General description of application:
Main form as MDI Container. On application start, if there is no xml file for database configuration (it is checked in Main form) Main form i call another form as showdialog() to fill all database info to build connection string. Then i close form and open another for login, then i get back to Main form, which has Split Container (2 panels: 1-menu on top, 2-content from child forms).
I open forms with:
private void PlanButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
plan.TopLevel = false;
KontenerMenu.Panel2.Controls.Add(plan);
plan.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
plan.Show();
}
and close form with:
private void Plan_FormClosing(object sender, FormClosingEventArgs e)
{
e.Cancel = false;
this.Hide();
}
Problems i have with app:
1. When i hit Cancel button when i open ShowDialog() form for database app crashes. Cancel button is simply:
private void cancelButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Application.Exit();
}
2. I have problem with clicking button to open/close/open again child forms. When i hit 'X' and want o open, app crashes with exception that it cannot refer to non-existing object
3. I have several buttons when i hit one and then another one it is always below the first one and not on the top
4. For example my form is 200x200 and in right down corner i have button (so location let's say 190x190) and i hit maximize button. My button is still on 190x190 and i would like to have it on down right corner. I couldn't find any property for that. Is there any or i have to write some code for that.
I'm not sure I understood your questions. Please make them clear.
But as an answer to question #4, there's an anchor property that does what you want.
Instead of trying to exit the application from within the dialog form itself you should return a DialogResult value and test that in the main form. The cancel button on the dialog doesn't need any code, just set its DialogResult property to 'Cancel' and if you have an Ok button set its DialogResult to 'OK'.
DialogForm f = new DialogForm();
DialogResult r = f.ShowDialog();
if (r == DialogResult.Cancel)
{
Close();
}
I can immediately see a number of problems with you code, including:
If you're going to add controls dynamically using Controls.Add, you should make sure the controls you're adding are dynamically created using new(). I get a sense that you don't have a clear understanding of object lifetimes and the WindowForms control life cycle.
The Application.Exit method should be used only in unusual cases. It's purpose is to achieve exactly the result you're observing - to immediately "crash" the application. The easiest way to have a button close a modal dialog is the set the DialogResult property of the button.
Winforms has a very elegant system for placement of control on a variable sized window. In order to use this system, you should familiarize yourself with the Anchor and Dock properties that are available on all controls.
It looks like what you're doing is attempting to learn WinForms by trial and error. You can do this, but it will take much longer and be much more painful that getting a hold of a good tutorial, book, or perhaps even attending a class if you can manage it. That will allow you to take these issues one at a time and have a much more enjoyable learning experience.
Related
I'm trying to simply get a form to load correctly. It is a modeless child form of a modal parent (which itself is a modeless child form of the main UI). I need to be able to interact with all forms somewhat simultaneously.
The form I want to reload has very little access by way of fixed controls. Mostly dynamic controls loaded from reading a text file (users) and placing checkboxes (1 per user in the text file in columns) on the form.
The first thing I need to do is simply to write the form accurately every time. I open the form with a button, but retain ownership to the parent. If the parent closes, all of the children should close (but not the program. The parent of this child, is a child). Ex:
private void bPermissions_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Permissions af3 = new Permissions();
af3.Owner = this;
af3.Show();
}
So I click the button Permissions and the form opens accurately. If I select it again, the form opens without the checkboxes. If I close Permissions and then try to reopen it, it does not load accurately. Only the fixed items load. I've tried to .Refresh() the parent form and the child form in various events (FormClosed, FormClosing, Load, etc.) on both the Start form and the Permissions form.
How can I refresh this form accurately every time I try to open it?
EDIT:
I'm a newb and very much enjoy doing this. But I am learning. Please be kind and point me in a direction. :-D Thank You.
EDIT2: Not modal. Modeless.
Ok. #D.. definitely led me down the path. As a Newb I promise I had to do a little head scratching.
I was making the call from onLoad
private void Permissions_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
WidgetLogic.getPermText(this);
WidgetLogic.getDetailerPermText(this);
WidgetLogic.getAdminPermText(this);
}
I should have been making the call from the button prior to the page loading and passing it back from the logic to the targetForm. The form where I wanted the information to go (Permissions af3)
private void bPermissions_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Permissions af3 = new Permissions();
af3.Owner = this;
af3.Show();
WidgetLogic.getPermText(af3);
WidgetLogic.getDetailerPermText(af3);
WidgetLogic.getAdminPermText(af3);
}
Awesome Sauce!! :-D Thank You!!
