This is probably a dumb question but I have to call one of 30 or so global variables by constructing the variable name to be called from another information. However when i do that it treats it as a string. Any ideas on how to make this work?
eg something like this:
Public gsNewYork As String
public sub Getinfo
dim lslocation as string
dim a as string = "New"
dim b as string = "York"
lslocation = "gs" + a + b
lblLabel.text = lslocation
Any ideas on how to construct the variable name and have it identified as the variable name?
The most common solution to this problem is to store your variables in a Dictionary, where the strings you build are the key.
Related
I would like to to copy that values of an array into a Structure.
Example:
' The Array
Dim Columns(2) As String
' The Structure
Private Structure Fields
Public FName As String
Public LName As String
Public Email As String
End Structure
' I would like to map it like so:
Fields.FName = Columns(0)
Fields.LName = Columns(1)
Fields.Email = Columns(2)
Obviously I could write a function if it was so simple, but really there are over 25 columns and it's a pain to write a function that would map it.
Is there some way to do this?
There really is no simple way that will work in all cases. What you are complaining is too much effort is the only way to guarantee that it will work in all cases.
That said, if you can guarantee that the number of elements in the array matches the number of properties/fields in the structure/class and that they are in the same order and of the same types then you could use Reflection in a loop, e.g.
Private Function Map(source As Object()) As SomeType
Dim result As New SomeType
Dim resultType = result.GetType()
Dim fields = resultType.GetFields()
For i = 0 To source.GetUpperBound(0)
fields(i).SetValue(result, source(i))
Next
Return result
End Function
EDIT:
The code I have provided works as is if SomeType is a class but, as I missed the first time around, not for a structure. The reason is that structures are value types and therefore a copy of the original object is being sent to SetValue, so the field value never gets set on that original object. In theory, to prevent a copy being created, you should be able to simply box the value, i.e. wrap it in an Object reference:
Private Function Map(source As Object()) As SomeType
Dim result As Object = New SomeType
Dim resultType = result.GetType()
Dim fields = resultType.GetFields()
For i = 0 To source.GetUpperBound(0)
fields(i).SetValue(result, source(i))
Next
Return DirectCast(result, SomeType)
End Function
As it turns out though, the VB compiler treats that a little differently than the C# compiler treats the equivalent C# code and it still doesn't work. That's because, in VB, the boxed value gets unboxed before being passed to the method, so a copy is still created. In order to make it work in VB, you need to use a ValueType reference instead of Object:
Private Function Map(source As Object()) As SomeType
Dim result As ValueType = New SomeType
Dim resultType = result.GetType()
Dim fields = resultType.GetFields()
For i = 0 To source.GetUpperBound(0)
fields(i).SetValue(result, source(i))
Next
Return DirectCast(result, SomeType)
End Function
I have a list of declared string variables that are name codes who's field values are full names. Can I get a specific variable's field value to display in a textbox if I know what the variable name is?
Example variables
Dim GLAN01 As String = "Langer Georg"
Dim BEDW01 As String = "Edwards Brian"
Dim MRIG01 As String = "Riggins Michael"
Not sure I understand the question correctly. How about this pattern? :
textBoxName.Text = variableNameToDisplay
for example :
textBox1.Text = GLAN01
to display Langer Georg text in textBox1
UPDATE :
If I understand what you are after correctly, one possible way is using dictionary to store mapping of code name to full name (instead of using multiple variables). With dictionary you can get full name string given any code name string easily, for example :
Dim dict As New Dictionary(Of String, String) From _
{{"GLAN01", "Langer Georg"},
{"BEDW01", "Edwards Brian"},
{"MRIG01", "Riggins Michael"}}
textBox1.Text = dict("GLAN01")
For reference, in case you are not familiar yet with collection initializer syntax as in above example :
MSDN : Collection Initializers (particularly "Nesting Collection Initializer" section)
Public Structure testStruct
Dim blah as integer
Dim foo as string
Dim bar as double
End Structure
'in another file ....
Public Function blahFooBar() as Boolean
Dim tStrList as List (Of testStruct) = new List (Of testStruct)
For i as integer = 0 To 10
tStrList.Add(new testStruct)
tStrList.Item(i).blah = 1
tStrList.Item(i).foo = "Why won't I work?"
tStrList.Item(i).bar = 100.100
'last 3 lines give me error below
Next
return True
End Function
The error I get is: Expression is a value and therefore cannot be the target of an assignment.
