VB.
Net - Dialog Boxes
There are many built-in dialog boxes to be used in Windows forms for various tasks like
opening and saving files, printing a page, providing choices for colors, fonts, page
setup, etc., to the user of an application. These built-in dialog boxes reduce the
developer's time and workload.
All of these dialog box control classes inherit from the CommonDialog class and
override the RunDialog() function of the base class to create the specific dialog box.
The RunDialog() function is automatically invoked when a user of a dialog box calls
its ShowDialog() function.
The ShowDialog method is used to display all the dialog box controls at run-time. It
returns a value of the type of DialogResult enumeration. The values of DialogResult
enumeration are −
Abort − returns DialogResult.Abort value, when user clicks an Abort button.
Cancel − returns DialogResult.Cancel, when user clicks a Cancel button.
Ignore − returns DialogResult.Ignore, when user clicks an Ignore button.
No − returns DialogResult.No, when user clicks a No button.
None − returns nothing and the dialog box continues running.
OK − returns DialogResult.OK, when user clicks an OK button
Retry − returns DialogResult.Retry , when user clicks an Retry button
Yes − returns DialogResult.Yes, when user clicks an Yes button
The following diagram shows the common dialog class inheritance −
All these above-mentioned classes have corresponding controls that could be added
from the Toolbox during design time. You can include relevant functionality of these
classes to your application, either by instantiating the class programmatically or by
using relevant controls.
When you double click any of the dialog controls in the toolbox or drag the control onto
the form, it appears in the Component tray at the bottom of the Windows Forms
Designer, they do not directly show up on the form.
The following table lists the commonly used dialog box controls. Click the following links
to check their detail −
Sr.No. Control & Description
1 ColorDialog
It represents a common dialog box that displays available colors along with
controls that enable the user to define custom colors.
2 FontDialog
It prompts the user to choose a font from among those installed on the local
computer and lets the user select the font, font size, and color.
3 OpenFileDialog
It prompts the user to open a file and allows the user to select a file to open.
4 SaveFileDialog
It prompts the user to select a location for saving a file and allows the user to
specify the name of the file to save data.
5 PrintDialog
It lets the user to print documents by selecting a printer and choosing which
sections of the document to print from a Windows Forms application.
VB.Net - FontDialog Control
It prompts the user to choose a font from among those installed on the local computer
and lets the user select the font, font size, and color. It returns the Font and Color
objects.
Following is the Font dialog box −
By default, the Color ComboBox is not shown on the Font dialog box. You should set
the ShowColor property of the FontDialog control to be True.
Properties of the FontDialog Control
The following are some of the commonly used properties of the FontDialog control −
Sr.No. Property & Description
1 AllowSimulations
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box allows graphics device
interface (GDI) font simulations.
2 AllowVectorFonts
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box allows vector font
selections.
3 AllowVerticalFonts
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box displays both vertical
and horizontal fonts, or only horizontal fonts.
4 Color
Gets or sets the selected font color.
5 FixedPitchOnly
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box allows only the selection
of fixed-pitch fonts.
6 Font
Gets or sets the selected font.
7 FontMustExist
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box specifies an error
condition if the user attempts to select a font or style that does not exist.
8 MaxSize
Gets or sets the maximum point size a user can select.
9 MinSize
Gets or sets the minimum point size a user can select.
10 ScriptsOnly
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box allows selection of fonts
for all non-OEM and Symbol character sets, as well as the ANSI character set.
11 ShowApply
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box contains an Apply
button.
12 ShowColor
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box displays the color
choice.
13 ShowEffects
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box contains controls that
allow the user to specify strikethrough, underline, and text color options.
14 ShowHelp
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box displays a Help button.
Methods of the FontDialog Control
The following are some of the commonly used methods of the FontDialog control −
Sr.No. Method Name & Description
1 Reset
Resets all options to their default values.
2 RunDialog
When overridden in a derived class, specifies a common dialog box.
3 ShowDialog
Runs a common dialog box with a default owner.
Events of the FontDialog Control
The following are some of the commonly used events of the FontDialog control −
Sr.No. Event & Description
1 Apply
Occurs when the Apply button on the font dialog box is clicked.
Example
In this example, let's change the font and color of the text from a rich text control using
the Font dialog box. Take the following steps −
Drag and drop a RichTextBox control, a Button control and a FontDialog control
on the form.
Set the Text property of the button control to 'Change Font'.
Set the ShowColor property of the FontDialog control to True.
Double-click the Change Color button and modify the code of the Click event –
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
If FontDialog1.ShowDialog <> Windows.Forms.DialogResult.Cancel Then
RichTextBox1.ForeColor = FontDialog1.Color
RichTextBox1.Font = FontDialog1.Font
End If
End Sub
When the application is compiled and run using Start button available at the Microsoft
Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window −
Enter some text and Click on the Change Font button.
