Select the content of textbox when it receives focus - vb.net

I have found a similar question to mine in Making a WinForms TextBox behave like your browser's address bar
Now i am trying to modify or make it some more different by making it general. I want to apply same action to all the textboxes in form without write code for each one... how many i dun know. As soon as i add a textbox in my form it should behave with similar action of selecting.
So wondering how to do it?

The following code inherits from TextBox and implements the code you mentioned in Making a WinForms TextBox behave like your browser's address bar.
Once you've added the MyTextBox class to your project you can do a global search for System.Windows.Forms.Text and replace with MyTextBox.
The advantage of using this class is you can't forget to wire all the events for every textbox. Also if you decide on another tweak for all textboxes you have one place to add the feature.
Imports System
Imports System.Windows.Forms
Public Class MyTextBox
Inherits TextBox
Private alreadyFocused As Boolean
Protected Overrides Sub OnLeave(ByVal e As EventArgs)
MyBase.OnLeave(e)
Me.alreadyFocused = False
End Sub
Protected Overrides Sub OnGotFocus(ByVal e As EventArgs)
MyBase.OnGotFocus(e)
' Select all text only if the mouse isn't down.
' This makes tabbing to the textbox give focus.
If MouseButtons = MouseButtons.None Then
Me.SelectAll()
Me.alreadyFocused = True
End If
End Sub
Protected Overrides Sub OnMouseUp(ByVal mevent As MouseEventArgs)
MyBase.OnMouseUp(mevent)
' Web browsers like Google Chrome select the text on mouse up.
' They only do it if the textbox isn't already focused,
' and if the user hasn't selected all text.
If Not Me.alreadyFocused AndAlso Me.SelectionLength = 0 Then
Me.alreadyFocused = True
Me.SelectAll()
End If
End Sub
End Class

Assuming you're going to use the accepted solution from the question you link to, all you'd need to do would be that whenever you create a new textbox, you use AddHandler to add the same 3 eventhandlers to each new textbox.
Then you need to change the event handlers to instead of referencing the textbox as this.textBox1 they'll reference it as CType(sender, TextBox) which means that they'll use the textbox that generated the event.
Edit: I'll add that line of code here as well since it's easier to read then
Private Sub TextBox_GotFocus (ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles TextBox1.GotFocus, TextBox2.GotFocus, TextBox3.GotFocus

We use this custom textbox control:
Public Class TextBoxX
Inherits System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
Private Sub TextBoxX_MouseUp(sender As Object, e As MouseEventArgs) Handles Me.MouseUp
SelectAll()
End Sub
end class
You can see the full project of our TextBox (on steroids) on GitHub https://github.com/logico-dev/TextBoxX

Related

Call function outside user control

I need help to call a function in a usercontrol that is shown in a panel within the form, so far this is i tried, but no luck, i can't still get the text inputted on the textbox
Public Class Form1
Private Sub LinkLabel1_LinkClicked(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.LinkLabelLinkClickedEventArgs) Handles LinkLabel1.LinkClicked
Dim ustudent As New StudentAdd
ustudent.Dock = DockStyle.Fill
SplitContainer1.Panel2.Controls.Add(ustudent)
End Sub
Private Sub ToolStripButton1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles ToolStripButton1.Click
ustudent.SaveData()
End If
End Sub
End Class
in user control have some textbox
textbox1 and textbox2
Public Class StudentAdd
Public Sub SaveData() As Boolean
'just testing whether it could work well
' getting textbox value
MsgBox(TextBox1.Text)
End Sub
End Class
But ustudent is a local var, try to declare it outside link_clicked event. Do you want to create multiple user controls in the win or just one?
For one you could add it at design time by dragging from the your project components panel
For more, you should implement some logic to identify the selected component and make it available for save data. If you want to save all just enumerate components in Panel2 (of type StudentAdd) and call the method

In a VB.NET Windows Forms application: How to preserve MVC when handling Events?

