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Programatically design a formI want to replicate an Excel vba userform to a vb6 form. The form is very complex, as I'm forever redesigning it I build a new vba userforms from an array of control types and their properties stored in an excel worksheet. Something like this myArray = Excel-Worksheet-Range.Value ' control types & properties ' my array is 1 base, 2 dim's With ThisWorkbook.VBProject.VBComponents(sFormName).Designer For i = 1 To UBound(myArray) s = "Forms." & myArray (i, 1) & ".1" ' control classname ..Controls.Add (s) ..Controls(i - 1).Name = myArray (i, 2) etc I know how to get my array into vb, I also know I will need to change some vba classnames (eg Forms.CommandButton.1" ) and property types to their vb6 equivalents. However, and my question, how would I use this array it to design a vb6 form that I can save. TIA, Peter T On Tue, 5 Jul 2005 10:46:04 +0100, "Peter T" <peter_t@discussions> <snip>wrote: >I know how to get my array into vb, I also know I will need to change some You would save yourself a lot of grief if you looked into Control>vba classnames (eg Forms.CommandButton.1" ) and property types to their vb6 >equivalents. >However, and my question, how would I use this array it to design a vb6 form >that I can save. Arrays Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately it does not appear from Ken's response to
be possible to use a Control Array to create a form other than at run time, as opposed to a form that I can save which is what I want to do. Regards, Peter T Show quoteHide quote > >I know how to get my array into vb, I also know I will need to change some > >vba classnames (eg Forms.CommandButton.1" ) and property types to their vb6 > >equivalents. > >However, and my question, how would I use this array it to design a vb6 form > >that I can save. > > You would save yourself a lot of grief if you looked into Control > Arrays "Peter T" <peter_t@discussions> wrote in message You can only create "True" control arrays at design time. You can only news:OGfbm3XgFHA.2472@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl... > Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately it does not appear from Ken's response > to > be possible to use a Control Array to create a form other than at run > time, > as opposed to a form that I can save which is what I want to do. > > Regards, > Peter T create an array of controls at runtime (not a control array)... confusing? For example. Here's one of the event handlers for a "True" control array. Notice the Index argument. Private Sub Command1_Click(Index As Integer) End Sub There's no way to set up WithEvents to work with an array so controls added to an array at runtime, using Controls.Add won't be able to support events. There are ways around that.... anyway. There's no way to save a form, as a form, at runtime. You add the code to create the controls, and leave it there for good. Every time that form loads, all controls will be re-created. One issue is, VB is a fully compiled language. The concept of a "frm" or "frx" file no longer exists once it's compiled. That means you can't reallt save any results from anything you've done at runtime and expect that to be there the next time the form loads. To add controls to a "True" control array at runtime, use Load instead of Controls.Add... here's an extremely "bare bones" sample... Add Controls at Runtime http://www.vbsight.com/Code.htm ...to get event behavior from controls you add using Controls.Add, without setting a WithEvents variable for each, you can use something similar to the code shown in..... Share Events by using Implements http://www.vbsight.com/Code.htm Another that may help is... Add Controls at Runtime With Events (kind of) on that same page (time to break up that page and add better descriptions) -- Ken Halter - MS-MVP-VB - http://www.vbsight.com DLL Hell problems? Try ComGuard - http://www.vbsight.com/ComGuard.htm Please keep all discussions in the groups.. Thanks again Ken for your further explanation of the "confusing"
differences. Not sure if I am more or less confused <g> The examples you have made available for download are much appreciated. Now to digest. Regards, Peter T Show quoteHide quote > > Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately it does not appear from Ken's > > response to be possible to use a Control Array to create a form > > other than at run time, as opposed to a form that I can save > > which is what I want to do. > > You can only create "True" control arrays at design time. You can only > create an array of controls at runtime (not a control array)... confusing? > For example. Here's one of the event handlers for a "True" control array. > Notice the Index argument. > > Private Sub Command1_Click(Index As Integer) > > End Sub > > There's no way to set up WithEvents to work with an array so controls added > to an array at runtime, using Controls.Add won't be able to support events. > There are ways around that.... anyway. There's no way to save a form, as a > form, at runtime. You add the code to create the controls, and leave it > there for good. Every time that form loads, all controls will be re-created. > One issue is, VB is a fully compiled language. The concept of a "frm" or > "frx" file no longer exists once it's compiled. That means you can't reallt > save any results from anything you've done at runtime and expect that to be > there the next time the form loads. > > To add controls to a "True" control array at runtime, use Load instead of > Controls.Add... here's an extremely "bare bones" sample... > > Add Controls at Runtime > http://www.vbsight.com/Code.htm > > ..to get event behavior from controls you add using Controls.Add, without > setting a WithEvents variable for each, you can use something similar to the > code shown in..... > > Share Events by using Implements > http://www.vbsight.com/Code.htm > > Another that may help is... Add Controls at Runtime With Events (kind of) on > that same page (time to break up that page and add better descriptions) > > > -- > Ken Halter - MS-MVP-VB - http://www.vbsight.com > DLL Hell problems? Try ComGuard - http://www.vbsight.com/ComGuard.htm > Please keep all discussions in the groups.. > > Ken Halter wrote:
Show quoteHide quote > "Peter T" <peter_t@discussions> wrote in message And didnt that piss me off mightily when I had to have 11 controls set @ > news:OGfbm3XgFHA.2472@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl... > >>Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately it does not appear from Ken's response >>to >>be possible to use a Control Array to create a form other than at run >>time, >>as opposed to a form that I can save which is what I want to do. >> >>Regards, >>Peter T > > > You can only create "True" control arrays at design time. You can only > create an array of controls at runtime (not a control array)... confusing? > For example. Here's one of the event handlers for a "True" control array. > Notice the Index argument. > > Private Sub Command1_Click(Index As Integer) > > End Sub > > There's no way to set up WithEvents to work with an array so controls added > to an array at runtime, using Controls.Add won't be able to support events. runtime with 11 different event handlers :( Of course all the event handlers called the same method passing a diff param each time but thats beside the point :) JB <snip> I don't wish to hijack this thread, but the replies all sound
as though they suggest a solution to a problem I've had for some time, and have had to solve through brute force. In my office, we have structural drafters and civil drafters, all of whom draw using a CAD program. There is an office application (VBA-based, not VB) that has a multi-page control. The problem is that, although large blocks of code and several of the pages are the same between the two groups, quite a bit is different. I originally started to write the app and displayed, or hid, those pages that didn't apply to whichever group was using the program. Here's the rub - At some point, I started getting out-of-memory errors. These could be cured by deleting some controls from my form, so I deduced (assumed) I had reached some limit as to the number of controls. After unsuccessfully trying to solve the problem, I split the app into TWO apps. Of course, now I have large blocks of code that have to be updated TWICE. So, my question is...Is it possible to somehow load an entire page, along with a bunch of controls ON that page AND the associated code, from a file on disk at runtime? This way, once my app starts and determines which group the drafter belongs to, it could load only the pertinent pages/controls/code into my form. TIA for any help and suggestions. And now, back to the regularly-scheduled thread... Ken Halter wrote: > "Peter T" <peter_t@discussions> wrote in message [snip]> news:OGfbm3XgFHA.2472@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl... > > You can only create "True" control arrays at design time. You can only > create an array of controls at runtime (not a control array)... > confusing? For example. Here's one of the event handlers for a "True" > control array. Notice the Index argument. -------------------------------------------------------- The impossible just takes a little longer Patrick,
As I know somewhat more about VBA than VB I'll have a go at answering your question. We are talking VBA, not VB - right? I understand the number of controls on a vba userform is limited to 256. I've never tested that but have no problem with say 150. Also some report problems with more than 64k of code in a module (so shift elsewhere). You can certainly add controls to a userform at runtime, see example in Help if you F1 over the .Add in say Dim ctl as Control Set ctl = UserForm1.Controls.Add("Forms.CommandButton.1") Adding and removing code is more complicated. Chip Pearson, an Excel MVP, shows how here: http://www.cpearson.com/excel/vbe.htm Note his comments about setting a ref to VBA Extensibility, also in Office XP there are additional security settings to allow. An alternative approach might be put all your controls on the form at design stage, "Load" the form, then delete all unwanted controls, (very easy in a few indexed loops), then "Show" the form. However, you say you have lots of controls doing similar things. Probably easier to use WithEvents Class(s), one set of code to handle all similar controls. When you add a new control you just instantiate a new instance of the class, adding a new reference