VB Multiline TextBox Line Numbers

[ahuckphin]

Dim InputFromUser As String = ""
For j As Integer = 1 To InputTextBox.Lines.Length
	InputFromUser = InputFromUser & j & ".   " & InputTextBox.Lines(j - 1) & vbNewLine
Next
OutputTextBox.Text = InputFromUser

Sample output by putting the above code in "InputTextBox_TextChanged"

 

This was a problem I had a few weeks ago and couldn't find a solution online and came up with this solution after some trail and error. 

 

[Franck]

what is the problem ?

[minibois]

5 hours ago, Franck said:

what is the problem ?

The way I read this, I think OP is showing people you can use a for-loop to get a list.

A sort of basic 'how to' I guess.

[mariushm]

You could have used  Split()  on the newline character , then go through the array and add the number and dot in front of each line then  do a join() on the array

Also technically, you could have a text document written on a Linux or Mac where they use a single invisible character to signify a new line, instead of two.

Windows uses CRLF  (carriage return and line feed), character codes 0x0D and 0x0A while Mac and Linux often use only 0x0A

 

If you load a text file you may get a single long string instead of multiple lines.

 

Here's example of proper way to do it, in php ... i wrote in comments equivalent functions in VB where i remembered them

 

<?php

$CR = chr(0x0D);
$LF = chr(0x0A);

$text = file_get_contents(__DIR__ .'/a.txt'); //read a.txt from drive

$lines = explode($LF,$text);  // equivalent of split() in VB
$linesCount = count($lines);  // length of array

$lines[0] = (1).'.  '.$lines[0]; // add 1 to the first line
if ($linesCount>1) {
	for ($i=0;$i<$linesCount-1;$i++) {
		$lastCharacter = "";
		$lineLength = strlen($lines[$i]);
		// get last character from string : mid in visual basic
		if ($lineLength != 0) {
			$lastCharacter = substr($lines[$i],$lineLength-1,1);
			if ($lastCharacter==$CR) $lines[$i] = substr($lines[$i],0,$lineLength-1);
		}
		// build the string on the next line (add enter, number dot and space) in front
		$newContent = '';
		if ($lastCharacter==$CR) $newContent .= $lastCharacter;
		$newContent .=  $LF.($i+2).'.  '.$lines[$i+1];
		// overwrite next line with the new content
		$lines[$i+1] = $newContent;
	}
}
// now merge the lines into a big string - you jave Join in VB

$newText = implode('',$lines);
echo $newText;
?>

 

code_and_text_file.zip

[ahuckphin]

8 hours ago, minibois said:

The way I read this, I think OP is showing people you can use a for-loop to get a list.

A sort of basic 'how to' I guess.

what is OP?

[minibois]

2 hours ago, bindydad123 said:

what is OP?

Original Poster (so you, in this case).

 

[Franck]

Then if it's just for formatting a second textbox Your code is okay. There is a one liner to if you prefer. What it does is convert the line text as it grabs it and set it to the other control directly.

// format lines to be [line number]. [text value].
OutputTextBox.Lines = InputTextBox.Lines.Select((value, index) => $"{index}. {value}").ToList();

 

Although your question / problem is very vague, Since you mention you have a problem and posted that you solved it and are unhappy with i assume this is not want you want but i don't know what you want. You want line number automatically into 1 textbox ? want the line number to refresh in the second textbox ? both are totally different solutions.

[ahuckphin]

34 minutes ago, Franck said:

Then if it's just for formatting a second textbox Your code is okay. There is a one liner to if you prefer. What it does is convert the line text as it grabs it and set it to the other control directly.

// format lines to be [line number]. [text value].
OutputTextBox.Lines = InputTextBox.Lines.Select((value, index) => $"{index}. {value}").ToList();

 

Although your question / problem is very vague, Since you mention you have a problem and posted that you solved it and are unhappy with i assume this is not want you want but i don't know what you want. You want line number automatically into 1 textbox ? want the line number to refresh in the second textbox ? both are totally different solutions.

Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear enough. I am satified with my solution (to a problem I had a few weeks ago) and just wanted to share my solution. 

[McRo]

bindy, ty for posting! I just want to encourage you to make these posts in the future. Posts like this are absolute gold to find on google. There's been a handful of posts I've found like this over the years and they have been really flippin' helpful. So for the future coders out there, please keep this mentality!

[McRo]

If you want to do the output one line at a time, this should work (I didn't test it, sorry if it doesn't work, I will fix it)

    Dim lineNumber As Integer
    Sub AddToTextBox(ByVal _inputText As String)
        lineNumber += 1
        OutputTextBox.Text = lineNumber & ".   " & _inputText & vbNewLine
    End Sub

 

So to get the same output as in your post, it would work like:

AddToTextBox("Line 1")
AddToTextBox("Line 2")
AddToTextBox("Line 3")
AddToTextBox("Line 4")
AddToTextBox("Line 5")
AddToTextBox("Line 6")
AddToTextBox("Line 7")
AddToTextBox("Line 8")