Powershell Windows.Forms custom button create function doesn't work

Question

I'm trying to create a a new Windows Form button with my function that takes few params like size, position, Name and batchFile path that will be run when clicked. When I run it I got lots of errors like: $btnName,Location --> The property 'Location' cannot be found on this object. $btnName.Add_Click({ --> Method invocation failed because [System.String] does not contain a method name 'Add_Click'

I think that I'm passing my $btnName wrong but I don't know how to fix it or replace [string] with?
My idea is that after passing for example "buttonTest" as $btnName it would create a custom button like $buttonTest = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button.

Here's the code:

Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms

$Form = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Form
$Form.Text = "Copy Test"
$Form.Width = 450
$Form.Height = 300
$Form.StartPosition = "CenterScreen"
$Form.FormBorderStyle = 'FixedDialog'
$Form.BackColor = [System.Drawing.Color]::LightBlue
$Form.MaximizeBox = $false


$copyBatch = "test-batch.bat"


Function createBtn {
    param (
        [string]$btnName,
        [string]$btnDesc,
        [string]$batchFile,
        [int]$sizeW,
        [int]$sizeH,
        [int]$posX,
        [int]$posY
    )

    # Create a new button
    $btnName = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button
    $btnName.Name = $btnName
    $btnName.Text = $btnDesc
    $btnName.Width = $sizeW
    $btnName.Height = $sizeH
    $btnName.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Point($posX, $posY)
    $btnName.Add_Click({
        $btnName.Enabled = $false  # Disable button when clicked
        Start-Process -FilePath $batchFile -Wait  # Run batch file and wait for it to finish
        $btnName.Enabled = $true  # Enable button
    })
    $Form.Controls.Add($btnName)
}

createBtn -btnName "buttonTest" -btnDesc "Copy All" -batchFile $copyBatch  -sizeW 200 -sizeH 40 -posX 200 -posY 50

$Form.ShowDialog() | Out-Null

Thanks for the help, I'm still learning :)

mklement0 · Accepted Answer · 2024-03-22 22:49:25Z

2

You're assigning an instance of Button to a variable that has been constrained to be a string ($btnName), use a different variable name.

As an aside, you must use .GetNewClosure() when adding the event handler, otherwise the value of $batchFile is lost. It's also a good idea to add a new parameter to your function and pass the form as argument, this way your function doesn't break when the variable $Form doesn't exist in the parent scope.

function createBtn {
    param (
        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [System.Windows.Forms.Form] $Form,
        [string] $btnName,
        [string] $btnDesc,
        [string] $batchFile,
        [int] $sizeW,
        [int] $sizeH,
        [int] $posX,
        [int] $posY
    )

    # Create a new button
    $btn = [System.Windows.Forms.Button]@{
        Name     = $btnName
        Text     = $btnDesc
        Width    = $sizeW
        Height   = $sizeH
        Location = [System.Drawing.Point]::new($posX, $posY)
    }

    $btn.Add_Click({
        $this.Enabled = $false
        Start-Process -FilePath $batchFile -Wait
        $this.Enabled = $true
    }.GetNewClosure())

    $Form.Controls.Add($btn)
}

$createBtnSplat = @{
    Form      = $Form
    btnName   = 'buttonTest'
    btnDesc   = 'Copy All'
    batchFile = $copyBatch
    sizeW     = 200
    sizeH     = 40
    posX      = 200
    posY      = 50
}

createBtn @createBtnSplat

edited Mar 22, 2024 at 22:49

mklement0

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answered Mar 22, 2024 at 19:50

Santiago Squarzon

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3 Comments

Filip Over a year ago

Thank you @Santiago Squarzon, it's working like I wanted now :) I appreciate your explanation so I can understand better why it wasn't working

Santiago Squarzon Over a year ago

@Filip you mean the explanation isn't clear? Your function has a parameter named btnName typed (constrained) as string and you're trying to a assign an object of type Button to that variable so that button is coerced to a string (it is no longer a button). Not sure what else is there to explain.

Filip Over a year ago

I'm sorry haha I meant I appreciate that you explained it in your first response and now I can understand what was wrong (not sure why I wrote it that way, long day at work I guess 😂). Sorry you had to explain it again but thank you, everything is helpful. Have a great weekend.

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