to this class, in a Collection (unknown qty) or array if pre-determined qty. Or possibly one set of controls, two sets of WithEvents class's for different purposes and set only the relevant class. The WithEvents code will respond same way as if the code was in the userform module. I haven't fully explained but very easy. Regards, Peter T Show quoteHide quote "Patrick Pirtle" <p**@skilling.com> wrote in message news:uAMTGvjgFHA.3608@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl... > I don't wish to hijack this thread, but the replies all sound > as though they suggest a solution to a problem I've had > for some time, and have had to solve through brute force. > > In my office, we have structural drafters and civil drafters, > all of whom draw using a CAD program. There is an > office application (VBA-based, not VB) that has a > multi-page control. The problem is that, although large > blocks of code and several of the pages are the same > between the two groups, quite a bit is different. > > I originally started to write the app and displayed, or > hid, those pages that didn't apply to whichever group > was using the program. Here's the rub - At some point, > I started getting out-of-memory errors. These could be > cured by deleting some controls from my form, so I > deduced (assumed) I had reached some limit as to the > number of controls. > > After unsuccessfully trying to solve the problem, I > split the app into TWO apps. Of course, now I have > large blocks of code that have to be updated TWICE. > > So, my question is...Is it possible to somehow load an > entire page, along with a bunch of controls ON that > page AND the associated code, from a file on disk at > runtime? This way, once my app starts and determines > which group the drafter belongs to, it could load only > the pertinent pages/controls/code into my form. > > TIA for any help and suggestions. And now, back to > the regularly-scheduled thread... > > > Ken Halter wrote: > > "Peter T" <peter_t@discussions> wrote in message > > news:OGfbm3XgFHA.2472@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl... > > > > You can only create "True" control arrays at design time. You can only > > create an array of controls at runtime (not a control array)... > > confusing? For example. Here's one of the event handlers for a "True" > > control array. Notice the Index argument. > > [snip] > -------------------------------------------------------- > The impossible just takes a little longer > > Peter -
Many thanks for your reply. Please see my inline comments below. Peter T wrote: > Patrick, [Patrick]===========Yup.> > As I know somewhat more about VBA than VB I'll have a go at answering > your question. We are talking VBA, not VB - right? > You can certainly add controls to a userform at runtime, see example [Patrick]===========More precisely, if I already HAVE a multi-page> in Help if you F1 over the .Add in say control that was added at Design time, can I import additional PAGES, each of which also contains a bunch of controls, into the existing multi-page? For example, the linked images: ftp://mka.com/outbox/mainCiv.jpg ftp://mka.com/outbox/mainStr.jpg show the two applications (title bar indicates which group). The pages labelled "Scales," "Genl," "Cells," "Anno," "Options," and "About" are the same between the apps. Each of these pages has up to 50 controls--see the example: ftp://mka.com/outbox/mainStr-Steel.jpg The rest of the pages are different between the two user groups. I'd like to merge the DIFFERENT pages into the existing contol at runtime. > An alternative approach might be put all your controls on the form at [Patrick]===========But, won't I still run into the memory problems> design stage, "Load" the form, then delete all unwanted controls, > (very easy in a few indexed loops), then "Show" the form. with too many controls? -------------------------------------------------------- The impossible just takes a little longer Patrick,
> > You can certainly add controls to a userform at runtime, see example Are your pages similar. If so, with a Multipage you can copy the page with> > in Help if you F1 over the .Add in say > > [Patrick]===========More precisely, if I already HAVE a multi-page > control that was added at Design time, can I import additional PAGES, each > of which also contains a bunch of controls, into the existing multi-page? all it's controls and paste as a new page + controls, into what ever location you want. Then make minor adjustments to controls as necessary, eg captions. I answered a related question in excel.programming - http://tinyurl.com/ddy3e Use the OP's scenario given earlier in the thread and run my copy paste code. It didn't work for the OP first time but he quickly came back and said it did. I've no idea if one can do this in VB, if not maybe VBA has some things going for it. You may be able to leave all code intact, or better still use the WithEvents Class approach I suggested earlier. If your pages are significantly different, then add a new multipage and the controls to the multipage (not the form). As I suggested eariler but a lot more code. > > An alternative approach might be put all your controls on the form at I've no idea, depends on many things, not least what your overall code does.