1 Introduction VB2008

Microsoft Visual Basic 2008:
Reloaded
Third Edition
Chapter One
An Introduction to Visual Basic 2008
Objectives
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
Define the terminology used in programming
Create a Visual Basic 2008 Windows-based
application
Manage the windows in the Integrated Development
Environment (IDE)
Set the properties of an object
Add a control to a form
Use the Label, Button, and PictureBox tools
Microsoft Visual Basic 2008: Reloaded, Third Edition
Objectives (continued)
Enter code in the Code Editor window

Save a solution
Start and end an application
Print an applications code and interface
Write an assignment statement
Close and open an existing solution
Find and correct a syntax error
Programmers
Programs: directions given to computers
Programmers: people who write programs
Typical tasks performed by a programmer include:
Analyze a problem statement or project specification
Plan an appropriate solution and convert the solution
to instructions that the computer can follow
Programmers should be able to:

Think logically and pay attention to detail
Be patient and persistent, and able to work under
pressure
Be creative in designing solutions and testing them
Programming Languages
Programming languages: used to communicate
with the computer
Object-oriented programming language: a language
that allows the programmer to use objects to accomplish
a programs goal
Object: anything that can be seen, touched, or used
Every object is created from a class
Class: a pattern or blueprint used to create an

object
Visual Basic is available as a stand-alone product
(Express Edition) or as part of Visual Studio 2008
Visual Studio 2008

Integrated Development Environment (IDE):
Contains all the tools and features needed to create,
run, and test programs
Includes an editor and compiler
Visual Studio 2008:

IDE used to create Windows- or Web-based
programs
Includes Visual Basic 2008, Visual C++ 2008, and
Visual C# 2008
Visual Studio 2008 (continued)

Application: program or suite of programs
Windows-based application:
Has a Windows user interface
Runs on a desktop computer
User interface: what the user sees and interacts with

when using an application
Web-based application:
Has a Web user interface
Runs on a server
Accessed with a computer browser
Solutions, Projects, and Files

Solution: a container that stores projects and files
for an entire application
Project: a container that stores files associated with
a specific piece of the solution
A solution may contain one or more projects
Solutions, Projects, and Files

(continued)
Figure 1-1: Illustration of a solution, project, and file

Starting Microsoft Visual Studio 2008
Figure 1-2: How to start Microsoft Visual Studio 2008
10
Figure 1-3: Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition startup screen

11
Creating a Visual Basic 2008

Windows-Based Application
Figure 1-4: How to create a Visual Basic 2008 Windows-based application

12
Figure 1-5: Completed New Project dialog box

13
Figure 1-6: Solution and Visual Basic Project created by Visual Studio 2008
14
Managing the Windows in the IDE
Figure 1-7: How to manage the windows in the IDE
15
The Windows Form Designer Window

Windows Form Designer window:
Allows you to create (design) the GUI
Graphical user interface (GUI):

What the user sees and interacts with when using the
application
Windows Form object (or form):

Adds other objects such as buttons and text boxes to the form
to create the GUI
Has a title bar with caption and Minimize, Maximize, and
Close buttons
Tab at top of designer windows has [Designer]
16
Figure 1-8: Windows Form Designer window

17
The Solution Explorer Window

Solution Explorer window:
Displays a list of projects contained in this solution
Displays the items contained in each project
Figure 1-9: Solution Explorer window
18
The Solution Explorer Window

(continued)
Source file: a file containing program instructions
Code: program instructions
Form file: a file containing code associated with a
Windows form
Give each form file a meaningful name using the
Properties window
19
The Properties Window

Properties: a set of attributes that determine an
objects appearance and behavior
Properties window: displays properties of selected
object
Default property values are assigned when an
object is created
20
The Properties Window (continued)
Figure 1-10: Properties window showing the properties of the Form1.vb file
21
The Properties Window (continued)

Properties window includes an Object box and a
Properties list
Object box:
Located immediately below Properties window title bar
Contains the name of the selected object
Properties list:
Left column displays names of properties
Use the Alphabetical or Categorized buttons to sort the
display of properties
Settings box: Right column containing the current

value of each property
22
Properties of a Windows Form
Figure 1-11: Windows form properties listed in the Properties window

23

(continued)
Class definition: block of code that defines the
attributes and behaviors of an object
All class definitions are contained in namespaces
Namespace: defines a group of related classes

