Populate ComboBox2 depending on ComboBox1 selection

Question

Few days of searching and trying multiple options, but nothing is working actually. With the previous code posted.

I've imported all my objects from XAML (all set in variables), I don't know if that would be a problem for that. I don't think since everything else seems to work properly.

I just want my Tab2CBB2 to show values depending on the selection of Tab1CBB1. Anyone could help ? (I haven't paste the entire code, neither the paths but you can probably help me with that). Note that those are two of my multiple tries. Thanks

[void][System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName('presentationframework')

[xml]$xaml = @" ...

"@

#Read XAML (Parse it)
$reader=(New-Object System.Xml.XmlNodeReader $XAML)
$Window=[Windows.Markup.XamlReader]::Load( $reader )

$listQA14 = Get-ChildItem $pathQA14 -name
$listQA15 = Get-ChildItem $pathQA15 -name
$listDBQA = Get-ChildItem $pathDBQA -name

$Tab1CBB1_SelectedIndexChanged= {
    $Tab1CBB2.Items.Clear() # Clear the list
    $Tab1CBB2.Text = $null  # Clear the current entry
    Switch ($Tab1CBB1.Text) {
        'QA14' {        
            $ListQA14 | ForEach { $Tab1CBB2.Items.Add($_) }
        }


        'QA15' {        
            $ListQA15 | ForEach { $Tab1CBB2.Items.Add($_) }
        }

        'ARIELDBQA' {        
            $ListDBQA | ForEach { $Tab1CBB2.Items.Add($_) }
        }
        }
        }

$Tab1CBB1.add_SelectedIndexChanged($Tab1CBB1_SelectedIndexChanged)


#Displays the Window
$Window.ShowDialog() | out-null

Here is another option tried :

#ComboBox1------
$ItemsCBB1 = @('ARIELDBQA','QA14','QA15')
foreach ($Item in $ItemsCBB1) {
$Tab1CBB1.Items.Add($Item)
}


#ComboBox2-------

    if ($Tab1CBB1.SelectedItem -eq 'QA14') {
        $Tab1CBB2.Items.Clear()
        foreach ($Serie in $listQA14) {
        $Tab1CBB2.Items.Add($Serie)
        }
    }
     

    elseif ($Tab1CBB1.SelectedItem -eq 'QA15') {
        $Tab1CBB2.Items.Clear()
        foreach ($Serie in $listQA15) {
        $Tab1CBB2.Items.Add($Serie)
           }
    }

    elseif ($Tab1CBB1.SelectedItem -eq 'listDBQA') {
           $Tab1CBB2.Items.Clear()
           foreach ($Serie in $listDBQA) {
           $Tab1CBB2.Items.Add($Serie)
           }
    }

Tried this also : $Selection = $Tab1CBB1.SelectedItem.ToString() Variable $selection put after 'if', but not working Note that when I indicate what the current selection would be, it is working properly. The problem seems to come from 'recording' the selection a the time of clicking... Thnaks !

As for this --- [Populate ComboBox2 depending on ComboBox1 selection] --- , this is a very common thing and has been a thing well before PowerShell ever existed. There are tons of examples all over the web, in many languages, as well as videos on Youtube. It's often referred to as combobox synchronization. — postanote, Nov 15 '20 at 22:45
Thank you, but as i said, everything found was tried and nothing is working... I — MelanieD, Nov 15 '20 at 23:06
Being new is fine, but then that makes it vital that you get ramped up on it first. [Youtube is your friend](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=powershell+%27combo+box%27'). WinForm/WPF is the same regardless of the code-behind language you use. So, this is really not a PowerShell specific issue, but a WinFrom/WPF design/config one. This is a common question, even here on SO, it's been asked in the past: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/33420948/powershell-populate-combobox-basing-on-the-selected-item-on-another-combobox — postanote, Nov 15 '20 at 23:31

postanote · Answer 1 · 2020-11-16T00:15:43.183

A simple example of what you seem to be after is something like this.

### Powershell populate ComboBox 2 based on ComboBox 1 Selection
Add-type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms
[System.Windows.Forms.Application]::EnableVisualStyles()

$form1 = New-Object 'System.Windows.Forms.Form'

$labelDoubleClickOnAnyItem = New-Object 'System.Windows.Forms.Label'

$listbox2 = New-Object 'System.Windows.Forms.ListBox'
$listbox1 = New-Object 'System.Windows.Forms.ListBox'

$buttonOK = New-Object 'System.Windows.Forms.Button'

$form1_Load={
    $items=1..9 | 
    ForEach-Object {"List item $_"}
    
    $listbox1.Items.AddRange($items)
}

$listbox1_MouseDoubleClick=[System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventHandler]{
    $listbox2.Items.Add($listbox1.SelectedItem)
    $listbox1.Items.Remove($listbox1.SelectedItem)
}

$listbox2_MouseDoubleClick=[System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventHandler]{
    $listbox1.Items.Add($listbox2.SelectedItem)
    $listbox2.Items.Remove($listbox2.SelectedItem)
}