> > design stage, "Load" the form, then delete all unwanted controls, > > (very easy in a few indexed loops), then "Show" the form. > > [Patrick]===========But, won't I still run into the memory problems > with too many controls? Are you sure your problems relate to too many controls and not something else if all is within the limits I mentioned previously. Eg, if you're automating things and not releasing object var's in the correct order that quickly bloats memory. I see you are using images, do you have a lot loaded. You can store these on a second dummy form and set to image controls on page as the page is activated. Then set the picture to nothing (remove picture) when deactivated. Regards, Peter T PS for readers dropping in - above relates to VBA, not VB. PS - Ignore my final comments, I didn't read your scenario carefully. Seems
you have well over 250 controls so that could well be the cause of your memory problem. Also, in the post I referred you to I noted that the clipboard didn't clear with Cutcopymode = false. I didn't go into that but if you are copying so many controls multiple times better double check. If necessary look into the "DataObject" method or as a last resort the clipboard can be cleared with a set of API's. Peter T Peter -
MANY thanks for your reply. You've given me a bunch of ideas to think about and play around with. Could you answer another question or two for me? 1. Is the limit on the number of controls based upon EACH form in a VBA app? Can each form have, say, 256? Or, is that the limit for the entire app, regardless of number of forms? 2. If the limit from #1 is PER FORM, and I use your sug- gestions for copying/pasting pages at runtime, does the paste bring all the code along with the pasted page and its controls? If so, then maybe I could have a second, dummy form that holds the "to-be-loaded-at-runtime" pages (and their code). Then, depending upon which of my user groups is running the app, it could just insert th appropriate pages. 3. Finally, as I got started on this entire app as a stop-gap measure (and it has since grown into an app that is in use full-time by 30+ people), it is probably suffering from all kinds of problems due to my not releasing memory in the correct manner. Quite frankly, I don't understand how or when such things need to occur, and feel overwhelmed about how to even START on figuring this out. Can you give me any advice for where to go for good info on determining if memory is being cleared correctly? Is that something as easy as looking to see how much memory is available, running and exiting an app, and re- checking how much memory is available? Or, do you use some third-party app that can "watch" your program run? Once again, Peter, you've helped me immensely. Thanks! Peter T wrote: > PS - Ignore my final comments, I didn't read your scenario carefully. > Seems you have well over 250 controls so that could well be the cause > of your memory problem. > > Also, in the post I referred you to I noted that the clipboard didn't > clear with Cutcopymode = false. I didn't go into that but if you are > copying so many controls multiple times better double check. If > necessary look into the "DataObject" method or as a last resort the > clipboard can be cleared with a set of API's. > > Peter T -- -------------------------------------------------------- The impossible just takes a little longer Patrick,
> Peter - AFAIK 256 per form. I don't know but might have problems if multiple forms> MANY thanks for your reply. You've given me a bunch of > ideas to think about and play around with. Could you answer > another question or two for me? > > 1. Is the limit on the number of controls based upon EACH > form in a VBA app? Can each form have, say, 256? Or, > is that the limit for the entire app, regardless of number of > forms? are loaded even if not Show'n. If you reference a form it will automatically load into memory, which would occur if you copy controls from one form to another - so would need to unload the dummy form when done. > 2. If the limit from #1 is PER FORM, and I use your sug- Just the controls, not the code can be copy/paste. Did you try the example I> gestions for copying/pasting pages at runtime, does the > paste bring all the code along with the pasted page and > its controls? If so, then maybe I could have a second, > dummy form that holds the "to-be-loaded-at-runtime" > pages (and their code). Then, depending upon which of > my user groups is running the app, it could just insert th > appropriate pages. referred you to with some sample code in the form? Without knowing what commonality your pages and controls have it's difficult to suggest the best approach. But I strongly suspect the "WithEvents Class" method will serve you very well. Just one Event routine for all your buttons, even 500 or even if you don't know how many in advance. This might route to appropriate routines in normal modules depending on [say] which button was clicked. Minimal code in your form, and no need to worry about adding or copying code at runtime. > 3. Finally, as I got started on this entire app as a stop-gap Without any idea of what you are doing difficult to comment. In generall all> measure (and it has since grown into an app that is in use > full-time by 30+ people), it is probably suffering from all > kinds of problems due to my not releasing memory in the > correct manner. Quite frankly, I don't understand how > or when such things need to occur, and feel overwhelmed > about how to even START on figuring this out. objects var's should be released when not needed, eg public vars stay in scope when the app terminates, so set myOb = nothing first. BUT if you haved used any like this: Set oApp = Create(myApp) Set oAppThing = oApp.Add some-App-thing then release in this order oAppThing.close Set oAppThing = Nothing oApp.Quit Set oApp = Nothing > Can you give me any advice for where to go for good Off the top of my head I can't think where to direct you. Best avoid> info on determining if memory is being cleared correctly? > Is that something as easy as looking to see how much > memory is available, running and exiting an app, and re- > checking how much memory is available? Or, do you > use some third-party app that can "watch" your program > run? problems in the first place. I suspect there are many in this group better qualified to answer. I can though recommend you to the .excel.programming group. It's obviously geared to Excel but it's vast covering lots of generic vba, including your issues. There are many there far more expert than I. Explain your Multipage problem, be specific with some detail of what commonality and differences there are between both pages and page controls, eg buttons 10-10-20 of 50 on Page(0) do similar to buttons 10-20 of 50 on Page(1) except .... I'll be surprised if you don't receive ideas and a good example of how to create a WithEvents Class specific to your needs. Not sure how many are familiar with the copy / paste controls method, so if appropriate include a copy of the link I gave earlier with something like - "I'm thinking of using the method described here to copy multipage pages + controls". Ask about releasing memory issues seperately though you would need to be a bit more specific to get useful answers. Good luck. Now to turn to my own issues in this thread which I've barely begun to address! Peter T On Tue, 5 Jul 2005 17:21:50 +0100, "Peter T" <peter_t@discussions> You can't /create/ a Form wrote: >Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately it does not appear from Ken's response to >be possible to use a Control Array to create a form other than at run time, >as opposed to a form that I can save which is what I want to do. - I guess you mean populate a Form Are you writing some sort of Form designer ? If so, you could certainly do it using Control Arrays > You can't /create/ a Form Perhaps I used the wrong terminology. Hope I have not mislead either you or> - I guess you mean populate a Form > > Are you writing some sort of Form designer ? > > If so, you could certainly do it using Control Arrays Ken, if so apologies. Yes, a Form designer in this sense. I don't want to have to drag controls from the toolbox onto the form (in correct order) and type in all their properties. Instead I want to automate with a predefined array of data. I have a complicated VBA form which I want to simulate in VB. All the VBA form's control details are stored on an Excel spreadsheet, effectively a 2D array which I can amend to suit VB. I envisaged (envisioned) doing something like this: - VB contains an empty form, also a class module + code to receive the array from Excel, and add controls to form. Press F5 and run. - In Excel set a reference to the VB .vhp. Instantiate the VB class, send the array and call a function to build / populate the Form. - When done stop VB, save the Form. - Import the Form into my main project. Is something along these lines feasible ? As I need to use WithEvents to handle my controls, from what I've learnt recently it seems easier to work with a pre-built form and not to re-create at runtime, each time. Regards, Peter T
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"Peter T" <peter_t@discussions> wrote I hope you can see the work you are forcing upon yourself due to the> > You can't /create/ a Form > > - I guess you mean populate a Form > > > > Are you writing some sort of Form designer ? > > > > If so, you could certainly do it using Control Arrays > > Perhaps I used the wrong terminology. Hope I have not mislead either you or > Ken, if so apologies. > > Yes, a Form designer in this sense. I don't want to have to drag controls > from the toolbox onto the form (in correct order) and type in all their > properties. Instead I want to automate with a predefined array of data. > > I have a complicated VBA form which I want to simulate in VB. All the VBA > form's control details are stored on an Excel spreadsheet, effectively a 2D > array which I can amend to suit VB. I envisaged (envisioned) doing something > like this: > > - VB contains an empty form, also a class module + code to receive the array > from Excel, and add controls to form. Press F5 and run. > > - In Excel set a reference to the VB .vhp. Instantiate the VB class, send > the array and call a function to build / populate the Form. > > - When done stop VB, save the Form. > - Import the Form into my main project. > > Is something along these lines feasible ? reliance on proper indexing of the control array. I would suggest you avoid using