Class with combobox options

Question

Hallo,

I am trying to make a class object which shows a options in a combobox and takes a parameters according to that object selection.

Lets say I have an object or class called Box, I want to show some options in a Combobox, for example one to calculate Area and other for Volume, etc and selected option should be calculated.

Also is there a possibility to populate the textbox controls on the form according to the object inputs needed? or it is only done by hiding and unhiding?

Public Class Box

Public Property Length as Double
Public Property Width as Double
Public Property Height as Double

Public Readonly Property Volume as double
Public Readonly Property Area as double
Public Readonly Property Other as double

End class

Thanks

Answer 1

@Hobbyist_programmer

In regards to CatProduct, I left that out but Visual Studio can auto create it for you although here it is in the code below. Concerting unique properties, the base Product class should have all properties even if not used for some products.

Public Class CatProduct  
    Public Property Category As Category  
    Public Property List As List(Of Product)  
End Class  

Think of when a database is properly designed for orders as shown below. Perhaps some orders don't use discount or some products don't use discontinue. It's incorrect to stored some product types differently instead in this type of situation the property is empty in both cases, no harm no foul.

But if you want to break the rules you can by using base classes and overridable properties as per below.

Visuals

Base class

Public Class Base  
    Public Property Id() As Integer  
    Public Overridable Property Name() As String  
End Class  

Revised Product class

Public Class Product  
    Inherits Base  
    Implements INotifyPropertyChanged  
  
    Private _name As String  
    Private _category As Category  
    Private _price As Decimal  
    Private _quantity As Integer  
  
    Public Overrides Property Name() As String  
        Get  
            Return _name  
        End Get  
        Set  
            _name = Value  
            OnPropertyChanged()  
        End Set  
    End Property  
  
    Public Property Category() As Category  
        Get  
            Return _category  
        End Get  
        Set  
            _category = Value  
            OnPropertyChanged()  
        End Set  
    End Property  
  
    Public Property Price() As Decimal  
        Get  
            Return _price  
        End Get  
        Set  
            _price = Value  
            OnPropertyChanged()  
        End Set  
    End Property  
  
    Public Property Quantity() As Integer  
        Get  
            Return _quantity  
        End Get  
        Set  
            _quantity = Value  
            OnPropertyChanged()  
        End Set  
    End Property  
  
    Public Overrides Function ToString() As String  
        Return $"{Name} {Price}"  
    End Function  
  
    Public Event PropertyChanged As PropertyChangedEventHandler Implements INotifyPropertyChanged.PropertyChanged  
    Protected Overridable Sub OnPropertyChanged(<CallerMemberName> Optional propertyName As String = Nothing)  
        PropertyChangedEvent?.Invoke(Me, New PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName))  
    End Sub  
  
End Class  

Other class with all properties

For above but includes cost while cost should truly be in the classes above.

Public Class SomeOther  
    Inherits Product  
  
    Private _cost As Integer  
  
    Public Property Cost() As Integer  
        Get  
            Return _cost  
        End Get  
        Set  
            _cost = Value  
            OnPropertyChanged()  
        End Set  
    End Property  
  
End Class  

Answer 2

Hi
I am almost sure that this is NOT what you are asking for, but it has all the elements you mention. This is a stand alone example. Only needs a BLANK Form1.

' BLANK Form1
Option Strict On
Option Explicit Off
Public Class Form1
    Dim WithEvents cb As New ComboBox
    Dim lab As New Label
    Dim box1 As New Box(2, 3, 4)

    Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        With cb
            .Items.AddRange({"Volume", "Etcetera"})
            .Location = New Point(20, 20)
        End With
        With lab
            .Location = New Point(20, 50)
        End With
        Controls.AddRange({cb, lab})
    End Sub
    Private Sub Cb_SelectedIndexChanged(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles cb.SelectedIndexChanged
        Dim ind As Integer = cb.SelectedIndex
        Select Case ind
            Case 0 ' Volume
                lab.Text = "Volume = " & box1.Volume.ToString("0.000")
            Case 1
                lab.Text = "Etcetera = " & box1.etcetera.ToString("0.000")
        End Select
    End Sub
    Public Class Box

