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Updating object at program level within class

I have a program that runs in the system tray that communicates with our server and "syncs" data based on a users preferenced jobs. The idea is similar to Dropbox, but for our surveying software called 12d Synergy. The idea is that users can sync data without needing to navigate through the softwares Client.
I want to add the functionality so that when the program is syncing, the icon in the system tray changes to indicate that its still syncing, but i can't figure out how to get access to the original object within the portion of the program where the event is located.
My program stucture is as follows (in c#):
Program.cs
using (ProcessingIcon pi = new ProcessingIcon())
{
pi.SetIcon(Resources._12d);
pi.Display();
Application.Run();
}
ProcessingIcon.cs
NotifyIcon ni;
public void SetIcon(Icon path)
{
ni.Icon = path;
}
public void Display()
{
ni.Text = "Sunrise Surveying 12d Synergy Sync Tool";
ni.Visible = true;
ni.ContextMenuStrip = new ContextMenus().Create();
}
ContextMenus.cs
public ContextMenuStrip Create()
{
// Sync Now
item = new ToolStripMenuItem();
item.Text = "Sync Now";
item.Click += new EventHandler(syncNow_Click);
item.Image = Resources.Sync.ToBitmap();
cms.Items.Add(item);
}
void syncNow_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
string[] jobs = Sync.GetSharedFiles();
string[] files = Sync.GetDataToSync(jobs);
Sync.SyncData(files);
}
What i want to happen, is in the syncNow_click, call the ProcessingIcon.SetIcon() to change the icon, but i can't figure out how to get access to an object that exists 3 layers up in the program.
I should note that i am not a programmer, i'm a surveyor with an interest in programming. I am completely self taught, so i know there is probably something relatively simple i'm missing. This is also my first post in StackOverflow, so i'm not 100% how to use this site to the full capability, so if this has been answered somewhere i apologise.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

So i worked out a way to answer my own question. Just putting it here in case anyone has the same issue. It turned out to be incredibly simple, and purely just by me not fully understanding the classes/objects structure.
I added a constructor for my ContextMenus object which passed in the the NotifyIcon that was calling it. This was passed to a NotifyIcon variable in that class which i could then access.
class ContextMenus
{
public NotifyIcon ni;
public ContextMenus(NotifyIcon ni)
{
this.ni = ni;
}
}

C# WPF passing value between windows2 to windows1

First off, I'm a beginner in object oriented programming in which I'm currently finishing my final c# project.
BRIEF rundown, I have made a library class(dll) which I made it for a console application. This was my first project and then for this project I have to reuse the dll for a WPF application. I adapted my code for WPF.
I have a MainWindows for login, windows1 where the main program is working and calling the dll( collection base classes, specific name such has artist, curator and art).
My issue is that I have to use windows2 (study purpose) to sell an art. I call the dll class method which accepts 2 parameters such as (string IDArt, double SellPrice).
The mistake I did was to recreate a new instance of gallery in windows2.
I understand that I have to somehow send my(this) instance to windows2 and then retrieve the change to windows1.
I'm wondering how should I approach this issue. Please be advised that I understand c# from what I learned but i'm so far from truly knowing it and mastering it. Thanks in advance!

Since C# is object-oriented, the right way to do this thing would be to create an instance of your Collection class in a lower abstract layer than a window itself (since you plan to reuse the same collection in more than one window) - for example, statically in the global App context - and then use data binding to synchronize the collection between your windows. (For this to work as expected, in real time, your Collection class needs also to implement IObservable and INotifyPropertyChanged to inform the window's context that it needs to be refreshed with new elements.)

There are so many ways to do this, I tell you some of them..
If you want to access MainWindow fields or properties from elsewhere, you can do it like this:
In Window2:
//Calling MainWindow from Window2
var form = App.Current.MainWindow as ManinWindow;
form.textBox1.Text = "My Art";
MessageBox.Show(form.textBox1.Text);
or you can pass arguments from you Window1 to Window2 like this:
//Window 1
private void btnShowWindow2_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
var form = new Window2("My Art", 100);
form.Show();
}
//Window 2 Constructor
public Window2(string ArtName, int Price)
{
MessageBox.Show("ArtName: " + ArtName + "\nPrice: " Price.ToString() + " dollars");
}
or
//Window1
private void btnShowWindow2_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
var form = new Window2()
{
Price = 200,
ArtName = "My Art"
};
form.Show();
}
//Window2
public string ArtName {get; set;}
public int Price {get; set;}
private void Window2_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
MessageBox.Show("ArtName: " + ArtName + "\nPrice: " Price.ToString() + " dollars");
}