numeric indexing of the Controls array! Either use the proper names of the controls, or create your own groupings for the loops you need: delta = Array("Command1", "Command2", "Text1", "Text4") For Each nam in delta Me.Controls(nam).Visible = False Next Of course, if your conserving resources, you'd be using control arrays, in which case use the control themselves: delta = Array(Buttons(1), Buttons(2), Texts(3), Text4) For Each ctl in delta ctl.Visible = False Next Your delta array can be held for the life of the form such that it is always available, or you can create ad hoc arrays on the fly: For Each ctl in Array(Buttons(3), Buttons(4), Texts(3), Text4) ctl.Visible = False Next All of those methods do not rely on the controls being in a certain order in the Controls collection, and they *provide documentation* of the actual controls used in place of that hidden indexing! Nonetheless.... ... with that said ... When you get the form just how you want it, and then save it, how does VB know the correct order, the next time you load your project? When you save your form, it goes out to a text file, and from that VB has to re-create the form, the next time it is loaded. So, instead of trying to build a form for VB to save, look into building the text file. As a test create a form with a few controls on it, and save it to disk. Then open that .frm file in notepad and re-arrange the controls as listed in the file. Now add that form to a different project and compare the two Controls collections. You'll find you are able to affect the order by ordering them in the .frm file, so really all you have to do is translate your Excel spreadsheet to a .frm file that VB will accept. Creating a text file from your data is going to be a bit easier than trying to interface it with VB to build a new form.... See if that helps. But I still advise you don't rely on the order of the controls in the Controls array. Other methods work as well, and are easier to maintain! LFS Thanks very much Larry for the detailed explanation. Your advice makes a lot
of sense, especially combined with that given by others. It implies more re-writing of existing code than might otherwise be the case, no doubt would repay in the long run. As you've gathered, coming from VBA, Control arrays are a new concept for me. Think I need to seek professional advice to short cut my learning curve, not only of the form but other aspects. Regards, Peter T Show quoteHide quote "Larry Serflaten" <serfla***@usinternet.com> wrote in message news:#zNkQUigFHA.2560@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl... > > "Peter T" <peter_t@discussions> wrote > > > You can't /create/ a Form > > > - I guess you mean populate a Form > > > > > > Are you writing some sort of Form designer ? > > > > > > If so, you could certainly do it using Control Arrays > > > > Perhaps I used the wrong terminology. Hope I have not mislead either you or > > Ken, if so apologies. > > > > Yes, a Form designer in this sense. I don't want to have to drag controls > > from the toolbox onto the form (in correct order) and type in all their > > properties. Instead I want to automate with a predefined array of data. > > > > I have a complicated VBA form which I want to simulate in VB. All the VBA > > form's control details are stored on an Excel spreadsheet, effectively a 2D > > array which I can amend to suit VB. I envisaged (envisioned) doing something > > like this: > > > > - VB contains an empty form, also a class module + code to receive the array > > from Excel, and add controls to form. Press F5 and run. > > > > - In Excel set a reference to the VB .vhp. Instantiate the VB class, send > > the array and call a function to build / populate the Form. > > > > - When done stop VB, save the Form. > > - Import the Form into my main project. > > > > Is something along these lines feasible ? > > > I hope you can see the work you are forcing upon yourself due to the > reliance on proper indexing of the control array. I would suggest you > avoid using numeric indexing of the Controls array! Either use the > proper names of the controls, or create your own groupings for the > loops you need: > > delta = Array("Command1", "Command2", "Text1", "Text4") > > For Each nam in delta > Me.Controls(nam).Visible = False > Next > > Of course, if your conserving resources, you'd be using control arrays, > in which case use the control themselves: > > delta = Array(Buttons(1), Buttons(2), Texts(3), Text4) > > For Each ctl in delta > ctl.Visible = False > Next > > Your delta array can be held for the life of the form such that it is > always available, or you can create ad hoc arrays on the fly: > > For Each ctl in Array(Buttons(3), Buttons(4), Texts(3), Text4) > ctl.Visible = False > Next > > All of those methods do not rely on the controls being in a certain > order in the Controls collection, and they *provide documentation* > of the actual controls used in place of that hidden indexing! > > Nonetheless.... ... with that said ... > > When you get the form just how you want it, and then save it, how > does VB know the correct order, the next time you load your project? > > When you save your form, it goes out to a text file, and from that VB > has to re-create the form, the next time it is loaded. So, instead