VB.Net Custom ListBox output issue - vb.net

Since i needed to disable (grey out) some items inside a ListBox, i'm using a Custom control that can be found here:
Here is my current code:
Private Sub MainForm_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
dtp.Columns.Add("key")
dtp.Columns.Add("value")
PopulateDataTable(dtp, "myTxt")
_dataView = New DataView(dtp)
'Custom ListBox
List1.ValueMember = "key"
List1.DisplayMember = "value"
List1.DataSource = _dataView
'Legacy ListBox
List2.ValueMember = "key"
List2.DisplayMember = "value"
List2.DataSource = _dataView
UpdateLanguageMenu()
End Sub
Private Function PopulateDataTable(dt As DataTable, resTxt As String)
Using sw As New StringReader(My.Resources.ResourceManager.GetObject(resTxt))
Do
Dim line As String = sw.ReadLine
If line Is Nothing OrElse line.Trim = String.Empty Then Exit Do
Dim strArr() As String
strArr = line.Split(",")
Dim row As DataRow = dt.NewRow()
row("key") = strArr(0)
row("value") = strArr(1)
dt.Rows.Add(row)
Loop
sw.Close()
End Using
End Function
List1 is the Custom ListBox and List2 is the ListBox that comes with VS2012E.
I don't need List2, it's only there to test,
and at runtime, in List2 i get all my values loaded correctly, instead in List1 i get System.Data.DataRowView in all rows..
The strange thing is that, my txt i'm loading is like:
00A1,MyValue1
00A2,Myvalue2
00A3,MyValue3
I have also a Label, and when selecting items on the ListBox i have code to change the Label.Text to List.SelectedValue that is the first part before the comma.
And it get displayed in the label. Only items inside the Custom ListBox are not being displayed.
Populating List1 manually, instead using a DataTable, is working.
And since i'm a beginner i can't locate the problem.

I think your problem has to do with this line: string displayValue = GetItemText(item); in the control. This takes for granted that all items are strings. In your case it is a datarowview hence the result (drv.toString would return something like that). You need to convert "item" into a drv and set display value to be drvItem("value" or "key") instead. So it is basically not your code that is the problem, it is the control.
Actually... After reading the code in the control and not on the code project site, I realised that this line:
displayValue = GetItemText(item);
Doesn't even exist. It is exchanged with
item.ToString()
Which pretty much proves my theory.
Right, how to fix.
In:
protected override void OnDrawItem(System.Windows.Forms.DrawItemEventArgs e)
You have this:
object item = this.Items[e.Index];
What you have to do is to convert item into a DataViewRow and assign value to a variable, something like this:
DataViewRow dvrItem = (DataViewRow)item;
String displayText = dvrItem("key"); or String displayText = dvrItem("value");
Then change all these:
e.Graphics.DrawString(item.ToString(), e.Font, SystemBrushes.GrayText, e.Bounds);
Into:
e.Graphics.DrawString(displayText, e.Font, SystemBrushes.GrayText, e.Bounds);

