0 To control.Controls.Count - 1
controlname = Get_Control_Name(form.Name, control.Controls(j).Name)
control.Controls(j).Text = IIf(controlname Is Nothing, control.Controls(j).Text, controlname)
If TypeOf (control.Controls(j)) Is Button Then
control.Controls(j).AutoSize = True
End If
Next
End If
If TypeOf (control) Is Button And UCase(control.Text) <> "X" Then
control.AutoSize = True
End If
End If
Next
Catch ex As Exception
MsgBox(ex.Message, MsgBoxStyle.Critical)
End Try
End Function
But in some cases I want to sperate controls inside a container. I could have one more loop if the
control.Controls(j)
is a groupbox but I want to make this function to handle any kind of "container pyramid", if you know what I mean. Maybe I will have a container which has one also and that one too etc... Or is there any control I can use as a groupbox but it doesn't count as a contaier, so I can see it with:
form.Controls
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

The reason why your code does not deliver what you want is that you are not performing a recursive search of controls. Bear in mind that Form.Controls contains only the parent controls (not the children controls eventually contained by the parents; like the situation you refer of controls contained by a GroupBox). Additionally, I see various not-too-right issues (you should writeOption Strict On on the top of your file) and that's why this answer intends to provide you with a somehow better framework to work with (you have just to fill in the blanks with your code):
Public Sub translate_form2(ByVal form As Form)
Try
For Each ctrl As Control In form.Controls
actionsCurrentControl(ctrl)
recursiveControls(ctrl)
Next
Catch ex As Exception
End Try
End Sub
'Accounting for all the child controls (if any)
Public Sub recursiveControls(parentControl As Control)
If (parentControl.HasChildren) Then
For Each ctrl As Control In parentControl.Controls
actionsCurrentControl(ctrl)
recursiveControls(ctrl)
Next
End If
End Sub
Public Sub actionsCurrentControl(curControl As Control)
If TypeOf curControl Is MenuStrip Then
Else
If TypeOf (curControl) Is GroupBox Then
End If
If TypeOf (curControl) Is Button And UCase(curControl.Text) <> "X" Then
End If
End If
End Sub
translate_form2 iterates through all the parent controls as in your code (but by relying on a set of Subs (you are wrongly using a Function without returning any value, what is wrong), making the structure more adaptable); it also calls recursiveControls (which also calls itself for each control it analyses) to take care of any child control which might be present. I am also including actionsCurrentControl which contains all the actions to perform for each control (you have to populate it with your code).