Form.Controls returns Nothing if looking for a Control which is in a TabControl or Panel

Question

I converted a project from vb6 to vb.net where I found a given control that was inside a TabControl via the collection Controls as such

Frm.Controls(\"Contr         


        

Answer 1

You can use Me.Controls.Find("name", True) to search the form and all its child controlsto find controls with given name. The result is an array containing found controls.

For example:

Dim control = Me.Controls.Find("textbox1", True).FirstOrDefault()
If (control IsNot Nothing) Then
    MessageBox.Show(control.Name)
End If

Answer 2

Here's an example of how to recursively loop through all controls by parent:

Private Function GetAllControlsRecursive(ByVal list As List(Of Control), ByVal parent As Control) As List(Of Control)
    If parent Is Nothing Then Return list
    list.Add(parent)
    For Each child As Control In parent.Controls
        GetAllControlsRecursive(list, child)
    Next
    Return list
End Function

Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
    Dim allControls As New List(Of Control)

    For Each ctrl In GetAllControlsRecursive(allControls, Me) '<= Me is the Form or you can use your TabControl

        'do something here...

        If Not IsNothing(ctrl.Parent) Then
            Debug.Print(ctrl.Parent.Name & " - " & ctrl.Name)
        Else
            Debug.Print(ctrl.Name)
        End If
    Next
End Sub