Related

Pasting new records to a Bound DataGridView

Apologies if this has already been asked. If so, I am unable to find a simple solution. I am trying to allow a user to copy/paste multiple records in a DataGridView (the in memory copy of the data, to be saved later when the user clicks the save button) and cannot find anything that works. It probably is because there is something I do not understand about all of this.
I set up a standard edit form with Visual Studio's drag/table into a form, so it's using a BindingSource control and all the other controls that come with doing that. It works just fine when manually entering something in the new row one by one, so it seems to be set up correctly, but when it comes to adding a record (or multiples) using code, nothing seems to work.
I tried a few things as outline in the code below. Could someone please at least steer me in the right direction? It cannot be that difficult to paste multiple records.
I run this when the user presses Control-V (the clipboard correctly holds the delimited strings):
Private Sub PasteClipboard()
If Clipboard.ContainsText Then
Dim sLines() As String = Clipboard.GetText.Split(vbCrLf)
For Each sLine As String In sLines
Dim Items() As String = sLine.Split(vbTab)
Dim drv As DataRowView = AdjustmentsBindingSource.AddNew()
drv.Item(1) = Items(0)
drv.Item(2) = Items(1)
drv.Item(3) = Items(2)
drv.Item(4) = Items(3)
'Error on next line : Cannot add external objects to this list.
AdjustmentsBindingSource.Add(drv)
Next
End If
End Sub
EDIT
(the bindingsource is bound to a dataadapter, which is bound to a table in an mdb file, if that helps understand)
I adjusted the inner part of the code to this:
If (RowHasData(Items)) Then
Dim drv As DataRowView = AdjustmentsBindingSource.AddNew()
drv.Item("FontName") = Items(0)
drv.Item("FontSize") = Items(1)
drv.Item("LetterCombo") = Items(2)
drv.Item("Adjustment") = Items(3)
drv.Item("HorV") = Items(4)
End If
It kinda works, but it also adds a blank row before the 2 new rows. Not sure where that is coming from, as I have even included your RowHasData() routine...
I would think that “attemp3” SHOULD work, however, it is unclear “what” the AdjustmentsBindingSource’s DataSource is. Is it a List<T> or DataTable?
If I set the BinngSource.DataSource to a DataTable, then attempt 3 appears to work. Below is an example that worked.
Private Sub PasteClipboard2()
If Clipboard.ContainsText Then
Dim sLines() As String = Clipboard.GetText.Split(vbCrLf)
For Each sLine As String In sLines
Dim Items() As String = sLine.Split(vbTab)
If (RowHasData(Items)) Then
Dim drv As DataRowView = AdjustmentsBindingSource.AddNew()
drv.Item("FontName") = Items(0)
drv.Item("FontSize") = Items(1)
drv.Item("LetterCombo") = Items(2)
drv.Item("Adjustment") = Items(3)
drv.Item("HorV") = Items(4)
End If
Next
End If
End Sub
This appears to work in my tests. I added a small function (RowHasData) to avoid malformed strings causing problems. It simply checks the size (at least 5 items) and also checks to make sure a row actually has “some” data. If a row is just empty strings, then it is ignored.
Private Function RowHasData(items As String())
If (items.Count >= 5) Then
For Each item In items
If (item <> "") Then Return True
Next
End If
Return False
End Function
I am guessing it would be just as easy to add the new rows “directly” to the BindingSource’s DataSource. In the example below, the code is adding the row “directly” to the DataTable that is used as a DataSource to the BindingSource. I am confident you could do the same thing with a List<T> by simply adding a new object to the list. Below is a complete example using a BindingSource and a DataTable. This simply adds the rows to the bottom of the table.
Dim gridTable1 As DataTable
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
PasteClipboard()
End Sub
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
gridTable1 = GetTable()
FillTable(gridTable1)
AdjustmentsBindingSource.DataSource = gridTable1
AdjustmentsDataGridView.DataSource = AdjustmentsBindingSource
End Sub
Private Function GetTable() As DataTable
Dim dt = New DataTable()
dt.Columns.Add("FontName", GetType(String))
dt.Columns.Add("FontSize", GetType(String))
dt.Columns.Add("LetterCombo", GetType(String))
dt.Columns.Add("Adjustment", GetType(String))
dt.Columns.Add("HorV", GetType(String))
Return dt
End Function
Private Sub FillTable(dt As DataTable)
For index = 1 To 10
dt.Rows.Add("Name_" + index.ToString(), "Size_" + index.ToString(), "Combo_" + index.ToString(), "Adjust_" + index.ToString(), "HorV_" + index.ToString())
Next
End Sub
Private Sub PasteClipboard()
If Clipboard.ContainsText Then
Dim sLines() As String = Clipboard.GetText.Split(vbCrLf)
Try
Dim dataRow As DataRow
For Each sLine As String In sLines
Dim Items() As String = sLine.Split(vbTab)
If (RowHasData(Items)) Then
dataRow = gridTable1.NewRow()
dataRow("FontName") = Items(0)
dataRow("FontSize") = Items(1)
dataRow("LetterCombo") = Items(2)
dataRow("Adjustment") = Items(3)
dataRow("HorV") = Items(4)
gridTable1.Rows.Add(dataRow)
End If
Next
Catch ex As Exception
MessageBox.Show("Error: " + ex.Message)
End Try
End If
End Sub
Private Function RowHasData(items As String())
If (items.Count >= 5) Then
For Each item In items
If (item <> "") Then Return True
Next
End If
Return False
End Function
Hope the code helps…
Last but important, I am only guessing that you may have not “TESTED” the different ways users can “SELECT” data and “how” other applications “copy” that selected data. My previous tests using the WIN-OS “Clipboard” can sometimes give unexpected results. Example, if the user selects multiple items using the ”Ctrl” key to “ADD” to the selection, extra rows appeared in the Clipboard if the selection was not contiguous. My important point is that using the OS clipboard is quirky IMHO. I recommend LOTS of testing on the “different” ways the user can select the data. If this is not an issue then the code above should work.

