A guide to using Paneled Forms, Multi-Splash Screens, SQL Express, and many more in Windows Application Development

Public Class ctrlMain
#Region "Event Handlers"
    Private Sub btnViewAddressBook_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnViewAddressBook.Click
        ' The next statement (in comments) will display the myMainForm's Text,
        ' as this control's Parent is the Panel,
        ' but the ParentForm is the Form above it, i.e. the myMainForm
        ' MessageBox.Show(Me.ParentForm.Text)

        ' To access the panel from here we have to use the following statement:
        ' Me.ParentForm.Controls.Item("myPanel")

        ' Similarly, To Access the controls in the Panel:
        ' Me.ParentForm.Controls.Item("myPanel").Controls

        ' A major thing to note here is that we cannot use the 'tempObject' as
        ' a key to access the user control. It is by default at '0' index of Controls.
        ' As the panel is being used to display one control at a time,
        ' the control will always be at '0' index:
        ' Me.ParentForm.Controls.Item("myPanel").Controls(0)

        ' Now we create a new object of the new control and add it to the controls of the panel.
        Dim tempObject As New ctrlViewAddressBook

        Me.ParentForm.Controls.Item("myPanel").Controls.Add(tempObject)

        ' Next we want to remove the previous control so that the new control will be displayed.
        ' Note: When we remove the control at index '0', the original (old) control is removed.
        '       And the new control is moved to index '0'.
        Me.ParentForm.Controls.Item("myPanel").Controls.RemoveAt(0)
    End Sub

    Private Sub btnAddNewEntry_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnAddNewEntry.Click
        Dim tempObject As New ctrlAddNewEntry
        Me.ParentForm.Controls.Item("myPanel").Controls.Add(tempObject)
        Me.ParentForm.Controls.Item("myPanel").Controls.RemoveAt(0)
    End Sub

    Private Sub btnManageCategories_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnManageCategories.Click
        Dim tempObject As New ctrlAddNewCategory
        Me.ParentForm.Controls.Item("myPanel").Controls.Add(tempObject)
        Me.ParentForm.Controls.Item("myPanel").Controls.RemoveAt(0)
    End Sub

    Private Sub btnSearchAddressBook_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnPrintAddressBook.Click
        Try
            Dim tempReport As New rptAddressBook
            Dim tempViewer As New rptViewer
            Dim tempDs As New Data.DataSet
            tempDs = DataLayer.selectAllRecord()
            If tempDs.Tables("tblAddressBook").Rows.Count > 0 Then
                tempReport.SetDataSource(tempDs)
                tempViewer.viewer.ReportSource = tempReport
                tempViewer.ShowDialog()
            Else
                Dim tempMessage(1) As String
                tempMessage(0) = "Address Book is currently Empty."
                tempMessage(1) = "Printing Cancelled."
                Dim tempForm As New myMessageBox
                tempForm.txtMessage.Lines = tempMessage
                tempForm.Text = "Printing Aborted!!!"
                tempForm.ShowDialog()
            End If
        Catch ex As Exception
            Dim tempForm As New myMessageBox
            tempForm.Text = "Error!"
            tempForm.lblHeader.Text = "Crystal Report Error!!!"
            Dim temp(2) As String
            temp(0) = "An error occurred while creating the report for printing."
            temp(1) = ""
            temp(2) = "Possibly missing updated Crystal Report Extenstions."
            tempForm.txtMessage.Lines = temp
            tempForm.ShowDialog()
        End Try
    End Sub
#End Region
End Class