I'm relatively new to Windows Forms development and my first real application has reached a point where a lot of code starts to build up in my main Form file, so I decided to restructure my project using the MVC pattern.
One major problem I have is dealing with the different control events of the form. I have several buttons, textfields, comboboxes and also a tabcontroll element which again contains different input elements and so far, every procedure for handling clicks, updates and other changes is defined in my main class.
For example:
Private Sub btnOk_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnOk.Click
some code...
End Sub
So my question is: what would be the best way to handle these events outside of my main form? I'm more familiar with building GUIs in Java where you can use ActionListeners to achieve this but I have found nothing similar for my work with Windows Forms.
To subscribe to a Control event outside of your main form class, make your control public, so you can access from another class). This can be done using the Modifier property at design-time. Then, use the AddHandler keyword to subscribe to any event programmatically.
After researching a bit more, I found that there is probably not THE correct answer to this problem but I found 2 approaches which provide a solution in the way I was looking for. In both cases, I use a controller class which is responsible for handling any user interaction from my main form.
The first approach makes use of what DmitryBabich suggested, adding a handler to the object and referencing it to a method of my controller class:
in Form1:
Dim ctrl as new Controller(Me)
AddHandler Button1.Click, AddressOf ctrl.doSomething
Controller class:
Public Class Controller
Private myForm As Form1
Public Sub New(ByVal f As Form1)
myForm = f
End Sub
Public Sub doSomething(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
MsgBox("Button clicked.")
End Sub
End Class
For an example this simple it is not necessary to pass an instance of Form1 over to the controller but if for example I'd like to access the values of other control elements as well, I can address them by using this instance of Form1.
For example:
Public Sub doSomething(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
MsgBox("You clicked the button, by the way: The value of TextField1 is " & myForm.TextField1.text)
End Sub
The other approach is almost identical except that here the controller knows all the relevant user control objects of the form and can handle their events directly, meaning that in the main form I have to do nothing more than create an instance of the controller. In the controller however, I have to assign every user control I want to access to its own variable as soon as the main form is loaded:
in Form1:
Dim ctrl as new Controller(Me)
Controller class:
Public Class Controller
WithEvents myForm As Form1
WithEvents button1 As Button
WithEvents button2 As Button
Public Sub New(ByVal f As Form1)
myForm = f
End Sub
Public Sub formLoad() Handles myForm.Load
button1 = myForm.Button1
button2 = myForm.Button2
End Sub
Private Sub b1Click() Handles button1.Click
MsgBox("You clicked button1!")
End Sub
Private Sub b2Click() Handles button2.Click
MsgBox("Button #2 was clicked!")
End Sub
End Class

Create And Implement a Custom Form in VB.NET

I am trying to create a customized form class (CustomBorderlessForm) in VB.NET.
My Progress So Far
I created a new Class and named it CustomBorderlessForm.vb
I then proceeded to write the following code:
CustomBorderlessForm.vb
Public Class CustomBorderlessForm
Inherits Form
Dim _form As Form = Nothing
Public Sub New(form As Form)
_form = form
MsgBox("Testing: New()")
End Sub
Protected Overrides Sub OnMouseMove(e As MouseEventArgs)
MyBase.OnMouseMove(e)
MsgBox("Testing OnMouseMove()")
End Sub
End Class
Form1.vb
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
Dim form As New CustomBorderlessForm(Me)
End Sub
End Class
Results of progress
A message box displays "Testing: New()" on load
Nothing shows on mouse move
As you can see, my problem lies with the events
Questions
Is it possible to create a form object and use that instead of the pre-populating form?
If so, can I give this form custom properties, such as, a border and some boolean values (shadow...etc), just like any other custom object/class?
What am I doing wrong in my current approach?
Why isn't the OnMouseMove being overridden?
Am I initialising the class wrong?
Can it even be done this way?
After creating a form you also need to show it. Change your logic to:
Dim form As New CustomBorderlessForm(Me)
form.Show()
Before you do that, I'd recommend changing from MsgBox to Console.WriteLine(), otherwise you can run into a fun/frustrating little cat and mouse game.
EDIT
Based on the comments, if, from VS you did a "Add New, Windows Form" you can just right-click the project, select property and on the Application tab change the Startup object to your new form. VS only allows you to do this with forms it creates for you (by default, more on this later).
If you wrote that file by hand (which is absolutely fine) you can perform the Show() like I did above and call Me.Hide() to hide the "parent" form. Unfortunately the Load event is fired before the Show event so if you place this in Form1_Load() it won't work. Instead you can use the Shown event like this:
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
Dim form As New CustomBorderlessForm(Me)
form.Show()
End Sub
Private Sub Form1_Shown(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Shown
Me.Hide()
End Sub
Another option has to do with "Application framework". You can read about it here however it basically handles application events that other languages have to manually implement. If you go into your project properties you can uncheck the "Enable application framework" checkbox. This will give you more option in the "Startup object" dropdown. If you add the following code to your project one of the items in the Startup object dropdown menu should now be "Loader"
Public Module Loader
<STAThread()>
Public Sub Main()
Dim form As New CustomBorderlessForm(Nothing)
form.ShowDialog()
End Sub
End Module
You'll notice that the above bypasses Form1 completely. Also, instead of Show() I'm using ShowDialog() because otherwise the form shows and then the program ends.

How can I change the CheckChanged when clicking the same object in VB 2010?

