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title ms.date ms.topic dev_langs helpviewer_keywords ms.assetid author ms.author manager ms.workload
Pass data between forms
11/04/2016
how-to
VB
CSharp
walkthroughs [Windows Forms], data
walkthroughs [Visual Studio], data
data [Visual Studio], passing between forms
forms, passing data between
Windows Forms, walkthroughs
78bf038b-9296-4fbf-b0e8-d881d1aff0df
ghogen
ghogen
jillfra
data-storage

Pass data between forms

This walkthrough provides step-by-step instructions for passing data from one form to another. Using the customers and orders tables from Northwind, one form allows users to select a customer, and a second form displays the selected customer's orders. This walkthrough shows how to create a method on the second form that receives data from the first form.

Note

This walkthrough demonstrates only one way to pass data between forms. There are other options for passing data to a form, including creating a second constructor to receive data, or creating a public property that can be set with data from the first form.

Tasks illustrated in this walkthrough include:

  • Creating a new Windows Forms Application project.

  • Creating and configuring a dataset with the Data Source Configuration Wizard.

  • Selecting the control to be created on the form when dragging items from the Data Sources window. For more information, see Set the control to be created when dragging from the Data Sources window.

  • Creating a data-bound control by dragging items from the Data Sources window onto a form.

  • Creating a second form with a grid to display data.

  • Creating a TableAdapter query to fetch orders for a specific customer.

  • Passing data between forms.

Prerequisites

This walkthrough uses SQL Server Express LocalDB and the Northwind sample database.

  1. If you don't have SQL Server Express LocalDB, install it either from the SQL Server Express download page, or through the Visual Studio Installer. In the Visual Studio Installer, SQL Server Express LocalDB can be installed as part of the Data storage and processing workload, or as an individual component.

  2. Install the Northwind sample database by following these steps:

    1. In Visual Studio, open the SQL Server Object Explorer window. (SQL Server Object Explorer is installed as part of the Data storage and processing workload in the Visual Studio Installer.) Expand the SQL Server node. Right-click on your LocalDB instance and select New Query.

      A query editor window opens.

    2. Copy the Northwind Transact-SQL script to your clipboard. This T-SQL script creates the Northwind database from scratch and populates it with data.

    3. Paste the T-SQL script into the query editor, and then choose the Execute button.

      After a short time, the query finishes running and the Northwind database is created.

Create the Windows Forms app project

  1. In Visual Studio, on the File menu, select New > Project.

  2. Expand either Visual C# or Visual Basic in the left-hand pane, then select Windows Desktop.

  3. In the middle pane, select the Windows Forms App project type.

  4. Name the project PassingDataBetweenForms, and then choose OK.

    The PassingDataBetweenForms project is created, and added to Solution Explorer.

Create the data source

  1. To open the Data Sources window, on the Data menu, click Show Data Sources.

  2. In the Data Sources window, select Add New Data Source to start the Data Source Configuration wizard.

  3. Select Database on the Choose a Data Source Type page, and then click Next.

  4. On the Choose a database model page, verify that Dataset is specified, and then click Next.

  5. On the Choose your Data Connection page, do one of the following:

    • If a data connection to the Northwind sample database is available in the drop-down list, select it.

    • Select New Connection to launch the Add/Modify Connection dialog box.

  6. If your database requires a password and if the option to include sensitive data is enabled, select the option and then click Next.

  7. On the Save connection string to the Application Configuration file page, click Next.

  8. On the Choose your Database Objects page, expand the Tables node.

  9. Select the Customers and Orders tables, and then click Finish.

    The NorthwindDataSet is added to your project, and the Customers and Orders tables appear in the Data Sources window.

Create the first form (Form1)

You can create a data-bound grid (a xref:System.Windows.Forms.DataGridView control), by dragging the Customers node from the Data Sources window onto the form.

To create a data-bound grid on the form

  • Drag the main Customers node from the Data Sources window onto Form1.

    A xref:System.Windows.Forms.DataGridView and a tool strip (xref:System.Windows.Forms.BindingNavigator) for navigating records appear on Form1. A NorthwindDataSet, CustomersTableAdapter, xref:System.Windows.Forms.BindingSource, and xref:System.Windows.Forms.BindingNavigator appear in the component tray.

Create the second form

Create a second form to pass data to.

  1. From the Project menu, choose Add Windows Form.

  2. Leave the default name of Form2, and click Add.

  3. Drag the main Orders node from the Data Sources window onto Form2.

    A xref:System.Windows.Forms.DataGridView and a tool strip (xref:System.Windows.Forms.BindingNavigator) for navigating records appear on Form2. A NorthwindDataSet, CustomersTableAdapter, xref:System.Windows.Forms.BindingSource, and xref:System.Windows.Forms.BindingNavigator appear in the component tray.

  4. Delete the OrdersBindingNavigator from the component tray.

    The OrdersBindingNavigator disappears from Form2.

Add a TableAdapter query

Add a TableAdapter query to Form2 to load orders for the selected customer on Form1.

  1. Double-click the NorthwindDataSet.xsd file in Solution Explorer.

  2. Right-click the OrdersTableAdapter, and select Add Query.

  3. Leave the default option of Use SQL statements, and then click Next.

  4. Leave the default option of SELECT which returns rows, and then click Next.

  5. Add a WHERE clause to the query, to return Orders based on the CustomerID. The query should be similar to the following:

    SELECT OrderID, CustomerID, EmployeeID, OrderDate, RequiredDate, ShippedDate, ShipVia, Freight, ShipName, ShipAddress, ShipCity, ShipRegion, ShipPostalCode, ShipCountry
FROM Orders
WHERE CustomerID = @CustomerID

    [!NOTE] Verify the correct parameter syntax for your database. For example, in Microsoft Access, the WHERE clause would look like: WHERE CustomerID = ?.

  6. Click Next.

  7. For the Fill a DataTableMethod Name, type FillByCustomerID.

  8. Clear the Return a DataTable option, and then click Next.

  9. Click Finish.

Create a method on Form2 to pass data to

  1. Right-click Form2, and select View Code to open Form2 in the Code Editor.

  2. Add the following code to Form2 after the Form2_Load method:

    [!code-vbVbRaddataDisplaying#1] [!code-csharpVbRaddataDisplaying#1]

Create a method on Form1 to pass data and display Form2

  1. In Form1, right-click the Customer data grid, and then click Properties.

  2. In the Properties window, click Events.

  3. Double-click the CellDoubleClick event.

    The code editor appears.

  4. Update the method definition to match the following sample:

    [!code-csharpVbRaddataDisplaying#2] [!code-vbVbRaddataDisplaying#2]

Run the app

  • Press F5 to run the application.

  • Double-click a customer record in Form1 to open Form2 with that customer's orders.

Next steps

Depending on your application requirements, there are several steps you may want to perform after passing data between forms. Some enhancements you could make to this walkthrough include:

See also