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C# Take combobox item from one form and add its name as text to another

Ok so I'm attempting to create a simple game. In a nutshell it's a resource management game where the player will attempt to manage a thieves guild. In regards to running missions I've created a Thief class, a new instance of which is created when a new thief is recruited. I have coded within the thief class the ability to gain experience and level up.
Here's my specific problem:
I want the player to be able to select which thief/thieves to send on a mission. I have thought about it and figured that opening a new form and populating it with checkboxes is the easiest way to allow this. These checkboxes will be related to a List<thief> of thieves, the player then checks the thieves s/he wants to send and these are then stored in another List<thief> and passed on to the run mission function.
I've built a separate project with the intention of testing and playing around with this before putting it into the main program. The test project consists of two forms: The first (frmMain) with a textbox to hold the selected options and a button to open the second form (frmSelect). Currently I can open and populate the second form (frmSelect) but when I try to add the checked options to the textbox I simply...well can't.
So far I have tried directly accessing the textbox by typing frmMain.txtOptionsDisplay in the cs file of frmSelect but it causes the following error:
An object reference is required for the non-static field, method or
property
I tried to create a new form in frmSelect and make it equal to the active instance of frmMain with: Form frmTemp = frmMain.ActiveForm; and then alter the textbox using frmTemp as a go-between but that produced the error:
'System.Windows.Forms.Form' does not contain a definition for
'txtOptionsDisplay'.
Having searched both google and stackoverflow forums I've encountered answers that I either have never heard of (Threading) or answers that I kind've recognise but can't interpret the code pasted to make it relevant to my problem (delegates).
Any advice or pointers would be fantastic.
EDIT:
frmMain code:
public frmMain()
{
InitializeComponent();
selections.Add("Option 1");
selections.Add("Option 2");
}
private void btnClick_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
frmSelectOptions.Show();
int length = selections.Count();
for (int i = 0; i < length; i++)
{
CheckBox box = new CheckBox();
box.Text = selections[i];
box.AutoSize = true;
box.Location = new Point(50, 50*(i+1));
frmSelectOptions.grpControls.Controls.Add(box);
}
}
public void updateText(string option)
{
txtOptionsDisplay.Text += option;
}
}
frmSelect code:
public List<CheckBox> selectedOptions = new List<CheckBox>();
Form frmTemp = frmMain.ActiveForm;
public frmSelect()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void btnSelect_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
foreach (CheckBox box in grpControls.Controls)
{
if (box.Checked == true)
selectedOptions.Add(box);
}
this.Hide();
}
}
I hope this formats correctly... I'm kinda new and don't know how to indent. Oh look there's a preview...
Does this help?

Your problem is that controls defined within a form by default receive the private access identifier. Hence you could just add a property along the lines of
public ControlType ProxyProperty {
get {
return txtOptionsDisplay;
}
}
Besides from that you should think about wether what you're trying is actually a good solution. Manipulating forms from one to another will become a huge clusterfuck in terms of maintenance later on.

I'd suggest using the Singleton pattern for your frmMain. This will help safeguard you from accidentally launching another instance of frmMain and at the same time, will give you access to frmMain's objects. From there, you can either write accessors to Get your txtOptionsDisplay or you can make it public. Below is an example:
public class frmMain
{
private static frmMain Instance = null;
private static object LockObj = new object();
public static frmMain GetMain()
{
// Thread-safe singleton
lock(LockObj)
{
if(Instance == null)
Instance = new frmMain();
return Instance;
}
}
public string GetOptionsDisplayText()
{
return txtOptionsDisplay.Text;
}
}
public class frmSelect
{
private void frmSelect_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Set whatever text you want to frmMain's txtOptionsDisplay text
txtDisplay.Text = frmMain.GetMain().GetOptionsDisplayText();
}
}
If you do go this route, don't forget to update Program.cs to use frmMain's singleton.
static void Main()
{
Application.EnableVisualStyles();
Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
// Application.Run(new frmMain()); - Old method
Application.Run(frmMain.GetMain());
}

How do you access the name of the image in a picturebox in Visual Studio using C#

