Working with colordialog

Question

1.00/5 (1 vote)

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I have roughly 40 labels on my form. I'd like to allow the user to change Forecolor of the labels, and then save that color as a default upon closing the form. (Clicking the form itself will remove color changes to both the form and the labels, restoring them to the colors that came with the install).

I have it working fine with the Backcolor of the form, but cannot get it to work with the labels. I suspect the difference is that I was able to bind the Backcolor to the form, whereas I don't know how to do that with all the labels as a group".

Thank you

What I have tried:

The ability to change colors works fine. My problem is saving it as a default so it's the same color next time it opens again.

This code changes the color of all labels on my form, but won't save the change.

private void btnFcolor_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            ColorDialog cd = new ColorDialog();
            if (cd.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)

                foreach (Control l in Controls)
                {
                    if (l.GetType() == typeof(System.Windows.Forms.Label))
                    {
                        l.ForeColor = cd.Color;
                    }
                }

This code changes, and saves the Backcolor of the form itself, and saves it on exit.

private void btnColor_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            using (var dlg = new ColorDialog())
            {
                if (dlg.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
                {
                    this.BackColor = Properties.Settings.Default.FormBackColor = dlg.Color;
                    Properties.Settings.Default.Save();
                }

Posted 31-Jan-20 6:05am

Smeezy

Updated 31-Jan-20 9:49am

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Comments

Richard MacCutchan 31-Jan-20 12:07pm

You forgot to include the code to save the setting.

Smeezy 31-Jan-20 12:09pm

I had it there, but it doesn't work. That's why I'm here.

Richard MacCutchan 31-Jan-20 12:13pm

Well you need to explain what is meant by "it doesn't work.".

Smeezy 31-Jan-20 12:18pm

The same line of code I used for the FormBackColor (adjusted for FormForeColor of course) just gives me errors when I try it with the forecolor. I thought it might be due to the "foreach" iterating through the labels. On a scale of 1-10 with coding, I'm at a solid 0.75, so beyond that, I cannot give you a better answer. It just gave me underline errors.

Richard MacCutchan 31-Jan-20 12:30pm

"just gives me errors"
Then please tell us what the errors are!

Smeezy 31-Jan-20 12:46pm

So this is what I originally had. The problem at this point is that anything I replace "FormBackColor" with gives me an underline error. Using FormbackColor won't work either, because it then affects only the formbackcolor, and not the label forecolor.

private void btnFcolor_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
ColorDialog cd = new ColorDialog();
if (cd.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)

foreach (Control l in Controls)
{
if (l.GetType() == typeof(System.Windows.Forms.Label))
{
l.ForeColor = cd.Color;
}

l.ForeColor = Properties.Settings.Default.FormBackColor = cd.Color;
Properties.Settings.Default.Save();
}
}

Richard MacCutchan 31-Jan-20 15:38pm

If you build the project you will get a proper error message that tells you what is wrong.

Richard MacCutchan 31-Jan-20 12:29pm

I just tried it and it works fine.

Smeezy 31-Jan-20 12:14pm

I used "FormBackColor" to bind the changes to the form color, but when I tried it with "FormForeColor", all it did was change the color of one Button Font. I then put everything into a panel but it then only changed the color of one label.

2 solutions

Solution 2

Quote:
My problem is saving it as a default so it's the same color next time it opens again.

You need to override OnLoad[^] method:

C#

protected override void OnLoad(EventArgs e)
{
    //get color from settings
    color = ...
    this.BackColor = color;
    SetLabelColor(this.Controls, color);
    base.OnLoad(e);
}

So, create an empty form and name it ColorForm and put above code inside there. Then, your basic form has to inherits from ColorForm.

C#

public partial class YourBaseForm : ColorForm
{
 //
}

Posted 31-Jan-20 9:49am

Maciej Los

Updated 31-Jan-20 9:56am

v2

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Richard Deeming · Accepted Answer · 2020-01-31T06:41:00

Solution 1

Controls can be nested within other controls; they're not all direct children of the form.

