Question Trying to Pass a groupbox to get radio button text

[lovekeiiiy]

I'm working on trying to understand classes better. I didn't feel like I got a good grasp of it in my programming class last semester. So, I'm using a textbox for a different class (Visual Basic) for the no-nothing assignments design to reinforce the lesson.


Anyway, I'm a bit stuck. I tried doing a search on the web, and just couldn't find the answer to get me over the hump. I also tried asking on another forum, not specifically focused on C# (Linky), but did not get a response. The assignment is to create some conference registration form. Form design was given. Also said to use a three-tier program design. There is a checkbox for preconferences, when checked shows three conference choices (each is course is the same fee).


What I did was create classes for the form, validating data, and database. What I was thinking I could do was pass the groupbox and the controls within it (three radio buttons). Then I could check to make sure the user picks one (passing to validation class), and get the radio button text to write to the text delimited file (passing to the database class). I've passed the groupbox, I think, but it's not letting me access the controls.


Here's the code to show what I was doing. I may have included some extra, unneeded information. I just wasn't sure.


I've create a class to create an object to hold customer information.

namespace NetworkConferenceRegistration
{
    public class ConferenceRegistraction
    {
        //fields
        private int corpID;
        private string firstName;
        private string lastName;
        private int days;
        //private string conferenceName;


[removed code]


        //constructor
       public ConferenceRegistraction(int intCorpID, string strFirstName, string strLastName, int intDays, GroupBox grpCourses)
        {
            corpID = intCorpID;
            firstName = strFirstName;
            lastName = strLastName;
            days = intDays;
            conferenceName = grpCourses.Controls.OfType<RadioButton>;
            
        }

        public ConferenceRegistraction(int intCorpID, string strFirstName, string strLastName, int intDays, RadioButton radCourse)
        {
            corpID = intCorpID;
            firstName = strFirstName;
            lastName = strLastName;
            days = intDays;
            conferenceName = radCourse.Text;
         }

        //properties
        public int CorpID
        {
            get
            {
                return corpID;
            }
            set
            {
                corpID = value;
            }
        }
        public string ConferenceName
        {
            get
            {
                
                return ConferenceName;
            }
        }



[removed code] 
        
        public string ConferenceName //readonly.  don't think i'll need to set which radio button to use or change its text property
        {
            get
            {
                
                return ConferenceName;
            }
        }
                        
        //calculate conferense cost
        public decimal GetCost(CheckBox chkPreconference)
        {
            //local variables
            const decimal decConferenceRatePerDay = 350;    //conference rate per day
            decimal decConferenceCost = 0;                     //total cost of conference


            //calculate the cost based on number of days
            decConferenceCost = decConferenceRatePerDay * Days;
            
            //add preconference cost
            if (chkPreconference.Checked == true)
            {
                decConferenceCost += 675;
            }
            return decConferenceCost;
        }
    }
}

the form

namespace NetworkConferenceRegistration
{
    public partial class frmNetworkRegistraction : Form
    {
       [code removed]


        //get user information and calculate costs
        private void btnCalculateCosts_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            //check to see if user data is valid
            if (txtCorpID.MaskFull & //did user input ID number
                Validation.IsDataEntered(txtFirstName, "First Name", ref strErrorMessage) &   //did user enter first name
                Validation.IsDataEntered(txtLastName, "Last Name", ref strErrorMessage) &    //did user enter last name
                Validation.IsDataEntered(txtNumberOfDays, "Number of Days", ref strErrorMessage) & //did user enter number of days
                Validation.IsDataWithinRange(txtNumberOfDays, 1, 4, "Number of Days", ref strErrorMessage) == true)    //is number of days four or less
            {
                //create object and instantation
                ConferenceRegistraction objNewConferenceRegistraction = new ConferenceRegistraction(Convert.ToInt32(txtCorpID.Text.Trim()), txtFirstName.Text.Trim(), txtLastName.Text.Trim(), Convert.ToInt16(txtNumberOfDays.Text.Trim()));
                lblTotalCosts.Text = objNewConferenceRegistraction.GetCost(chkPreConferenceCourse).ToString();
            }
            else
            {
                MessageBox.Show(strErrorMessage, "Input Error");
                
                //reset error message
                strErrorMessage = string.Empty;
            }
        }
[code removed]


       //change form to display preconferences course selection or not
        private void chkPreConferenceCourse_CheckedChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            if (this.grpCourses.Visible == false)
            {
                this.grpCourses.Visible = true;
            }
            else
            {
                this.grpCourses.Visible = false;
            }
        }
    }
}

I have worked on this more, working the database class/tier, and I'm getting, an StackOverFlowException was unhandled error. I figured this error is tied to my issue of not being about the pass which radio button selected and text into ConferenceRegistration class. If I code out the ConferenceName line, it works fine.

namespace NetworkConferenceRegistration{
    public static class Database
    {
        //class level variables
        private static string strDirectory = Application.StartupPath;
        private static string strFileName = "/ConfereenceRegistration.txt";


        public static void Save(ConferenceRegistraction conferenceInformation)
        {
            //create output stream and file
            StreamWriter outputInformation = new StreamWriter(new FileStream(strDirectory + strFileName, FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write));
            outputInformation.Write(conferenceInformation.CorpID + ",");
            outputInformation.Write(conferenceInformation.FirstName + ",");
            outputInformation.Write(conferenceInformation.LastName + ",");
            outputInformation.Write(conferenceInformation.Days + ",");
            outputInformation.Write(conferenceInformation.ConferenceName + "\n");


            //close file
            outputInformation.Close();
        }
    }
}

Any help or suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[lovekeiiiy]

Yes, I copied the code you gave. Yes, the radio buttons were in a groupbox.

I must have ran into an issue and found, and fixed, the ConferenceName property. I have returning the conferenceName field. Thanks for pointing it out nonetheless.

 

[jmcilhinney]

Yes, I copied the code you gave. Yes, the radio buttons were in a groupbox.

I must have ran into an issue and found, and fixed, the ConferenceName property. I have returning the conferenceName field. Thanks for pointing it out nonetheless.

It's often said that relying on case alone to distinguish indentifiers is bad practice. I code a lot in VB too and it is not case-sensitive so I usually prefix a field that backs a property with an underscore, which is not uncommon for VB developers. For clarity, I use the same convention in C#.

 

[lovekeiiiy]

agreed. I definitely like, and prefer, the use of prefixes. It makes it so much easier to know what the variable is and how it's being used. I also started learning VB first (and I do remember seeing your avatar name over in the vbforums too).

I'm still learning, so I'm bound to make a few, or more errors. Hopefully, I'm able to learn from them.