My C# application starts by opening a form. In the constructor for that form I "showDialog" an openfiledialog. After selecting a file to open, the openfile dialog closes, the file is loaded and the contents displayed in the main form but the main form is buried behind every other open window on my desktop.
I have to find it in the task bar and bring it to focus. I just started the application, I want the form to have focus.
I have written other applications that do not use the openfiledialog and when I start them the main form opens with focus as you would expect.
How do I make the main form get focus after the openfiledialog closes?
I have tried
this.focus(),
this.activate(),
this.bringtofront();
and this.TopMost = true;
None of them make any apparent difference at all.
I have research this problem extensively and this are the things everyone suggests and say work, but they don't work for me. Some have insinuated that I am violating all that is holy by trying to make my form topmost. However, I don't think very many people would like to open an application and have the main form for it show up behind everything else.
Any one have any other ideas about how to make sure my form is "in front", topmost, has focus?
When you do it this way, your application will have a brief moment where no window is available to receive the focus after the dialog closes. Windows is forced to find another window to give the focus to, that will be a window of another app. Your main window eventually appears, now behind that other's app window.
Display the dialog in an event handler of the Shown event instead. Or use the boilerplate File + Open command.
SOLUTION: this.Activate(); works but if called from the form Load event.
This will set the window on top:
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
static extern bool SetForegroundWindow(IntPtr hWnd);
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
....
//after your code place the call to the function at the end.
SetForegroundWindow(this.Handle);
}
Althought as Mr. hans said and very well you are better off with another design.
If you can, move the ShowDialog out of the constructor, or try putting this in the constructor:
this.Shown += OnShown;
and move your ShowDialog to here:
private void OnShown(object sender, EventArgs eventArgs)
{
var result = new OpenFileDialog().ShowDialog();
}
I'm currently working on a WPF app which has multiple windows. From the "main" window, you should be able to close the entire app. Before the app will be closed, the client wants it to show a dialog box which basically asks "are you sure you want to close the app" and blocks every other window until the user answers.
I'm currently using MessageBox.Show() to create this dialog box, but for some reason it only blocks the main window.
Here's the simplest example of what I'm talking about; if you create a WPF window with two buttons:
private void openChildWindowButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
var window = new ChildWindow();
window.Show();
}
private void openDialogButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
MessageBox.Show(this, "This should freeze all other windows");
}
Opening a dialog will completely freeze the first window. If you click on it or attempt any sort of interaction, the OS makes a "ding!" sound and flashes the border on the message box. But all of the other windows you've opened can be clicked, moved, resized, etc., and that's what I want to prevent.
As it turns out, there is a way to do this, but it's not pretty. It involves using the WinForms version of MessageBox and passing an undocumented option as the last property.
var result = System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show("Are you sure you want to exit this app?", "Exit", System.Windows.Forms.MessageBoxButtons.YesNo, System.Windows.Forms.MessageBoxIcon.Question, System.Windows.Forms.MessageBoxDefaultButton.Button2, (System.Windows.Forms.MessageBoxOptions)8192 /*MB_TASKMODAL*/);
Source: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/vstudio/en-US/8d1bd4a2-455e-4e3f-8c88-7ed49aeabc09/messagebox-is-not-applicationmodal?forum=wpf
Hopefully this is helpful to somebody else in the future!
If this works in WPF like in Windows Forms you could just use:
MessageBox.ShowDialog()
chris
Above not working...
Edit:
But there is a workaround: style a Form like a MessageBox (use a fixed Border-Type) and then Show it using ShowDialog(). Then set the Forms Cacel and Ok Button in Properties to your Buttons and you can get a DialogResult just like in a MessageBox. Hope that Helps but it is also from Windows-Forms ;)
I have two form classes (Form1 and Form2) in a Winforms App.
Form1 is like this:
Form2 is like this (ShowInTaskbar = false):
And this code on Form1:
Form2 someForm = new Form2();
private void btOpenAnotherWindow_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (someForm.ShowDialog(this) == DialogResult.OK)
MessageBox.Show("OK!!!");
else
MessageBox.Show("Not OK.");
}
That is, a window with a button which opens modally another windows when clicked, and waits for the user to close the second window (by clicking the "OK" or "Cancel" button). And depending how it was closed, do alternating actions (represented here by the MessageBox.Show() calls).
