I'm having trouble manipulating forms when from another thread.
I've overcome the issue by loading the form at runtime, showing it then hiding it. This means the form is created on the right thread and can be manipulated using invokes.
This is not the right way to do it. I have 3 problems that come from using this method
I can't spawn another popup box I have to use the one I created at runtime
The forms flash briefly on load - now that I have 3 forms its pretty obvious what I'm doing.
I have to use a variable bool to hold if the popup is open or not.
If anyone could point me in the right direction It would be much appreciated. Currently my code looks like:
On Main form Load:
CallerIDfrm = new frmCallerID();
CallerIDfrm.Show();
CallerIDfrm.Hide();
to manipulate the popup Im using
delegate void StringArgReturningVoidDelegate1(string CallerIDnum, string CallerIDname, string ContactID);
private void CallerID(string CallerIDnum, string CallerIDname, string ContactID)
{
if (CallerIDfrm.InvokeRequired)
{
StringArgReturningVoidDelegate1 d = new StringArgReturningVoidDelegate1(CallerID);
CallerIDfrm.Invoke(d, new object[] { CallerIDnum, CallerIDname, ContactID });
}
else
{
if (ContactID != null || ContactID != "0")
{
CallerIDfrm.ContactID = ContactID;
}
CallerIDfrm.Mainfrm = this;
CallerIDfrm.TopLevel = true;
CallerIDfrm.TopMost = true;
CallerIDfrm.lblCallerIDname.Text = CallerIDname;
CallerIDfrm.lblCallerIDnum.Text = CallerIDnum;
CallerIDfrm.Show();
CallerIDOpen = true;
}
}
To Hide the popup until required again im using:
delegate void StringArgReturningVoidDelegate2();
private void CallerIDClose()
{
if (CallerIDfrm.InvokeRequired)
{
StringArgReturningVoidDelegate2 d = new StringArgReturningVoidDelegate2(CallerIDClose);
CallerIDfrm.Invoke(d, new object[] { });
}
else
{
try
{
CallerIDfrm.Hide();
CallerIDOpen = false;
}
catch
{
}
}
}
I've tried otherways but the Popup loads as if it is not responding and I loose access to the popup.
Ultimately I'd like to be able to spawn multiple popups and have the ability to close them from the Main Form.
What I gather from your question: You have an caller api/lib/class and you like to show CallerId on a popup form when a call is received. Have a look at Events and Event Driven programming.
The following codes has not been tested, I wrote it from top of my head. Might not compile, they are here to show an example:
Create an CallReceived event in api/lib class as follows:
public event EventHandler<CallReceivedEventArgs> CallReceived;
protected void OnCallReceived(EventArgs e)
{
var handler = CallReceived;
if (handler != null)
handler(this, e);
// Note: For C# 6.0 and later, above statements can be simplified to
// CallReceived?.Invoke(this, e);
}
Note: If you don't have access to this api/lib code, create a Gateway class and put your event in there along with mechanism to trigger it.
Also create a CallReceivedEventArgs, this will be used to transfer event data:
public class CallReceivedEventArgs : EventArgs
{
public string CallerIDnum {get; set;}
public string CallerIDname {get; set;}
public string ContactID {get; set;}
}
Now, in your api/lib class raise this event whenever a call is received:
// a call received, replace dummy values with actual values
OnCallReceived(new CallReceivedEventArgs() { CallerIDnum="5554443322", CallerIDname="SOME_NAME", ContactID="SOME_CONTACT" });
Finally in your GUI form, register to said event and process accordingly.
// inside your main form class
private CallerAPI callerApi = new CallerAPI();
// somewhere inside you main form class, register to event
// from your use case, I would place it inside Main Form's constructor
callerApi.CallReceived += callerApi_Callreceived;
// receive event
void callerApi_Callreceived(object sender, CallReceivedEventArgs e)
{
var callerIDnum = e.CallerIDnum;
// etc.
