Using variables for referencing objects in vb.net (Visual Studio 2008)

Question

I'm having a problem when using variables in object names.

I have a Public class which is called "Tank" In that class, there is a public property called "direction" of an integer type.

I keep getting the error: "Tank is a type and cannot be used as an expression" What I'm doing wrong here ?

Public Class mainroutines()

' Create Instances of tank  

Private Tank1 As New Tank()
Private Tank2 As New Tank()

'Loop trough objects and set the property value

dim i as integer
For i = 1 to 2
Tank(i).direction = 1
next i

End class

Answer 1

You don't have an array of Tanks:

Public Class mainroutines()

' Create Instances of tank  

Private Tank1 As New Tank()
Private Tank2 As New Tank()

'Loop trough objects and set the property value
Dim tanks() As Tank

tanks(0) = Tank1
tanks(1) = Tank2

For i As Integer = 1 To 2
   tanks(i).direction = 1
next

End class

If you're using Visual Studio 2008 then you could use:

Private Tank1 As New Tank() With { .Direction = 1}
Private Tank2 As New Tank() With { .Direction = 1}

So you don't need the For loop at all.

Answer 2

Well, Tank(i) is not equivalent to Tank1 . You would need to make a list of tanks, add your instances to it, and access them that way.

Public Class mainroutines() 

' Create Instances of tank '  

Dim allTanks As List(Of Tank) = New List(Of Tank) 
allTanks.Add(New Tank())
allTanks.Add(New Tank())

'Loop through objects and set the property value '

dim i as integer 
For i = 1 to 2 
allTanks(i).direction = 1 
next i 

Answer 3

@ Jball

It needed a small correction and your example worked just fine ! Exactly what I needed !

Dim alltanks As List(Of Tank) = New List(Of Tank)

Thanks a lot for your help !