$form1.Controls.Add($labelDoubleClickOnAnyItem)
$form1.Controls.Add($listbox2)
$form1.Controls.Add($listbox1)
$form1.Controls.Add($buttonOK)
$form1.AcceptButton = $buttonOK
$form1.ClientSize = '378, 388'
$form1.FormBorderStyle = 'FixedDialog'
$form1.MaximizeBox = $False
$form1.MinimizeBox = $False
$form1.Name = 'form1'
$form1.StartPosition = 'CenterScreen'
$form1.Text = 'Form'
$form1.add_Load($form1_Load)

$labelDoubleClickOnAnyItem.Font = 'Microsoft Sans Serif, 9.75pt, style=Bold, Italic'
$labelDoubleClickOnAnyItem.Location = '13, 13'
$labelDoubleClickOnAnyItem.Name = 'labelDoubleClickOnAnyItem'
$labelDoubleClickOnAnyItem.Size = '353, 41'
$labelDoubleClickOnAnyItem.TabIndex = 3
$labelDoubleClickOnAnyItem.Text = 'Double click on any item to move it from one box to the other.'

$listbox2.FormattingEnabled = $True
$listbox2.Location = '200, 67'
$listbox2.Name = 'listbox2'
$listbox2.Size = '166, 277'
$listbox2.Sorted = $True
$listbox2.TabIndex = 2
$listbox2.add_MouseDoubleClick($listbox2_MouseDoubleClick)

$listbox1.FormattingEnabled = $True
$listbox1.Location = '12, 67'
$listbox1.Name = 'listbox1'
$listbox1.Size = '167, 277'
$listbox1.Sorted = $True
$listbox1.TabIndex = 1
$listbox1.add_MouseDoubleClick($listbox1_MouseDoubleClick)

$buttonOK.Anchor = 'Bottom, Right'
$buttonOK.DialogResult = 'OK'
$buttonOK.Location = '291, 353'
$buttonOK.Name = 'buttonOK'
$buttonOK.Size = '75, 23'
$buttonOK.TabIndex = 0
$buttonOK.Text = '&OK'

$form1.ShowDialog()

Or even this using just the ComboBox elements

Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms
[System.Windows.Forms.Application]::EnableVisualStyles()

$Form                            = New-Object system.Windows.Forms.Form
$Form.ClientSize                 = New-Object System.Drawing.Point(498,459)
$Form.text                       = 'Form'
$Form.TopMost                    = $false
$Form.StartPosition              = 'CenterScreen'

$ComboBox1                       = New-Object system.Windows.Forms.ComboBox
$ComboBox1.text                  = ''
$ComboBox1.width                 = 216
$ComboBox1.height                = 75
@('ComboxItem1','ComboxItem2','ComboxItem3') | 
ForEach-Object {[void] $ComboBox1.Items.Add($_)}
$ComboBox1.location              = New-Object System.Drawing.Point(31,41)
$ComboBox1.Font                  = New-Object System.Drawing.Font('Microsoft Sans Serif',10)

$ComboBox2                       = New-Object system.Windows.Forms.ComboBox
$ComboBox2.text                  = ''
$ComboBox2.width                 = 213
$ComboBox2.height                = 38
$ComboBox2.location              = New-Object System.Drawing.Point(32,73)
$ComboBox2.Font                  = New-Object System.Drawing.Font('Microsoft Sans Serif',10)

Function Add-ItemToComboBox2
{
    $ComboBox2.Items.Add($ComboBox1.SelectedItem)
    $ComboBox2.Refresh()
}

$Form.controls.AddRange(
    @(
        $ComboBox1,
        $ComboBox2
    )
)

$ComboBox1.Add_SelectedIndexChanged({ Add-ItemToComboBox2 })

[void]$Form.ShowDialog()

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Thank you very much. The only line i needed was : $ComboBox1.Add_SelectedIndexChanged({ Add-ItemToComboBox2 }) and put all my stuff in it. I've already tried it but the ({}) wasnt at the proper place ! — MelanieD, Nov 17 '20 at 13:02

Theo · Accepted Answer · 2020-11-16T09:48:57.887

Basically, all you have to do is inside the $Tab1CBB1_SelectedIndexChanged scriptblock use the various lists with script scoping.

Without that, the variables are unknown inside the script block.

$Tab1CBB1_SelectedIndexChanged = {
    $Tab1CBB2.Items.Clear() # Clear the list
    $Tab1CBB2.Text = $null  # Clear the current entry
    switch ($Tab1CBB1.Text) {
        'QA14'      { $script:ListQA14 | ForEach-Object { $Tab1CBB2.Items.Add($_) } }
        'QA15'      { $script:ListQA15 | ForEach-Object { $Tab1CBB2.Items.Add($_) } }
        'ARIELDBQA' { $script:ListDBQA | ForEach-Object { $Tab1CBB2.Items.Add($_) } }
    }
}

Another method could be to dynamically get the items to enter in the combobox, especially since these are file lists and can change while your form is being used:

$Tab1CBB1_SelectedIndexChanged = {
    $Tab1CBB2.Items.Clear() # Clear the list
    $Tab1CBB2.Text = $null  # Clear the current entry
    switch ($Tab1CBB1.Text) {
        'QA14'      { $path = $script:pathQA14 ; break }
        'QA15'      { $path = $script:pathQA15 ; break }
        'ARIELDBQA' { $path = $script:pathDBQA }
    }
    Get-ChildItem -Path $path -Name | ForEach-Object { $Tab1CBB2.Items.Add($_) }
}

Populate ComboBox2 depending on ComboBox1 selection

2 Answers2

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