How do I go from generic 'object' to more specific object?

KaneT · July 24th, 2012, 02:31 PM

I have a TextBox named textbox_input which calls the following function when focus is lost:

Code:

private void textbox_input_Leave(object sender, EventArgs e) {
    textbox_debug.Text += "GetType: " + sender.GetType().ToString();
    textbox_debug.Text += "ToString: " + sender.ToString();
    //MyOtherObject.testFormControl (sender);
}

Typing "Hello" into the TextBox and leaving prints out:

Quote:

GetType: System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
ToString: System.Windows.Forms.TextBox, Text: Hello

Now what I would to do is call the (commented out) testFormControl method located in MyOtherObject. This method has the following prototype:

Code:

public void testFormControl (System.Windows.Forms.TextBox to_test)

However when I uncomment the line above I get the error:

Quote:

Argument 1: cannot convert from 'object' to 'System.Windows.Forms.TextBox'

So it seems to me that I have this generic 'object' type that references the actual TextBox object, how do I de-reference, if you will, so that my testFormControl() method can receive the actual TextBox object?

KaneT · July 24th, 2012, 03:50 PM

I found the answer to my problem. Seems like a screwy way of doing things but it works.

The fix looks like this:

Code:

private void textbox_input_Leave(object sender, EventArgs e) {
    textbox_debug.Text += "GetType: " + sender.GetType().ToString();
    textbox_debug.Text += "ToString: " + sender.ToString();
    if (sender is System.Windows.Forms.TextBox)
                MyOtherObject.testFormControl (sender as System.Windows.Forms.TextBox);
}

The if statement isn't really necessary since I know that it was a TextBox that got me there, but I added it for completeness of this solution. Obviously the textbox_debug.Text lines are just for my own debugging and have no place in your code. :)

Credit: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1...-forms-textbox