// show callerId form with details
// you need to change frmCallerID's constructor accordingly
CallerIDfrm = new frmCallerID(e.CallerIDnum, CallerIDname, ContantID);
// to be able to track opened popups, you can store them inside a list
// private List<Form> openPopupList = new List<Form>();
//
// alternatively, you can assign CallerIDnum to form's name property
// and store these inside a List<string> instead of List<Form>
openPopupList.add(CallerIDfrm);
CallerIDfrm.Show();
}
Don't forget to unregister from event.
callerApi.CallReceived -= callerApi_Callreceived;
To wrap it up:
I can't spawn another popup box I have to use the one I created at runtime
You can create and show multiple frmCallerID, independent from each other.
The forms flash briefly on load - now that I have 3 forms its pretty obvious what I'm doing.
Since new approach creates CallerID forms based on events, you won't see these form flashing. It'll open whenever a CallReceived event is received.
I have to use a variable bool to hold if the popup is open or not.
A better approach would be: Register to forms FormClosed event, and remove from openPopupList accordingly.
frmCallerID.FormClosed += frmCallerID_FormClosed;
void frmCallerID_FormClosed(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// remove form from openPopupList
frmCallerID closedPopup = (frmCallerID) sender;
openPopupList.remove(closedPopup);
}
Related
I have a form populated with an array of userControls that is created from the main form. I need to be able to access this array of userControls from the main form once the popup has been closed when a button is pressed. If I fill out the forms and then press the button on the main form without closing the popup, the values are present. However, if I close the popup window, the values are not present. My main form is static so I can use it's variables in other forms.
Code for the popup:
public ScanChannel[] controls;
public ScanListSetup()
{
InitializeComponent();
int numChans = Convert.ToInt32(Form1.Self.numChannels.Text);
controls = new ScanChannel[numChans];
// Create the UserControls
for(int i = 0; i < numChans; i++)
{
controls[i] = new ScanChannel();
}
// Place them
for (int i = 0; i < numChans; i++)
{
controls[i].Location = new Point(13,(35+25*(i)));
this.Controls.Add(controls[i]);
}
doneButton.Location = new Point(82, 35 + (25 * (numChans + 1)));
this.Size =new Size(280, 110 + (25 * (numChans + 1)));
}
private void doneButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Form1.Self.setChannelsToScan(controls);
}
I need to access the controls array in the main form. The code for the main form is as follows:
private ScanChannel[] channelsToScan;
private void configureScanListButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
var form = new ScanListSetup();
form.Show(this);
scanListConfigured = true;
this.channelsToScan = new ScanChannel[Convert.ToInt32(numChannels.Text)];
}
public void setChannelsToScan(ScanChannel[] arr)
{
for (int i = 0; i < arr.Length; i++)
{
this.channelsToScan[i] = arr[i];
}
}
private void scanButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Test: " + this.channelsToScan[0].getDeviceType());
// THIS PRINTS AN EMPTY STRING
}
So, the Debug writeLine outputs the correct value if I click the scanButton while the popup form is still open. However, if I close the form after clicking the doneButton on the popup form, the Debug writeLine outputs Test: with nothing else.
Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Your problem essentially boils down to sending data from a secondary window (your 'pop-up' window) to the main window from where it was created. It doesn't matter whether you're working with Windows Control objects or simple data types like string, so I'm going to use a simple example to illustrate how to handle such a situation.
Let's assume you have a Main form that looks like this. It has an OPEN button and a TextBox.
When you click OPEN, it opens up this secondary input window (your pop-up) which looks like this:
Now the idea is this. You click OPEN and opens the Input form, and lets the user enter some text into the TextBox there. Once you click the OK button, it should close the Input window, and display the text entered by the user in the Main window. Remember that at this point the Input window is closed, which is equivalent to your situation.
So I'd make use of Delegates to accomplish this goal. A delegate lets you transfer data between windows which is what you want.
