Direct Cast giving null error for datagridview

Question

I am currently working in VB.NET express for desktop, 2013. I am having a hard time binding SQL data to some datagridviews on a loop with an array. I am receiving an object null error and its because on the direct cast line its not pulling the datagridview. I have multiple datagridviews on a tab control tool, one datagridview per tab. Here is my code:

 try
 Dim array() As Integer = {"2", "3", "4", "7", "8", "10", "11", "12"}

        For Each value As Integer In array
            Dim RelativeDGV = DirectCast(Me.Controls("DataGridLine" & value), DataGridView)
            Using conn1 As New SqlConnection(connstring)
                conn1.Open()
                Using comm1 As New SqlCommand("SELECT LineNumber FROM tableA where LineNumber = @LineNumber", conn1)
                    comm1.Parameters.AddWithValue("@LineNumber", value)
                    Dim dt As New DataTable
                    Dim sql As New SqlDataAdapter(comm1)
                    sql.Fill(dt)
                   RelativeDGV.DataSource = dt
                End Using
                conn1.Close()
            End Using 
        Next

    Catch ex As Exception
        MsgBox(ex.ToString)
    End Try

The error is on line

 Dim RelativeDGV = DirectCast(Me.Controls("DataGridLine" & value), DataGridView)

But the null error dosen't trigger until

  RelativeDGV.DataSource = dt

Answer 1

Try to use list of DataGridView like this :

Try
    Dim array() As DataGridView = {DataGridLine2, DataGridLine3, DataGridLine4, DataGridLine7, DataGridLine8, DataGridLine10, DataGridLine11, DataGridLine12}
    For Each RelativeDGV As DataGridView In array
        Dim value As Integer = Regex.Replace(RelativeDGV.Name, "[^0-9]+", String.Empty)
        'or like this
        'Dim value As Integer = RelativeDGV.Name.Substring(12, RelativeDGV.Name.Length - 12)
        Using conn1 As New SqlConnection(connstring)
            conn1.Open()
            Using comm1 As New SqlCommand("SELECT LineNumber FROM tableA where LineNumber = @LineNumber", conn1)
                comm1.Parameters.AddWithValue("@LineNumber", value)
                Dim dt As New DataTable
                Dim sql As New SqlDataAdapter(comm1)
                sql.Fill(dt)
                RelativeDGV.DataSource = dt
            End Using
            conn1.Close()
        End Using
    Next

Catch ex As Exception
    MsgBox(ex.ToString)
End Try

Answer 2

If the various DGV controls are on other tabs, they wont be in Me.Controls . Rather than fish them out and cast them, you can iterate an array of them since you know the name. You also do not need to create a new connection for each nor duplicate datatables for each:

Dim dgvCtrls As DataGridView() = {DataGridLine2, DataGridLine3, DataGridLine4}

Using conn1 As New SqlConnection(connstring)
    conn1.Open()
    Using comm1 As New SqlCommand("SELECT LineNumber FROM...", conn1)
        '    ...
        dt.Load(comm1.ExecuteReader())
    End Using

    conn1.Close()
End Using

For Each dgv In dgvCtrls
    dgv.DataSource = dt
Next

You'd only need 8 identical DataTables if you dont want each grid to automatically reflect changes made in the others. For that, use a dataset on the same connection to create the tables:

Dim SQL = "..."
Dim dgvCtrls As DataGridView() = {dgv5, dgv2, dgv3,...}
Dim ds = New DataSet

Using dbcon As New SqlConnection(SQLConnStr)
    Using cmd As New SqlCommand(SQL, dbcon)
        dbcon.Open()
        For n As Int32 = 0 To dgvCtrls.Count - 1
            ds.Load(cmd.ExecuteReader, LoadOption.OverwriteChanges, dgvCtrls(n).Name)
        Next
    End Using
End Using

For Each dgv In dgvCtrls
    dgv.DataSource = ds.Tables(dgv.Name)
Next