        Public Property Length As Double
        Public Property Width As Double
        Public Property Height As Double

        Sub New(l As Double, w As Double, h As Double)
            Length = l
            Width = w
            Height = h
        End Sub

        Function Volume() As Double
            Return Length * Width * Height
        End Function
        Function etcetera() As Double
            Return Length * Width * 2 + Width * Height * 2 + Length * Height * 2
        End Function
    End Class
End Class

Answer 3

Hallo Les and Karen, May be i did not make it clear. I have a better example here . Lets say i have a shop where i have different objects for purchase (eg. toys, vegs, fruit..etc as different classes) and i have a main class called purchase where i want to have a listof objects called Basket. Now how can i add toys or vegs to my basket?

at the same time it is possible to show the required input based on the object selected? or i have to first place all controls on the form and i have to hide them based on the object?

Public Class Purchase
    Public Property Basket as List(of Objects)
    End property
End class


Public Class Toy
    Public Property prop1 as integer
    Public Property prop2 as integer
End Class

Public Class Grocery
    Public Property prop1 as integer
    Public Property prop2 as integer
End Class

Public Class Veg
    Public Property prop1 as integer
    Public Property prop2 as integer
End Class

Public Class Fruit
    Public Property prop1 as integer
    Public Property prop2 as integer
End Class

Answer 4

Hello @Hobbyist_programmer

Rather than one class per type use a single class with a category type as shown below.

Categories

Public Enum Category  
    Toy  
    Grocery  
    Produce  
    Beverages  
End Enum  

Container products

Public Class Product  
    Implements INotifyPropertyChanged  
  
    Private _name As String  
    Private _category As Category  
    Private _price As Decimal  
    Private _quantity As Integer  
    Public Property Id() As Integer  
  
    Public Property Name() As String  
        Get  
            Return _name  
        End Get  
        Set  
            _name = Value  
            OnPropertyChanged()  
        End Set  
    End Property  
  
    Public Property Category() As Category  
        Get  
            Return _category  
        End Get  
        Set  
            _category = Value  
            OnPropertyChanged()  
        End Set  
    End Property  
  
    Public Property Price() As Decimal  
        Get  
            Return _price  
        End Get  
        Set  
            _price = Value  
            OnPropertyChanged()  
        End Set  
    End Property  
  
    Public Property Quantity() As Integer  
        Get  
            Return _quantity  
        End Get  
        Set  
            _quantity = Value  
            OnPropertyChanged()  
        End Set  
    End Property  
  
    Public Overrides Function ToString() As String  
        Return $"{Name} {Price}"  
    End Function  
  
    Public Event PropertyChanged As PropertyChangedEventHandler Implements INotifyPropertyChanged.PropertyChanged  
    Protected Overridable Sub OnPropertyChanged(<CallerMemberName> Optional propertyName As String = Nothing)  
        PropertyChangedEvent?.Invoke(Me, New PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName))  
    End Sub  
  
End Class  

Mocked data

Public Class MockedData  
    Public Shared Function Products() As List(Of Product)  
        Return New List(Of Product) From {  
            New Product With {  
                .Id = 100,  
                .Category = Category.Grocery,  
                .Name = "Boysenberry Spread",  
                .Price = 12.88D,  
                .Quantity = 3},  
            New Product With {  
                .Id = 342,  
                .Category = Category.Produce,  
                .Name = "Tofu",  
                .Price = 2.99D,  
                .Quantity = 1},  
            New Product With {  
                .Id = 4,  
                .Category = Category.Toy,  
                .Name = "MatchBox car",  
                .Price = 5.99D,  
                .Quantity = 5},  
            New Product With {  
                .Id = 50,  
                .Category = Category.Produce,  
                .Name = "Rössle Sauerkraut",  
                .Price = 99D,  
                .Quantity = 1}  
        }  
    End Function  
End Class  

Form code

Public Class Form1  
    Private _bindingList As BindingList(Of Product)  
    Private ReadOnly _bindingSouce As New BindingSource  
  
    Private Sub Form1_Shown(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Shown  
  
        _bindingList = New BindingList(Of Product)(MockedData.Products())  
        _bindingSouce.DataSource = _bindingList  
  
