No doubt there is an easy solution to this but after serveral hours and failing to find it why not ask the experts? I have a project that contains a meu form (DevExpress NavBar) which is populated from the database. So, I click on an item and I now have a form name which I want to open. Here's the hard part - I can't find any way to iterate through all the forms in my project and .Show the right one, i.e. I can find a forms collection (open forms I can see but not all the forms in my project). I'm just about ready to write a large Case statement to, e.g

Select Case FormName
 Case "Form1"
          My.Forms.Form1.Show()
 Case "Form2"
          My.Forms.Form2.Show()

but obviously I don't want to do that. What's the best way of doing things?

Cheers, Peter

DirectCast(Activator.CreateInstance(Type.GetType(FormName)), Form).Show()

The Type.GetType() is a method that accepts a string name for the form (i.e.: "MyNamespace.MyFormName") and returns the System.Type for that form.  The Activator.CreateInstance() accepts a type and creates a new instance of it through reflection to find the default constructor.  The DirectCast just CTypes the returned object as a Form, and Show() is pretty self explanatory. 

So, the only change you'll need to make is to change the FormName that you're storing off in DevEx's menu from just "Form1" to "MyNamespace.Form1" so that you will have the full type name of the form you want to show.

Thanks for your input and Ben, thanks for taken the time to explain what was happening in that line of code - very helpful.

All in all this is sooooo depressing - it seems that every time I learn a bit more about .Net it only serves to underline how little I know!!

Cheers, Peter

A follow up - I want to check if a form is already open before I instasiate a new one. I know (thought I knew) how to do this with (and other variations on this theme):       

        Dim OpenForms As FormCollection
        OpenForms = Application.OpenForms

        ' Lets see if the form is already open and, if it is, bring it to the front.
        For i As Integer = 0 To System.Windows.Forms.Application.OpenForms.Count - 1
            If OpenForms(i).Tag.ToString = e.Link.Item.Name.ToString Then
                OpenForms(i).WindowState = FormWindowState.Normal
                OpenTheForm = False
                Exit For
            End If
        Next

However, OpenForms.Count always returns zero (even the first time in when just the menu form itself if running). I've been Googling madly to see if there is any reference to the OpenForms.Count being zero and I couldn't find anything - lots of reference to the property in examples of working code - no reference to any problems/caveats.

Any ideas?

Cheers, Peter

You could even create a class that is passed to the MenuSystem that has all of the logic that you need that you could pass over....or just create a bunch of overloads to do this for you.  It is just up to you, but the key is creating a class that launches all of your forms according to your environment and needs.

Public Notineritable Class MenuSystem

Private Shared _MenuMdiClient As MDIClient
Private Shared _Forms As New System.Collections.Generics.List(Of SYstem.Windows.Forms.Form)

'-- Reference to the MDI client to which all client forms will be added.  Be sure to set this in your
'    New of the parent that houses the MDI client.
Public SHared Property MenuMdiClient As MDIClient
    Get
        Return _MenuMdiClient
    End Get
    Set(Byval value as MdiClient)
        _MenuMdiClient = value
    End Set
End Property

'-- This collection contains all of the forms that are loaded
Public Shared Readonly Property Forms As System.Collections.Generics.List(Of System.Windows.Forms.Form)
    Get
         Return _Forms
    End Get
End Property

'-- Central method to load all of the
Public Shared Sub LaunchForm(ByVal FormType As System.Type, Byval SecurityKey As String, Byval SingleInstance As Boolean)
    '-- Establish Locals
    Dim loForm As System.WIndows.Forms.Form

    If SecurityBasics.CurrentUser.GetPermission(SecurityKey).Action = Grant Then
       '-- Check for a single instance
       If SingleInstance AndAlso FormIsRunning(FormType) Then
            Exit Sub
       End If

       '-- Create and launch the form
        loForm = CType(Activator.CreateInstance(FormType), System.WIndows.Forms.Form)
        loForm.MdiParent = _MenuMdiClient

        '-- Create a handler so it can remove itself from the collection
        AddHandler loForm.FormClosed, Addressof HandleFormClosed

        loForm.Show()
    End If

   Private Shared Function FormIsRunning(Byval FormType As System.Type) As Boolean
     Dim llReturn As Boolean = False

      For Each loForm As Form In _Forms
         If loForm.GetType() Is FormType Then
             llReturn = True
             Exit For
         End If
      Next

      Return llReturn
    End Function

    Private Shared Sub HandleFormClosed(Byval sender as Object, Byval e as System.EventArgs)
         _Forms.Remove(CType(sender, Form))
    End Sub

End Class