In PowerShell and Windows Forms, how to capture user-entered data using multiple dynamically created input controls - winforms

Question

I have a script I need to use for multiple parameter data collection, as follows:
function Build-FormPanel($FormTitle){
Add-Type -Assembly System.Windows.Forms ## Load the Windows Forms assembly
## Create the main form
$form = New-Object Windows.Forms.Form
$form.FormBorderStyle = "FixedToolWindow"
$form.Text = $FormTitle
$form.AutoScroll = $True
$form.StartPosition = "CenterScreen"
$form.Width = 740 ; $form.Height = 480 # Make the form wider
#Add Buttons- ## Create the button panel to hold the OK and Cancel buttons
$buttonPanel = New-Object Windows.Forms.Panel
$buttonPanel.Size = New-Object Drawing.Size #(400,40)
$buttonPanel.Dock = "Bottom"
$cancelButton = New-Object Windows.Forms.Button
$cancelButton.Top = $buttonPanel.Height - $cancelButton.Height - 10; $cancelButton.Left = $buttonPanel.Width - $cancelButton.Width - 10
$cancelButton.Text = "Cancel"
$cancelButton.DialogResult = "Cancel"
$cancelButton.Anchor = "Right"
## Create the OK button, which will anchor to the left of Cancel
$okButton = New-Object Windows.Forms.Button
$okButton.Top = $cancelButton.Top ; $okButton.Left = $cancelButton.Left - $okButton.Width - 5
$okButton.Text = "Ok"
$okButton.DialogResult = "Ok"
$okButton.Anchor = "Right"
## Add the buttons to the button panel
$buttonPanel.Controls.Add($okButton)
$buttonPanel.Controls.Add($cancelButton)
## Add the button panel to the form
$form.Controls.Add($buttonPanel)
## Set Default actions for the buttons
$form.AcceptButton = $okButton # ENTER = Ok
$form.CancelButton = $cancelButton # ESCAPE = Cancel
return $form
}
$LeftMargin = 25
$BottomMargin = 30
$i = 0
$form = Build-FormPanel "Please update server configurations"
foreach($param in $hash){#Where $hash is an "dictionary" of key/value pairs
$k = $param.Key
$v = $param.Value
$lblValue = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label
$lblValue.Text = $k+":"
$lblValue.Top = 20*$i ; $lblValue.Left = $LeftMargin; $lblValue.Width=150 ;$lblValue.AutoSize = $true
$form.Controls.Add($lblValue) # Add to Form
#
$txtValue = New-Object Windows.Forms.TextBox
$txtValue.Top = 20*$i; $txtValue.Left = 160; $txtValue.Width = 320;
$txtValue.Text = $v
$form.Controls.Add($txtValue) # Add to Form
$i++
}
$form.Topmost = $True
$form.Add_Shown( { $form.Activate(); } )
$result = $form.ShowDialog()
if($result -eq "OK")
{
$j = 0;
foreach($param in $hash){
${"txtValue_$j"}.Text
$j++
}
}
else {Write-Host "Cancel"}
Basically, this works OK to display the form and inputs. But after submission, I am unable to capture all the user inputs. Only the last input value is captured, obviously because the variables get overwritten in the loop.
How can I achieve capturing the data as described?

Answer 1

The issue as you have mentioned is because of the its getting overwritten.
I can give you a logical set off.
YOu can use it in a loop and in the loop , you store all the data either in array or if its dynamic then you can use arraylist by using
New-Object System.Collections.ArrayList
. But recommended is to create PSCustomObject , store in that and add that to the arraylist each time.
Finally you can get the output captured in the arraylist.
Further you can try making the arraylist Global so that it will be available for the entire script.
Hope it helps.