Imports Imports Imports Imports Imports Imports

System System.IO System.Windows.Forms System.Reflection System.Xml System.Diagnostics

Namespace FormSerialisation Public NotInheritable Class FormSerialisor Private Sub New() End Sub ' ' * Drop this class into your project, and add the following line at the top of any class/form that wishes to use it... ' using FormSerialisation; 'To use the code, simply call FormSerialisor.Serialise(FormOrControlToBeSerialised, FullPathToXMLFile) ' * ' For more details, see http://www.codeproject.com/KB/dialog/SavingTheStateOfAForm.aspx ' * ' Last updated 13th June '10 to account for the odd behaviour of the two Panel controls in a SplitContainer (see the article) ' Public Shared Sub Serialise(c As Con trol, XmlFileName As String) Dim xmlSerialisedForm As New XmlTextWriter(XmlFileName, System.Text.Encoding.[Default]) xmlSerialisedForm.Formatting = Formatting.Indented xmlSerialisedForm.WriteStartDocument() xmlSerialisedForm.WriteStartElement("ChildForm") ' enumerate all controls on the form, and serialise them as appropriate AddChildControls(xmlSerialisedForm, c) xmlSerialisedForm.WriteEndElement() ' ChildForm xmlSerialisedForm.WriteEndDocument() xmlSerialisedForm.Flush() xmlSerialisedForm.Close() End Sub

Private Shared Sub AddChildControls(xmlSerialisedForm As XmlTextWriter, c As Control) For Each childCtrl As Control In c.Controls If Not (TypeOf childCtrl Is Label) Then ' serialise this control xmlSerialisedForm.WriteStartElement("Control") xmlSerialisedForm.WriteAttributeString("Type", childCtrl.[GetType]().ToString()) xmlSerialisedForm.WriteAttributeString("Name", childCtrl.Name) If TypeOf childCtrl Is TextBox Then xmlSerialisedForm.WriteElementString(" Text", DirectCast(childCtrl, TextBox).Text) ElseIf TypeOf childCtrl Is ComboBox Then xmlSerialisedForm.WriteElementString("Text", DirectCast(childCtrl, ComboBox).Text) xmlSerialisedForm.WriteElementString("SelectedIndex",DirectCast(childCtrl, ComboBox).SelectedIndex.ToString()) ElseIf TypeOf childCtrl Is ListBox Then ' need to account for multiply selected items Dim lst As ListBox = DirectCast(childCtrl, ListBox) If lst.SelectedIndex = -1 Then xmlSerialisedForm.WriteElementString("SelectedIndex", " -1") Else

For i As Integer = 0 To lst.SelectedIndices.Count - 1 xmlSerialisedForm.WriteElementString("SelectedIndex", (lst.SelectedIndices(i).ToString()))

Next End If ElseIf TypeOf childCtrl Is CheckBox Then xmlSerialisedForm.WriteElementString("Checked", CheckBox).Checked.ToString()) End If ' this next line was taken from http://stackoverflow.com/questions/391888/how -to-getthe-real-value-of-the-visible-property ' which dicusses the problem of child controls claiming to have Visible=false even when they haven't, based on the parent ' having Visible=true DirectCast(childCtrl,

Dim visible As Boolean = CBool(GetType(Control).GetMethod("GetState", BindingFlags.Instance Or BindingFlags.NonPublic).Invoke(c hildCtrl, New Object() {2})) xmlSerialisedForm.WriteElementString("Visible", visible.ToString()) ' see if this control has any children, and if so, serialise them If childCtrl.HasChildren Then If TypeOf childCtrl Is SplitContainer Then ' handle this one as a special case AddChildControls(xmlSerialisedForm, DirectCast(childCtrl, SplitContainer).Panel1) AddChildControls(xmlSerialisedForm, DirectCast(childCtrl, SplitContainer).Panel2) Else AddChildControls(xmlSerialisedForm, childCtrl) End If End If ' Control xmlSerialisedForm.WriteEndElement() End If Next End Sub Public Shared Sub Deserialise(c As Control, XmlFileName As String) If File.Exists(XmlFileName) Then Dim xmlSerialisedForm As New XmlDocument() xmlSerialisedForm.Load(XmlFileName) Dim topLevel As XmlNode = xmlSerialisedForm.ChildNodes(1) For Each n As XmlNode In topLevel.ChildNodes SetControlProperties(DirectCast(c, Control), n) Next End If End Sub Private Shared Sub SetControlProperties(currentCtrl As Control, n As XmlNode) ' get the control's name and type Dim controlName As String = n.Attributes("Name").Value Dim controlType As String = n.Attributes("Type").Value

' find the control Dim ctrl As Control() = currentCtrl.Controls.Find(controlName, True) ' can't find the control If ctrl.Length = 0 Then Else Dim ctrlToSet As Control = GetImmediateChildControl(ctrl, currentCtrl) If ctrlToSet IsNot Nothing Then If ctrlToSet.[GetType]().ToString() = controlType Then ' the right type too ;-) Select Case controlType Case "System.Windows.Forms.TextBox" DirectCast(ctrlToSet, System.Windows.Forms.TextBox).Text = n("Text").InnerText Exit Select Case "System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox" DirectCast(ctrlToSet, System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox).Text = n("Text").InnerText DirectCast(ctrlToSet,System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox).SelectedIndex Convert.ToInt32(n("SelectedIndex").InnerText) Exit Select Case "System.Windows.Forms.ListBox" ' need to account for multiply selected items Dim lst As ListBox = DirectCast(ctrlToSet, ListBox) Dim xnlSelectedIndex As XmlNodeList = n.SelectNodes("SelectedIndex") For i As Integer = 0 To xnlSelectedIndex.Count - 1 lst.SelectedIndex = Convert.ToInt32(xnlSelectedIndex(i).InnerText) =

Next

Exit Select Case "System.Windows.Forms.CheckBox" DirectCast(ctrlToSet,System.Windows.Forms.CheckBox).Checked Convert.ToBoolean(n("Checked").InnerText) Exit Select End Select ctrlToSet.Visible = Convert.ToBoolean(n("Visible").InnerText) ' if n has any children that are controls, deserialise them as well If n.HasChildNodes AndAlso ctrlToSet.HasChildren Then Dim xnlControls As XmlNodeList = n.SelectNodes("Control")

Next End If ' not the right type Else End If ' can't find a control whose parent is the c urrent control Else End If End If End Sub Private Shared Function GetImmediateChildControl(ctrl As Control(), currentCtrl As Control) As Control Dim c As Control = Nothing For i As Integer = 0 To ctrl.Length - 1 If (ctrl(i).Parent.Name = currentCtrl.Name) OrElse (TypeOf currentCtrl Is SplitContainer AndAlso ctrl(i).Parent.Parent.Name = currentCtrl.Name) Then c = ctrl(i) Exit For End If Next Return c End Function End Class End Namespace

For Each n2 As XmlNode In xnlControls SetControlProperties(ctrlToSet, n2)