I want to know if it is possible in VB 2010 to changed the CheckChanged of a CheckBox when clicking the same object. For Example:
I have a 1 picturebox named pic1 and a checkbox named chck1, If I click the pic1, the chck1 must be checked but If I click again the pic1, chck1 must be unchecked and I click again the pic1, chck1 must be check again and so on..
I really don't have an idea if it is working or impossible in VB 2010, I hope someone can help me. Thank you very much.
If it's a WinForm, then you just have to implement something like this:
you have your PictureBox and your Checkbox, and you just have to add a clickhandler to your picturebox like this:
private void pictureBox1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
checkBox1.Checked = !checkBox1.Checked;
}
This Method always negates the Checked-State of the Checkbox (it's way simpler than a if/else)
checkbox1.Checked contains the checked-state, so that is how you can uncheck/check it.
Edit: i did it in c#, sorry,
in VB.NET it would be something like
Private Sub pictureBox1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
checkBox1.Checked = Not checkBox1.Checked;
End Sub
In a WinForms application just add the event handler for the click event of your PictureBox.
You could that easily with the Form Designer or, if using code, then write
' In the form constructor
Public Sub Form1()
' First initialize your form controls'
InitializeComponent()
' then add the event handler for the picturebox click event'
AddHandler pic1.Click, AddressOf pic1_Click
End Sub
Private Sub pic1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
' toogle the checked state of the checkbox'
chk1.Checked = Not chk1.Checked
End Sub
As said below from Mr Neolisk you could also shorten this code simply adding the Handles clause to the pic1_Click event thus removing the code in the Form constructor
Private Sub pic1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles pic1.Click
' toogle the checked state of the checkbox'
chk1.Checked = Not chk1.Checked
End Sub

event detection between different controls vb

I have a class A which contains 2 user controls declared as
Friend WithEvents CustInfo1 As WindowsApplication1.CustInfo
Friend WithEvents ServiceLocation1 As WindowsApplication1.ServiceLocation
Both have textBoxes. If value of textBoxA in custInfo1 changes then how can I make value of textBoxB in SeviceLocation1 also change
I will be most thankful if anyone can help me.
Thanks
You need to do the following:
Inside the CustInfo user control, you need to write code inside the textBoxA Changed event that raises an event from the CustInfo user control (e.g. TextBoxChanged event). RaiseEvent statement
Inside the ServiceLocation user control, create a public property getter and setter for whatever your textBoxB.Text is
On the form that contains both user controls, create code in the new CustInfo TextBoxChanged event and set the new property on the ServiceLocation1 user control.
All controls (also custom controls) have the property Controls, through which you can access the (sub) controls of that control. Now you can retrieve your textbox by calling the .Item(key) method on it. Then you can assign a event handler to it in your form or class.
Dim key As String = "textBoxA" 'Or simply the name of that TextBox in your CustInfo
Dim textboxA As TextBox = CustInfo1.Controls.Item(key)
AddHandler textBoxA.TextChanged, AddressOf mytextchangedhandler
Where that mytextchangedhandler handles the TextChanged event for that TextBox.
Personally I don't like this method too much, as you are relying on knowing either the name of the TextBox or the index in the Controls list of your usercontrol.
I would definitely go for the option to create your own event on your usercontrol. It is quite easy to do even! Below how to do it. In the code behind of your usercontrol, you'll have to add an event declaration:
Event MyTextBoxChanged(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
Now we'll have to raise it, we do this by implementing the TextChanged event of the TextBoxA in your usercontrol (as you explained you wanted to do):
Private Sub TextBoxA_TextChanged(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles TextBoxA.TextChanged
RaiseEvent MyTextBoxChanged(Me, EventArgs.Empty)
End Sub
Now we can simply implement this event (MyTextBoxChanged) in your Form as follows:
Private Sub CustInfo1_MyTextBoxChanged(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles CustInfo1.MyTextBoxChanged
' Do something
End Sub
Obviously we still need to get the updated text, now we can create our own EventArgs that will give us the new (and/or old value) as you will want to have. We simply can inherit the System.EventArgs class and add some properties (for example a property OldText that holds the old text value and a property NewText that holds the new text value):
Public Class MyEventArgs
Inherits System.EventArgs
Private _OldText As String
Public ReadOnly Property OldText() As String
Get
Return _OldText
End Get
End Property
Private _NewText As String
Public ReadOnly Property NewText() As String
Get
Return _NewText
End Get
End Property
Public Sub New(oldText As String, newText As String)
_OldText = oldText
_NewText = newText
End Sub
End Class
Now we have to change the event definition and raising to use the MyEventArgs:
Event MyTextBoxChanged(sender As Object, e As MyEventArgs)
Private Sub TextBoxA_TextChanged(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles TextBoxA.TextChanged
RaiseEvent MyTextBoxChanged(Me, New MyEventArgs(TextBoxA.Text))
End Sub
And also change the implementation in your Form:
Private Sub CustInfo1_MyTextBoxChanged(sender As System.Object, e As MyEventArgs) Handles CustInfo1.MyTextBoxChanged
MessageBox.Show(e.Text)
End Sub
More information about events can be found on our favorite spot MSDN.