TextBox Control | VB.Net

By: Rajesh P.S.

In VB.Net, a variety of mechanisms are available to facilitate input gathering within a program. One such mechanism is the TextBox control, which serves the purpose of displaying or accepting a single line of text as input. Within the field of VB.Net programming, developers extensively utilize the TextBox control to enable users to view or enter substantial amounts of text.

A TextBox control is employed as an object to display textual content on a form, allowing users to both view and input data during the execution of a VB.Net program. Through the TextBox control, users can interactively type in data or even paste information from the clipboard, providing a flexible and efficient means of data entry.

The versatility of the TextBox control, in terms of displaying and gathering text, makes it a fundamental element in user interface design for VB.Net applications. By using this control, developers can empower users to interact with the program through the input and manipulation of textual information.

For displaying a text in a TextBox control , you can code like this.

TextBox1.Text = "https://net-informations.com/vb/default.htm"

You can also collect the input value from a TextBox control to a variable like this way.

Dim var As String var = TextBox1.Text

VB.Net TextBox Properties

The configuration of TextBox properties can be accomplished through two primary methods: the Property window and programmatic manipulation. The Property window, usually found within the solution explorer, provides a convenient graphical interface for modifying control properties. To access the Property window, you can either press the F4 key or right-click on a TextBox control and select the "Properties" menu item.

By opening the Properties window, you gain access to a comprehensive list of configurable properties for the TextBox control. Through this interface, you can easily modify various aspects such as text content, appearance, behavior, and interaction with the user.

Alternatively, you can also programmatically manipulate TextBox properties within your code. This allows for dynamic control over the TextBox behavior and appearance based on specific conditions and user interactions. By accessing the TextBox control's properties directly in your code, you can customize and control its behavior in a more flexible and tailored manner.

The below code set a textbox width as 150 and height as 25 through source code.

TextBox1.Width = 150 TextBox1.Height = 25

Background Color and Foreground Color

You can set Textbox background color and foreground color through property window, also you can set it programmatically.

TextBox1.BackColor = Color.Red TextBox1.ForeColor = Color.Gray

TextBox BorderStyle

You can set 3 different types of border style for textbox in vb.net, they are None, FixedSingle and fixed3d.

TextBox1.BorderStyle = BorderStyle.FixedSingle

VB.Net TextBox Events

TextBox Keydown event

Keydown event occurs when a key is pressed while the control has focus.

e.g.

Private Sub TextBox1_KeyDown(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.KeyEventArgs) Handles TextBox1.KeyDown If e.KeyCode = Keys.Enter Then MessageBox.Show("Enter key pressed") ElseIf e.KeyCode = Keys.Escape Then MessageBox.Show("Escape key pressed") End If End Sub

TextChanged Event

TextChanged Event is raised if the Text property is changed by either through program modification or user input.

e.g.

Private Sub TextBox1_TextChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles TextBox1.TextChanged Label1.Text = TextBox1.Text End Sub

VB.Net Textbox Maximum Length

Maximum Length property sets the maximum number of characters or words the user can input into the text box control. That means you can limit the user input by this property.

TextBox1.MaxLength = 25

How to ReadOnly Textbox

when a program wants to prevent a user from changing the text that appears in a text box, the program can set the controls Readonly property is to True.

TextBox1.ReadOnly = True

Multiline TextBox in vb.net

By default TextBox accept single line of characters , If you need to enter more than one line in a TextBox control, you should change the Multiline property is to True.

TextBox1.Multiline = True

Textbox passowrd character

Sometimes you want a textbox to receive password from the user. In order to keep the password confidential, you can set the PasswordChar property of a textbox to a specific character.

TextBox1.PasswordChar = "*"

The above code set the PasswordChar to * , so when the user enter password then it display only * instead of typed characters.

How to Newline in TextBox

You can add new line in a textbox using two ways.

TextBox1.Text += "some text here" + "\r\n"

TextBox1.Text += "some text here" + Environment.NewLine

How to retrieve integer values from textbox ?

VB.Net String to Integer conversion

Dim i As Integer i = Integer.Parse(TextBox1.Text)

Parse method Converts the string representation of a number to its integer equivalent.

VB.Net String to Double conversion

Dim dbl As Double dbl = Double.Parse(TextBox1.Text)

From the following VB.Net source code you can see some important property settings to a TextBox control.

Full Source VB.NET

Public Class Form1 Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load TextBox1.Width = 200 TextBox1.Height = 50 TextBox1.Multiline = True End Sub Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click Dim var As String var = TextBox1.Text MsgBox(var) End Sub End Class

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