Dot member access operator: the period that
separates words in an objects name to indicate a
hierarchy of namespaces
Name property: used to refer to an object in code
Give each object a meaningful name
Hungarian notation: naming convention using three

or more character prefix to represent the object type
24

(continued)
Pascal case:
First letter of each word in the name is uppercase
First part of name is objects purpose
Second part of name is objects class
Text property: controls the caption displayed on

forms title bar
StartPosition property: determines the forms
position on the screen when application starts
Font: general shape of characters in text
Recommended font is Seqoe UI font
Point: a measure of font sizes; one point = 1/72 inch

25
The Toolbox Window

Toolbox:
Contains objects that can be added to other objects,
such as a form
Each tool has an icon and a name to identify it
Each tool represents an object, called a control
Controls:
Objects displayed on a form
Represented as icons in the toolbox
Can be locked in place on the form
26
The Toolbox Window (continued)
Figure 1-12: Toolbox window

27
Figure 1-13: How to add a control to a form
28
Figure 1-14: How to manipulate the controls on a form

29
The Label Control

Label control:
Displays text that user cannot edit
Used as prompts to explain controls or display output
Name should end with Label
Control names use camel case

Camel casing: lowercase first word; uppercase first
letter of each subsequent word in the name
Not necessary to assign meaningful names for labels
used as prompts because they are never used in code
Labels used for output should have meaningful names
30
The Label Control (continued)
Figure 1-15: Wizard applications user interface

31
The Button Control

Button control:
Performs an immediate action when clicked
Its name should end with Button
Text property: specifies the text that appears on the

buttons face
32
The Picture Box Control

Picture box control: used to display an image on a
form
Image property: specifies the image to display
SizeMode property: handles how the image will be
displayed
Settings: Normal, StretchImage, AutoSize,
CenterImage, or Zoom
33
The Code Editor Window

Events: user actions while program is running
Examples: clicking, double-clicking, scrolling
Event procedure: set of instructions to be

executed when an event occurs
Tells the object how to respond to an event
Code editor: used to enter programming code
34
The Code Editor Window (continued)
Figure 1-16: How to open the Code Editor window
35
Figure 1-17: Code Editor window opened in the IDE
36

Class statement: used to define a class
Begins with Public Class <class name>
Ends with End Class
Class Name list box: lists the names of objects
(controls) included in the user interface
Method Name list box: lists the events to which
the selected object is capable of responding
When you select a control from the Class Name list
box and a method name, a code template for the
event appears in the Code Editor window
Syntax: rules of the language
37

Keyword: a word with special meaning in a
programming language
Event code template has a procedure header and
procedure footer
Sub procedure: block of code that performs a task
Events procedure header:
Begins with keywords Private Sub
Procedure name includes object name and event
name
Handles clause indicates for which objects events
this code will execute
38
The Me.Close() Instruction

Me.Close() instruction: closes the current form
at run time
If the current form is the main form, the application is
terminated
Me keyword: refers to the current form

Method: predefined VB procedure that can be
invoked (called) when needed
Sequential processing: each line is executed in
sequence
Also called a sequence structure
39
The Me.Close() Instruction

(continued)
Figure 1-19: Me.Close() instruction in the Click event procedure
40
Saving a Solution
An asterisk appears on the designer and Code
Editor tabs if a change was made since the last
time the solution was saved
Figure 1-20: How to save a solution
41
Starting and Ending an Application

Startup form: the form to be displayed when the
application starts
Figure 1-21: How to specify the startup form

42

(continued)
Figure 1-22: Project Designer window

43

(continued)
Figure 1-23: How to start an application
44

(continued)
Figure 1-24: Result of starting the Wizard application

45

(continued)
When you start a VB application, the IDE creates
an executable file
Executable file:
Can be run outside of Visual Studio 2008
Has a file extension of .exe
Stored in the projects bin\Debug folder
46

(continued)
Figure 1-25: How to end an application
47
Using an Assignment Statement

Properties window is used to set property values at
design time
Assignment statement: assigns a value to a
variable or property of a control
Used to set property values at run time
String: zero or more characters enclosed in

quotation marks
Assignment operator: the = symbol
48
Using an Assignment Statement

(continued)
Figure 1-26: Assignment statements entered in the Code Editor window
49
Printing Your Application
Figure 1-27: How to print an applications code and user interface

50
Closing the Current Solution

Closing a solution closes all projects and files in
that solution
You are prompted to save any files that have
unsaved changes
Figure 1-28: How to close a solution
51
Opening an Existing Solution

Only one solution can be open at any one time
If a solution is already open, opening a different
one will close the currently open solution
52
Opening an Existing Solution

(continued)
Figure 1-29: How to open an existing solution
53
Programming Tutorial
Figure 1-46: Result of starting the Wizard application

