Question

I am trying to create controls at runtime by using an XML file. How would I access these controls after creating them with names specified by the XML file?

For instance, if I had a series of controls in an XML file:

<control id="0" type="textbox">
   <param id="0" type="(name)">DynamicTextbox</param>
   <param id="1" type="location">100,73</param>
   <param id="2" type="size">119,20</param>
</control>
<control id="1" type="button">
   <param id="0" type="(name)">DynamicButton</param>
   <param id="1" type="location">200,82</param>
   <param id="2" type="size">78,50</param>
</control>

If I designed the UI in design mode, and I didn’t use the XML file, I could simply call the controls with their respective names.

DynamicTextbox.location = new Point(100,73);
DynamicTextbox.size = new Size(119,20);

DynamicButton.location = new Point(200,82);
DynamicButton.size = new Size(78,50);

Since I am creating the controls at runtime, how would I access them with those names?

Thanks!

Answer 1

I take it you are adding the control to a UI element? YOu should be able to access them through that. So in WinForms you might have something like…

TextBox tb = new TextBox();
tb.Name = "DynamicTextbox";
Panel1.Controls.Add(tb);

TextBox tb = (TextBox)Panel1.Controls["DynamicTextbox"];

If this doesn’t help then let us know what type of application you are working with (WinForms, WPF, ASP.NET etc.)