Question

Hey all i have created dynamic buttons at runtime and i would like to disable them when a user clicks on a form button.

This is the code i have for that button:

Dim intXX As Integer = 0

Do Until intXX = intX
    userAvatar(intXX).Enabled = False
    intXX = intXX + 1
Loop

The buttonNames is an array of all populated button names created at runtime. However, trying the .enabled = false at the end of that does not work. What other ways are there to do that with buttons created at runtime?

How i create the buttons are like this:

private sub createButton()
Dim personAvatar As New PictureBox

With personAvatar 
        .AutoSize = False                        '>                        ^

        If intX = 7 Then
            thePrviousAvatarImg = 0
        End If

        If intX <= 6 Then
            .Location = New System.Drawing.Point(10 + thePrviousAvatarImg, 10)
        ElseIf intX >= 7 And intX <= 14 Then
            .Location = New System.Drawing.Point(10 + thePrviousAvatarImg, 150)
        Else
            Exit Sub
        End If

        .Name = "cmd" & nameOfPerson
        .Size = New System.Drawing.Size(100, 100)
        .TabStop = False
        .Text = ""
        .BorderStyle = BorderStyle.FixedSingle
        .BackgroundImageLayout = ImageLayout.Center
        .BackColor = Color.LightGray
        .BackgroundImage = Image.FromFile(theAvatarDir)
        .Tag = nameOfPerson
        .BringToFront()
    End With

    AddHandler personAvatar.Click, AddressOf personAvatar_Click
    Me.Controls.Add(personAvatar)
    userAvatar(intX) = personAvatar
    intX = intX + 1
End With
End Sub

Thanks for your time and help!

David

Answer 1

You can’t refer to button objects using a string representation of their names. Instead of using buttonNames (which I assume is an array of strings), use an array of buttons and add each button to that. Then loop through that array (as you’ve done here) setting enabled = false on each one.

So before you create each picture box, declare an array to store them:

Dim MyPictureBoxes() as PictureBox

Then as you create each one, add them to the array. When you’re done creating them, you can disable them like this:

For Each MyPictureBox In MyPictureBoxes
    Debug.Print(MyPictureBox.Name)
    MyPictureBox.enabled = False
Next

I’ve created a form with two buttons, cmdGo and cmdDisable, to demonstrate this more completely:

Public Class Form1
    Dim MyPictureBoxes(4) As PictureBox

    Private Sub cmdGo_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles cmdGo.Click
        Dim personAvatar As New PictureBox
        Dim intX As Integer = 0

        While intX < 5
            personAvatar = New PictureBox
            With personAvatar
                .AutoSize = False
                .Left = intX * 100
                .Top = 100
                .Name = "cmd" & intX
                .Size = New System.Drawing.Size(100, 100)
                .TabStop = False
                .Text = ""
                .BorderStyle = BorderStyle.FixedSingle
                .BackgroundImageLayout = ImageLayout.Center
                .BackColor = Color.LightGray
                .BringToFront()
            End With

            Me.Controls.Add(personAvatar)
            MyPictureBoxes(intX) = personAvatar
            intX = intX + 1
        End While
    End Sub

    Private Sub cmdDisable_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles cmdDisable.Click
        For Each MyPictureBox In MyPictureBoxes
            Debug.Print(MyPictureBox.Name)
            MyPictureBox.Enabled = False
        Next
    End Sub
End Class

Notice how MyPictureBoxes is scoped for the whole form so it’s accessible to both subs.