Powershell Form With Two Text Inputs and drop down selection - powershell

Question

I'm very rusty in the area of powershell and trying to pick it back up but I have something bothering me that I can't seem to figure out. I've created a form that has two text inputs for file locations and a drop down list. What I'm attempting to do is compare the two files received in a text input. I've got the script already for the compare but what I'm trying to figure out is how I distinguish the script to be run from the selection of the drop down list and also parse the two text inputs from the form to the relevant compare script. Below is the generic form created. Any help would be much appreciated.
[void] [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Drawing")
[void] [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Windows.Forms")
[void] [System.Windows.Forms.Application]::EnableVisualStyles()
$Form = New-Object system.Windows.Forms.Form
$Form.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(700,700)
#You can use the below method as well
#$Form.Width = 400
#$Form.Height = 200
$form.MaximizeBox = $false
$Form.StartPosition = "CenterScreen"
$Form.FormBorderStyle = 'Fixed3D'
$Form.Text = "IAM Application Comparison Tool"
#application Drop down list
$Label = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label
$Label.Text = "Please select the application being compared"
$Label.AutoSize = $true
$Label.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(10,10)
$Font = New-Object System.Drawing.Font("Arial",15,[System.Drawing.FontStyle]::Bold)
$form.Font = $Font
$Form.Controls.Add($Label)
#list of applications
$listBox = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.ListBox
$listBox.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Point(10,50)
$listBox.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(260,20)
$listBox.Height = 80
[void] $listBox.Items.Add('Terradata')
[void] $listBox.Items.Add('')
[void] $listBox.Items.Add('')
[void] $listBox.Items.Add('')
[void] $listBox.Items.Add('')
[void] $listBox.Items.Add('')
[void] $listBox.Items.Add('')
$form.Controls.Add($listBox)
#File path of previous months file
$Label = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label
$Label.Text = "Enter file path of previous months file"
$Label.AutoSize = $true
$Label.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(20,200)
$Font = New-Object System.Drawing.Font("Arial",15,[System.Drawing.FontStyle]::Bold)
$form.Font = $Font
$Form.Controls.Add($Label)
#Input file path
$textBox = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
$textBox.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Point(20,300)
$textBox.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(450,20)
$form.Controls.Add($textBox)
#$formIcon = New-Object system.drawing.icon ("$env:USERPROFILE\desktop\Blog\v.ico")
#$form.Icon = $formicon
#File path of current month
$Label = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label
$Label.Text = "Enter file path of current months file"
$Label.AutoSize = $true
$Label.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(20,400)
$Font = New-Object System.Drawing.Font("Arial",15,[System.Drawing.FontStyle]::Bold)
$form.Font = $Font
$Form.Controls.Add($Label)
#Input file path
$textBox = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
$textBox.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Point(20,500)
$textBox.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(450,20)
$form.Controls.Add($textBox)
#Run Required Compare script
$Okbutton = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button
$Okbutton.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(170,600)
$Okbutton.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(200,30)
$Okbutton.Text = "Compare Files"
$Okbutton.Add_Click()
$Form.Controls.Add($Okbutton)
$Form.ShowDialog()

Answer 1

Create a function that will run whenever the button is clicked.
for instance, your button event will be:
$Okbutton.Add_Click({ BtnClick })
then add the function that will do the compare, whenever the button is clicked the function will be called:
function BtnClick{
# do something / compare your texts
#compare $TextBox1.Text $TextBox2.Text
}
you have to give a different variable name for each textbox, this how you'll be able to access the values:
$input1 = $TextBox1.Text
$input2 = $TextBox2.Text
$input3 = $ComboBox1.Text

Answer 2

The easiest way to have your code distinguish between the different objects is to name them upon creation, so use different variable names for the textboxes and the like.
To act on the button click, you already started by writing $Okbutton.Add_Click(), but since there is no scriptblock to actually do something there, nothing would happen.
The listbox can also react on an event, in this case that would be the SelectedIndexChanged event.
Please see the revised code below that shows how to implement these event handlers
Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms
Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Drawing
[void] [System.Windows.Forms.Application]::EnableVisualStyles()
$Form = New-Object system.Windows.Forms.Form
$Form.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(700,700)
$Form.MaximizeBox = $false
$Form.StartPosition = "CenterScreen"
$Form.FormBorderStyle = 'Fixed3D'
$Form.Text = "IAM Application Comparison Tool"
$Font = New-Object System.Drawing.Font("Arial",15,[System.Drawing.FontStyle]::Bold)
$Form.Font = $Font
#application Drop down list
$LabelDropDown = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label
$LabelDropDown.Text = "Please select the application being compared"
$LabelDropDown.AutoSize = $true
$LabelDropDown.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(10,10)
$Form.Controls.Add($LabelDropDown)
# list of applications
$listBox = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.ListBox
$listBox.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Point(10,50)
$listBox.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(260,20)
$listBox.Height = 80
# add the items to the listbox
$null = $listBox.Items.AddRange(#('Terradata','SomeApp','MyApp','ThirdPartyApp'))
# set the current selected item to be the first
$listBox.SelectedIndex = 0
# add functionality to react on index changed
$listBox.Add_SelectedIndexChanged({
# do something when the user chose a different app in the listbox
# for demo, just write the currently selected item in the console
Write-Host "Currently selected app in the listbox: $($this.SelectedItem)"
})
$Form.Controls.Add($listBox)
# File path of previous months file
$LabelPrevious = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label
$LabelPrevious.Text = "Enter file path of previous months file"
$LabelPrevious.AutoSize = $true
$LabelPrevious.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(20,200)
$Form.Controls.Add($LabelPrevious)
# first Input file path
$textBoxFile1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
$textBoxFile1.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Point(20,300)
$textBoxFile1.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(450,20)
$Form.Controls.Add($textBoxFile1)
# File path of current month
$LabelCurrent = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label
$LabelCurrent.Text = "Enter file path of current months file"
$LabelCurrent.AutoSize = $true
$LabelCurrent.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(20,400)
$Form.Controls.Add($LabelCurrent)
# second Input file path
$textBoxFile2 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
$textBoxFile2.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Point(20,500)
$textBoxFile2.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(450,20)
$Form.Controls.Add($textBoxFile2)
# Run Required Compare script
$Okbutton = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button
$Okbutton.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(170,600)
$Okbutton.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(200,30)
$Okbutton.Text = "Compare Files"
# add functionality for comparing files
$Okbutton.Add_Click({
# your compare function comparing the file in $textbox1 against the file in $textbox2
# IF both fields contain a valid file path and name of course ;)
# for demo just output in console
Write-Host "Compare file '$($textBoxFile1.Text)' to '$($textBoxFile2.Text)'"
})
$Form.Controls.Add($Okbutton)
$Form.ShowDialog()
# important! dispose of the form when done
$Form.Dispose()
P.S. Inside the scriptblocks for the Click and the SelectedIndexChanged events, you can use automatic variable $this, which refers to the current form control object.