I have a program which has 16 grid tiles using picturebox but only uses 5 images, the rest of the tiles are just a black image.
I would like to be able to tell which image the 'user' clicks on.
I have a method called image_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
I have an if statement inside this method that states:
if (peckedSquare.BackColor == Color.Black)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Pecked a black square");
return;
}
This sends a String that lets me know when a black square has been clicked.
Is there an easy way to perhaps say:
//pseudo code:
if (peckedSquare.ImageName == pigeon1.png)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Pecked Pigeon number 1");
}
I have googled my query but I have not found any suitable answers.
//EDIT
I have just re-read my code.
I was assigning each picture to a picturebox square using a randomnumber.
I had this random number as a variable, so I can just use that variable to determine which image was clicked.
ie.
if (randomNumber == 1)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Pecked Pigeon number 1");
}
or better than that
pigeonSelected = randomNumber + 1 //as I am using an array to store the images
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Pecked Pigeon Number {0}", pigeonSelected);

As quick & dirty solution I would use Tag property for that, null for black tiles and file path for the others (and it's always available, even if your image comes from resources), something like this:
if (peckedSquare.Tag == null)
{
Debug.WriteLine("Pecked a black square");
}
else
{
switch (Path.GetFileName(peckedSquare.Tag.ToString()))
{
case "pigeon1.png":
break;
}
}
Of course when you create tiles you have to store file path in Tag:
PictureBox tile = new PictureBox();
tile.Image = Image.FromFile(path); // Or another source, of course
tile.Tag = path;
As alternative you may even use Name property for this, each control is named (primary for designer-code integration) but if you create controls at run-time you can set that value to anything you want (not only valid identifiers). Same usage as above just no need to call ToString().
How to Improve?
Please let me say this solution is not very OOP. Even without a big refactoring we can do little bit better. Note that you can store whatever you want in Tag property. A number, a simple string unrelated to file name or even (maybe better) a class or an enum that represents that image (to delegate action to that object). This is a very raw example:
abstract class Tile {
public abstract void Activate();
}
sealed class EmptyTile : Tile {
public virtual void Activate() {
Debug.WriteLine("Pecked a black square");
}
}
sealed class ImageTile : Tile {
public ImageTile(string content) {
_content = content;
}
public virtual void Activate() {
Debug.WriteLine(_content);
}
private string _content;
}
In this way in your click event handler you can do this:
((Tile)peckedTile.Tag).Activate();
No need to check what's inside or to compare with null. No if and no switch, just don't forget to put proper object (ImageTile or BlackTile) when you create tiles.

Use PictureBox.Load(string) method to load images from file. Then the file path will be stored in the
PictureBox.ImageLocation property:
A call to the Load method will overwrite the ImageLocation property, setting ImageLocation to the URL value specified in the method call.
So you can write for example:
if (peckedSquare.ImageLocation.EndsWith("pigeon1.png"))
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Pecked Pigeon number 1");
}

I think you could do something like the following:
private List<PictureBox> pictures = null;
string[] ImageNames = new string[]
{
"images\\test_1.jpg",
"images\\test_2.jpg"
};
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
pictures = new List<PictureBox>();
for (var idx = 0; idx < ImageNames.Length; idx++)
{
pictures.Add(new PictureBox());
pictures[idx].Image = new Bitmap(ImageNames[idx]);
pictures[idx].Click += OnClick;
// you'll want to set the offset and everything so it shows at the right place
Controls.Add(pictures[idx]);
}
}
private void OnClick(object sender, EventArgs eventArgs)
{
// you'll definitely want error handling here
var ImageName = ImageNames[pictures.IndexOf((PictureBox) sender)];
}
You can see that in the click method you will be able to get the image name, which is what you are looking for I believe.
As others have said, you can also use the "Tag" property assuming you weren't already using this for some other purpose. The nice thing about tag is you can probably also edit it through the form designer which allows you to lay things out a little more nicely than the automatic layout I used above. Good luck!

You can do something like this using the Tag property like #Adriano suggested:
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
pictureBox1.Click += pictureBox_Click;
pictureBox2.Click += pictureBox_Click;
pictureBox3.Click += pictureBox_Click;
// ...
pictureBox1.Tag = "picture1.png";
pictureBox2.Tag = "picture2.png";
pictureBox3.Tag = "picture3.png";
}
void pictureBox_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
PictureBox pb = sender as PictureBox;
if (pb.BackColor != Color.Black)
Debug.WriteLine(pb.Tag.ToString());
else
Debug.WriteLine("Black image");
}

