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Adding a MenuStrip to a Form. Hands Only

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As can be clearly seen from the survey Ravikanth conducted here http://www.ravichaganti.com/blog/?p=2111 , the great majority of powershellers do write GUI. Moreover, there is no common universal tool. Every powersheller chooses the way one creates user interface.

Well, why don’t we create a small example by using just bare hands. Let’s do our preparation. A recipe is simple: a bit of text editor (Intellisense-enabled is preferable), a piece of rich text or even a text file, and a keyboard.

Supposedly, we need a form with a menu (two-level one, not to be considered as a simpleton), a label and a textbox. The user should be able to manage content of textbox using menu.

There is two ways to create a form:

1.1 by using PrimalForms:

#Generated Form Function
function GenerateForm { 
########################################################################
 # Code Generated By: SAPIEN Technologies PrimalForms (Community Edition) v1.0.10.0
 # Generated On: 26/04/2011 09:43 p.m.
 # Generated By: apetrovskiy
 ########################################################################

#region Import the Assemblies 
[reflection.assembly]::loadwithpartialname("System.Windows.Forms") | Out-Null
[reflection.assembly]::loadwithpartialname("System.Drawing") | Out-Null
#endregion
#region Generated Form Objects 
$form1=New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Form
$textBox1=New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
$label1=New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label
$InitialFormWindowState=New-Object System.Windows.Forms.FormWindowState
#endregion Generated Form Objects 
#region Generated Form Code 
$System_Drawing_Size=New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Height =262
$System_Drawing_Size.Width =284
$form1.ClientSize=$System_Drawing_Size
$form1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode=0
$form1.Name="form1"
$form1.Text="Primal Form"
$textBox1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode=0
$System_Drawing_Point=New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X =34
$System_Drawing_Point.Y =82
$textBox1.Location=$System_Drawing_Point
$textBox1.Name="textBox1"
$System_Drawing_Size=New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Height =20
$System_Drawing_Size.Width =195
$textBox1.Size=$System_Drawing_Size
$textBox1.TabIndex=1
$form1.Controls.Add($textBox1) 
$label1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode=0
$System_Drawing_Point=New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X =36
$System_Drawing_Point.Y =45
$label1.Location=$System_Drawing_Point
$label1.Name="label1"
$System_Drawing_Size=New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Height =22
$System_Drawing_Size.Width =177
$label1.Size=$System_Drawing_Size
$label1.TabIndex=0
$label1.Text="label1"
$form1.Controls.Add($label1) 
#endregion Generated Form Code 
#Save the initial state of the form
$InitialFormWindowState=$form1.WindowState
#Init the OnLoad event to correct the initial state of the form
$form1.add_Load($OnLoadForm_StateCorrection) 
#Show the Form
$form1.ShowDialog() | Out-Null } 
#End Function
#Call the Function
GenerateForm

1.2 by typing the following code:

[System.Windows.Forms.Form]$form1=`
New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Form; 
[System.Windows.Forms.Label]$label1=`
New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label; 
$label1.Name="label1"; 
$label1.Text="label1"; 
$label1.Left=20; 
$label1.Top=50; 
[System.Windows.Forms.TextBox]$textbox1=`
New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TextBox; 
$textbox1.Name="textbox1"; 
$textbox1.Left=20; 
$textbox1.Top=100; 
$form1.Name="form1"; 
$form1.Controls.Add($label1); 
$form1.Controls.Add($textbox1); 
$form1.ShowDialog() | Out-Null;

All our further actions are insertions to be written above the string  $form1.ShowDialog()

2. Now we add the following simple function:

function addMenuItem 
{ 
param([ref]$ParentItem, 
[string]$ItemName='', 
[string]$ItemText='', 
[scriptblock]$ScriptBlock=$null 
) 
[System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem]$private:menuItem=`
New-Object System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem; 
$private:menuItem.Name =$ItemName; 
$private:menuItem.Text =$ItemText; 
if ($ScriptBlock -ne $null) 
{ $private:menuItem.add_Click(([System.EventHandler]$handler=`
$ScriptBlock)); } 
if (($ParentItem.Value) -is [System.Windows.Forms.MenuStrip]) 
{ ($ParentItem.Value).Items.Add($private:menuItem); } 
if (($ParentItem.Value) -is [System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem]) 
{ ($ParentItem.Value).DropDownItems.Add($private:menuItem); } 
return $private:menuItem; 
}

The function receives a reference to the parent menu item, the name and the label chosen for a new menu element, and, if nesessary, scriptblock. Don’t pass a scriptblock to menuitems that are not at the lowest leel of your menu hierarhy.

3. After that it’s time to add a MenuStrip:

[System.Windows.Forms.MenuStrip]$mainMenu=New-Object System.Windows.Forms.MenuStrip; 
$form1.Controls.Add($mainMenu);

If we run our form now, we can see a hardly visible (depending on your color schema) strip at the top of the $form1.

4. Now we can add handlers form menu items. To simplify the example, our handlers are scriptblocks. I wrote one, crischening it as $sb1. Undoubtedly, by searching for $mainMenu in ObjectBrowser untidy code you may find more examples.

