Visual Basic.NET Comprehensive Concepts and Techniques Chapter 7 Using Menus, Common Dialogs,...

Visual Basic .NETComprehensive Concepts

and Techniques

Chapter 7

Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

2Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Objectives

• Add a menu bar and menus to an application using the MainMenu control

• Add a shortcut menu to an application using the ContextMenu control

• Use the StatusBar control in an application• Use the PictureBox control in an

application• Use common dialog boxes in an

application to interact with the user

3Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Objectives

• Use one-dimensional and multidimensional arrays in code

• Write a function procedure to return a value

• Write a sub procedure

• Write code to pass arguments to function and sub procedures

4Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Objectives

• Describe the two methods for passing arguments to functions and procedures

• Create an enhanced message box with the MessageBox.Show() method

• Use a collection of controls to access properties and methods in code

5Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

6Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

7Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Creating the User Interface

• Open a New Project named Know Your Dogs Quiz in the Chapter7 folder on your Data Disk

• Set the following properties for your form

8Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Adding Controls

• Add a StatusBar control by dragging the StatusBar button from the Toolbox window to the bottom of the Form1 form

• Add one PictureBox, one GroupBox, four RadioButtons inside the GroupBox, and two Buttons

• Add a ContextMenu control• Add a FontDialog control• Set the control properties as they appear in table

7-4 on pages VB 7.19 – VB 7.21

9Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Creating Menus on a Menu Bar

• Click the MainMenu1 control in the Component Tray

• Click the Type Here indicator in the Menu Designer. Type &File as the Text property value to create the File menu on the menu bar, and press the ENTER key

• Set the Name property for the File menu item as indicated in Table 7-6 on page VB 7.24

• Click the Type Here indicator below the File menu item in the Menu Designer. Type E&xit as the Text property value

10Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Creating Menus on a Menu Bar

• Create the remaining menus and menu items as shown in Table 7-6 on page VB 7.24

• To add a Separator Bar, right-click the area in the Menu Designer you want the Separator Bar to appear, and select Insert Separator from the shortcut menu

• Adding an ampersand (&) before a letter in the Text property of a menu designates that letter as a keyboard shortcut key

• Rename the MainMenu control to mnuMain

11Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Creating a Shortcut Menu for a Form• Click the ContextMenu1 control in the Component

Tray• Click the Context Menu indicator. When the Type

Here indicator appears, add the menu items appearing in Table 7-7 on page VB 7.30

• To insert a Separator Bar, type a dash (-) for the menu item

• Select the ContextMenu1 control in the Component Tray and set the control’s Name property value to cmuShortcut

• Select the Form1 form. Set the ContextMenu property in the Properties window to cmuShortcut

12Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

The StatusBar

13Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Changing the Properties of a StatusBar Control• Click the StatusBar1 control on the Form1

form. Change the Name property to stbQuestion. Select the Panels property in the Properties window and then click the Panels property ellipsis button

• Click the Add button. When the StatusBarPanel1 panel is added, select the AutoSize property and then click the AutoSize box arrow

14Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Changing the Properties of a StatusBar Control• Click the Spring property

value and then click the OK button. When the StatusBarPanel Collection Editor window closes, select the ShowPanels property in the Properties window and change the ShowPanels property to True

15Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

The PictureBox

• Commonly used properties of the PictureBox control

16Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Changing the Properties of a PictureBox Control• Click the PictureBox1 control and set the

properties in the properties window to those specified below

17Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

18Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Common Dialog Controls

• Windows applications often share requirements for certain types of input

• Applications use similar dialog boxes to open, print, preview, or save a file

• ShowDialog() method

19Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

FontDialog Control Properties

20Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Changing the Properties of a FontDialog Control• Click the FontDialog1 control and change

the property values listed below

21Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Arrays

• Allows programmers to represent many values with one variable name

• Elements in the array are distinguished by their subscript

22Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

The Dim Statement for Arrays

23Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Dynamic Dimensioning of Arrays

• Has a variable or expression for its upper-bound value

• Visual Basic .NET permits the size of an array in a Dim statement to be written as a simple variable

• Dim intCode(gintSize) As Integer

24Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Declaring Arrays

• Right-Click the Form1 form in the Solution Explorer. Click the View Code command

• Enter Option Strict On as the first line of code in the code window

• Enter the code below, starting on line 320

25Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Indexes

• Elements in an array are referenced in code by their index

26Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Function Procedures

• Performs tasks and returns a value back to the code that called it

• Similar to VB.NET’s intrinsic functions

• Function statements declare function procedures– Private Function

InventoryCounts() As Integer()

• Common Statements in Functions– Return statement– Exit Function statement– End Function statement

27Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Declaring a Function Procedure and Using Arrays in Code• Enter the code below, starting on line 333

28Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Coding the Menu Command and Using the FontDialog Control in Code

• Click the Form1.vb tab in the main work area. Double-click the Exit command on the File menu of the Form1 form

• Type line 345 (shown on the next slide) in the code window

• Click the Design tab in the main work area, double-click the Font command on the Options menu, and type lines 349 through 355 shown on the next slide

29Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

30Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Multidimensional Arrays

31Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Declaring a Two-Dimensional Array

• Enter lines 331 through 339 as shown below

_

32Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Array Methods

33Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Declaring Sub Procedures

34Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Passing Arguments Between Procedures• Passing By Value method

– ByVal keyword– Passes the value of the variable (default method)– CalculateTax((dblIncome), intTaxBracket)

• Passing By Reference method– ByRef keyword– Passes the reference location of the variable– Allows you to modify the variable– Private Sub CalculateTax(ByRef dblValue As Double)

35Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Coding a Sub Procedure

36Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Coding a Sub Procedure

• Enter line 342 as shown below, and press ENTER• Enter lines 343 through 366 as shown below

37Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Enhanced MessageBox Features

38Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Using an Array and an Enhanced Message Box

39Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Coding an Array Method and Enhanced MessageBox• Enter lines 367 through 385 as shown

below

40Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Using a Control Collection

41Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Using a Control Collection

• Enter lines 386 through 403 as shown below

42Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Calling a Sub Procedure

• Code the five event procedures as shown on the following slide– Form1_Load– mnuFirst_Click– mnuLast_Click– mnuNext_Click– mnuPrevious_Click

43Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

44Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Using the PerformClick() Method

• Used when you want to execute the Click event procedure for a control

• Ensures visual effects are handled, in addition to calling the Click event procedure

• Best used when several event procedures perform duplicate actions

• Enter the code on the following slide for the seven event procedures shown

45Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

46Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Finish the Project

• Click the Save All button on the Standard toolbar

• Test your project by taking the Know Your Dogs quiz. Test the MainMenu and the ContextMenu

• Print your program’s documentation

• Quit Visual Basic .NET

47Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Summary

• Add a menu bar and menus to an application using the MainMenu control

• Add a shortcut menu to an application using the ContextMenu control

• Use the StatusBar control in an application• Use the PictureBox control in an

application• Use common dialog boxes in an

application to interact with the user

48Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Summary

• Use one-dimensional and multidimensional arrays in code

• Write a function procedure to return a value

• Write a sub procedure

• Write code to pass arguments to function and sub procedures

49Chapter 7: Using Menus, Common Dialogs, Procedures, Functions, and Arrays

Summary

• Describe the two methods for passing arguments to functions and procedures

• Create an enhanced message box with the MessageBox.Show() method

• Use a collection of controls to access properties and methods in code

Visual Basic .NETComprehensive Concepts

and Techniques

Chapter 7 Complete