Making One Column of DataGridView AutoComplete for String Data

I am trying to set up a DataGridView in VB.Net where a single column, called "Supplier" acts as a TextBox with an AutoCompleteSource to help users with entering data. This is the code I put together to attempt to accomplish this:
Private Sub OrderData_EditingControlShowing(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As DataGridViewEditingControlShowingEventArgs) Handles orderData.EditingControlShowing
Dim colIndex = orderData.SelectedCells.Item(0).ColumnIndex
Dim headerText As String = orderData.Columns(colIndex).HeaderText
If headerText.Equals("Supplier") Then
Dim autoText As TextBox = TryCast(e.Control, TextBox)
If autoText IsNot Nothing Then
autoText.AutoCompleteMode = AutoCompleteMode.SuggestAppend
autoText.AutoCompleteSource = AutoCompleteSource.CustomSource
autoText.AutoCompleteCustomSource = FillTextBoxData("supplier_name", "suppliers")
End If
End If
End Sub
I kind of works. Unfortunately it adds AutoCompletes to every single editable column in the table, instead of just the "Supplier" column (column index 2).
What do I need to do to fix this?
EDIT: I modified the code a bit to try and fix the issue, and it kind of worked. If I don't selected the "Supplier" column first, then the other columns to not contain an AutoComplete. However if I go from the "Supplier" column to another column, then it contains an AutoComplete. How do I fix this?
When you do
Dim headerText As String = orderData.Columns(2).HeaderText
If headerText.Equals("Supplier") Then
That will be always true, since you are always getting the col 2 header no matter what cell is selected, you need to add that, something like
Dim colIndex = orderData.SelectedCells.Item(0).ColumnIndex
then you can use your code
Dim headerText As String = orderData.Columns(colIndex).HeaderText
Also add an Else clause to the If headerText.Equals("Supplier") Then statement. In the Else portion add the line autoText.AutoCompleteMode = AutoCompleteMode.None

Can I create a property of a property?