The Font dialog appears, select a font and a color and click the OK button. The selected
font and color will be applied as the font and fore color of the text of the rich text box.
The OpenFileDialog control prompts the user to open a file and allows the
user to select a file to open. The user can check if the file exists and then
open it. The OpenFileDialog control class inherits from the abstract
class FileDialog.
If the ShowReadOnly property is set to True, then a read-only check box
appears in the dialog box. You can also set the ReadOnlyChecked property
to True, so that the read-only check box appears checked.
Following is the Open File dialog box −
Properties of the OpenFileDialog Control
The following are some of the commonly used properties of the
OpenFileDialog control −
Sr.No. Property & Description
AddExtension
1
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box automatically adds an
extension to a file name if the user omits the extension.
2 AutoUpgradeEnabled
Gets or sets a value indicating whether this FileDialog instance should
automatically upgrade appearance and behavior when running on Windows
Vista.
CheckFileExists
3
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box displays a warning if
the user specifies a file name that does not exist.
CheckPathExists
4
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box displays a warning if
the user specifies a path that does not exist.
5 CustomPlaces
Gets the custom places collection for this FileDialog instance.
6 DefaultExt
Gets or sets the default file name extension.
DereferenceLinks
7 Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box returns the location of
the file referenced by the shortcut or whether it returns the location of the
shortcut (.lnk).
8 FileName
Gets or sets a string containing the file name selected in the file dialog box.
9 FileNames
Gets the file names of all selected files in the dialog box.
Filter
10
Gets or sets the current file name filter string, which determines the choices
that appear in the "Save as file type" or "Files of type" box in the dialog box.
11 FilterIndex
Gets or sets the index of the filter currently selected in the file dialog box.
12 InitialDirectory
Gets or sets the initial directory displayed by the file dialog box.
Multiselect
13
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box allows multiple files
to be selected.
14 ReadOnlyChecked
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the read-only check box is selected.
15 RestoreDirectory
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box restores the current
directory before closing.
SafeFileName
16
Gets the file name and extension for the file selected in the dialog box. The
file name does not include the path.
SafeFileNames
17
Gets an array of file names and extensions for all the selected files in the
dialog box. The file names do not include the path.
ShowHelp
18
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the Help button is displayed in the
file dialog box.
ShowReadOnly
19
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box contains a read-only
check box.
SupportMultiDottedExtensions
20
Gets or sets whether the dialog box supports displaying and saving files that
have multiple file name extensions.
21 Title
Gets or sets the file dialog box title.
ValidateNames
22
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box accepts only valid
Win32 file names.
Methods of the OpenFileDialog Control
The following are some of the commonly used methods of the
OpenFileDialog control −
Sr.No. Method Name & Description
OpenFile
1
Opens the file selected by the user, with read-only permission. The file is
specified by the FileName property.
2 Reset
Resets all options to their default value.
In this example, let's load an image file in a picture box, using the open file
dialog box. Take the following steps −
Drag and drop a PictureBox control, a Button control and a
OpenFileDialog control on the form.
Set the Text property of the button control to 'Load Image File'.
Double-click the Load Image File button and modify the code of the
Click event:
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
Handles Button1.Click
If OpenFileDialog1.ShowDialog <>
Windows.Forms.DialogResult.Cancel Then
PictureBox1.Image =
Image.FromFile(OpenFileDialog1.FileName)
End If
End Sub
VB.Net - SaveFileDialog Control
The SaveFileDialog control prompts the user to select a location for saving a
file and allows the user to specify the name of the file to save data. The
SaveFileDialog control class inherits from the abstract class FileDialog.
Following is the Save File dialog box −
Properties of the SaveFileDialog Control
The following are some of the commonly used properties of the
SaveFileDialog control −
Sr.No. Property & Description
AddExtension
1
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box automatically adds an
extension to a file name if the user omits the extension.
CheckFileExists
2
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box displays a warning if
the user specifies a file name that does not exist.
CheckPathExists
3
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box displays a warning if
the user specifies a path that does not exist.
4 CreatePrompt
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box prompts the user for
permission to create a file if the user specifies a file that does not exist.
5 DefaultExt
Gets or sets the default file name extension.
DereferenceLinks
6 Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box returns the location of
the file referenced by the shortcut or whether it returns the location of the
shortcut (.lnk).
7 FileName
Gets or sets a string containing the file name selected in the file dialog box.
8 FileNames
Gets the file names of all selected files in the dialog box.
