Begginers question - accessing properties of another class

Question

Hi I am using visual studio to create a C# application. I have designed a form with buttons etc. The code that visual studio generates is similar to the following: [code] namespace WindowsApplication1 { partial class Form1 { //lots of stuff here private System.Windows.Forms.Button btnStart; private System.Windows.Forms.TextBox tbURL; } } [/code] In the main application I have the following [code] namespace WindowsApplication1 { public partial class Form1 : Form { //Here I can access the components directly etc. tbTextBox.Text = whatever } } class someclass { //Here i cannot access any of the form components } [/code] I want to access the components from someclass. I have tried making the components public in the code that visual studio generates I have tried using: WindowsApplication1.Form1.whatever... nothing works. Any ideas?

Nick · Answer

Thanks for the reply. I created a new Windows Application in Visual Studio 2005. It automatically created a file called Form1.Designer.cs which contains all the components of my application (buttons etc.). Then in the designer when i double click on one of my buttons it opened another file Form1.cs where for example my button click was defined private void btnStart_Click(object sender EventArgs e). Form1.cs is what I showed you in the picture. Basically Form1.Designer.cs contains a namespace (WindowsApplication1) and a partial class (Form1) which then contains all the stuff relating to the components of the form. THEN in Form1.cs visual studio created the same namespace and in it it put public partial class Form1 : Form in which the button click method was defined for example. I then created a few new classes (getWebQuery is a class) under the same namespace in Form1.cs but my problem is that I cannot use the form components from Form1.Desginer.cs in any of the other classes apart from public partial class Form1 : Form.

Scott Lysle · Answer

Nick: I looked at your code; you are showing two Form1 classes defined in the same namespace with one inheriting from Form and the other from getWebQuery; the solution shows a single Form1 so this sort of looks like an attempt to inherit from two classes which you cannot do. Aside from the issue of two classes in the same namespace with the same name getWebQuery sounds like a method call rather than a class. Is getWebQuery a class or a method? Your reference folder is closed in the image so I can't see what it in it. Where exactly is getWebQuery and what is it (method or class)? I don't see anything in the solution but a single form class (form1) and no other other classes are defined outside of what appears in Form1. I can see the closing brace on the namespace so I assume that getWebQuery is not defined inside this file unless it is a method in one of the classes. Lets look at this from a different angle; first what are you trying to do with the two Form1 declarations shown in the Form1 class?

Nick · Answer

No its simpler than that Take a look here it will be clear: http://img443.imageshack.us/my.php?image=partialclasseslo3.jpg I want to access stuff in Form1 from getWEebQuery. They are in the same file same namespace everthing. Check the picture

Viktor Vidman · Answer

Its depend on the implementation of getWebQuery class. .net - classes belong to .net framework com - applications libraries etc. belong to your system projects - projects belont to your current Solution browse - another files recent - dlls belong your solution Where was the getWebQuery class implemented? If its belong to an another project you should add that project your solution then add the class as references.

Nick · Answer

Thanks for the reply. Im not quite sure how to add classes as references... when i click add reference I have a choice between .net com projects etc. How do i add classes?

Viktor Vidman · Answer

Hi! Sorry about my english. Your problem is not serious. I think this class called getWebQuery is outside from your project. You must add the getWebQuery class in your References in the solution explorer. I hope you will find the answer.

Nick · Answer

Thanks for the reply but its not exactly working. See the following screenshot: http://img443.imageshack.us/my.php?image=partialclasseslo3.jpg Form1 is the class that VS makes where I can use all of the components (buttons etc). I want to be able to access these components directly from the 3 classes below that one. I cannot do it directly and when I use partial classes I get the error you can see in the image.

Mahesh Chand · Answer

You have to make the class and control public you wish to access. If you are using VS 2005 you can create your new class as a partial class so both physical classes belong to one virtual class. For example if your Form's class is Form1 add another class to the project make it partial and call it Form1. It will give you access to Form1's members without making it public. If you don't know how to use partial classes search this site or go to C# Language section.