54
Programming Example
Figure 1-54: User interface
55
Summary
Program: directions given to a computer
Object-oriented programs focus on objects to
accomplish a task
Object: can be seen, touched, or used, and has
attributes that control its appearance and behavior
Class: a pattern from which an object can be
created
Applications created in Visual Studio 2008 are
composed of solutions, projects, and files
56
Summary (continued)
Windows Form Designer window: used to create
GUI applications
Windows Form object is created from the Windows
Form class
Solution Explorer window: shows names of projects
and files in the solution
Properties window: lists an objects properties and
their values
All class definitions are contained in namespaces
57
Summary (continued)
System.Windows.Forms namespace contains
definition of the Windows Form class and class
definitions for objects added to a form
Dot member access operator indicates a hierarchy
of namespaces
Name property: used to refer to an object in code
Text property of a form: specifies the text to be
displayed in the title bar of the form and in the
taskbar when running
Forms StartPosition property sets the position of
the form when it first appears at run time
58
Summary (continued)
Recommended font is Segoe UI in 9-point size
Toolbox: contains tools for creating the GUI
A controls Text property value is displayed inside
the control
Controls on a form can be selected, sized, moved,
deleted, or locked at design time
Label control: contains text that a user cannot edit
Button control: performs an immediate action when
clicked
Picture box control: displays an image on a form
59
Summary (continued)
Event procedure: the code that tells an object how
to respond to an event
Use the Class Name and Method Name list boxes
to select an object and event to code
Code Editor: provides code templates for each
objects event procedures
Can display line numbers in the Code Editor
window
Me.Close() instruction: can terminate an
application
60
Summary (continued)
You should save your solution every 10-15 minutes
When an application is started in the IDE, the
computer creates an executable file
Use an assignment statement to set a property
value at run time
Can print your applications code, with or without
line numbers
Closing a solution closes all projects and files in it
Only one solution can be open in the IDE at any
time
61

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Microsoft Visual Basic 2008:

Microsoft Visual Basic 2008: Reloaded, Third Edition

Enter code in the Code Editor window

Microsoft Visual Basic 2008: Reloaded, Third Edition

Programmers should be able to:

Class: a pattern or blueprint used to create an

Visual Studio 2008

Visual Studio 2008:

Microsoft Visual Basic 2008: Reloaded, Third Edition

Visual Studio 2008 (continued)

User interface: what the user sees and interacts with

Solutions, Projects, and Files

Microsoft Visual Basic 2008: Reloaded, Third Edition

Solutions, Projects, and Files

Figure 1-1: Illustration of a solution, project, and file

Starting Microsoft Visual Studio 2008

Figure 1-2: How to start Microsoft Visual Studio 2008

Microsoft Visual Basic 2008: Reloaded, Third Edition

Figure 1-3: Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition startup screen

Creating a Visual Basic 2008

Figure 1-4: How to create a Visual Basic 2008 Windows-based application

Figure 1-5: Completed New Project dialog box

Managing the Windows in the IDE

Figure 1-7: How to manage the windows in the IDE

Microsoft Visual Basic 2008: Reloaded, Third Edition

The Windows Form Designer Window

Graphical user interface (GUI):

Windows Form object (or form):

Figure 1-8: Windows Form Designer window

The Solution Explorer Window

Figure 1-9: Solution Explorer window

Microsoft Visual Basic 2008: Reloaded, Third Edition

The Solution Explorer Window

Microsoft Visual Basic 2008: Reloaded, Third Edition

The Properties Window

Microsoft Visual Basic 2008: Reloaded, Third Edition

The Properties Window (continued)

Microsoft Visual Basic 2008: Reloaded, Third Edition

The Properties Window (continued)

Settings box: Right column containing the current

Properties of a Windows Form

Figure 1-11: Windows form properties listed in the Properties window

Properties of a Windows Form

Namespace: defines a group of related classes

Hungarian notation: naming convention using three

Properties of a Windows Form

Text property: controls the caption displayed on

Point: a measure of font sizes; one point = 1/72 inch

The Toolbox Window

Microsoft Visual Basic 2008: Reloaded, Third Edition

The Toolbox Window (continued)

Figure 1-12: Toolbox window

The Toolbox Window (continued)

Figure 1-13: How to add a control to a form

Microsoft Visual Basic 2008: Reloaded, Third Edition

The Toolbox Window (continued)

Figure 1-14: How to manipulate the controls on a form

The Label Control

Control names use camel case

The Label Control (continued)

Figure 1-15: Wizard applications user interface

The Button Control

Text property: specifies the text that appears on the