Refreshig a form with dynamic buttons.

[Rudyvb08]

Hello all! So I'm having a little problem refreshing dynamic buttons on a form. I'm slowly making progress, but I want to make sure I'm doing it the right way, or maybe there is a better way. So here is some code. So this gets the data from the database so we know what buttons to load, etc,

Private Function GetButtonData() As List(Of ButtonInfo)
Dim constr As New SqlConnection(PVDBConn)
'Dim PVDBConn As New SqlConnection("")
'cmdUpd = New SqlCommand("SelVisName", constr)
cmdUpd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure

    Dim lst As New List(Of ButtonInfo)

    Dim da As New SqlDataAdapter("SELECT VisId, VisName, VisEnabled, VisFlag, visPort, VisCpuName FROM tblVis ORDER BY VisId", constr)

    Dim t As New DataTable

    Try
        constr.Open()
        'PVDBConn.Open()

        da.Fill(t)

        For Each r As DataRow In t.Rows


            lst.Add(New ButtonInfo(CInt(r("VisId")), CStr(r("VisName")), CBool(r("VisEnabled")), CBool(r("VisFlag")), CStr(r("VisPort")), CStr(r("VisCpuName"))))

        Next

Here is the code that will load the buttons on the form. I have this procedure in the OnLoad event of the form. This is the first form and the main form of the program.

Private Sub GetButtonOnScreen()
GetButtonData()

    Buttons = GetButtonData()

    For Each bi As ButtonInfo In Buttons

        If bi.Enabled Then
            'Dim prtLabel As New Label,


            ' MsgBox(prtLabel.Text.ToString)
            Dim newbutton As New Button



            'this is were it determines the color is red or blue
            If bi.HasChanges Then
                newbutton.Image = My.Resources.pvmetal2red
            Else
                newbutton.Image = My.Resources.pvmetal3


            End If
            newbutton.Text = bi.VisText

            Dim MinFont As New Font("arial", 12, FontStyle.Bold)
            newbutton.Font = MinFont


            newbutton.TextAlign = ContentAlignment.MiddleCenter

            newbutton.Tag = bi

            newbutton.Width = 102


            newbutton.Height = 42

            newbutton.BackColor = Color.AliceBlue

            'Plus 80 for Top

            newbutton.Top = 80 '+ (0 + bi.VisId)

            newbutton.Left = -95 + (100 \* bi.VisId)


            If newbutton.Left >= 906 Then

[Covean]

You using the button_id to determine the left position of your button... Thats really cruel ... if I may say so. On the other hand you can do your   "If newbutton.Left >= 906 Then" in a loop, but I think you should have a break and think about what way you should choose to determine the left position. [edit] I meant left position not top. [/edit]

modified on Thursday, October 29, 2009 11:11 AM

[Ian Shlasko]

Ouch... Ok, let me try to understand this... You have a series of buttons defined in your database, and you're trying to lay them out in a left-to-right, top-to-bottom format... I think you need to come at this from a different angle. Let's set aside the actual coordinates for a second, and think of how you want to lay it out.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

Something this simple has to have a pattern, and that's what algorithms are all about. Now, if you're doing this in a static grid (As in all the controls are the same size, and all of the rows have the same number of controls), this becomes REALLY simple. Instead of using the "visid" to calculate the "Left", use it to figure out what row and column you're in. Row Number = ID / Number of Controls in Row, rounded down Column Number = ID Mod Number of Controls in Row (Mod = modulus operator. A Mod B = Remainder when calculating A/B) Example, using above grid: ID = 17 Column Count (Number of controls in row) = 10 Row number = 17 / 10 = 1.7, rounded down to 1 -- Row 1 (Second row, since first is zero) Column number = 17 Mod 10 = 7 -- Column 7 (8th column) See where I'm going with this?

Proud to have finally moved to the A-Ark. Which one are you in? Developer, Author (Guardians of Xen)

[Rudyvb08]

Hi Guys! Wow! I wasn't even thinking that was my problem. But I'll do anything to make it better. So Ian, ID=17 refers to how many rows I will have. In my database, I have an ENABLED column. So if there is a TRUE value, than the button will be built. Your right about the layout, that's exactly how I will have it. But I also need to have it so if button 23, 24, 25 is not loaded, there will be a empty space there. So each button is always locked to it's location, so if I want two groups, I can have 1 to 20 and then 40 to 60. And I have a big gap between 20 to 40. Thanks for your help! Rudy

[Ian Shlasko]

Well, if you use the VisId field as the ID in the calculation I posted, that's exactly what you'll get. Of course, if your buttons start at 1, you might want to subtract 1 so it starts at the top-left corner. Since the formulas are based on the ID, and not just counting through as they go, any missing IDs will cause it to skip a spot.

Proud to have finally moved to the A-Ark. Which one are you in? Developer, Author (Guardians of Xen)

[Rudyvb08]

Thanks Ian! I'll give it a shot. May have to bug you if I get stuck writing out the code. Thanks again! Rudy :-D