problem finding method by its name at runtime

[CygNuS]

problem finding method by its name at runtime - Solved

This is what i want to do (everything must be at runtime):

I have the name of a particular menuitem (in this case "MnuHLicentie")
Now I want to create a new toolbarbutton which has the same click-functionality as that menuitem.

Sounds easy doesn't it? Well, here's my code:

Private Sub LoadCustomToolBar()
 
Dim menuItemToFind As String = "MnuHLicentie" 'value will come out of database later on
Dim foundObject As Object = FindControl("MnuHLicentie")
Dim menuItemToUse As ToolStripMenuItem = CType(foundObject, ToolStripMenuItem)
 
Dim newButton As New ToolStripButton
newButton.Name = "Toolbar" & menuItemToFind
newButton.Image = Image.FromFile("images/img1.ico")
newButton.Text = "Licentie"
newButton.DisplayStyle = ToolStripItemDisplayStyle.ImageAndText
newButton.TextImageRelation = TextImageRelation.ImageAboveText
 
AddHandler newButton.Click, AddressOf menuItemToFind & "_Click"
 
CustomToolBar.Items.Add(newButton)
 
End Sub
 
 
Private Sub MnuHLicentie_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MnuHLicentie.Click
 
Dim frm_Licentie As New Licentie
frm_Licentie.MdiParent = Me
frm_Licentie.Show()
 
End Sub
 
 
Protected Overridable Function FindControl(ByVal Name As String) As Object
 
Dim propInfo As Reflection.PropertyInfo
propInfo = Me.GetType().GetProperty(Name, Reflection.BindingFlags.IgnoreCase Or _
Reflection.BindingFlags.Instance Or Reflection.BindingFlags.NonPublic Or Reflection.BindingFlags.Public)
 
If Not propInfo Is Nothing Then
Dim value As Object = propInfo.GetValue(Me, Nothing)
Return value
End If
Return Nothing
 
End Function

This line is my problem:
AddHandler newButton.Click, AddressOf menuItemToFind & "_Click"

This doesn't work of course, it must be the name of a method instead of a string.

Is there a way for me to find the method with name (menuItemToFind & "_Click") at runtime, so i can put it after the addressof clause?

I suspect this will have something to do with reflection but i don't seem to find it.

Thanks in advance

 

[TechGnome]

There is a way.... I'd have to look it up though....

-tg

 

[CygNuS]

YES i found out myself!

It's not exactly coded the way i wanted, but it's a workaround.
I did it like this:

In addition to my code in my first post i added these lines:

in Sub LoadCustomToolbar:
...
newButton.Tag = menuItemToFind
AddHandler newButton.Click, AddressOf CustomToolButtonClickHandler
...
 
Private Sub CustomToolButtonClickHandler(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
 
'Get the tag of the button that has been clicked 
'-> tag contains name of the menuitem that this button is based on
Dim menuItemNameOnWhichBased As String = sender.tag
 
'Get the functionality of the click event of that menuitem
methinfo = FindMethod(menuItemNameOnWhichBased & "_Click")
 
'Start this method
methinfo.Invoke(Me, New Object() {sender, e})
End Sub
 
Protected Overridable Function FindMethod(ByVal Name As String) As MethodInfo
 
Dim methInfo As Reflection.MethodInfo
methInfo = Me.GetType().GetMethod(Name, Reflection.BindingFlags.IgnoreCase Or _
Reflection.BindingFlags.Instance Or Reflection.BindingFlags.NonPublic Or Reflection.BindingFlags.Public)
If Not methInfo Is Nothing Then
Return methInfo
End If
 
Return Nothing
End Function

Basically i wrote a CustomToolButtonClickHandler which is called everytime any of the buttons is clicked and in there i invoke the wanted menuitem_click method by using reflection.

Granted, this is LOTS of code for what i wanted to achieve in my first post. It sounded easier than it was.

Hope this helps anyone stuck with a similar problem!

 

[jmcilhinney]

I'd be inclined to do things quite differently. I would create a Dictionary(Of ToolStripButton, ToolStripMenuItem) and then once you have a reference to the menu item you would create the button and add them as an item to the dictionary. You can then use a single event handler for the Click event of all the buttons. You then get the corresponding menu item from the dictionary and call its PerformClick method.

 

[CygNuS]

I'd be inclined to do things quite differently. I would create a Dictionary(Of ToolStripButton, ToolStripMenuItem) and then once you have a reference to the menu item you would create the button and add them as an item to the dictionary. You can then use a single event handler for the Click event of all the buttons. You then get the corresponding menu item from the dictionary and call its PerformClick method.

Thx for the alternative! I was unaware that there was such a method PerformClick. I'll check out the use of Dictionaries too in the future for similar problems.

For now i'll leave my code be