create array of existing buttons vb 2013 - arrays

Question

I used to program in VB6 and am trying to write the same program in VB 2013. In this program I use an array of 49 buttons that all do the same thing when you click on them. I have figured out have to do the click function to a point:
Private Sub Button_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button9.Click, Button10.Click, Button11.Click, Button12.Click, Button13.Click, Button16.Click, Button17.Click, Button18.Click, Button19.Click, Button20.Click
...
End Sub
What I am trying to do is simplify the code down to using an array so I can just pass on the index. One other person asked the same question in 2010 and the best answer was:
Button[] array = { firstButton, secondButton };
That would work but I want something with less typing. I also tried the following with failure:
One
Button[] buttons = this.Controls.OfType<Button>().ToArray();
Two
For i = 1 To 100
Dim btns() As Button = Controls.Find("Button" & i, True)
Dim btn As Button
If btns IsNot Nothing Then
btn = btns(0)
'If buttons Is Nothing Then
' ReDim buttons(0)
'Else
' ReDim Preserve buttons(buttons.Length)
'End If
'buttons(UBound(buttons)) = btn
btn.Text = i - 1 'here you can change whatever you want
End If
Next
Three
Dim buttons() As Button
buttons = Nothing
For Each b As Button In Me.Controls
If buttons Is Nothing Then
ReDim buttons(0)
Else
ReDim Preserve buttons(buttons.Length)
End If
buttons(UBound(buttons)) = b
Next
I just can't get it to accept the existing buttons into an array. I hope someone can help.

Answer 1

If your Buttons are nested inside container controls (e.g. a GroupBox) then you will need to perform a recursive search for all buttons. Maybe something like this (totally unoptimized)...
Private Function FindAllButtons(root As Control) As List(Of Button)
Dim result As List(Of Button) = New List(Of Button)()
For Each c As Control In root.Controls
If TypeOf c Is Button Then
result.Add(DirectCast(c, Button))
ElseIf c.HasChildren Then
result.AddRange(FindAllButtons(c))
End If
Next
Return result
End Function
Then just call that in your Form:
Dim allButtons as List(Of Button) = FindAllButtons(Me)
' Add common Click handler
For Each b As Button In allButtons
AddHandler b.Click, AddressOf Button_Click
Next
Update Just for fun, here's a generic version to find other types of control.
Private Function FindAllControls(Of T As Control)(root As Control) As List(Of T)
Dim result As List(Of T) = New List(Of T)()
For Each c As Control In root.Controls
If TypeOf c Is T Then
result.Add(DirectCast(c, T))
ElseIf c.HasChildren Then
result.AddRange(FindAllControls(Of T)(c))
End If
Next
Return result
End Function
You can use that like:
Dim allButtons As List(Of Button) = FindAllControls(Of Button)(Me)
Dim allTextBoxes As List(Of TextBox) = FindAllControls(Of TextBox)(Me)

Answer 2

Option two will work, you just need to add the button found into a list. I suggest you add your buttons into a List(Of ) instead of an array. You can always convert the list into an array if you really need to.
Dim buttonList As New List(Of Button)
For i As Integer = 1 To 100
Dim btns() As Control = Controls.Find("Button" & i, True)
If btns IsNot Nothing AndAlso btns.Length > 0 Then
buttonList.Add(CType(btns(0), Button))
End If
Next