        ComboBox1.DataSource = _bindingSouce  
  
    End Sub  
  
    Private Sub IterateItems_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles IterateItems.Click  
  
        ResultsTextBox.Text = ""  
        Dim sb As New StringBuilder  
  
        Dim results = _bindingList.  
                GroupBy(Function(product) product.Category).  
                Select(Function(item) New CatProduct With {.Category = item.Key, .List = item.ToList()}).  
                ToList()  
  
        For Each catProduct As CatProduct In results  
  
            sb.AppendLine(  
                $"{catProduct.Category} - " &  
                $"{catProduct.List.Sum(Function(item) item.Price * item.Quantity)}")  
  
            For Each product As Product In catProduct.List  
                sb.AppendLine($"   {product.Name} - {product.Quantity} - {product.Price.ToString("C2")}")  
            Next  
        Next  
  
        sb.AppendLine("")  
  
        Dim total = _bindingList.  
                GroupBy(Function(product) product.Category).  
                Select(Function(item) New With {.Total = item.Sum(Function(x) x.Price * x.Quantity)}).  
                Sum(Function(x) x.Total)  
  
        sb.AppendLine($"Total: {total.ToString("C2")}")  
  
        ResultsTextBox.Text = sb.ToString()  
  
    End Sub  
End Class  

Now if this was part of a database we have something like the following

Answer 5

Hello @Hobbyist_programmer

Conceptually speaking when working with a control such as a ComboBox or ListBox and need to reflect changes to a property using INotifyPropertyChanged and a BindingList will be your foundation.

Class

Imports System.ComponentModel  
Imports System.Runtime.CompilerServices  
  
Public Class Box  
    Implements INotifyPropertyChanged  
  
    Private _length As Double  
    Private _width As Double  
    Private _height As Double  
  
    Public Property Length As Double  
        Get  
            Return _length  
        End Get  
        Set  
            _length = Value  
            OnPropertyChanged()  
        End Set  
    End Property  
  
    Public Property Width As Double  
        Get  
            Return _width  
        End Get  
        Set  
            _width = Value  
            OnPropertyChanged()  
        End Set  
    End Property  
  
    Public Property Height As Double  
        Get  
            Return _height  
        End Get  
        Set  
            _height = Value  
            OnPropertyChanged()  
        End Set  
    End Property  
  
    Public ReadOnly Property Volume As Double  
    get  
        Return Length * Width * Height  
    End Get  
    End Property  
    Public ReadOnly Property Area As Double  
    Public ReadOnly Property Other As Double  
  
    Public Overrides Function ToString() As String  
        Return $"{Volume}"  
    End Function  
  
    Public Event PropertyChanged As PropertyChangedEventHandler Implements INotifyPropertyChanged.PropertyChanged  
    Protected Overridable Sub OnPropertyChanged(<CallerMemberName> Optional ByVal propertyName As String = Nothing)  
        PropertyChangedEvent?.Invoke(Me, New PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName))  
    End Sub  
  
End Class  

Form code

Imports System.ComponentModel  
  
Public Class Form1  
  
    Private ReadOnly _boxList As New List(Of Box) From {  
        New Box() With {.Width = 10, .Height = 20, .Length = 4},  
        New Box() With {.Width = 20, .Height = 40, .Length = 14},  
        New Box() With {.Width = 30, .Height = 60, .Length = 22}}  
  
    Private _boxBindingList As BindingList(Of Box)  
    Private ReadOnly _boxBindingSouce As New BindingSource  
  
    Private Sub Form1_Shown(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Shown  
  
        _boxBindingList = New BindingList(Of Box)(_boxList)  
        _boxBindingSouce.DataSource = _boxBindingList  
        ComboBox1.DataSource = _boxBindingSouce  
  
        LengthTextBox.DataBindings.Add(  
            "Text",  
            _boxBindingSouce,  
            "Length")  
  
    End Sub  
  
End Class  

Screenshot

Change the value in the TextBox and the current item in the ComboBox is updated. This can also be done in code by casting

_boxBindingList(_boxBindingSouce.Position).Length = 11