vb.net disable runtime created buttons - vb.net

Question

Hey all i have created dynamic buttons at runtime and i would like to disable them when a user clicks on a form button.
This is the code i have for that button:
Dim intXX As Integer = 0
Do Until intXX = intX
userAvatar(intXX).Enabled = False
intXX = intXX + 1
Loop
The buttonNames is an array of all populated button names created at runtime. However, trying the .enabled = false at the end of that does not work. What other ways are there to do that with buttons created at runtime?
How i create the buttons are like this:
private sub createButton()
Dim personAvatar As New PictureBox
With personAvatar
.AutoSize = False '> ^
If intX = 7 Then
thePrviousAvatarImg = 0
End If
If intX <= 6 Then
.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(10 + thePrviousAvatarImg, 10)
ElseIf intX >= 7 And intX <= 14 Then
.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(10 + thePrviousAvatarImg, 150)
Else
Exit Sub
End If
.Name = "cmd" & nameOfPerson
.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(100, 100)
.TabStop = False
.Text = ""
.BorderStyle = BorderStyle.FixedSingle
.BackgroundImageLayout = ImageLayout.Center
.BackColor = Color.LightGray
.BackgroundImage = Image.FromFile(theAvatarDir)
.Tag = nameOfPerson
.BringToFront()
End With
AddHandler personAvatar.Click, AddressOf personAvatar_Click
Me.Controls.Add(personAvatar)
userAvatar(intX) = personAvatar
intX = intX + 1
End With
End Sub
Thanks for your time and help!
David

Answer 1

You can't refer to button objects using a string representation of their names. Instead of using buttonNames (which I assume is an array of strings), use an array of buttons and add each button to that. Then loop through that array (as you've done here) setting enabled = false on each one.
So before you create each picture box, declare an array to store them:
Dim MyPictureBoxes() as PictureBox
Then as you create each one, add them to the array. When you're done creating them, you can disable them like this:
For Each MyPictureBox In MyPictureBoxes
Debug.Print(MyPictureBox.Name)
MyPictureBox.enabled = False
Next
I've created a form with two buttons, cmdGo and cmdDisable, to demonstrate this more completely:
Public Class Form1
Dim MyPictureBoxes(4) As PictureBox
Private Sub cmdGo_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles cmdGo.Click
Dim personAvatar As New PictureBox
Dim intX As Integer = 0
While intX < 5
personAvatar = New PictureBox
With personAvatar
.AutoSize = False
.Left = intX * 100
.Top = 100
.Name = "cmd" & intX
.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(100, 100)
.TabStop = False
.Text = ""
.BorderStyle = BorderStyle.FixedSingle
.BackgroundImageLayout = ImageLayout.Center
.BackColor = Color.LightGray
.BringToFront()
End With
Me.Controls.Add(personAvatar)
MyPictureBoxes(intX) = personAvatar
intX = intX + 1
End While
End Sub
Private Sub cmdDisable_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles cmdDisable.Click
For Each MyPictureBox In MyPictureBoxes
Debug.Print(MyPictureBox.Name)
MyPictureBox.Enabled = False
Next
End Sub
End Class
Notice how MyPictureBoxes is scoped for the whole form so it's accessible to both subs.