I need:
The user can use only one window at a time. (Modal forms, That's why I used ShowDialog() instead of Show())
When the form closes, do something depending on how the form was closed (the "if (someForm.ShowDialog(this)...")
To be able (as a user) to minimize the WHOLE APP.
To be able to "unminimize" the app to the former state correctly.
The program to respond to WIN+M (minimize all) keys combination.
the above example fails in two ways:
(need 5) Doesn't respond to WIN+M
(need 3) The app seems to minimize when the Minimize title bar button is clicked, but it is an illusion because the main form (Form1) does not minimize and it is in fact just hidden behind the other opened windows. Only running the example with an empty desktop shows what really happens. Pics follow:
Before Minimize button is clicked:
After:
Note:
The Main form is not minimized
The Form2 is in the left botton corner of the screen.
Form2 is a full blown window (not a dialog window per se) and I need the user to interact with it only until it is closed and I also need the user to be able to miminize the whole app in case he needs it.
It is a shame I can't post here the real forms, It would be clearer than these mock-ups.
I need a solution that works with many levels of modal windows (not only two as this example shows). Any suggestions?
I may need a little more information about what you're trying to do here. I have a simple form (Form1) with a button on it, which calls this code:
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Form1 form2 = new Form1();
form2.ShowDialog();
}
When I click the button, I get a second instance of the same form, but it's modal. I still have the option to minimize this second modal form (I obviously can't interact with the first form), and when I do minimize the second form it does minimize the entire application (both forms). Now obviously you're asking the question, so I don't think I'm understanding you. =) What about this scenario do you wish to change?
C
There is probably some way to hack this functionality using API calls, but I would probably suggest doing some type of overlay with a control inside your main form rather than an actual window. This would allow you to make it "modal" and still have the ability to minimize/resize the main window.
I have 2 forms ...when i start the application..and use the close "X" from the title bar the entire application closes...now when i select an option from the 1st form in my case it is a button "ADD" as its a phonebook application..it goes to the 2nd form as i have used 1stform.hide() and 2ndform.show()...now when i do "X" from the title bar it doesnt shutdown completely as the 1stform is not closed....how to program it in such a way tht any stage the entire application should close
Your first form is set as the startup form. That means whenever it gets closed, your entire application is closed. And conversely, your application does not close until it gets closed. So when you hide the startup form and show the second form, the user closing the second form does not trigger your application closing because they have only closed a secondary, non-modal dialog.
I recommend changing your design so that the startup form is also the main form of your application. No sense trying to work around built-in functionality that can actually be useful. You want the application to quit when the main form is closed, no matter what other child forms are opened.
But the quick-and-dirty solution in your case is to make a call to Application.Exit. That will close all of the currently open forms and quit your application immediately. As I said just above, I don't so much recommend this approach because having to call Application.Exit from every form's FormClosed event handler is a sign that something has gone seriously wrong in your design.
If the single startup form paradigm doesn't work out for you, you should look into taking matters into your own hands and customizing the Main method in your Program.cs source file. See the answers given to this related question for some ideas on how that might work for you.
What you can do is to use the Form's FormClosing event, and add the following code:
Application.Exit();
This will stop the entire application, and close all windows. However, if a background thread is running, the process itself will survive. In this case you can use:
Environment.Exit();
Add a Application.Exit on every forms's Closing event
like this:
Create an closing event handler first
private void Form_ClosingEventhandler()(object sender, CancelEventArgs e)
{
//Perform any processing if required like saving user settings or cleaning resources
Application.Exit();
}
then bind this event to any form you create.
//Where you create new form and show it.
Form1 frm= new Form1();
//set other properties
frm.Closing += new EventHandler(Form_ClosingEventhandler);
Form2 frm2= new Form2();
//set other properties
frm2.Closing += new EventHandler(Form_ClosingEventhandler);
Surely you don't want to shut down the entire application after the user adds a phone number? You just need to make sure that your main window becomes visible again. Write that like this:
private void AddButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {
var frm = new AddPhoneNumber();
frm.StartPosition = FormStartPosition.Manual;
frm.Location = this.Location;
frm.Size = this.Size; // optional
frm.FormClosing += delegate { this.Show(); };
frm.Show();
this.Hide();
}