In my Main I'd declare a public delegate with a signature like this:
public delegate void DataTransfer(string data);
That is, this delegate represents a method that takes in a single string parameter, and has void return type. The idea is to let the secondary Input window 'call' a method in the Main, and that method takes in a string parameter. So, if there was a way for us to call a method that resides in the Main from Input, and pass a string, we can then take the user input text in the Input window, and pass it to the Main window. With me so far?
Now, if I write a method like this in the Main, and let it be called from Input, that should accomplish our goal. Here, txtDisplay is the TextBox in the Main form.
public void ReceiveInput(string data)
{
txtDisplay.Text = data;
}
To accomplish this, I would define a delegate of type DataTransfer in the Main form like below, and register the ReceiveInput() method to it. Your Main form code behind should look like this:
public delegate void DataTransfer(string data);
public partial class MainForm : Form
{
public DataTransfer transferDelegate;
InputForm inputForm = null;
public MainForm()
{
InitializeComponent();
transferDelegate += new DataTransfer(ReceiveInput);
}
public void ReceiveInput(string data)
{
txtDisplay.Text = data;
}
private void BtnOpen_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
inputForm = new InputForm(transferDelegate);
inputForm.Show();
}
}
BtnOpen is the OPEN button in the Main form, and when it's clicked, it passes the delegate to the Input form, then opens it. So, accordingly, we need to now modify our Input form:
public partial class InputForm : Form
{
DataTransfer transferDel;
public InputForm(DataTransfer del)
{
InitializeComponent();
transferDel = del;
}
private void BtnOK_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
string data = txtInput.Text;
transferDel.Invoke(data);
Close();
}
}
Here, we modify the constructor so that it takes in a delegate of type DataTransfer, and sets it to the local instance of the same type. Then, at the click of BtnOK on the Input form, we take in the text input by user, and pass that text to the said delegate and invoke it. 'Invoking' is the same as calling the method in the Main form. At this point, you can Clsoe() the Input window as shown above, and you'd still have access to the user input string data from your Main form.
You can use this same approach, and instead of strings you can pass around Controls. However, it's not the best approach to pass around a bunch of controls back and forth, so ideally you would extract the data you need from those controls in your pop-up, and pass only the said data instead of the whole controls.
EDIT: After OP posted the erroneous code.
OK, so here's your issue. The testUserControl class is not a regular class but a control element derived from UserControl. In otherwise, a GUI element. You shouldn't use GUI elements to pass data around. Because, when you do your controlArr[i].getText();, it tries to get the text from the textItem, but textItem is a TextBox Control which doesn't exist at this point because you closed your window. Remember, you do the delegate.Invoke() only once, and at that point *you must send ALL the data back to your main window*.
What you should do is, simply define a class to hold ALL the data you want to pass to your main. For example something like this:
public class DataToPass
{
public string TextBoxText { get; set; }
public string SomeOtherData { get; set; }
// Other stuff you want...
}
Now, instead of passing an array of testUserControl, pass an array of DataToPass. That way, at the Main form you don't have to do the following:
controlArr[i].getText();
Instead you'd simply do something like:
controlArr[i].TextBoxText;
where controlArr now is an array of type DataToPass.
Simply, passing a control derived from UserControl is not a good idea. Just create one class that is capable of holding ALL the data you want to pass and pass it back to the main once.
I'm trying to pass a variable from one form to another form textbox. The 'variable' is a result of a calculation based on the user inputs.
Below is the code for the parent form(RuleInsertForm) where I'm calling the subform(Helpformula) to get the user inputs.
public partial class RuleInsertForm : Form
{
public string helpformulainputs;
}
private void RuleInsertForm_Load(object sender,EventArgs e)
{
if (helpformulainputs=="")
{
textBox_Inputs.Text = "";
}
else
{
textBox_Inputs.Text = helpformulainputs;
}
}
Below is the code for the subform(Helpformula) where i'm passing the result variable(formulainputs) to the parent form(RuleInsertForm).
public partial class HelpFormula : Form
{
public string formulainputs = string.Empty;
private void button_generateformula_Click(objectsender, EventArgs e)
{
using (RuleInsertForm insertform = new RuleInsertForm())
{
insertform.helpformulainputs = formulainputs;
this.Close();
insertform.Show();
}
}
}
Problem:
The values are getting passed to the text box but in the UI its not getting dispalyed.
so far I tried to push data back to parent form and then tried to display the data in the textbox where I failed.(I dont know where it went wrong suggest me if I can resolve the below one)
Now I need an alternative method to this for eg: instead of pushing the data back to parent form i need to make the variable available for all the forms trying to use the subform(formulainputs)
How can I acheive this process ? any suggestions are much appreciated.
