I am using the LoadForm method posted here to load the forms, but I would like to automate this method by passing the form name stored in a Tag property of a menu item or a DevExpress RibbonControl Item.

The item will have the name of the form as string like this "frmProducers" but the LoadForm method is expecting a System.Type parameter instead of string, how can I either convert the Item.Tag string containing the form name as a System.Type expected by the LoadForm method posted here?

The whole idea is to either type the form name in the Item.Tag property or read it from a database to load all the Items and update the Item.Tag which will make a generic single call to the LoadForm.

Thanks.

Type.GetType("MyNamespace.frmMyFormName")

That will be what you'll have to give it.

Also, it might be the case that that method will not be able to resolve the name because your form type exists in another assembly.  If that's the case, then you'll need to give it the fully qualified assembly name.  It's basically the full name with a comma and the assembly name right after it like this:

"MyNamespace.frmMyFormName, MyAssembly, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null"

That's the difference between the Type.GetType() static method and the GetType() keyword (the keyword turns blue when you type it).  If you use the keyword, it will always resolve because the reference is resolved and at compile-time.  So, you might want to create a method that will resolve the names for you and uses the keyword to get the type.  Like this:

Public Shared Function ResolveFormType(ByVal formName As String) As Type
    Select Case formName
        Case "frmForm1"
            Return GetType(frmForm1)

        Case "frmForm2"
            Return GetType(frmForm2)

        Case "frmForm3"
            Return GetType(frmForm3)

    End Case
End Function

If you use this method, then the string can be any arbitrary value, as long as it's unique and you can assign it a type to return from the method.

Hi Ben,

Thanks for the explanation.  Using

If I were to use the ReolveForm solution, I would then have to make an entry in the Case statement for every form I add to the project and all I am trying to do is to have all forms identified in a Item.Tag so I don't have to manually remember to keep adding it to the Case statement.  Thanks again!!!

Thanks

Mike

Now it is another thing entirely if the handle has already been released.  In that case you just need to handle an event further up the chain to perform your closing logic.

I'm also getting back a different handle to than which the child window was assigned on creation.

And also I've tried changing to formclosing but the handle still changes.