So I recently grasped the concept of using classes in my Visual Basic programming, and I found it tremendously helpful. In my current project, I have several groups boxes of check boxes (each check box denotes a "Behavior") and in each group box, there is always one check box that has a textbox control instead of a label (to allow the user to specify an "Other" behavior). It is that user-generated label that is giving me trouble...
I created a class called "Behaviors" that basically does the following:
getChecked > This method gets each checked checkbox and adds it to
the BehaviorCollection for a given Form.
behaviorCollection > represents the collection of checked
checkboxes.
getOtherChecked > does the same as "getChecked" except with the
"Other Behavior" checkboxes.
otherBehaviorCollection > represents the collection of checked
"Other" checkboxes.
The issue is that for each checked "Other Behaviors" checkbox, I need to store the value of its corresponding textbox. I would like to set my getOtherChecked() method to do this, so that in the end, I would be able to something like this...
Dim myBoxes as new Behaviors
Dim cBox as Checkbox
Dim cBoxLabel as String
myBoxes.getOtherChecked(myUserForm) 'This would get each checked "Other Behaviors" checkbox object, and also somehow add another property to it called "LinkedTextboxLabel" that would be assigned the value of the corresponding textbox.
cBox = myBoxes.otherBehaviorCollection.item(0) 'Assign a checkbox from my "Other Behaviors" collection to a variable.
cBoxLabel = cBox.LinkedTextboxLabel 'Assign the user-inputted value of the linked textbox to a variable.
So basically how could/should I add a custom-property to a collection item or checkbox?
I thought about just adding the names of the controls to a temporary DataTable or SQL table, so that each row would have the name of a checkbox in one column and its corresponding textbox value in the next, but I am hoping there is a more commonly used and accepted method.
Thank you in advance!
You could add a property for the text associated with the "Other Behaviors" checkbox.
EDIT: You might be trying to generalize your data too far, because the "Other behaviors" is a special case and deserves separate consideration.
If you have a look at what the following code (in a new Windows Forms project) creates, it might give you ideas:
Public Class Form1
''' <summary>
''' A behaviour domain and its characteristics, with one user-defined entry.
''' </summary>
''' <remarks></remarks>
Public Class BehavioursSectionDescriptor
Property BehaviourTypeName As String
Property BehaviourNames As List(Of String)
Property CustomBehaviours As String
End Class
''' <summary>
''' Return a GroupBox containing CheckBoxes and one Checkbox with a TextBox adjacent to it.
''' </summary>
''' <param name="behaviourSet"></param>
''' <returns></returns>
''' <remarks></remarks>
Private Function GetBehaviourGroupPanel(behaviourSet As BehavioursSectionDescriptor) As GroupBox
Dim gb As New GroupBox
gb.Text = behaviourSet.BehaviourTypeName
Dim fixedBehaviourNames As List(Of String) = behaviourSet.BehaviourNames
Dim customBehavioursValue As String = behaviourSet.CustomBehaviours
Dim cbVertSeparation As Integer = 4
Dim gbPadding As Integer = 20
Dim cb As New CheckBox
Dim yLoc As Integer = gbPadding
For i = 0 To fixedBehaviourNames.Count - 1
cb = New CheckBox
cb.Location = New Point(gbPadding, yLoc)
cb.Text = fixedBehaviourNames(i)
' you can use the .Tag Object of a Control to store information
cb.Tag = behaviourSet.BehaviourTypeName & "-Cb-" & i.ToString()
gb.Controls.Add(cb)
yLoc += cb.Height + cbVertSeparation
Next
cb = New CheckBox
cb.Text = ""
cb.Location = New Point(gbPadding, yLoc)
cb.Tag = behaviourSet.BehaviourTypeName & "-Custom behaviours"
gb.Controls.Add(cb)
Dim tb As New TextBox
tb.Location = New Point(gbPadding + 18, yLoc)
tb.Width = 100
tb.Text = customBehavioursValue
gb.Controls.Add(tb)
' make sure the textbox appears in front of the checkbox's label area
tb.BringToFront()
gb.Size = New Size(160, yLoc + gbPadding * 2)
Return gb
End Function
Private Function GetTestData() As List(Of BehavioursSectionDescriptor)
Dim bsds = New List(Of BehavioursSectionDescriptor)
bsds.Add(New BehavioursSectionDescriptor With {.BehaviourTypeName = "In water", _
.BehaviourNames = New List(Of String) From {"Floats", "Spins"}, _
.CustomBehaviours = "Paddles"})
bsds.Add(New BehavioursSectionDescriptor With {.BehaviourTypeName = "Under light", _
.BehaviourNames = New List(Of String) From {"Shines", "Glows", "Reflects"}, _
.CustomBehaviours = "Iridesces"})
bsds.Add(New BehavioursSectionDescriptor With {.BehaviourTypeName = "Near food", _
.BehaviourNames = New List(Of String) From {"Sniffs", "Looks"}, _
.CustomBehaviours = ""})
Return bsds
End Function
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
Dim bsds As List(Of BehavioursSectionDescriptor) = GetTestData()
Dim gbs As New List(Of GroupBox)
Dim xLoc As Integer = 20
Dim yLoc As Integer = 20
' make some GroupBoxes to present the data input fields
For i = 0 To bsds.Count - 1
Dim gb = GetBehaviourGroupPanel(bsds(i))
gb.Location = New Point(xLoc, yLoc)
gb.Dock = DockStyle.None
yLoc += gb.Height + 30
Me.Controls.Add(gb)
Next
' size the form to fit the content
Me.Size = New Size(240, yLoc + 40)
End Sub
End Class
I know it doesn't answer the question of adding a property to a property, but could you create a class for the Other checkbox and override it's capabilities? Then you could add checkboxes and OtherCheckBoxes to your generic collection? for instance, (by no means complete, but you should get the idea)
EDIT: Changed code to show Shadows
Public Class OptionalCheckbox : Inherits CheckBox
Private mOptionalText As String
Public Shadows Property Text() As String
Get
Return mOptionalText
End Get
Set(value As String)
mOptionalText = value
MyBase.Text = value
End Set
End Property
End Class
For each item, if you were to retrieve .Text, you would either get your textbox value or your checkbox label (if it was a normal checkbox)
And how to utilize in other parts of your code. Again, this is just more of an example. You would still need to work with the textbox that is assigned to the OtherCheckBox to get it to write the text to that, as well as read from that into the .Text property of the Class.
Dim newCheckBoxCollection As New Collection
Dim cBox As New CheckBox
cBox.Text = "Standard Value Here"
'other properties of the checkbox can be modified here
newCheckBoxCollection.Add(cBox)
Dim cOBox As New OptionalCheckbox
cOBox.Text = "Optional Text Here"
'other properties of the checkbox can be modified here
newCheckBoxCollection.Add(cOBox)
For Each cb As CheckBox In newCheckBoxCollection
Me.FlowLayoutPanel1.Controls.Add(cb)
Next
If you are trying to just save the data into something like a DataTable or SQL table the code would be a bit of an overkill. I suggest you use a stream reader/writer and try checking the values that way as the code would be a lot more simple.

