Kevin,

>1) If I get all user pane records into a dataset, when I loop through them, how can I associate the string key with an enum?

Wouldn't it be easier to have stored the actual Enum value in your record instead of a string? Does this string correspond to the Enum name? You can find the "name" of an Enum by looping through it and comparing:

foreach (string name in Enum.GetNames(typeof(MyEnum)))
{
    if (name == "NameToLookFor")
    {
        // do something
        break;
    }
}

>2) How do I add an instance of a class to a form using the name of a class in a string?

You need to use reflection to instantiate the class and then just add the instance to the form's Controls collection. I've posted my ReflectionClass code here before. Do you need it again?

~~Bonnie






>The user can open any of a number of 'panes', which represent data, for example the Invoice Pane shows invoices, the Customer Pane shows customers.
>
>This list of panes is fixed. I have records in a Panes table which has the caption, a key, an icon, and the name of the pane class.
>I also have a table called UserPanes where I track what panes any given user has open.
>
>1) If I get all user pane records into a dataset, when I loop through them, how can I associate the string key with an enum?
>2) How do I add an instance of a class to a form using the name of a class in a string?