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Show all textbox name properties on a form...

Hi,

Is there a good way of showing all the name properties for a form.

What I want to do is see all the variable names... Instead of clicking each one and writing it down I was wondering if there was a built in method or a program to download.

tnx
~j
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Dirk Haest
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Where do you want to see all the variable names ? What exactly do you mean ?

Retrieve, Change, or Create Program Information
http://visualbasic.about.com/od/usingvbnet/a/proginfo.htm
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ahmad2121

It's all in the designer files. Just open the designer, and look for every instance of .Name.
What do you mean with "name properties" ?
Looks like you need a PropertyGrid
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ASKER

It was hastly put together...  here's some clarification...

I have forms with 50+ textboxes and instead of clicking each individual box and writing down the variable name it would be cool (and time-saving) if there was a way to print out the form with the property:(Name) on it.    

I printed the Document Outline which helps a bit but it still isn't what I want.

ahmad2121:  Yes I know it is, but I also have 11.000 other controls and crap on the form that makes that view slightly skewed without sorting through it.

jaime_olivares: Well I mean the Property called "Name" for the textboxes, checkboxes, dropdowns etc.  

tnx
~j
Use LINQ and Visual Basic 2008 to Get a List of TextBoxes from a Windows Forms Form
http://cs.vbcity.com/blogs/mike-mcintyre/archive/2008/09/01/use-linq-and-visual-basic-2008-to-get-a-list-of-textboxes-from-a-windows-forms-form.aspx
' Create a LINQ query.
 
        Dim textBoxQuery = From control In Me.Controls Where TypeOf (control) Is TextField
 
        ' Create a list of object.
 
        Dim textBoxList = textBoxQuery.ToList
 
        ' Iterate through the objects in textBoxList.
        For Each txtBox As TextBox In testBoxList
            ' Show each TextBox's name property.
            MessageBox.Show(txtBox.Name)
            ' Show each TextBox's text property.
            MessageBox.Show(txtBox.Text)
 
        Next

Open in new window

>>Yes I know it is, but I also have 11.000 other controls and crap on the form that makes that view slightly skewed without sorting through it.
Sound like you are not organizing well your dialog. A datagrid or propertygrid will give you similar functionality in a single control.
More than 100 controls in a form is against any UI design recommendation.
You can also do it without linq:

Dim ctrl As Control
        For Each ctrl In Me.Controls
            If TypeOf ctrl Is TextBox Then 
                  MessageBox.Show(ctrl.Name)
        Next

Open in new window

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ASKER

Jeeezzz....

jaime_olivares: Thanks for your comment on my organizational skills, if I needed a lecture I would have asked my wife's opinion...  Obviously I was exaggerating....

Dhaest:   Right, but that doesn't really do more that the Document Outline gives me...  

What I would love to see was a program or utility to print the form and overlay the variable names (in this case the Property:Name)...

I guess it's up to me to build it.

tnx
~j
>>Thanks for your comment on my organizational skills, if I needed a lecture I would have asked my wife's opinion...
Even if you have 100 controls, my comments about thinking in another integrated control like datagrid or propertygrid is still valid. Sometimes the solution to a question is different than your initial expectation.
This kind of answers just contribute to discourage experts to continue helping you.

Besides this, there is not a property called Name, it is just simulated by VS form editor. Controls are stored as fields of form, so you can query by field name with reflection:

TextBox tb = this.GetType().GetField("FieldNameHere").GetValue(this) as TextBox;  // asumming 'this' is form itself
tb.Text = something.

So, if your information is inside a dictionary like:

Dictionary<string,string> allInfo= .....;  // key = textbox name, value=text

foreach (KeyValuePair<string,string> info in allInfo)
{
   TextBox tb = this.GetType().GetField(info.Key).GetValue(this) as TextBox;  // asumming 'this' is form itself
   if (tb != null)
   {
       tb.Text = info.Value;
   }
}
In what control, text, ... do you want to show all the names of the textbox ?

Example: list all names in a combobox

Dim ctrl As Control
        For Each ctrl In Me.Controls
            If TypeOf ctrl Is TextBox Then 
                  cbo.Items.Add(ctrl.Name)
        Next

Open in new window

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ASKER

I must be explaining myself completely wrong I guess...  (i am a freakin' foreigner so what did you expect :)

I don't want to show the variables in the program, I would like a way to see the form with the Name property displayed by each field to ease the creation of SQL statements etc.

My ideal solution would show the Form like a screenshot perhaps and with the Property 'overlayed' on each editable control such as checkboxes, text boxes, listboxes etc.  

~j
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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Dirk Haest
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ASKER

Document Outline is my only solution I guess... thanks anyway...

Enjoy the points!