The problem seems to be that insertForm.Show() does not block the execution of your button handler. Show opens the insertform as non-modal.
So after insertform is opened, the execution is continued in button_generateformula_Click and when you exit the using block, the insertform is disposed and therefore closed.
To solve this you may call insertForm.ShowDialog() instead.
For different ways of communicating between Forms look here or simply type communicate between forms into the SO search box.
I have the following snippet of code that allows me to pull the properties from an object in my list and assign them to variables in other forms. However, I need to be able to pull the data from my variables in the other form and use those to set the properties of the given object.
My class Account is used to populate my list accounts. On my next form AccountMenu I have a class Variables1 that contains accessible variables that are used throughout the rest of my forms to keep track of the checking balance and saving balance. When logging off from the AccountMenu, I want to be able to pass the values from Variables1 to the account that was initially used.
I know how to pass variables from one form to another, but I'm not really sure how to update the form automatically, without a button, on the original form. Thus, the solution that I see is that I have a button on my AccountMenu form that "logs" the user out, via this.close(); Additionally, I guessed that under that button, I need to have some code that assigns the variables as properties to the object. I'm just not sure how I can access the set properties of the object, since it is dynamically called with the code below.
Can someone help me figure out what I need to do? Below is some of the relevant code so that you can see how I have things set up. I am just not sure how to access "matches" from the other form in order to update that specific object properties. Thank you, anyone, who can help!
//variable that will be used to check textbox1.Text
string stringToCheck;
//array of class Account
List<Account> accounts = new List<Account>();
public MainMenu()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
//set value to user's input
stringToCheck = textBox1.Text;
//set a var that only returns a value if the .Name already exists
var matches = accounts.FirstOrDefault(p => p.Name == stringToCheck);
//check through each element of the array
if (matches == null)
{
accounts.Add(new Account(stringToCheck));
textBox1.Text = "";
label3.Visible = true;
}
else if (matches != null)
{
//set variables in another form. not sure if these are working
Variables1.selectedAccount = matches.Name;
//is this calling the CheckBalance of the instance?
Variables1.selectedCheckBalance = matches.CheckBalance;
//same thing?
Variables1.selectedSaveBalance = matches.SaveBalance;
//switch to form
AccountMenu acctMenu = new AccountMenu();
this.Hide();
acctMenu.Show();
}
}
As per my understanding I think what you required is kind of trigger on your parent form that needs to be called from your child application.
If that is what you required than you can go with defining an event on your AccountMenu form. and register this event from your Accounts form.
Than simply raise this event from your AccountMenu subform.
Deletegates and Events are really works like magic :)
Let me show you some code how to do this.
Code required in AccountMenu window:
public delegate void PassDataToAccounts(string result);
public event PassDataToAccounts OnPassDataToAccount;
protected override void OnClosing(System.ComponentModel.CancelEventArgs e)
{
if (OnPassDataToAccount != null)
OnPassDataToAccount("result");
base.OnClosing(e);
}
Code required in Accounts window button1_Click event where the AccountMenu will open:
//set variables in another form. not sure if these are working
Variables1.selectedAccount = matches.Name;
//is this calling the CheckBalance of the instance?
Variables1.selectedCheckBalance = matches.CheckBalance;
//same thing?
