drag and duplicate a button in a form

Question

I have a form. Inside a form there is a button1. I want to drag the button1 anywhere inside the form and duplicate it when it drops, but the codes in the button1 is still there.

Language doesn't matter may be C# or VB.NET

Answer 1

Try this below, i'v just wrote and it worked perfectly.

Add a timer to your program (Timer1) and then see the code below, i'v also added notes to it to explain everything :

Public Class Form1
    Dim XLoc, YLoc As Integer

    Private Sub Button1_MouseDown(sender As Object, e As MouseEventArgs) Handles Button1.MouseDown
        'Save the current location of 'button1' in its tag before moving it.
        Button1.Tag = Button1.Location

        'Get the exact location of the cursor on the 'button1'.
        XLoc = (Cursor.Position.X - Left - 8) - Button1.Location.X
        YLoc = (Cursor.Position.Y - Top - 30) - Button1.Location.Y
        Timer1.Start()
    End Sub

    Private Sub Timer1_Tick(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Timer1.Tick
        'Move the button while holding down the mouse button.
        Button1.Location = New Point(Cursor.Position.X - Left - 8 - XLoc, Cursor.Position.Y - Top - 30 - YLoc)
        Timer1.Start()
    End Sub

    Private Sub Button1_MouseUp(sender As Object, e As MouseEventArgs) Handles Button1.MouseUp
        'Stop the movement and create a new button with the same location as 'button1'.
        Timer1.Stop()
        Dim NewBUT As New Button
        NewBUT.Parent = Me
        NewBUT.Size = New Size(75, 23)
        NewBUT.Text = Button1.Text
        NewBUT.Location = Button1.Location

        'Return 'button1' to its original location.
        Button1.Location = Button1.Tag
    End Sub
End Class

To make all the created buttons share the same code, you can do this :

1. Create a function and put all the code you want all the buttons to do when anyone of them is pressed :

Private Sub ButtonClicked()
    'Paste here the code.
End Sub

2. When duplicating the button in the old code above, you need to add this line :

AddHandler NewBUT.Click, AddressOf ButtonClicked

---

So now duplicating the button is like this :

Private Sub Button1_MouseUp(sender As Object, e As MouseEventArgs) Handles Button1.MouseUp
    'Stop the movement and create a new button with the same location as 'button1'.
    Timer1.Stop()
    Dim NewBUT As New Button
    NewBUT.Parent = Me
    NewBUT.Size = New Size(75, 23)
    NewBUT.Text = Button1.Text
    NewBUT.Location = Button1.Location
    AddHandler NewBUT.Click, AddressOf ButtonClicked

    'Return 'button1' to its original location.
    Button1.Location = Button1.Tag
End Sub

Hope the will help you :)

Answer 2

Before getting into the code, you need to do some steps, and i will show you these steps using pictures so it will be easier on you.

1.Add an item in the 'Settings' tab to store the locations of the duplicated buttons :

2.The code, this is the whole code for the whole form, i tried to explain as much as i can using comments in the code but if you needed anything, feel free to ask:

Public Class Form1
    Dim XLoc, YLoc, CreateButtonX As Integer
    Dim CreatedButtons As String()

    Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        If My.Settings.CreatedButtons <> "" Then
            'Split the string (CreatedButtons) in the Settings with the char "|" as a separator and loop through all the pats when each part is a different location for a duplicated button. 
            CreatedButtons = My.Settings.CreatedButtons.Split("|")
            Dim Separator As String = "|"
            For Each Separator In CreatedButtons
                Dim NewBUT As New Button
                NewBUT.Parent = Me
                NewBUT.Size = New Size(75, 23)
                NewBUT.Text = "Button 1"
                Try
                    XLoc = CreatedButtons(CreateButtonX).Remove(CreatedButtons(CreateButtonX).IndexOf(","))
                    YLoc = CreatedButtons(CreateButtonX).Substring(CreatedButtons(CreateButtonX).IndexOf(",") + 1)
                    NewBUT.Location = New Point(XLoc, YLoc)
                Catch : End Try
                AddHandler NewBUT.Click, AddressOf ButtonClicked
                CreateButtonX += 1
            Next
        End If
        Timer1.Interval = 1
    End Sub