I cannot change image in picturebox c#

I have made a yatzy game in a console application, and I am currently trying to make one in a forms application.
This is what I have so far:
namespace Yatzy
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public static Random kast = new Random();
public static int kast1 = kast.Next(1, 7);
public static int kast2 = kast.Next(1, 7);
public static int kast3 = kast.Next(1, 7);
public static int kast4 = kast.Next(1, 7);
public static int kast5 = kast.Next(1, 7);
public static int kast6 = kast.Next(1, 7);
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
}
private void pictureBox1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (kast1 == 1)
{
this.pictureBox_terning1.Image = new Bitmap(#"\Pics\terning1.png");
}
else if (kast1 == 2)
{
this.pictureBox_terning1.Image = new Bitmap(#"\Pics\terning2.png");
}
else if (kast1 == 3)
{
this.pictureBox_terning1.Image = new Bitmap(#"\Pics\terning3.png");
}
else if (kast1 == 4)
{
this.pictureBox_terning1.Image = new Bitmap(#"\Pics\terning4.png");
}
else if (kast1 == 5)
{
this.pictureBox_terning1.Image = new Bitmap(#"\Pics\terning5.png");
}
else if (kast1 == 6)
{
this.pictureBox_terning1.Image = new Bitmap(#"\Pics\terning6.png");
}
else
{
this.pictureBox_terning1.Image = new Bitmap(#"\Pics\terning0.png");
}
}
}
}
As you can see, I define the "kast1" and such in the form, and depending on the outcome, it should display different images in the picturebox. I have looked at every post I could find, and all of the solutions were fuss.
I have tried without "this." and I've tried with "= image.FromFile("Pics\terning#.png");"
Nothing works.

There is no need to use Bitmap object just to load images in the PictureBox.Perhaps the more cleaner way of loading images is by using the Load Method of PictureBox.
If I assume the images are in same directory as your application,enclosed in another folder,this would have done the job easily;
this.pictureBox_terning1.Load(#"\Pics\terning1.png");
The Load method requires a valid path that points to an image as argument,and with this there is no need to call Refresh after loading each image.It doesn't matter if the path is absolute or relative,but the thing that matters is that the path should point to an image.
But I would suggest you to create an absolute path to your executable like this;
string apppath=Application.StartupPath;
string imagepath=#"\Pics\terning1.png";
this.pictureBox_terning1.Load(apppath+imagepath);
As you mentioned that even if no errors are encountered,the images are not being loaded,for such a case debugging would be an ideal technique to find where the program runs out of order.

You probably need to call Refresh() on the picturebox control after you change picture source.

It is most likely that the images you want to load are not at the path you are looking at.
image.FromFile("Pics\terning#.png");
Expects that your images reside in {youprojectfolder}\bin\DebugORRelease\Pics.
new Bitmap(#"\Pics\terning1.png");
Expects that you images reside in {most likely c:}\Pics.
So i would suggest to check this first and if this does not work add a Breakpoint (F9) and start debugging (F5) see MSDN for an introduction in debugging
I would also suggest you to replace your if, else if construct with a switch.

Try this code, which I have tried and works(it will get the bin directory of your app then you can replace folders with image directory):
private void pictureBox1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
string path = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory;
string path1 = path.Replace(#"\bin\Debug\", #"\Pics\");
if (kast1 == 1)
{
this.pictureBox_terning1.Image = new Bitmap(path1 + "terning1.png");
}
//rest of the code
}
And if you dont like replacing then set your pictures to be copied to bin directory by
right clicking on image -> properties -> Copy to output directory -> copy
always
.

C# WinForms cannot set focus

Im currently facing the problem that when i try to set focus on some control (textBox), nothing happens, maybe i just overlooked something.(somewhere i found that focus is "low-level" method and that select() should be used instead, however, it doesnt work as well)
From form Login, i launch new instance of EncryptPSW form
private void openToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
EncryptPSW ePSW = new EncryptPSW();
ePSW.setOsLog(false, this);
ePSW.ShowDialog();
}
On Button(which is located on EncryptPSW form ) click event i call fill method
public void fill()
{
if (textBoxPSW.Text.Length == 8)//psw has to be 8 chars long
{
if (save)//determinating whether save or fetch of data should be done
{ login.launchSave(textBoxPSW.Text,this); }
else { login.launchOpen(textBoxPSW.Text,this); }
}
else { MessageBox.Show("The password must contain 8 characters");}
}
Which launches either save or open method from Login (my problem is just with open, since during save i dont need to do anything with Focus)
public void launchOpen(string psw,EncryptPSW ePSW)
{
ePSW.Close();
Encryptor.DecryptFile("loggin.bin", psw, this); //decrypting data and setting textBoxes Text property into the fetched ones
setFocus();
}
After all the work is done, setFocus() should be called in order to set focus and other properties.
public void setFocus()
{
textBoxDatabase.Focus();
textBoxDatabase.SelectionStart = textBoxDatabase.TextLength - 1;
textBoxDatabase.SelectionLength = 0;
}
I tried so many different ways, like:
Calling setFocus() from within EncryptPSW_FormClosed
Calling whole open process after the EncryptPSW is closed (from within EncryptPSW_FormClosed)
and many more, however i dont remember it all.
In the case of Form_Closed the weird thing is, that when i tried to show a message box from there instead of setting focus (just to see where the problem might be), it's showed before the EncryptPSW form is closed.
My only guess about this is that the instance of EncryptPSW is somehow blocking Login form and it's controls
I hoped i described my problem well enough and that it makes at least a bit of sense ;]
Thanks in advance,
Regards,
Releis