[scriptblock]$sb1= { 
#your code
}

5. Finally, we add menu items (see sample code for more details):

#region File 
(addMenuItem -ParentItem ([ref]$mainMenu) -ItemName 'mnuFile' -ItemText 'File' -ScriptBlock $null) | %{ 
$null=addMenuItem -ParentItem ([ref]$_) -ItemName 'mnuFileOpen' -ItemText 'Open' -ScriptBlock $sb1; 
$null=addMenuItem -ParentItem ([ref]$_) -ItemName 'mnuFileSave' -ItemText 'Save' -ScriptBlock $null; 
$null=addMenuItem -ParentItem ([ref]$_) -ItemName 'mnuFileExit' -ItemText 'Exit' -ScriptBlock $null;} | Out-Null; 
#endregion File

Today’s code attached here.

Written by Alexander Petrovskiy

April 26, 2011 at 6:47 pm

Posted in addMenuItem function, DropDownItems.Add, Items.Add, Powershell, System.EventHandler, System.Windows.Forms.Form, System.Windows.Forms.MenuStrip, System.Windows.Forms.OpenFileDialog, System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem, WinForms

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How to deal with a ComboBox control

with 6 comments

There is a very simple, but very useful control. It may

– be filled dynamically and manually

– accept user input (to disable user input is also possibly)

– pass its data to another control by user’s choice.

Well, let’s list what we are going to do with a combobox today:

1) accept value from a single textbox (by clicking a button)

2) accept values from multiple textboxes (from two of them by clicking a button)

3) accept user input and add it to the list (and discuss how to disable user input)

4) clear the list

5) use a value of user’s choise to set a value of one another control (the caption of the form)

6) Intellisense on user input

7) sorting items

If it’s enough, now turn to coding. Traditionally, the code bundle is attached in the box at right and it’s named, not surprisingly, HowToDealWithAComboBoxControl.zip.

The first our topic is how to accept user input. The following lines of code are taken from the $handler_button1_Click eventhandler:

    $comboBox1.Items.Add($textBox1.Text);
    $comboBox1.Items.AddRange(($textBox1.Text, $textBox2.Text));
    $comboBox1.Items.Add($comboBox1.Text);

In all three cases, data, usually of string type, is added by using such methods as Add(item) or AddRange(array of items). As can be seen, both methods are very easy to use.

Next, how we can prevent typing into a combobox? The answer is to set the DropDownStyle property:

$comboBox1.DropDownStyle =
    [System.Windows.Forms.ComboBoxStyle]::DropDownList;

After that, how to clean up our combobox?

$comboBox1.Items.Clear();
   
Next, how to grab a value from inside the user input?

$form1.Text = $comboBox1.Text;

How to sort data?

$comboBox1.Sorted = $true;

At last, how to use Intellisense? Please note, the DropDownStyle property should be set to System.Windows.Forms.ComboBoxStyle]::DropDown.

$comboBox1.AutoCompleteCustomSource.Add("System.Windows.Forms");
$comboBox1.AutoCompleteCustomSource.AddRange(("System.Data", "Microsoft"));
$comboBox1.AutoCompleteMode =
    [System.Windows.Forms.AutoCompleteMode]::SuggestAppend;
$comboBox1.AutoCompleteSource =
    [System.Windows.Forms.AutoCompleteSource]::CustomSource;

To test the Intellisense that is tuned above, type m or s in the combobox.

The whole sample is below:

#Generated Form Function
function GenerateForm {
########################################################################
# Code Generated By: SAPIEN Technologies PrimalForms (Community Edition) v1.0.8.0
# Generated On: 21.07.2010 1:32
# Generated By: Administrator
########################################################################

#region Import the Assemblies
[reflection.assembly]::loadwithpartialname("System.Windows.Forms") | Out-Null
[reflection.assembly]::loadwithpartialname("System.Drawing") | Out-Null
#endregion

#region Generated Form Objects
$form1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Form
$button1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button
$button2 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button
$textBox2 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
$textBox1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
$comboBox1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox
$InitialFormWindowState = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.FormWindowState
#endregion Generated Form Objects

