Need alternative for getting user input

Question

I am building a windows app and I have a menu item that will process a file. However before I get to that file I need 1 piece of data from the user (not the file) and I don't want to create a whole new form for a pop-up dialog box, but are there any alternatives?

I don't think there is, but ideally I want something like messagebox that allows users to enter an alphanumeric code.

Vulpes · Answer

It's been there since .NET 1.0 and is a hangover from VB6 days. So no there shouldn't be any versioning or OS issues if you decide to use it. I'm surprised they haven't put it (or something like it) in the general framework as it's a useful thing to have.

Thomas · Answer

I knew there had to be something out there for that. I'm hoping that since it is VB.NET that it would not have issues with some users on Windows 7 and some on older versions. Thanks!!

Vulpes · Answer

If you don't want to create another form then VB.NET has an InputBox function which can be used from C# (see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/microsoft.visualbasic.interaction.inputbox(VS.80).aspx ). First you need to add a reference to Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll to your C# project - right click on references in Solution Explorer choose Add Reference from the drop-down menu then Microsoft Visual Basic from the .NET tab and OK it. Then add the following to your 'using' directives: using VBI = Microsoft.VisualBasic.Interaction; Now you can call the InputBox function with code such as the following: string returnValue = VBI.InputBox(Prompt Title DefaultResponse -1 -1);