Use value of a string to create new form object

Question

I have a main form that is launched and then it can go to any of the other forms I have created. But the kicker is that I have written a class that I call that returns a string with the name of the form to go to.

Currently I don't have this working so I am going from form to form like this (statically written linking code):

this.Hide();
CloudAccess nextForm1 = new CloudAccess(); 
   //Where CloudAccess is the class of the next form.
nextForm1.ShowDialog();

What I want is something like this:

FormController pick = new FormController();
   //Where FormController is the Class I create an object of and ask what's next
string next = pick.whereToGo(); //lets say it returns "CloudAccess"
this.Hide();
next nextForm1 = new next(); //next is desired to be the contents of the string
nextForm1.ShowDialog();

The problem is that I don't know how to use the returned string to make the new object and use it. I've been looking at Invoke and Reflection topics like this one: Use string value to create new instance But I'm new to C# and I'm not sure how to apply that to this scenario.

Thoughts? Thanks!

Just have whereToGo() return a Form, not a string. Controllers should never ever have a problem creating view instances. — Hans Passant
– Hans Passant, Commented Jan 1, 2011 at 21:47
How would I go about having it return a form? public form whereToGo(){ return CloudAccess; } ? — cvocvo
– cvocvo, Commented Jan 1, 2011 at 22:04
@Dial - it doesn't answer the question. Operating the two-by-four to the forehead is best done in comments, in my experience. — Hans Passant
– Hans Passant, Commented Jan 1, 2011 at 22:41
@Hans It would be an answer because it'd allow me to get to the same result. I'm just not sure how I'd have the method a form.. — cvocvo
– cvocvo, Commented Jan 1, 2011 at 22:48
@cvo - that goes full circle: why do you have a controller in your code that doesn't know how to create views? Is the object model getting in the way of getting the job done? I have no idea why of course. — Hans Passant
– Hans Passant, Commented Jan 1, 2011 at 22:57

cvocvo · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-02 00:03:22Z

5

Here's the working code from what fejejosco said:

string asdf = "CloudAccess";
Type CAType = Type.GetType("namespace." + asdf);
Form nextForm2 = (Form)Activator.CreateInstance(CAType);
nextForm2.ShowDialog();

Thanks!

answered Jan 2, 2011 at 0:03

cvocvo

1,6352 gold badges24 silver badges39 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

bluish · Accepted Answer · 2011-07-01 09:28:54Z

1

Get the type of the form: Type.GetType("name.space." + formname), so if your class is name.space.CloudAccessForm, then pass in CloudAccessForm as formname, and it will give you the type. Then you can instantiate it with Activator.CreateInstance(type). Then cast it to a Form, and show it.

edited Jul 1, 2011 at 9:28

bluish

27.5k28 gold badges126 silver badges185 bronze badges

answered Jan 1, 2011 at 21:41

fejesjoco

11.9k4 gold badges39 silver badges65 bronze badges

2 Comments

cvocvo Over a year ago

string asdf = "CloudAccess"; Type CAType = Type.GetType("NameSpace." + asdf); Activator.CreateInstance(CAType); Form nextForm2 = (Form)CAType; nextForm2.ShowDialog(); this gives me the error: "Cannot convert type 'System.Type' to 'System.Windows.Forms.Form'

fejesjoco Over a year ago

Cast the instance, not the type.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Use value of a string to create new form object

2 Answers 2

Comments

2 Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

Comments

2 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related