probably the easiest way to do this would be to use the application's settings, also one of my favorite ways, go to "Project\WpfApp1 Properties" and go to "Settings" tab, there you can create your settings, create 1 setting name it "IDArt" and set it to a string type and another setting name it "SellPrice" and set it to double type.
now to access these settings all youhave to do is use this code:
WpfApp1.Properties.Settings.Default.IdArt;,
WpfApp1.Properties.Settings.Default.SellPrice;

use PictureBox from another class c#

I hope my question will be clear
In Form1.cs i have PictureBox named: ico_ok
i would like to use this PictureBox in my new class that i bulit.
when i start typing ico... nothing appears.
what is the way to use this object in another class?
here the code:
public void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
lbl_check.Visible = true;
btn_continue.Visible = false;
txtbox_cusnumber.Enabled = false;
string userID = (txtbox_cusnumber.Text.ToString());
CheckOUinADexist checkou = new CheckOUinADexist(userID);
}
after that look at the new class:
namespace ChekingOUinActiveDirectory
{
class CheckOUinADexist
{
public CheckOUinADexist(string userID)
{
//this place i would like to use ico_ok
}
}
}
Thank you for helping.
Maayan

The simplest approach is probably to provide that class with the dependency on the PictureBox:
public CheckOUinADexist(string userID, PictureBox pbox)
{
pbox.[your code]
}
Then supply it when calling the method:
CheckOUinADexist checkou = new CheckOUinADexist(userID, ico_ok);
Whether or not this is the ideal approach depends on what you're going to be doing with that PictureBox inside that object, how portable that object needs to be across technology platforms, etc.
In general you don't want UI elements to permeate into non-UI logic. If CheckOUinADexist is a UI-bound class and exists solely to help the UI, then this isn't a problem. If it's part of business logic then you wouldn't want to couple that logic with the UI technology. Instead, you'd likely pass it the data needed from the PictureBox, but not the PictureBox itself.
This all depends a lot on the overall architecture of what you're trying to achieve here, which we don't know.

Basically you'd give the target class a reference to the "shared data" -- picture box in this case.
class CheckOUinADexist
{
PictureBox _picBox
public CheckOUinADexist(string userID, PictureBox picBox)
{
//this place i would like to use ico_ok
_picBox = picBox;
_picBox.myAction();
}
}
Whether you want to actually stored Picturebox as a field (as opposed to just use a parameter) depends on whether you need access to the field throughout the lifetime of the instance(s) or whether it is just needed for object construction. If you are not sure, you are safer (IMHO) just storing a reference in a field. Make further uses of it a lot easier.

Why Windows Form TextBox won't update from outside class?

Newbie here. I'm running Visual Studio C# Express 2008. I have two Windows Forms, each with a TextBox. The textboxes update within the same class but not as the result of a invoked method from outside the class. I need to be able to update tbRooms.Text when the UpdateListOfRooms() method is invoked. I've outlined the problem in pseudo-code below. I appreciate your help!
fLocations.cs
fLocations_Load()
{
this.tbLocations.Text = Properties.Settings.Default.LocationID + " locationsLoad"; --updates
}
dgvLocations_SelectionChanged()
{
var rooms = new fRooms();
rooms.tbRooms.Text = Properties.Settings.Default.LocationID + " locationssSelectionChanged"; --updates
rooms.UpdateListOfRooms();
}
fRooms.cs
fRooms_Load()
{
this.tbRooms.Text = Properties.Settings.Default.LocationID + " roomsLoad"; --updates
}
UpdateListOfRooms()
{
this.tbRooms.Text = Properties.Settings.Default.LocationID + " roomsUpdateListOfRooms"; --does NOT update; still says "roomsLoad"
}
Updated 8/20/14:
I've been a busy bee :) I read all the parts of the tutorial by #jmcilhinney and decided to approach this by including references to the two forms, Locations and Rooms, in the MainMenu class that launches them:
(MainMenu.cs) Instances of Locations and Rooms are created. In the constructor, 'rooms' is passed to the 'locations' instance and both forms are shown.
(Locations.cs) Another Rooms instance is created at class scope so it can be seen by all methods of the class. In the constructor, this instance is set to the one being passed by MainMenu which means that this class is working with the same instance created in MainMenu. When the user changes the selection on dgvLocations, the 'dgvLocations_SelectionChanged' event is fired which invokes the Rooms.UpdateRooms method.
(Rooms.cs) The 'UpdateRooms' method displays a new set of rooms based on the passed value of 'locationID'.
This link was helpful. Visual C# - Access instance of object created in one class in another.
public partial class MainMenu : Form
{
Locations locations;
Rooms rooms;
public MainMenu()
{
rooms = new Rooms();
locations = new Locations(rooms);
locations.Show();
rooms.Show();
InitializeComponent();
}
}
public partial class Locations : Form
{
Rooms rooms;
public Locations(Rooms r)
{
rooms = r;
InitializeComponent();
}
private void Locations_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Populate this.dgvLocations using SQL query.
}
private void dgvLocations_SelectionChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Update the rooms instance with current locationID.
rooms.UpdateRooms(dgvLocations.CurrentCell.Value.ToString());
}
}
public partial class Rooms : Form
{
public Rooms()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void Rooms_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Populate this.dgvRooms using SQL query.
}
public void UpdateRooms(string locationID)
{
// Update dgvRooms based on user changing the locationID in dgvLocations
}
}

