How to print a multi-lined string into a message box?

Question

I am trying to print a 'last receipt' from a customer in which i have stored into a sting variable called prevRecpt.

I want to be able to press a button (btnLastReceipt) and this will display this sting in a message box.

Is this possible? As I have already tried and ended up with the message box only showing the first line?

        prevRcpt = "--------------------Butlers Cinemas--------------------" &     Environment.NewLine
        prevRcpt = prevRcpt & tbTime.Text & Environment.NewLine
        prevRcpt = prevRcpt + "Operator: " + tbUser.Text & Environment.NewLine
        prevRcpt = prevRcpt + Environment.NewLine & Environment.NewLine + "-------------------------------------------------------"
        prevRcpt = prevRcpt + "Total Spent: £" + tbTotal.Text + Environment.NewLine + Environment.NewLine
        prevRcpt = prevRcpt + shoppingCart.Text + Environment.NewLine
        prevRcpt = "--------------------Butlers Cinemas--------------------" & Environment.NewLine

This is the code for building up the string.

Answer 1

Have you tried concatenating Environment.NewLine anywhere in your string?

Now that I can see your code, it seems that your last line should be this instead:

prevRcpt = prevRcpt & "--------------------Butlers Cinemas--------------------" & Environment.NewLine

That being said, you need to be aware than in the event of a very long string, the message box could size out of screen bounds, so you may want to use something else than MessageBox. If possible, make your own dialog form, make its default size convenient for most scenarios and use a scrollable text zone within it. A readonly TextBox with Multiline property set to True would not only be scrollable, but also allow the end user to copy the content in the clipboard. It may make the user's experience a lot better.

I should also mention that StringBuilder class and a few constants could help you make this code a lot cleaner:

Const headerOrFooter As String = "--------------------Butlers Cinemas--------------------"
Const separator As String = "-------------------------------------------------------"

Dim b As New Text.StringBuilder()

b.AppendLine(headerOrFooter)
b.AppendLine(tbTime.Text)
b.AppendFormat("Operator: {0}", tbUser.Text)
b.AppendLine()
b.AppendLine()
b.AppendLine()
b.AppendLine(separator)
b.AppendFormat("Total Spent: £{0}", tbTotal.Text)
b.AppendLine()
b.AppendLine(shoppingCart.Text)
b.AppendLine(headerOrFooter)

prevRcpt = b.ToString()