Filter
9
Gets or sets the current file name filter string, which determines the choices
that appear in the "Save as file type" or "Files of type" box in the dialog box.
10 FilterIndex
Gets or sets the index of the filter currently selected in the file dialog box.
11 InitialDirectory
Gets or sets the initial directory displayed by the file dialog box.
OverwritePrompt
12
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the Save As dialog box displays a
warning if the user specifies a file name that already exists.
RestoreDirectory
13
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box restores the current
directory before closing.
ShowHelp
14
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the Help button is displayed in the
file dialog box.
SupportMultiDottedExtensions
15
Gets or sets whether the dialog box supports displaying and saving files that
have multiple file name extensions.
16 Title
Gets or sets the file dialog box title.
17 ValidateNames
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box accepts only valid
Win32 file names.
Methods of the SaveFileDialog Control
The following are some of the commonly used methods of the SaveFileDialog
control −
Sr.No. Method Name & Description
1 OpenFile
Opens the file with read/write permission.
2 Reset
Resets all dialog box options to their default values.
Example
In this example, let's save the text entered into a rich text box by the user
using the save file dialog box. Take the following steps −
Drag and drop a Label control, a RichTextBox control, a Button control
and a SaveFileDialog control on the form.
Set the Text property of the label and the button control to 'We
appreciate your comments' and 'Save Comments', respectively.
Double-click the Save Comments button and modify the code of the
Click event as shown −
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
Handles Button1.Click
SaveFileDialog1.Filter = "TXT Files (*.txt*)|*.txt"
If SaveFileDialog1.ShowDialog =
Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK _
Then
My.Computer.FileSystem.WriteAllText _
(SaveFileDialog1.FileName, RichTextBox1.Text, True)
End If
End Sub
When the application is compiled and run using Start button available at the
Microsoft Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window −
We have set the Filter property of the SaveFileDialog control to display text
file types with .txt extensions only.
Write some text in the text box and click on the Save Comment button to
save the text as a text file in your computer.
VB.Net - PrintDialog Control
The PrintDialog control lets the user to print documents by selecting a
printer and choosing which sections of the document to print from a
Windows Forms application.
There are various other controls related to printing of documents. Let us
have a brief look at these controls and their purpose. These other controls
are −
The PrintDocument control − it provides support for actual events and
operations of printing in Visual Basic and sets the properties for
printing.
The PrinterSettings control − it is used to configure how a document is
printed by specifying the printer.
The PageSetUpDialog control − it allows the user to specify page-
related print settings including page orientation, paper size and margin
size.
The PrintPreviewControl control − it represents the raw preview part of
print previewing from a Windows Forms application, without any dialog
boxes or buttons.
The PrintPreviewDialog control − it represents a dialog box form that
contains a PrintPreviewControl for printing from a Windows Forms
application.
Following is the Print dialog box –
Properties of the PrintDialog Control
The following are some of the commonly used properties of the PrintDialog
control −
Sr.No. Property & Description
AllowCurrentPage
1
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the Current Page option button is
displayed.
AllowPrintToFile
2
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the Print to file check box is
enabled.
AllowSelection
3
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the Selection option button is
enabled.
4 AllowSomePages
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the Pages option button is enabled.
Document
5
Gets or sets a value indicating the PrintDocument used to obtain
PrinterSettings.
6 PrinterSettings
Gets or sets the printer settings the dialog box modifies.
PrintToFile
7
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the Print to file check box is
selected.
8 ShowHelp
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the Help button is displayed.
9 ShowNetwork
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the Network button is displayed.
Methods of the PrintDialog Control
The following are some of the commonly used methods of the PrintDialog
control −
Sr.No. Method Name & Description
1 Reset
Resets all options to their default values.
2 RunDialog
When overridden in a derived class, specifies a common dialog box.
3 ShowDialog
Runs a common dialog box with a default owner.
Example
In this example, let us see how to show a Print dialog box in a form. Take
the following steps −
Add a PrintDocument control, a PrintDialog control and a Button
control on the form. The PrintDocument and the PrintDialog controls
are found on the Print category of the controls toolbox.
Change the text of the button to 'Print'.
Double-click the Print button and modify the code of the Click event as
shown −
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
Handles Button1.Click
PrintDialog1.Document = PrintDocument1
PrintDialog1.PrinterSettings = PrintDocument1.PrinterSettings
PrintDialog1.AllowSomePages = True
If PrintDialog1.ShowDialog = DialogResult.OK Then
PrintDocument1.PrinterSettings =
PrintDialog1.PrinterSettings
PrintDocument1.Print()
End If
End Sub
When the application is compiled and run using Start button available at the
Microsoft Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window −
Click the Print button to make the Print dialog box appear.
