formatting of data in list box in vb 2008

[sazd1]

I am new to vb 2008. i have four textboxes. and the data is displayed in a listbox in four columns. but the columns are not formatted. like the data shows like this. Order1 23 3 23.2 new order1 25 3 54 Order4 54 4 52.3 as you see the columns are not formatted. kindly advise me how to format columns in listbox so that data is aligned in a proper format.

[Lost User]

Use a fixed-width font, such as "Courier New" :)

I are troll :)

[Henry Minute]

Google for TabbedListbox

Henry Minute Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?" “I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.”

[sazd1]

thanks for your advice. I tried that font of COURIER NEW. but the result is same. the columns data is not formatted. kindly give some other idea. or is there any option in listbox properties to align the data in columns.

[Lost User]

Using a different font won't change the formatting. You can add spaces to the text so that it aligns nicely. Not a good solution, but rather a quick-fix. A better solution is provided here[^], based on the MultiColumn property, along with a sample. This puts items in multiple columns, but those can't be considered as rows - it's a list of multiple items that continues on the second column once the first column runs out of rows. Lastly, you could consider exchanging the ListBox for a ListView. That one does columns :)

I are troll :)

[sazd1]

so there is no option for alignment of data in columns in listbox. to add spaces is difficult. because the data is being transferred from tables and there is text of different in each row and column. like: Coca Cola Normal Sprite Fanta Pepsi Coca Cola Zero so it is not possible to add spaces. can anybody have any idea to fix the problem of aligning the data in columns in listbox in vb2008

[Dave Kreskowiak]

ListBox supports a MultiColumn[^] property that sounds like it might do what you need.

A guide to posting questions on CodeProject[^]
Dave Kreskowiak Microsoft MVP Visual Developer - Visual Basic
     2006, 2007, 2008

[Lost User]

sazd1 wrote:

so there is no option for alignment of data in columns in listbox.

It's meant as a list. If you try this;

ListBox1.MultiColumn = True
Dim i As Integer
For i = 1 To 40
ListBox1.Items.Add("Test " & i)
Next i

You'll get a list of multiple items, stacked like this (that's assuming that your list has a height that has enough room for six items);

Test 1 Test 7 Test 13
Test 2 Test 8 Test 14
Test 3 Test 9 Test 15
Test 4 Test 10 Test 16
Test 5 Test 11 Test 17
Test 6 Test 12 Test 18

sazd1 wrote:

to add spaces is difficult.

I have made you a short example on that;

    \[...\]
    ListBox1.MultiColumn = False
    ListBox1.Font = New Font( \_
        System.Drawing.FontFamily.GenericMonospace, \_
        ListBox1.Font.Size, \_
        ListBox1.Font.Style, \_
        ListBox1.Font.Unit)
    Dim j As Integer
    For j = 1 To 20
        ListBox1.Items.Add(AsFixedColumnText("Test " & j, 8) & \_
                           Space(3) & \_
                           AsFixedColumnText(Date.Now(), 8) & \_
                           Space(3) & \_
                           AsFixedColumnText("Hello", 3))
    Next j

End Sub

Public Function AsFixedColumnText(ByVal text As String, ByVal length As Integer)
    If String.IsNullOrEmpty(text) Then
        Return Space(length)
    Else
        Return (text & Space(length)).Substring(0, length - 1)
    End If
End Function

This should give you an output that's formatted in columns, similar to this;

Test 1 5/7/200 He
Test 2 5/7/200 He
Test 3 5/7/200 He
Test 4 5/7/200 He
Test 5 5/7/200 He
Test 6 5/7/200 He
Test 7 5/7/200 He
Test 8 5/7/200 He
Test 9 5/7/200 He
Test 10 5/7/200 He
Test 11 5/7/200 He
Test 12 5/7/200 He
Test 13 5/7/200 He
Test 14 5/7/200 He
Test 15 5/7/200 He
Test 16 5/7/200 He
Test 17 5/7/200 He
Test 18 5/7/200 He
Test 19 5/7/200 He
Test 20 5/7/200 He

Still, I don't think that this is the ideal solution. Is there any way that you can promote the ListBox to a ListView? Or even a DataGridView?

I are troll :)