Referencing an Unbound DataGridView Without Specifically Naming It?

I am using 3 unbound DataGridView controls to display certain information. To load the information into those DGVs, I am pulling the information from an encrypted file, decrypting it, parsing the information, then trying to fill the DGVs with that information. The loading from the file is called by the menu item click. Here is what I have so far:
Private Sub miCLoad_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
Handles miCLoad.Click
Dim FilePath As String = "C:\FList\CList.clt"
Dim LoadFile As New SaveandLoad.SaveAndLoad
Dim FileRead As New Simple3Des("MyPassword")
Dim FileString As String = FileRead.ReadFile(FilePath)
With LoadFile
.WhichList = dgCourses
.FilePath = FilePath
.DecryptedString = FileRead.DecryptData(FileString)
.dgList = dgCourses
End With
Call LoadFile.LoadFile()
End Sub
Public Class SaveandLoad
Public Property WhichList As New DataGridView
Public Property FilePath As String
Public Property DecryptedString As String
Public Property EncryptedString As String
Public Property dgList As Control
Public Sub LoadFile()
Dim dgRow As DataGridViewRow
Dim dgCell As DataGridViewTextBoxCell
Dim Lines() As String = DecryptedString.Split(vbLf)
Dim LinesList As List(Of String) = Lines.ToList
LinesList.RemoveAt(Lines.Length - 1)
For Each Line As String In LinesList
Dim Fields() As String = Line.Split(",")
dgRow = New DataGridViewRow
For x = 0 To (WhichList.Columns.Count - 1) Step 1
dgCell = New DataGridViewTextBoxCell
dgCell.Value = Fields(x).ToString
dgRow.Cells.Add(dgCell)
Next
WhichList.Rows.Add(dgRow)
Next
Select Case WhichList.Name
Case "dgCourses"
frmFacultyList.dgCourses = WhichList
frmFacultyList.dgCourses.Refresh()
WhichList.Dispose()
Case "dgFList"
frmFacultyList.dgFList = WhichList
frmFacultyList.dgFList.Refresh()
WhichList.Dispose()
Case "dgSList"
frmFacultyList.dgSList = WhichList
frmFacultyList.dgSList.Refresh()
WhichList.Dispose()
End Select
MsgBox("List Successfully Loaded", vbOKOnly, "Load")
End Sub
I want to be able to reference (or fill) a DGV without using 'select case' or 'if-then' statements. This will be too inefficient once I start adding the many other DGVs, that will be added in the future. Therefore, the title is the main question. I am using VS Express 2010.
I don't know VB too much, however, I'll post my solution in C# (may be helpfull in some way....)
DataGridView myDGV;
foreach (var item in this.Controls)
{
if (item.GetType() == typeof(DataGridView))
{
if (((DataGridView)item).Name == WhichList.Name)
{
//Cannot assing to 'item' here, because it is a 'foreach iteration variable'
//However you can save the variable for later use.
myDGV = (DataGridView)item;
}
}
}
myDGV = WhichList;
// different approach
DataGridView myDGV = (DataGridView)this.Controls.Find(WhichList.Name, false).First();
myDGV = WhichList;
Here is what worked for me in VB.NET:
Dim FormControls As New frmFacultyList.ControlCollection(frmFacultyList)
For Each DGV As DataGridView In FormControls
If WhichList.Name = DGV.Name Then
DGV = WhichList
DGV.Refresh()
End If
Next
Make an instance of the control collection then search specifically for DGVs using For Each. Simple and efficient.