You'll need a recursive method to process the entire control tree:

C#

private void btnFcolor_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    using (var dlg = new ColorDialog())
    {
        if (dlg.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
        {
            SetLabelColor(Controls.Cast<Control>(), dlg.Color);
            Properties.Settings.Default.FormForeColor = dlg.Color;
            Properties.Settings.Default.Save();
        }
    }
}

private void SetLabelColor(IEnumerable<Control> controls, Color color)
{
    foreach (Label label in controls.OfType<Label>())
    {
        label.ForColor = color;
    }
    foreach (Control control in controls.Where(c => c.HasChildren))
    {
        SetLabelColor(control.Controls.Cast<Control>(), color);
    }
}

Posted 31-Jan-20 6:41am

Richard Deeming

Updated 2-Feb-20 23:20pm

v3

Comments

Smeezy 31-Jan-20 13:40pm

Thank you Richard. I tried your code, but get "squiggly line" errors. Specifically the words "Where" and "Controls" (with the capital C). I don't quite understand everything you said here. Is there somewhere I can read about this? Do I need to add a "using" or reference or something?

Richard Deeming 31-Jan-20 13:47pm

Where and OfType are LINQ methods. You'll need using System.Linq; at the top of your file.

Language-Integrated Query (LINQ) (C#) | Microsoft Docs[^]

Smeezy 31-Jan-20 13:48pm

I have that in there already.

Richard Deeming 31-Jan-20 13:50pm

Ah, sorry; I forgot that the controls collection isn't strongly-typed.

You'll need a .Cast<Control>() before the .Where(...) method to make it work.

foreach (Control control in controls.Cast<Control>().Where(c => c.HasChildren))

Richard Deeming 31-Jan-20 13:52pm

Or, if that's looking a bit scary, you could move the condition inside the loop:

foreach (Control control in controls)
{
    if (control.HasChildren)
    {
        SetLabelColor(control.Controls, color);
    }
}

Smeezy 31-Jan-20 13:53pm

I'll give that a shot. I have to move on to something else right now. I'll report when I go back to that. Thank you.

Smeezy 31-Jan-20 15:12pm

So I keep getting "Controls" red underlined that says: cannot convert from 'System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlCollection' to 'System.Windows.Forms.Form.ControlCollection' within the button code.

Then within the SetLabelColor method 'Controls' and 'Would' both give me another red underline with the error: 'Form.ControlCollection' does not contain a definition for 'Controls' and no accessible extension method 'Controls' accepting a first argument of type 'Form.ControlCollection' could be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)

Richard Deeming 3-Feb-20 5:23am

That's annoying - I don't know why they have different nested classes to represent the control collections.

Try changing the SetLabelColor method to accept an IEnumerable<Control>, and adding a .Cast<Control>() to the .Controls collection when you call it. I've updated my answer with the changes.

Maciej Los 31-Jan-20 15:35pm

5ed!

Smeezy 3-Feb-20 8:16am

Hi Richard, I updated as you instructed, but still no success. As before, the label ForeColor, and button Forecolor (which I don't want) are both changing, but only the button forecolor saves. So the button forecolor is changing and saving as I expect, it's just that it should not be happening on the button! Why is it changing though? I don't see anything coded to make it change. This time I included the forms back color functions below that are working a they should just as a reference.

//Reverts FormBackColor to default installation color. (this works as expected)
private void Form1_MouseClick(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
this.BackColor = Properties.Settings.Default.FormBackColor = System.Drawing.Color.DarkSlateGray;
Properties.Settings.Default.Save();
}

//Allows user to set FormBackColor and saves as a default color. (this works as expected)
private void btnColor_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
using (var cd = new ColorDialog())
{
if (cd.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
{
this.BackColor = Properties.Settings.Default.FormBackColor = cd.Color;
Properties.Settings.Default.Save();
}
}
}

//Creates control for changing label forecolors. (this also changes the button forecolor though).
private void SetLabelColor(IEnumerable<control> controls, Color color)
{
foreach (Label label in controls.OfType())
{
label.ForeColor = color;
}
foreach (Control control in controls.Where(c => c.HasChildren))
{
SetLabelColor(control.Controls.Cast<control>(), color);
}
}

//Allows user to set Label ForeColor and saves as a default color. (this will change the label and button forecolors, but only saves the button forecolor)
private void btnFcolor_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
using (var dlg = new ColorDialog())
{
if (dlg.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
{
SetLabelColor(Controls.Cast<control>(), dlg.Color);
Properties.Settings.Default.FormForeColor = dlg.Color;
Properties.Settings.Default.Save();
}
}
}
}
}

Richard Deeming 3-Feb-20 8:34am

That doesn't make any sense - .OfType<Label>() will only iterate over controls which are labels, and buttons aren't labels.

