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ComboBox Control

A ComboBox control allows a user to interactively select one of multiple items from a drop-down style list, which can be used to determine various actions performed by a ScriptoForm.

ComboBox.png

In the ScriptoForm PowerShell script file, a ComboBox control should be instantiated in the Controls region and then defined within the main forms script block. If using the VS Code snippets file, the Controls: Label & ComboBox snippet can be used to instantiate a default ComboBox and Label pair in the script and the Properties: Label & ComboBox snippet can be used to assign a default set of properties to them.

Designing the functionality and behavior of a ComboBox within a ScriptoForm might include:

  • The items can in a ComboBox can be pre-added during the OnLoad() event of the main form and\or modified at runtime
  • Actions can be performed when trigged by the SelectedIndexChanged() event of a ComboBox
  • The value of the selected text in a ComboBox can be obtained from the Text property

Examples

Instantiate a control pair: 

#region Controls
$LabelEnvironment = New-Object -TypeName System.Windows.Forms.Label
$ComboBoxEnvironment = New-Object -TypeName System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox
#endregion

Set properties on a control pair: 

#region Forms
$ShowFormMain =
{
    # ...
    $LabelEnvironment.Location = New-Object -TypeName System.Drawing.Point(15,70)
    $LabelEnvironment.AutoSize = $true
    $LabelEnvironment.Text = "Environment:"
    $GroupBoxMain.Controls.Add($LabelEnvironment)

    $ComboBoxEnvironment.Location = New-Object -TypeName System.Drawing.Point(15,90)
    $ComboBoxEnvironment.Size = New-Object -TypeName System.Drawing.Size(($FormWidth - 50),20)
    $ComboBoxEnvironment.TabIndex = 1
    $ComboBoxEnvironment.DropDownStyle = [System.Windows.Forms.ComboBoxStyle]::DropDownList
    $ComboBoxEnvironment.Add_SelectedIndexChanged($ComboBoxEnvironment_SelectedIndexChanged)
    $GroupBoxMain.Controls.Add($ComboBoxEnvironment)
    # ...
}
#endregion

Add items to a ComboBox: 

$FormMain_Load =
{
    if (Test-Path -Path $EnvironmentsFile)
    {
        $ComboBoxEnvironment.Items.AddRange($(Get-Content -Path $EnvironmentsFile))
        $ComboBoxEnvironment.SelectedIndex = 0
    }
}

Select text value of a ComboBox: 

$Environment = $ComboBoxEnvironment.Text

Notes

The DropDownStyle property of a ComboBox determines one of three ComboBoxStyle behaviors the ComboBox will exhibit. Typically, in a ScriptoForm, the DropDownList style is used, which indicates the list is non-interactive and cannot be modified by the user.

References

ComboBox Class (System.Windows.Forms) | Microsoft Learn