Error trying to rebind DataSource to DataGridViewComboBoxCell?

I have a DataGridView with two DataGridViewComboBoxColumns. I want to use the selected item in the first column to trigger a re-population of the items in the second column, on a per-row basis.
Here's the code I have so far. "addlInfoParentCat" identifies the first column, and currentRow.Cells.Item(1) is the DataGridViewComboBoxCell that I want to re-populate. ExtEventAdditionalInfoType is a type I defined that contains the string/value pairs.
Private Sub dgvAdditionalInfo_CellValueChanged(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.DataGridViewCellEventArgs) Handles dgvAdditionalInfo.CellValueChanged
Dim currentCell As DataGridViewCell
currentCell = Me.dgvAdditionalInfo.CurrentCell
If Not currentCell Is Nothing Then
If currentCell.OwningColumn.DataPropertyName = "addlInfoParentCat" Then
Dim parentTypeID As Integer = currentCell.Value
Dim currentRow As DataGridViewRow = Me.dgvAdditionalInfo.CurrentRow
Dim subtypeCell As DataGridViewComboBoxCell = currentRow.Cells.Item(1)
Dim theChildren As New List(Of ExtEventAdditionalInfoType)
theChildren = Custom_ExtEventAdditionalInfoType.GetChildrenOfThisParentOrderByTypeName(parentTypeID)
subtypeCell.DataSource = Nothing
subtypeCell.DataSource = theChildren
subtypeCell.DisplayMember = "ExtEventAdditionalInfoTypeDescr"
subtypeCell.ValueMember = "ID_ExtEventAdditionalInfoType"
End If
End If
End Sub
Basically what I see is that the binding works great the first time around. When I select a item in the first column, it populates the items correctly in the second. I can add rows to the DataGridView and repeat the process.
The problem comes when I try to change the first-column item after the second column has already been bound. I get an endless string of dialog boxes with the following:
System.ArgumentException: DataGridViewComboBoxCell value is not valid.
Any idea why this is happening? Thanks in advance!
UPDATE CodeByMoonlight's suggestion appears to work.
I clear the DataGridViewComboBoxCell's value before re-binding:
....
subtypeCell.DataSource = Nothing
subtypeCell.Value = Nothing 'here's the change
subtypeCell.DataSource = theChildren
....
Well, it looks like as soon as you remodify the first combo's value, you're invalidating the binding and datasource you used to populate the second combo, causing all the errors.