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Get months and year from a combobox and put in a list

I have a 2 comboboxes that contain a month, year. I need to get a range of the months/years between the 2 combobox's.

combobox1=May,2013
combobox2=August,2013

So I would like a set a variable in a list that contains these dates in a date format.
Something like
Dim mydates As ArrayList
mydates.Add("May" & "2013")
mydates.Add("June" & "2013")
mydates.Add("July" & "2013")
mydates.Add("August" & "2013")

I just need these in a date format so I can use them late in a date function. I'm not sure how to calculate the range to put into the list.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Mike Tomlinson

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Ark

Just simplified way if
a) both combos have same date set
b) dates are in continuous ascending order (month by month without skips)

    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        Dim months = System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture.DateTimeFormat.MonthNames
        Dim years = "2012,2013,2014".Split(","c)
        For Each y In years
            For Each m In months.Where(Function(x) x <> "")
                ComboBox1.Items.Add(m & "," & y)
                ComboBox2.Items.Add(m & "," & y)
            Next
        Next
        ComboBox1.SelectedIndex = 0
        ComboBox2.SelectedIndex = 0
    End Sub

    Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        Dim dtStart As Date
        Dim lstDates As New List(Of Date)
        If DateTime.TryParseExact(ComboBox1.Items(0), "MMMM,yyyy",
                                  Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
                                  Globalization.DateTimeStyles.None,
                                  dtStart) Then
            For i = ComboBox1.SelectedIndex To ComboBox2.SelectedIndex
                lstDates.Add(dtStart.AddMonths(i))
            Next
        End If
        MsgBox("You select: " & vbCrLf & String.Join(vbCrLf, (From x In lstDates Select x.ToString("MMMM,yyyy"))))
    End Sub

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Actually, in this case (when a) and b) are true, or at least b) is true) you can store just combo indexes. When form is loaded, you can get baseDate=DateTime.ParseExact(combo1.items(0))
and then use in a date function like
For i=firstComboIndex to secondComboIndex
YourDateFunction(baseDate.AddMonth(i))
Next

If combos have different date set, you can use

Dim baseDate = New Date(2010,1,1)
combo1Offset = 24 'months - assuming combo1 starts from Jan,2012
combo2Offset = 30 'months - assuming combo2 starts from Jul,2012

For i=firstComboIndex+combo1Offset to secondComboIndex + combo2Offset
YourDateFunction(baseDate.AddMonth(i))
Next

chadmanvb

ASKER

Thanks! That worked great.