How to access textbox on a non-modal form

Question

I tried to change text of textbox on a non-modal form after Start-Job executed but got error. Is there a way to access the form objects?

Function Form {
    [void][reflection.assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Windows.Forms")
    $Form        = New-object System.Windows.Forms.Form
    $TextBox1    = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
    $TextBox1.Size = '60,25'
    $TextBox1.Location =  '90,28'

    $Form.Size = '300,300'
    $Form.Location = 'Center'
    $Form.Controls.Add($TextBox1)
    $Form.ShowDialog()
}
Start-Job $function:Form | Out-Null
$TextBox1.Text = 'ABC' # got error

Answer 1

First, fix your code. Line 9 should be: $Form.StartPosition = [int][System.Windows.Forms.FormStartPosition]::CenterScreen (or omit the "[int]" cast). If you want to control the position of the form on the screen yourself you'd have to get the details about the hardware and then make provisions to change the coordinates if the window is resized.

You haven't added any buttons to your dialog box, either. And ShowDialog produces a MODAL window -- your function won't return until you close the dialog or add the necessary button(s) so the function returns something other than "Cancel".

Why are you using Start-Job to create the form and then not check the status of the job?

Also, the variable $TextBox1 is local to the function -- it isn't available to the code that called the function.