Refer to an Instance of a form

16 Jun 2006 9:06 PM

Ryan

I have some custom forms that contain their own properties and I call them
as such:

Dim myDialog As New myDialogForm

myDialog.mID = 1 ' sets the custom property mID to 1
myDialog.Text = "Here is my dialog"
myDialog.Show()

Now how do I refer to another form however when it's not created as an
instance by my code? I have been calling it by name, as above, assume a
myDialogForm is already open:

myDialogForm.mID = 1
myDialogForm.Text = "Here is my dialog"

This seems odd to me though because I'm not referring to a specific instance
of the dialog form. I've also had unexpected buggy behavior doing this. Is
there a better way to access an existing form?

Thanks,
Ryan

16 Jun 2006 9:26 PM

Ahmed

Hi,

You need to pass that instance to wherever yout want to access it from.
For example, assume you have form1 and your mydialog:

Dim myDialog As New myDialogForm
Dim myForm2 As New Form2(mydialog)

of course you need to overload the constructor in Form2 class and add
to it a veriable of type myDialogForm.

Then you can reference that instance using that veriable.

You cant call the veriables using the class name, unless they are
shared (static in C/C++ or java)

I hope I answered your question.

Ahmed

Ryan wrote:
Show quoteHide quote

> I have some custom forms that contain their own properties and I call them
> as such:
>
> Dim myDialog As New myDialogForm
>
> myDialog.mID = 1 ' sets the custom property mID to 1
> myDialog.Text = "Here is my dialog"
> myDialog.Show()
>
> Now how do I refer to another form however when it's not created as an
> instance by my code? I have been calling it by name, as above, assume a
> myDialogForm is already open:
>
> myDialogForm.mID = 1
> myDialogForm.Text = "Here is my dialog"
>
> This seems odd to me though because I'm not referring to a specific instance
> of the dialog form. I've also had unexpected buggy behavior doing this. Is
> there a better way to access an existing form?
>
> Thanks,
> Ryan

19 Jun 2006 5:53 AM

Linda Liu [MSFT]

Hi Ryan,

Thank you for posting.

I think you have two options to refer to an instance of a form in another
form.

Suppose you have created an instance of a form and assigned it to a
variable "dialogfrm" of type Form. Then you want to refer to dialogfrm in
an instance of Form1.

Option 1: Pass the dialogfrm to Form1 as a parameter in Form1's New
procedure.
Here's a sample.

Private _dialogfrm As Form = Nothing
Public Sub New(ByRef dialog As Form)
         InitializeComponent()
        _dialogfrm = dialog
End Sub

Option2: Set up a public property in Form1 and then set the dialogfrm to
the property.
Here's a sample.

Private _dialogfrm As Form = Nothing
Public Property Dialogfrm() As Form
        Get
            Return _dialogfrm
        End Get
        Set(ByVal value As Form)
            _dialogfrm = value
        End Set
End Property

Thus, you could refer to the dialogfrm in the instance of Form1.

If you have anything unclear, don't hesitate to get in touch. I look
forward to your reply.

Sincerely,
Linda Liu
Microsoft Online Community Support

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19 Jun 2006 1:56 PM

Ryan

Linda,

Wow.. very clear and consise.. this is exactly what I was looking for.
Thanks once again for your wonderful advice. :)

Ryan

Show quoteHide quote

"Linda Liu [MSFT]" <v-l***@online.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:lagUwS2kGHA.2260@TK2MSFTNGXA01.phx.gbl...
> Hi Ryan,
>
> Thank you for posting.
>
> I think you have two options to refer to an instance of a form in another
> form.
>
> Suppose you have created an instance of a form and assigned it to a
> variable "dialogfrm" of type Form. Then you want to refer to dialogfrm in
> an instance of Form1.
>
> Option 1: Pass the dialogfrm to Form1 as a parameter in Form1's New
> procedure.
> Here's a sample.
>
> Private _dialogfrm As Form = Nothing
> Public Sub New(ByRef dialog As Form)
>         InitializeComponent()
>        _dialogfrm = dialog
> End Sub
>
> Option2: Set up a public property in Form1 and then set the dialogfrm to
> the property.
> Here's a sample.
>
> Private _dialogfrm As Form = Nothing
> Public Property Dialogfrm() As Form
>        Get
>            Return _dialogfrm
>        End Get
>        Set(ByVal value As Form)
>            _dialogfrm = value
>        End Set
> End Property
>
> Thus, you could refer to the dialogfrm in the instance of Form1.
>
> If you have anything unclear, don't hesitate to get in touch. I look
> forward to your reply.
>
>
> Sincerely,
> Linda Liu
> Microsoft Online Community Support
>
> ====================================================
> When responding to posts,please "Reply to Group" via
> your newsreader so that others may learn and benefit
> from your issue.
> ====================================================
>

20 Jun 2006 3:14 AM

Linda Liu [MSFT]

Hi Ryan,

Thanks for your response. You're welcome!

If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to contact us. It is always
our pleasure to be of assistance.

Have a nice day!

Sincerely,
Linda Liu
Microsoft Online Community Support

====================================================
When responding to posts,please "Reply to Group" via
your newsreader so that others may learn and benefit
from your issue.
====================================================