Copy Control Values in an Array()

[DobyMoby]

Hello,
My question is not so simple:
I have a WindowsForm with a diffrent controls like: textboxes, comboboxes, checkboxes, datetimepickers, listview and so on...
How can i create temporary data at runtime in an array /I dont want to use My.Settings/ which will save all control values and when needed to reload them back from that specific array?
Thanks for any help!

[Reverend Jim]

Temporary data, by definition, does not need to be saved. If you are referring to saving in one session, then restoring it in another, you would use either My.Settings (which you don't seem to want to use) or some other external store like a database or other file. Typically you would store "like" values in arrays. Holw you store the data depends on the format of the data. Can you give us more details please?

[DobyMoby]

Well,
It depends of the user to fill the mensioned controls /32 in total/ on the form and temporary save those values in array until the moment of final save. Which means that I need and some point, by clicking a button 'Temp.Save' to store those number of values,then clear the form and when the user calls for stored data(Restore.Temp.save) for final correction to load the values again as they are at the store point!
I hope is not confusing...

[rproffitt]

Let me think back to my PalmOS apps. They had no My.Settings feature so I would have to add code that ran on a form load to read from saved settings.

All hand coded so here you are with an all too similar issue or feature you want to code up. So what's the next step? Write code now that you know what you want it to do.

In parting, this is likely done in your form.load event handler.

[Reverend Jim]

I find the Tag property to be a handy place to store things. Every control has this property and it is unused (available for custom use). Since it is common to all controls, you could just iterate through all of the controls on a form or in a group and just store your data there. For example

Private Sub btnSave_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnSave.Click

    For Each ctl As Control In Me.Controls
        ctl.Tag = ctl.Name
    Next

End Sub

Tags are not limited to just strings.

[xrjf]

The following code may be a poor solution, but as far as I know controls are not serializable unless having a custom serializable class for each type of control. This is a workaround. Another possibility could be to get properties through Reflexion, but again gaining complexity.

Imports System.IO
Imports System.Runtime.Serialization
Imports System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary

Public Class _De_Serialize

    Dim filePath As String = "C:\Users\Public\controls.dat"
    Private Sub btnSave_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnSave.Click
        Dim fs As FileStream = Nothing
        Try
            fs = New FileStream(filePath, FileMode.OpenOrCreate)
            Dim bf As New BinaryFormatter
            Dim cnt As Int32 = 0
            Dim vCtl(-1) As Control
            For Each ctr In Me.Controls
                ' ctls. having a numeric tag will be saved:'
                If IsNumeric(ctr.tag) Then
                    ReDim Preserve vCtl(cnt)
                    vCtl(cnt) = ctr
                    cnt += 1
                End If
            Next
            bf.Serialize(fs, cnt.ToString) ' save how many '
            For i = 0 To cnt - 1
                Dim ctr As Control = vCtl(i) ' next control to save'
                Dim sType As String = LCase(ctr.GetType.ToString)
                bf.Serialize(fs, sType)
                bf.Serialize(fs, ctr.Name.ToString)
                bf.Serialize(fs, ctr.Text)
                bf.Serialize(fs, ctr.Location.X.ToString)
                bf.Serialize(fs, ctr.Location.Y.ToString)
                '...eventually save more properties '
                Me.Controls.Remove(ctr)
            Next
        Catch ex As Exception
        Finally
            If fs IsNot Nothing Then
                fs.Close()
            End If
        End Try
    End Sub
    Private Sub btnRestore_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnRestore.Click
        Dim fs As FileStream = Nothing
        Try
            If Not IO.File.Exists(filePath) Then
                Exit Sub
            End If
            fs = New FileStream(filePath, FileMode.OpenOrCreate)
            Dim bf As New BinaryFormatter
            ' Get how many controls were saved: '
            Dim cnt As Int32 = Int32.Parse(bf.Deserialize(fs))
            For i As Int32 = 0 To cnt - 1
                Dim sType As String = bf.Deserialize(fs)
                Dim lbl As Label = Nothing
                Dim chkbox As CheckBox = Nothing
                Dim btn As Button = Nothing
                Dim ctr As Control = Nothing
                If InStr(sType, ".button") Then
                    btn = New Button
                    ctr = btn
                ElseIf InStr(sType, ".checkbox") Then
                    chkbox = New CheckBox
                    ctr = chkbox
                ElseIf InStr(sType, ".label") Then
                    lbl = New Label
                    ctr = lbl
                End If
                ctr.Tag = "1"
                ctr.Name = bf.Deserialize(fs)
                ctr.Text = bf.Deserialize(fs)
                Dim X As Int32 = Int32.Parse(bf.Deserialize(fs))
                Dim Y As Int32 = Int32.Parse(bf.Deserialize(fs))
                ctr.Location = New Point(X, Y)
                Me.Controls.Add(ctr)
            Next
        Catch ex As Exception
        Finally
            If fs IsNot Nothing Then
                fs.Close()
            End If
        End Try
    End Sub

End Class

[xrjf]

Below lines #32 and #72 you could add these two snippets in order to remember if the checkbox is checked or not.

                If InStr(sType, ".button") Then
                    bf.Serialize(fs, "")
                ElseIf InStr(sType, ".checkbox") Then
                    bf.Serialize(fs, CType(ctr, CheckBox).Checked.ToString)
                ElseIf InStr(sType, ".label") Then
                    bf.Serialize(fs, "")
                End If

                Dim checked As String = bf.Deserialize(fs)
                If InStr(sType, ".checkbox") Then
                    If checked = "True" Then
                        CType(ctr, CheckBox).Checked = True
                    Else
                        CType(ctr, CheckBox).Checked = False
                    End If
                End If