    Private Sub Button1_MouseDown(sender As Object, e As MouseEventArgs) Handles Button1.MouseDown
        'Save the current location of 'button1' in its tag before moving it.
        Button1.Tag = Button1.Location

        'Get the exact location of the cursor on the 'button1'.
        XLoc = (Cursor.Position.X - Left - 8) - Button1.Location.X
        YLoc = (Cursor.Position.Y - Top - 30) - Button1.Location.Y
        Timer1.Start()
    End Sub

    Private Sub Timer1_Tick(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Timer1.Tick
        'Move the button while holding down the mouse button.
        Button1.Location = New Point(Cursor.Position.X - Left - 8 - XLoc, Cursor.Position.Y - Top - 30 - YLoc)
        Timer1.Start()
    End Sub

    Private Sub Button1_MouseUp(sender As Object, e As MouseEventArgs) Handles Button1.MouseUp
        'Stop the movement and create a new button with the same location as 'button1'.
        Timer1.Stop()

        'Create the new button.
        Dim NewBUT As New Button
        NewBUT.Parent = Me
        NewBUT.Size = New Size(75, 23)
        NewBUT.Text = Button1.Text
        NewBUT.Location = Button1.Location

        'Store the location of the duplicated button in the shape of a string array in the Settings with the char "|" as a separator.
        If My.Settings.CreatedButtons = "" Then
            My.Settings.CreatedButtons &= NewBUT.Location.X & "," & NewBUT.Location.Y
        Else
            My.Settings.CreatedButtons &= "|" & NewBUT.Location.X & "," & NewBUT.Location.Y
        End If
        My.Settings.Save()

        'Add a handler to the duplicated button.
        AddHandler NewBUT.Click, AddressOf ButtonClicked

        'Return 'button1' to its original location.
        Button1.Location = Button1.Tag
    End Sub

    Private Sub ButtonClicked() Handles Button1.Click
        Timer1.Stop() ' THIS IS IMPORTANT!

        'Paste your code that you want all the buttons to handel instead of this next line.
        MsgBox("Button clicked!")
    End Sub
End Class

---

Hope that helped you, please make sure to vote it up, so i know it did ;)

Answer 3

Here is how to implement you last thing to your project :

First :

Add another timer to your form design called(Timer2), this time is to handle the movement of the created buttons where the first timer (Timer1) was to handle the movement of the main first button (the once we are duplicating from).

Now this is how your whole code should look like, I explained as much as i can in the code, and if you didn't understand a thing, please ask... :

Public Class Form1
    Dim XLoc, YLoc, CreateButtonX As Integer
    Dim CreatedButtons As String()
    Dim DragedButtonName As String
    Dim ButtonsCount As Integer = 1
    Dim NewBUT As Button

    Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        If My.Settings.CreatedButtons <> "" Then
            'Split the string (CreatedButtons) in the Settings with the char "|" as a separator and loop through all the pats when each part is a different location for a duplicated button. 
            CreatedButtons = My.Settings.CreatedButtons.Split("|")
            Dim Separator As String = "|"
            For Each Separator In CreatedButtons
                CreateNewButton()
                Try
                    Dim Pos1 As Integer = CreatedButtons(CreateButtonX).IndexOf(":")
                    Dim Pos2 As Integer = CreatedButtons(CreateButtonX).IndexOf(",")

                    XLoc = CreatedButtons(CreateButtonX).Substring(Pos1 + 1, Pos2 - Pos1)
                    YLoc = CreatedButtons(CreateButtonX).Substring(Pos2 + 1)
                    NewBUT.Location = New Point(XLoc, YLoc)
                Catch : End Try
                AddHandler NewBUT.MouseDown, AddressOf CreatedButtons_Click
                AddHandler NewBUT.MouseDown, AddressOf CreatedButtons_MouseDown
                AddHandler NewBUT.MouseUp, AddressOf CreatedButtons_MouseUp
                CreateButtonX += 1
            Next
        End If
        Timer1.Interval = 1
    End Sub