Variables1.selectedSaveBalance = matches.SaveBalance;
//switch to form
AccountMenu acctMenu = new AccountMenu();
acctMenu..OnPassDataToAccount += childwindow_OnPassDataToAccount;
this.Hide();
acctMenu.Show();
}
void childwindow_OnPassDataToAccount(string result)
{
if (result == "result")
{
// Processing required on your parent window can be caried out here
//Variables1 can be processed directly here.
}
}
Im making a game with a menu that opens new forms for each level. When you complete a level, it is supposed to congratulate you through a message box (it does) and then enable the next level's button on the different menu form. So I accessed the designer and made the buttons public and tried:
new LevelMenu().button2.Enabled = true;
But that didn't work.
I also tried doing:
public event Action levelCompleted;
//then down lower i did (after it is declared that you won the level):
if (levelCompleted != null)
levelCompleted();
W1L1.levelCompleted += () => LevelMenu.button2.Enabled = true;
But that give me the error of:
An object reference is required for the non-static field, method, or property 'The_Levels.W1L1.levelCompleted'
The form i'm working with is "W1L1", and "LevelMenu" is the menu form. Thanks in advance
You basically need a reference to your instance of LevelMenu.
So when you create your "W1L1" form, you might just pass the LevelMenu to it.
public class W1L1
{
private readonly LevelMenu _levelMenu;
public W1L1(LevelMenu levelMenu)
{
this._levelMenu = levelMenu;
}
//Where you want to enable the button
this._levelMenu.button2.Enabled = true;
}
It's not the best solution, in an architectural way, but it works.
But it would be better if you create a more OOP way for enabling the button of the next level.
When you open the next level open it as a separate object as a new form. Now when the level is completed you can access the public controls on that form from the originating class. Something like this might help:
LevelMenu NextLevel = new LevelMenu();
public event Action levelCompleted;
if (levelCompleted != null)
levelCompleted();
NextLevel.button2.Enabled = true;
here's what I did I hope this helps
I created 2 Forms
Form1 = where menu is (buttons), Form2 = the game level (i.e. level 1)
then in Form2 I added an even LevelCompleted that will notify form1 that the player completed the level
//add this to form2
//the delegate
public delegate void LevelCompleted(Int32 level);
//the event
public event LevelCompleted LevelCompletedEvent;
then on Form1 (the menu form) when you create an instance of Form2 (which has the event) subscribe to it and create a handler, in my case I added it after i created the instance of Form2
private void button1_CLick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Form2 level1 = new Form2();
level1.LevelCompletedEvent += new Form2.LevelCompleted(level1_LevelCompletedHandler);
level1.Show();
}
//and this is the handler method
void level1_LevelCompletedHandler(int level)
{
//the logic for controlling the button states
// the level parameter can be used to indicate what is the current level completed.
if(level == 1)
{
button1.Enabled = false;
button2.Enabled = true;
}
}
Note: that in Form2 (the game level) I created a field gameOver that can be used if he did not complete the game
If in case he is permitted to go to next level, You must raise the event in this form to notify Form1 (the menu)
that he (the user) completed the level and Form1 will execute the method level1_LevelCompletedHandler(int level).
I know this is not well explained but I hope I can give you an idea on the event.
I've been trying to reset my current form to it's original state by closing it, and opening a new one. I want the form objects to be reset,the variables to be re-declared, the class objects to be cleared etc I've got everything working but the class being cleared, no matter what I do it won't create a new one with blank data.
Here is my code:
if (btnRandom.Text == "Reset")
{
SetupScreen form = new SetupScreen();
form.Show();
this.Dispose();
//Create new class for form / or launch load events as normal
form.Mybattleship = new battleship()
form.SetupScreen_Load(this, null);
}
I've tried many methods over the internet and none have worked.. even the overly complicated ones..
Oh I forgot to mention I need the new form to act as if it's just been loaded as normal, so the load events etc trigger
You would be better off making a method that you can call that will set default values for items that you can use when opening form and resetting...
public SetupScreen()
{
InitializeComponent();
SetDefaultValues();
}
private void SetDefaultValues()
{
//start values..
}
public void ResetBtn_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
SetDefaultValues();
}