In the first code snippet, you create a new fRooms object but you never call its Show or ShowDialog method, which means that you never display it to the user. That means that any changes you make to that form will not be seen. Presumably the user can see an fRooms object though, but you are not making any changes to that one.
Consider this. Let's say that I give you a note pad and you open it and look at the first page. Let's say that I now buy a new note pad and write on the first page of it. Would you expect to see the words I wrote magically appear on the page in front of you? Of course not. We both are holding a note pad but they are two different note pads. You're looking at one and I'm writing on the other, so you won;t see what I write.
The same goes for your forms. They are both fRooms objects but they are two different fRooms objects. Changes you make to one will not affect the other. If you want the user to see the changes you make then you must make those changes to the fRooms object that the user is looking at.

C# - Separate UI from business code

I want to know what's the best practice for the following case :
I'm developing an application that need to be used on three different screen size : 240x320 ; 800x600 ; 1280x1024 (and only these three) in different languages (using localization).
So what I've done is to create a library by screen size, each implementing an interface defined in the project that calls these screens.
First question is, all my resources files are duplicated and that is many files to keep up to date (or with duplicate labels). Is there a simple way to change this?
Second question is, am I using the good approach or exists it a better way to do what I'm trying to do? By applying a design pattern maybe?
Sample code
The caller code :
public int X { get { return 800; } }
public int Y { get { return 600; } }
public interface IScreenForm
{
Form FormComponent { get; }
}
public interface IFormA : IScreenForm
{
TextBox UserTextBox { get; } // For use
}
public void LoadForm<T>()
where T:IScreenForm
{
if (!typeof(T).IsInterface)
{
throw new ArgumentException(typeof(T).Name + " is not an interface");
}
Assembly screenAssembly;
string screenResolutionDll = string.Format("{0}_{1}_screens.dll", this.X, this.Y);
screenAssembly = Assembly.LoadFrom(screenResolutionDll);
Type formType = screenAssembly.GetTypes()
.FirstOrDefault(t => t.GetInterfaces().Where(i => i.Name == typeof(T).Name).Count() > 0);
if (formType != null)
{
Form form = (Form)formType.GetConstructor(new Type[] { }).Invoke(null);
if (form != null)
{
form.Show();
}
else
{
throw new ArgumentException("Form doesn't provide a new() ctor");
}
}
else
{
throw new ArgumentException("Any form doesn't implement the interface : " + typeof(T).Name);
}
}
Screen DLL :
public partial class MyFirstForm : Form, caller.IFormA
{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
/* caller.IFormA interface implementation */
}

Arnaud, from my own experience, from reading, and from talking to experienced developers: When it comes to supporting multiple screen sizes and with localization, there are no magic bullets. For localization put all your strings in resource files, or even in data files.
As far as the screen sizes, I would not try to be too clever. Yes, make sure that none of your business / non-GUI logic gets duplicated, but duplicating resource files, forms, etc - I would not worry about it. Some GUI frameworks like Qt and GTK auto-resize and auto-position GUI-widgets (e.g. Qt has 'spacer' widgets). It works OK most of the time, however I still prefer explicit control. With GUI programming, there are often unexpected glitches, having three independent sets of GUI components will allow you to address them, should they arise. Some example sources of problems:
1) Font sizing.
2) Windows accessibility settings.
3) Some national languages have longer average words than others, the long words have trouble fitting in the real estate available.
If I were in your shoes, I would look for example how browsers handle this (e.g. mobile vs. desktop version) and I would try to find some practical advice on the Web (like here at SO). I doubt that books on design patterns will help much with this. Disclaimer: I am a design-pattern skeptic.

It is hard to advice without getting the whole picture but for some tips that might by handy read this
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff648753.aspx
about the SmartClient software Factory.
It comes with architecural guidance and solutions for issue you often see in this kind of apps