Define multiple dropdown selectors in Powershell

Question

I am using PowerShell and I need to define 81 dropdown selector boxes that are all the same but be able to read back 81 different results. My issue is with creating the dropdowns.

A foreach loop seems the most obvious route but I tried :

  Foreach ($Puzzleleitem in $InitialPuzzle)
        {
        $dropdowntest[$Puzzleleitem] =new-object System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox 
        }

But I get the following error:

Unable to index into an object of type System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox.
At line:3 char:9
+         $dropdowntest[$Puzzleleitem] =new-object System.Windows.Forms ...
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidOperation: (:) [], RuntimeException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CannotIndex

Where is $dropdowntest defined? The error indicates you've already done $dropdowntest = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox earlier in the script :) — Mathias R. Jessen
– Mathias R. Jessen, Commented Jan 13, 2023 at 13:11
This previous question should point you in the right direction: stackoverflow.com/questions/65697153/… — Scepticalist
– Scepticalist, Commented Jan 13, 2023 at 13:18

Scepticalist · Accepted Answer · 2023-01-13 13:35:26Z

1

Example taken from linked question in comments above:

# Get the number of combo boxes required:
$count = $InitialPuzzle.Count

1..$count | ForEach-Object {"ComboBox$PSitem"} | ForEach{
    $CurrentObj             = $null

    $CurrentObj             = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox
    # Increment location values
    $CurrentObj.Location    = "125,$(100+50*$i)"
    $CurrentObj.Size        = '100,35'
    $CurrentObj.Text        = $PSItem
    # Uncomment the following to add the button to $form
    # $form.Controls.Add($CurrentObj)
    # Just for info:
    Write-Host $CurrentObj.Text $CurrentObj.Location
    #
    $i++
}

answered Jan 13, 2023 at 13:35

Scepticalist

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1 Comment

FrankU32 Over a year ago

Its 90% there. I can work out the rest. Thanks

FrankU32 · Accepted Answer · 2023-01-16 09:18:11Z

I managed to collate a few sources and come up with a full solution for my question. The following will define a form and place 81 evenly spaced drop down boxes in it and capture the results in the variables "value$i" where $1 is a number.

    # Set the size of your form
        $Form = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Form
        $Form.Width = 600
        $Form.height = 600
        $Form.Text = ”Mat Grumps dropdown boxes example”
    
    # Set the font of the text to be used within the form
        $Font = New-Object System.Drawing.Font("Ariel",8)
        $Form.Font = $Font
    
    #Set some valus to set starting points
        $i= 0
        $x=30
        $y=30
    
    #Now we create 81 dropdown boxes
     1..81 | ForEach-Object {"ComboBox$PSitem"} | ForEach{
            $CurrentObj = $null
            $CurrentObj = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox
    
    #increment position
        if ((($i/9) -is [int]) -and ($i -gt 0))
            {
                $y=$y + 50
                $x=$x - 540    
            }
    
    #Set location of the boxes
        $CurrentObj.Location = new-object System.Drawing.Size($x,($y))
    #Set Size
        $CurrentObj.Size = new-object System.Drawing.Size (55,40)
        #define selections
         @('blank',‘1’,’2’,’3',‘4’,’5’,’6’,‘7’,’8’,’9’) | ForEach-Object {[void] $CurrentObj.Items.Add($_)}
    
    #Set default selection
        $CurrentObj.SelectedIndex = 0
    
    #Create dynamic variables to store choices
    #Make sure the variable doesnt exist already
        Remove-Variable -Name "value$i" -ErrorAction Ignore
    #Create the dynamic variable
        New-Variable "value$i" $CurrentObj
    
        #add the buttons to the form
        $form.Controls.Add($CurrentObj)
            
        #increment some stuff
        $x = $x + 60
        $i++
        }
    
        #Draw the form and dropdown boxes
        $form.ShowDialog()

There is a deeper explanation of the code here https://grumpy.tech/powershell-recursive-dropdown-boxes/

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