Why?
I second the opinion to use a class rather than a struct.
The reason you are having difficulty is that your struct is a value type. When you access the instance of the value type in the list, you get a copy of the value. You are then attempting to change the value of the copy, which results in the error. If you had used a class, then your code would have worked as written.
try the following in your For loop:
Dim tmp As New testStruct()
tmp.blah = 1
tmp.foo = "Why won't I work?"
tmp.bar = 100.100
tStrList.Add(tmp)
Looking into this I think it has something to do with the way .NET copies the struct when you access it via the List(of t).
More information is available here.
Try creating the object first as
Dim X = New testStruct
and setting the properties on THAT as in
testStruct.blah = "fiddlesticks"
BEFORE adding it to the list.
I have a user-defined structure in a list that I am trying to change the value for in an individual element within the list of structures. Accessing the element is not a problem. However, when I try to update the value, the compiler complains:
"Expression is a value and therefore cannot be the target of the
assignment"
For example:
Public Structure Person
Dim first as String
Dim last as String
Dim age as Integer
End Structure
_
Public Sub ListTest()
Dim newPerson as Person
Dim records as List (Of Person)
records = new List (Of Person)
person.first = "Yogi"
person.last = "bear"
person.age = 35
records.Add(person)
records(0).first = "Papa" ' <<== Causes the error
End Sub
As the other comments said, when you refer to records(0), you get a copy of the struct since it is a value type. What you can do (if you can't change it to a Class) is something like this:
Dim p As Person = records(0)
p.first = "Papa"
records(0) = p
Although, I think it's just easier to use a Class.
There are actually two important concepts to remember here.
One is that, as Hans and Chris have pointed out, Structure Person declares a value type of which copies are passed between method calls.
You can still access (i.e., get and set) the members of a value type, though. After all, this works:
Dim people(0) As Person
people(0).first = "Yogi"
people(0).last = "Bear"
people(0).age = 35
So the other important point to realize is that records(0) accesses the List(Of Person) class's special Item property, which is a sugary wrapper around two method calls (a getter and setter). It is not a direct array access; if it were (i.e., if records were an array), your original code would actually have worked.
I had the same problem, and I fixed it by adding a simple Sub to the structure that changes the value of the property.
Public Structure Person
Dim first as String
Dim last as String
Dim age as Integer
Public Sub ChangeFirst(value as String)
me.first = value
End Sub
End Structure
I am refactoring some legacy code. The app was not using querystrings. The previous developer was hard coding some variables that the app uses in other places.
Like this using VB.NET
so.Cpage = "ContractChange.aspx"
My question is can I programatically set this value and include the current querystring?
I want so.Cpage to be something like ContractChange.aspx?d=1&b=2
Can I do this with the request object or something? Note, I don't need the domain.
To get the current query string you would simply do something like the following:
Dim query as String = Request.QueryString("d")
This will assign the value of the "d" querystring to the string variable "query". Note that all query string values are strings, so if you're passing numbers around, you'll need to "cast" or convert those string values to numerics (be careful of exceptions when casting, though). For example:
Dim query as String = Request.QueryString("d")
Dim iquery as Integer = CType(query, Integer)
The QueryString property of the Request object is a collection of name/value key pairs. Specifically, it's of type System.Collections.Specialized.NameValueCollection, and you can iterate through each of the name/value pairs as so:
Dim coll As System.Collections.Specialized.NameValueCollection = Request.QueryString
Dim value As String
For Each key As String In coll.AllKeys
value = coll(key)
Next
Using either of these mechanisms (or something very similar) should enable you to construct a string variable which contains the full url (page and querystrings) that you wish to navigate to.
Try this:
so.Cpage = "ContractChange.aspx?" & Request.RawUrl.Split("?")(1)
In VB.Net you can do it with the following.
Dim id As String = Request.Params("RequestId")
If you want to process this in as an integer, you can do the following:
Dim id As Integer
If Integer.TryParse(Request.Params("RequestId"), id) Then
DoProcessingStuff()
End If
try this
Dim name As String = System.IO.Path.GetFileName(Request.ServerVariables("SCRIPT_NAME"))
Dim qrystring As String = Request.ServerVariables("QUERY_STRING")
Dim fullname As String = name & "/" & qrystring
Not sure about the syntax in VB.NET but in C# you would just need to do
StringId = Request.QueryString.Get("d");
Hope this helps.