UNIM

ListBox & ComboBox

Forms & More Controls (Part 3)

(3rd Week)
Information Technology, Engineering Faculty
UNIM

Academic Year: 2014-2015

List Boxes & Combo Boxes

Types of list boxes and combo boxes
1.

Simple list boxes

2.

Simple combo boxes

3.

Drop-down combo boxes

4.

Drop-down lists

List boxes and combo boxes have many common properties a

nd operate similarly
Combo box control has a DropDownStyle property to determin
e if list box has a text box for user entry and whether list will dro
p down

List Boxes & Combo Boxes (2)

Scroll bars are added automatically if the box is too small to
display all items in list
Combo box displays Text property in control

The Items Collection

List of items in a list box or combo box is a collection

Collections are objects with properties and methods

Items collection used to add items, remove items, ref
er to items, count the items, and clear the list

Refer to items in collection by an index which starts a

t zero
Refer to first item in the Items collection as Items[0]

Filling a List
Click on ellipses button next to Items property to open String C
ollection Editor
Use String Collection Editor to add items to list
To add items during execution, use the Items.Add or Items.Inse
rt method

Using the Items.Add Method

General Form

Object.Items.Add(ItemValue);
New item added to end of the list

Set the controls Sorted property to true to place item alphabetical

ly in list
Must use the Add method to add value user types in text box of co
mbo box to the list
Example:

coffeeComboBox.Items.Add(coffeeComboBox.Text);

Using the Items.Insert Method

Choose location for a new item in the list by specifying the ind
ex position
General Form

Object.Items.Insert(IndexPosition, ItemValue);
Index is zero based
Do not set the list controls Sorted property to true if using the I
nsert method
Example:

schoolsListBox.Items.Insert(0,Harvard);

The SelectedIndex Property

SelectedIndex property contains index number of item the us
er selects (highlights)
If no list item is selected, SelectedIndex is set to negative 1 (-1)

Example:
coffeeTypesListBox.SelectedIndex = 3;

//Select fourth item in list

The Items.Count Property

Count property of Items collection contains number of items in
the list
Items.Count is always one more than the highest possible Sele
ctedIndex
Example:

intTotalItems = itemsListBox.Items.Count;

Referencing the Items Collection

Specify an element by including an index
General Form Object.Items(IndexPosition)
Highest index is Items.Count 1
Combine Items property and SelectedIndex property to refer to

currently selected element

Example:

strSelectedFlavor = FlavorListBox.Items(FlavorListBox.SelectedIndex)

Retrieve selected list item with Text property of control

Example:
selectedMajorLabel.Text = majorsComboBox.Text;

Removing an Item from a List

Specify the index or text of item to remove it from a list
Use Items.RemoveAt method to remove by index
General Form

Object.Items.RemoveAt(IndexPosition)
Use Items.Remove method to remove by text
General Form

Object.Items.Remove(TextString)

Clearing a List
Use Items.Clear method to empty a combo box or list box
General Form

Object.Items.Clear()
Example:

schoolsListBox.Items.Clear()

7- 12

Clearing a List
Use Items.Clear method to empty a combo box or list box
General Form

Object.Items.Clear()
Example:

schoolsListBox.Items.Clear()

7- 13

Exercise

Finish!