Since the textbox is in the login form, and you are opening the EcryptPWS from it as a dialog (child), your login form will not be able to set focus to anything. You will need to set focus after it is closed. You can do this:
private void openToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
using(EncryptPSW ePSW = new EncryptPSW())
{
ePSW.setOsLog(false, this);
if (ePSW.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
{
textBoxDatabase.Focus();
}
}
}
public void launchOpen(string psw,EncryptPSW ePSW)
{
ePSW.DialogResult = DialogResult.OK;
ePSW.Close();
Encryptor.DecryptFile("loggin.bin", psw, this); //decrypting data and setting textBoxes Text property into the fetched ones
}

OK this maybe the ugliest thing I saw round this but.
using
public void setFocus()
{
textBoxDatabase.Focus();
textBoxDatabase.SelectionStart = textBoxDatabase.TextLength - 1;
textBoxDatabase.SelectionLength = 0;
}
Change your code at
public void launchOpen(string psw,EncryptPSW ePSW)
{
ePSW.Close();
Encryptor.DecryptFile("loggin.bin", psw, this); //decrypting data and setting textBoxes Text property into the fetched ones
setFocus();
}
to
delegate void settingfocus();
public void launchOpen(string psw,EncryptPSW ePSW)
{
ePSW.Close();
Encryptor.DecryptFile("loggin.bin", psw, this); //decrypting data and setting textBoxes Text property into the fetched ones
settingfocus sf = new settingfocus(setFocus);
this.BeginInvoke(sf);
}
This worked for me
(Sorry for apparently thinking insert "this" before procedure, and change line x to this was legable)

Why can't you bind the Size of a windows form to ApplicationSettings?

Update: Solved, with code
I got it working, see my answer below for the code...
Original Post
As Tundey pointed out in his answer to my last question, you can bind nearly everything about a windows forms control to ApplicationSettings pretty effortlessly. So is there really no way to do this with form Size? This tutorial says you need to handle Size explicitly so you can save RestoreBounds instead of size if the window is maximized or minimized. However, I hoped I could just use a property like:
public Size RestoreSize
{
get
{
if (this.WindowState == FormWindowState.Normal)
{
return this.Size;
}
else
{
return this.RestoreBounds.Size;
}
}
set
{
...
}
}
But I can't see a way to bind this in the designer (Size is notably missing from the PropertyBinding list).