#----------------------------------------------
#Generated Event Script Blocks
#----------------------------------------------
#Provide Custom Code for events specified in PrimalForms.
    #region $handler_comboBox1_SelectedIndexChanged
$handler_comboBox1_SelectedIndexChanged=
{
#TODO: Place custom script here
    try{
    if ($comboBox1.Text.Length -gt 0)
    {
        $form1.Text = $comboBox1.Text;
    }
    }catch{} #in case no items are available
}
    #endregion $handler_comboBox1_SelectedIndexChanged
    #region $handler_button1_Click
$handler_button1_Click=
{
#TODO: Place custom script here
    try{
    #How to add one item
    #$textBox1.Text
    if ($textBox1.Text.Length -gt 0 -and `
        $textBox2.Text.Length -eq 0)
    {
        $comboBox1.Items.Add($textBox1.Text);
        Write-Host "Added " $textBox1.Text "from `$textBox1";
    }
    #$textBox2.Text
    elseif ($textBox1.Text.Length -eq 0 -and `
        $textBox2.Text.Length -gt 0)
    {
        $comboBox1.Items.Add($textBox2.Text);
        Write-Host "Added " $textBox2.Text "from `$textBox2";
    }
    #$textBox1.Text and $textBox2.Text
    elseif ($textBox1.Text.Length -gt 0 -and `
        $textBox2.Text.Length -gt 0)
    {
        $comboBox1.Items.AddRange(($textBox1.Text, $textBox2.Text));
        Write-Host "Added " $textBox1.Text "from `$textBox1";
        Write-Host "Added " $textBox2.Text "from `$textBox2";
    }
    else
    {
        #Nothing to add
        #$textBox1.Text.Length -eq 0
        #$textBox2.Text.Length -eq 0
    }
    #At last, if the user typed something
    if ($comboBox1.Text.Length -gt 0)
    {
        $comboBox1.Items.Add($comboBox1.Text);
        Write-Host "Added " $comboBox1.Text "from `$comboBox1";
    }
    }catch{} #for example, no data in the both textboxes
}
    #endregion $handler_button1_Click
    #region $handler_button2_Click
$handler_button2_Click=
{
#TODO: Place custom script here
    try{
    #Clean up the combo box
    $comboBox1.Items.Clear();
    $comboBox1.Text = "";
    }catch{}
}
    #endregion $handler_button2_Click
$OnLoadForm_StateCorrection=
{#Correct the initial state of the form to prevent the .Net maximized form issue
    $form1.WindowState = $InitialFormWindowState
}

#----------------------------------------------
#region Generated Form Code
    #region $form1
$form1.Text = "Primal Form"
$form1.Name = "form1"
$form1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 282
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 220
$form1.ClientSize = $System_Drawing_Size
    #endregion $form1
    #region $button1
$button1.TabIndex = 3
$button1.Name = "button1"
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 70
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 30
$button1.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
$button1.UseVisualStyleBackColor = $True
$button1.Text = "button1"
$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X = 195
$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 160
$button1.Location = $System_Drawing_Point
$button1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0
$button1.add_Click($handler_button1_Click)
$form1.Controls.Add($button1)
    #endregion $button1
    #region $button2
$button2.TabIndex = 4
$button2.Name = "button2"
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 70
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 30
$button2.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
$button2.UseVisualStyleBackColor = $True
$button2.Text = "button2"
$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X = 15
$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 160
$button2.Location = $System_Drawing_Point
$button2.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0
$button2.add_Click($handler_button2_Click)
$form1.Controls.Add($button2)
    #endregion $button2
    #region $textBox1
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 250
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 20
$textBox1.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
$textBox1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0
$textBox1.Name = "textBox1"
$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X = 15
$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 70
$textBox1.Location = $System_Drawing_Point
$textBox1.TabIndex = 1
$form1.Controls.Add($textBox1)
    #endregion $textBox1
    #region $textBox2
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 250
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 20
$textBox2.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
$textBox2.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0
$textBox2.Name = "textBox2"
$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X = 15
$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 120
$textBox2.Location = $System_Drawing_Point
$textBox2.TabIndex = 2
$form1.Controls.Add($textBox2)
    #endregion $textBox2
    #region $comboBox1
$comboBox1.FormattingEnabled = $True
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 250
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 21
$comboBox1.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
$comboBox1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0
$comboBox1.Name = "comboBox1"
$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X = 15
$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 20
$comboBox1.Location = $System_Drawing_Point
$comboBox1.TabIndex = 0
$comboBox1.add_SelectedIndexChanged($handler_comboBox1_SelectedIndexChanged)

$comboBox1.DropDownStyle =
    [System.Windows.Forms.ComboBoxStyle]::DropDown;
$comboBox1.Sorted = $true;

$comboBox1.AutoCompleteCustomSource.Add("System.Windows.Forms");
$comboBox1.AutoCompleteCustomSource.AddRange(("System.Data", "Microsoft"));
$comboBox1.AutoCompleteMode =
    [System.Windows.Forms.AutoCompleteMode]::SuggestAppend;
$comboBox1.AutoCompleteSource =
    [System.Windows.Forms.AutoCompleteSource]::CustomSource;

$form1.Controls.Add($comboBox1)
    #endregion $comboBox1
#endregion Generated Form Code

#Save the initial state of the form
$InitialFormWindowState = $form1.WindowState
#Init the OnLoad event to correct the initial state of the form
$form1.add_Load($OnLoadForm_StateCorrection)
#Show the Form
$form1.ShowDialog()| Out-Null

} #End Function

#Call the Function
GenerateForm

Written by Alexander Petrovskiy

July 20, 2010 at 8:54 pm

Posted in add_SelectedIndexChanged, Items.Add, Items.AddRange, Powershell, PowerShell sample, System.Windows.Forms.AutoCompleteMode, System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox, System.Windows.Forms.ComboBoxStyle, System.Windows.Forms.Form, WinForms

Tagged with ,

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