Are you sure you're not using a LinkLabel instead of a Button?

Smeezy 3-Feb-20 8:58am

Yes. I dragged button objects from "common controls". What I think the problem is though is the "FormForeColor".

After selecting the form, I then created a binding object called
FormForeColor". In application settings in properties, I then bound that to the forms "ForeColor". I'm sure that's affecting all objects on the form, however, just using "Forecolor" alone in the btnColor control (below), gives me another underline error.

private void btnFcolor_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
using (var dlg = new ColorDialog())
{
if (dlg.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
{
SetLabelColor(Controls.Cast<control>(), dlg.Color);
Properties.Settings.Default.FormForeColor = dlg.Color;
Properties.Settings.Default.Save();
}
}

Richard Deeming 3-Feb-20 9:07am

The binding is the most likely culprit - almost all controls in the form will inherit their forecolor from the form itself unless they have an explicit value set.

Control.ForeColor Property (System.Windows.Forms) | Microsoft Docs[^]
"The ForeColor property is an ambient property. An ambient property is a control property that, if not set, is retrieved from the parent control. For example, a Button will have the same BackColor as its parent Form by default."

You'll either need to remove the binding, or set a specific ForeColor for the controls which you don't want to change.

NB: If you decide to keep the binding, you shouldn't need to iterate through the controls to update them.

Smeezy 3-Feb-20 9:22am

I removed the binding, and it did stop affecting the button color, but it still will not save the change.

Richard Deeming 3-Feb-20 9:28am

I'm not sure I follow. Are you getting an error, or did you just forget to call the SetLabelColor method when your form loads?

Smeezy 3-Feb-20 9:36am

I did not set that. Is that as simple as putting "SetLabelColor;" in the Form1_Load?

Richard Deeming 3-Feb-20 9:37am

Yes, that should work:

SetLabelColor(Controls.Cast<Control>(), Properties.Settings.Default.FormForeColor);

Smeezy 3-Feb-20 9:49am

Not sure I'll ever get beyond where I'm at with coding! This is kind of working now. Regardless of what color I choose, when I reopen the program, the forecolor of all labels is red. I don't see where that is coming from.

//Allows user to set Label ForeColor and saves as a default color.
private void btnFcolor_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
using (var dlg = new ColorDialog())
{
if (dlg.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
{
SetLabelColor(Controls.Cast<control>(), dlg.Color);
}
}

private void SetLabelColor(IEnumerable<control> controls, Color color)
{
foreach (Label label in controls.OfType())
{
label.ForeColor = color;
}
foreach (Control control in controls.Where(c => c.HasChildren))
{
SetLabelColor(control.Controls.Cast<control>(), color);
}
}
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
SetLabelColor(Controls.Cast<control>(), Properties.Settings.Default.FormForeColor);
}

Richard Deeming 3-Feb-20 9:53am

You've removed the code that updates the settings.

private void btnFcolor_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    using (var dlg = new ColorDialog())
    {
        if (dlg.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
        {
            SetLabelColor(Controls.Cast<Control>(), dlg.Color);
            Properties.Settings.Default.FormForeColor = dlg.Color;
            Properties.Settings.Default.Save();
        }
    }
}

Smeezy 3-Feb-20 9:54am

OK. I just figured that out. I forgot to add the save dialog back in!

Smeezy 3-Feb-20 9:56am

I really appreciate your help Richard! This was enlightening if for no other other reason than to reinforce the knowledge that I have a long way to go! I do need to ask though, why was this not as simple as it was to do with the backcolor?

Richard Deeming 3-Feb-20 9:59am

If you wanted to change the forecolor of all controls on the form, then the same binding approach you used for the backcolor should have worked.

It's the fact that you only wanted to change the forecolor for a specific type of control that made it more complicated.

Smeezy 3-Feb-20 10:01am

Understood. Again, thank you!