VB.Net - ListBox Control

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The ListBox represents a Windows control to display a list of items to a user. A user can select an item from the list. It allows the programmer to add items at design time by using the properties window or at the runtime.

Let's create a list box by dragging a ListBox control from the Toolbox and dropping it on the form.

You can populate the list box items either from the properties window or at runtime. To add items to a ListBox, select the ListBox control and get to the properties window, for the properties of this control. Click the ellipses (...) button next to the Items property. This opens the String Collection Editor dialog box, where you can enter the values one at a line.

Properties of the ListBox Control

The following are some of the commonly used properties of the ListBox control −

Methods of the ListBox Control

The following are some of the commonly used methods of the ListBox control −

Events of the ListBox Control

The following are some of the commonly used events of the ListBox control −

Consult Microsoft documentation for detailed list of properties, methods and events of the ListBox control.

Example 1

In the following example, let us add a list box at design time and add items on it at runtime.

Take the following steps −

• Drag and drop two labels, a button and a ListBox control on the form.

• Set the Text property of the first label to provide the caption "Choose your favourite destination for higher studies".

• Set the Text property of the second label to provide the caption "Destination". The text on this label will change at runtime when the user selects an item on the list.

• Click the listbox and the button controls to add the following codes in the code editor.

Public Class Form1
   Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
      ' Set the caption bar text of the form.  
      Me.Text = "tutorialspont.com"
      ListBox1.Items.Add("Canada")
      ListBox1.Items.Add("USA")
      ListBox1.Items.Add("UK")
      ListBox1.Items.Add("Japan")
      ListBox1.Items.Add("Russia")
      ListBox1.Items.Add("China")
      ListBox1.Items.Add("India")
   End Sub
  
   Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
      MsgBox("You have selected " + ListBox1.SelectedItem.ToString())
   End Sub
   
   Private Sub ListBox1_SelectedIndexChanged(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) 
      Handles ListBox1.SelectedIndexChanged
      Label2.Text = ListBox1.SelectedItem.ToString()
   End Sub
End Class

When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the Microsoft Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window −

When the user chooses a destination, the text in the second label changes −

Clicking the Select button displays a message box with the user's choice −

Example 2

In this example, we will fill up a list box with items, retrieve the total number of items in the list box, sort the list box, remove some items and clear the entire list box.

Design the Form −

Add the following code in the code editor window −

Public Class Form1
   Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
      ' Set the caption bar text of the form.  
      Me.Text = "tutorialspont.com"
      ' creating multi-column and multiselect list box
      ListBox1.MultiColumn = True
      ListBox1.SelectionMode = SelectionMode.MultiExtended
   End Sub
   
   'populates the list
   Private Sub Button1_Click_1(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _
      Handles Button1.Click
      ListBox1.Items.Add("Safety")
      ListBox1.Items.Add("Security")
      ListBox1.Items.Add("Governance")
      ListBox1.Items.Add("Good Music")
      ListBox1.Items.Add("Good Movies")
      ListBox1.Items.Add("Good Books")
      ListBox1.Items.Add("Education")
      ListBox1.Items.Add("Roads")
      ListBox1.Items.Add("Health")
      ListBox1.Items.Add("Food for all")
      ListBox1.Items.Add("Shelter for all")
      ListBox1.Items.Add("Industrialisation")
      ListBox1.Items.Add("Peace")
      ListBox1.Items.Add("Liberty")
      ListBox1.Items.Add("Freedom of Speech")
   End Sub
   'sorting the list
   Private Sub Button2_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _
      Handles Button2.Click
      ListBox1.Sorted = True
   End Sub
   
   'clears the list
   Private Sub Button3_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _
      Handles Button3.Click
      ListBox1.Items.Clear()
   End Sub
   
   'removing the selected item
   Private Sub Button4_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _
          Handles Button4.Click
      ListBox1.Items.Remove(ListBox1.SelectedItem.ToString)
   End Sub
   
   'counting the numer of items
   Private Sub Button5_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _
      Handles Button5.Click
      Label1.Text = ListBox1.Items.Count
   End Sub
   
   'displaying the selected item on the third label
   Private Sub ListBox1_SelectedIndexChanged(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _
      Handles ListBox1.SelectedIndexChanged
      Label3.Text = ListBox1.SelectedItem.ToString()
   End Sub
End Class

When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the Microsoft Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window −

Fill the list and check workings of other buttons −