of trying > to build a form for VB to save, look into building the text file. As a test > create a form with a few controls on it, and save it to disk. Then open > that .frm file in notepad and re-arrange the controls as listed in the file. > > Now add that form to a different project and compare the two Controls > collections. You'll find you are able to affect the order by ordering them > in the .frm file, so really all you have to do is translate your Excel spreadsheet > to a .frm file that VB will accept. Creating a text file from your data is going > to be a bit easier than trying to interface it with VB to build a new form.... > > See if that helps. But I still advise you don't rely on the order of the controls > in the Controls array. Other methods work as well, and are easier to maintain! > > LFS > > > "Peter T" <peter_t@discussions> wrote in message You'll find a whole bunch of differences in VBA vs VB control functionality. news:eQ0tcaUgFHA.272@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl... > I'm familiar with vba but fairly new to vb6 > > I want to replicate an Excel vba userform to a vb6 form. The form is very Those controls you're loading won't be usable without events. Many controls that exist in VBA work completely different in VB. There's no FM20.dll support for one thing so... no multicolumn combos, etc. Regardless... whatever method you use to create the form, the only way to "save" it is to do all of the work at design time in the VB IDE. Otherwise, you'll need to re-create it at runtime, everytime. That's not always a bad thing. Just letting you know. -- Ken Halter - MS-MVP-VB - http://www.vbsight.com DLL Hell problems? Try ComGuard - http://www.vbsight.com/ComGuard.htm Please keep all discussions in the groups.. Hi Ken,
> > I want to replicate an Excel vba userform to a vb6 form. Most of the controls on my VBA userform are similar to those available in> > You'll find a whole bunch of differences in VBA vs VB control functionality. > Those controls you're loading won't be usable without events. Many controls > that exist in VBA work completely different in VB. There's no FM20.dll > support for one thing so... no multicolumn combos, etc. VB, buttons, labels etc, single column but no multi column combos. I think I can work around most of the differences. In VBA I use a separate WithEvents class to handle similar controls, I hope I can do same in VB. But .. > Regardless... whatever method you use to create the form, the only way to This is really a shame! Building the form manually is hours of work with> "save" it is to do all of the work at design time in the VB IDE. plenty of scope for getting details wrong. One reason I need to re-build is that controls need to be added in the correct order, so not easy to amend an existing form. > Otherwise, you'll need to re-create it at runtime, every time. As you say, there may be good reasons for creating the form at run time, but> That's not always a bad thing. Just letting you know. I would still want to test with a pre-built form. I see I can import my VBA form into a VB project which appears to arrive as my own ActiveX. Not sure if there's any way to use it, would be handy if there is. Thanks very much for your advice. I've only just started and have much to learn so I may be back.. Regards, Peter T Peter,
> One reason I need to re-build is If you don't mind me asking, I'm curious what you mean by this--that is, why> that controls need to be added in the correct order, so not easy to amend an > existing form. this is so? Brian -- Brian Schwartz FishNet Components http://www.fishnetcomponents.com Building better tools for developers - Be part of it! Brian,
I do a lot of looping of controls by index order, eg Const cDeltaFirst = 20 Const cDeltaLast = 30 For i = cDeltaFirst to cDeltaLast Me.controls(i).visible = false Next In VBA, and I assume similar in VB6 (?), the index order of controls is determined by the order they were added to the Form, and cannot be changed (unlike tab-order). While developing the form I change things about, add / delete controls, resize, tooltips, tab-order etc. So if I add another "delta" control and want its index say 25, I need to delete a lot of controls that follow, add my new button, then replace all the others, correctly. I just find it so much easier to dump all control details and properties of my form onto a spreadsheet. Make whatever changes, including add / delete and reorder, then build a new form. My little vba app that does that also updates the constants I use to refer to the control index's. In this example cDeltaLast 30 > 31, so minimal need to rewrite the main code. Regards, Peter T Show quoteHide quote "Brian Schwartz" <br***@fishnetcomponentswos.com> wrote in message news:#8C247agFHA.1044@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl... > Peter, > > > One reason I need to re-build is > > that controls need to be added in the correct order, so not easy to amend > an > > existing form. > > If you don't mind me asking, I'm curious what you mean by this--that is, why > this is so? > > Brian > > -- > Brian Schwartz > FishNet Components > http://www.fishnetcomponents.com > Building better tools for developers - Be part of it! > > 
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