    Private Sub CreateNewButton()
        NewBUT = New Button
        NewBUT.Name = "NewBUT" & ButtonsCount + 1
        NewBUT.Parent = Me
        NewBUT.Size = New Size(150, 23)
        NewBUT.Text = "New created button"
        ButtonsCount += 1
    End Sub

    Private Sub Button1_MouseDown(sender As Object, e As MouseEventArgs) Handles Button1.MouseDown
        'Save the current location of 'button1' in its tag before moving it.
        Button1.Tag = Button1.Location

        'Get the exact location of the cursor on the 'button1'.
        XLoc = (Cursor.Position.X - Left - 8) - Button1.Location.X
        YLoc = (Cursor.Position.Y - Top - 30) - Button1.Location.Y
        Timer1.Start()
    End Sub

    Private Sub Timer1_Tick(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Timer1.Tick
        'Move the button while holding down the mouse button.
        Button1.Location = New Point(Cursor.Position.X - Left - 8 - XLoc, Cursor.Position.Y - Top - 30 - YLoc)
        Timer1.Start()
    End Sub

    Private Sub Button1_MouseUp(sender As Object, e As MouseEventArgs) Handles Button1.MouseUp
        'Stop the movement and create a new button with the same location as 'button1'.
        Timer1.Stop()

        'Create the new button.
        CreateNewButton()
        NewBUT.Location = Button1.Location

        'Store the location of the duplicated button in the shape of a string array in the Settings with the char "|" as a separator.
        If My.Settings.CreatedButtons = "" Then
            My.Settings.CreatedButtons &= NewBUT.Name & ":" & NewBUT.Location.X & "," & NewBUT.Location.Y
        Else
            My.Settings.CreatedButtons &= "|" & NewBUT.Name & ":" & NewBUT.Location.X & "," & NewBUT.Location.Y
        End If
        My.Settings.Save()

        'Add handlers to the duplicated button.
        AddHandler NewBUT.MouseDown, AddressOf CreatedButtons_Click
        AddHandler NewBUT.MouseDown, AddressOf CreatedButtons_MouseDown
        AddHandler NewBUT.MouseUp, AddressOf CreatedButtons_MouseUp

        'Return 'button1' to its original location.
        Button1.Location = Button1.Tag
    End Sub

    Private Sub CreatedButtons_Click()
        'Your code here when the user presses a created button.
    End Sub

    Private Sub CreatedButtons_MouseDown()
        'Get the exact location of the cursor on the 'clicked button'.
        XLoc = (Cursor.Position.X - Left - 8) - ActiveControl.Location.X
        YLoc = (Cursor.Position.Y - Top - 30) - ActiveControl.Location.Y
        DragedButtonName = ActiveControl.Name
        Timer2.Start()
    End Sub

    Private Sub Timer2_Tick(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Timer2.Tick
        Controls.Item(DragedButtonName).Location = New Point(Cursor.Position.X - Left - 8 - XLoc, Cursor.Position.Y - Top - 30 - YLoc)
        Timer2.Start()
    End Sub

    Private Sub CreatedButtons_MouseUp()
        Timer2.Stop()

        'Update the new location of the button based on  its name
        Dim SelectedButtonPosition As Integer = My.Settings.CreatedButtons.IndexOf(ActiveControl.Name)
        Dim SplitSettingsPart1 As String = My.Settings.CreatedButtons.Remove(SelectedButtonPosition)
        Dim SplitSettingsPart2 As String = My.Settings.CreatedButtons.Substring(SelectedButtonPosition)
        Dim SplitSettingsPart3 As String
        If SplitSettingsPart2.Contains("|") Then
            SplitSettingsPart3 = SplitSettingsPart2.Substring(SplitSettingsPart2.IndexOf("|"))
        End If

        SplitSettingsPart2 = SplitSettingsPart2.Remove(SplitSettingsPart2.IndexOf(":"))
        SplitSettingsPart2 &= ":" & ActiveControl.Location.X & "," & ActiveControl.Location.Y

        My.Settings.CreatedButtons = SplitSettingsPart1 & SplitSettingsPart2 & SplitSettingsPart3
        My.Settings.Save()
    End Sub
End Class