I finally came up with a Form subclass that solves this, once and for all. To use it:
Inherit from RestorableForm instead of Form.
Add a binding in (ApplicationSettings) -> (PropertyBinding) to WindowRestoreState.
Call Properties.Settings.Default.Save() when the window is about to close.
Now window position and state will be remembered between sessions. Following the suggestions from other posters below, I included a function ConstrainToScreen that makes sure the window fits nicely on the available displays when restoring itself.
Code
// Consider this code public domain. If you want, you can even tell
// your boss, attractive women, or the other guy in your cube that
// you wrote it. Enjoy!
using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Drawing;
namespace Utilities
{
public class RestorableForm : Form, INotifyPropertyChanged
{
// We invoke this event when the binding needs to be updated.
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
// This stores the last window position and state
private WindowRestoreStateInfo windowRestoreState;
// Now we define the property that we will bind to our settings.
[Browsable(false)] // Don't show it in the Properties list
[SettingsBindable(true)] // But do enable binding to settings
public WindowRestoreStateInfo WindowRestoreState
{
get { return windowRestoreState; }
set
{
windowRestoreState = value;
if (PropertyChanged != null)
{
// If anybody's listening, let them know the
// binding needs to be updated:
PropertyChanged(this,
new PropertyChangedEventArgs("WindowRestoreState"));
}
}
}
protected override void OnClosing(CancelEventArgs e)
{
WindowRestoreState = new WindowRestoreStateInfo();
WindowRestoreState.Bounds
= WindowState == FormWindowState.Normal ?
Bounds : RestoreBounds;
WindowRestoreState.WindowState = WindowState;
base.OnClosing(e);
}
protected override void OnLoad(EventArgs e)
{
base.OnLoad(e);
if (WindowRestoreState != null)
{
Bounds = ConstrainToScreen(WindowRestoreState.Bounds);
WindowState = WindowRestoreState.WindowState;
}
}
// This helper class stores both position and state.
// That way, we only have to set one binding.
public class WindowRestoreStateInfo
{
Rectangle bounds;
public Rectangle Bounds
{
get { return bounds; }
set { bounds = value; }
}
FormWindowState windowState;
public FormWindowState WindowState
{
get { return windowState; }
set { windowState = value; }
}
}
private Rectangle ConstrainToScreen(Rectangle bounds)
{
Screen screen = Screen.FromRectangle(WindowRestoreState.Bounds);
Rectangle workingArea = screen.WorkingArea;
int width = Math.Min(bounds.Width, workingArea.Width);
int height = Math.Min(bounds.Height, workingArea.Height);
// mmm....minimax
int left = Math.Min(workingArea.Right - width,
Math.Max(bounds.Left, workingArea.Left));
int top = Math.Min(workingArea.Bottom - height,
Math.Max(bounds.Top, workingArea.Top));
return new Rectangle(left, top, width, height);
}
}
}
Settings Bindings References
SettingsBindableAttribute
INotifyPropertyChanged

The reason why the Form.Size property is not available in the settings binding UI is because this property is marked DesignerSerializationVisibility.Hidden. This means that the designer doesn't know how to serialise it, let alone generate a data binding for it. Instead the Form.ClientSize property is the one that gets serialised.
If you try and get clever by binding Location and ClientSize, you'll see another problem. When you try to resize your form from the left or top edge, you'll see weird behaviour. This is apparently related to the way that two-way data binding works in the context of property sets that mutually affect each other. Both Location and ClientSize eventually call into a common method, SetBoundsCore().
Also, data binding to properties like Location and Size is just not efficient. Each time the user moves or resizes the form, Windows sends hundreds of messages to the form, causing the data binding logic to do a lot of processing, when all you really want is to store the last position and size before the form is closed.
This is a very simplified version of what I do:
private void MyForm_FormClosing(object sender, FormClosingEventArgs e)
{
Properties.Settings.Default.MyState = this.WindowState;
if (this.WindowState == FormWindowState.Normal)
{
Properties.Settings.Default.MySize = this.Size;
Properties.Settings.Default.MyLoc = this.Location;
}
else
{
Properties.Settings.Default.MySize = this.RestoreBounds.Size;
Properties.Settings.Default.MyLoc = this.RestoreBounds.Location;
}
Properties.Settings.Default.Save();
}
private void MyForm_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
this.Size = Properties.Settings.Default.MySize;
this.Location = Properties.Settings.Default.MyLoc;
this.WindowState = Properties.Settings.Default.MyState;
}
Why is this a very simplified version? Because doing this properly is a lot trickier than it looks :-)

One of the reason I imagine size binding is not allowed is because the screen may change between sessions.
Loading the size back when the resolution has reduced could result in the title bar being beyond the limits of the screen.
You also need to be wary of multiple monitor setups, where monitors may no longer be available when you app next runs.

Well I have had a quick play with this and you are correct, while there is no way to directly bind the size of the form to AppSettings, you can add your own values and change the size on load.
I would perhaps recommend that if this is a common feature, you subclass Form and make it automatically prob the App.Config for the forms size settings.
(Or you could roll your own file.. Get it to query an Xml file "formname.settings.xml" or something? - thinking out loud!)..
Heres what I had (very rough, no error checking etc).
App.Config
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
<appSettings>
<add key ="FormHeight" value="500" />
<add key ="FormWidth" value="200"/>
</appSettings>
</configuration>
Form Code
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
string height = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["FormHeight"];
int h = int.Parse(height);
string width = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["FormWidth"];
int w = int.Parse(width);
this.Size = new Size(h, w);
}

I agree with Rob Cooper's answer. But I think Martin makes a very good point. Nothing like having users open your application and the app is off-screen!
So in reality, you'll want to combine both answers and bear in mind the current screen dimensions before setting your form's size.