2-4 Visual Basic 2008-Intro

8/4/2019 2-4 Visual Basic 2008-Intro

1/22

26Lecture SectionC

Addawe

1

VISUAL BASIC 2008Chapter 2-4

Creating a Project2


2/22

26Lecture SectionC

Addawe

Projects Templates (for VB Express)

Windows Forms

3

Lets you easily design

familiar windows style

applications

Used to create

Windows-based

applications that run

locally on users'

computers.


Class Library

4

Used to create

reusable classes or

components that can

be shared with

multiple projects. Provides a class

module where custom

objects can be created


3/22

26Lecture SectionC

Addawe


WPF Application

5

Used to create stand-alone WindowsPresentationFoundation (WPF)applications.

applications with a richGraphical User

Interface


WPF Browser

6

Used to create

browser-hosted

Windows Presentation

Foundation

applications.


4/22

26Lecture SectionC

Addawe


Console Application

7

Used to create

command-line

applications, programs

that run from a

Windows command

prompt and have no

visual interface.

Visual Studio IDE8


5/22

26Lecture SectionC

Addawe

Projects and Solutions

In Visual Studio, programs under development aret icall called ro ects orsolutions

9

Because they contain many individual components (not justone file)

VB 2008 programs include:

a project file (.vbproj) and;

Contains information specific to a single programming task

.

Are useful to manage multiple related projects

Note: For a solution having a single project, opening the project file

is the same as opening the solution file. But for a multi-projectsolution, the solution file must be opened.

Visual Studio IDE

Microsoft Visual Studio Integrated Development

10

Menus, tools, component windows (tool windows)

Menu bar

Standard toolbar

Designer (Form Window)

Solution Ex lorer Properties window

Toolbox

*Code editor window


6/22

26Lecture SectionC

Addawe

Visual Studio IDE11

Menu bar - provides access to most of the

commands that control the development environment

serve as shortcuts for executing commands and

controlling the Visual Studio IDE

Visual Studio IDE

Designer

12

user nter ace or orm;

acts as a container for Controls to

be used in the application.


7/22

26Lecture SectionC

Addawe

Visual Studio IDE

Solution Explorer

Properties

View Code

13

n area o t e t at

contains your solution

Helps you manage

your project files.

The files are displayed

ow a i es

Refresh

View Designer

,

much like that of

Windows Explorer

Visual Studio IDE

Properties Window

14

se to c ange t e c aracter st cs,

or property settings, of the UI

elements o a form

A property setting is a qualityof

one of the objects in your program

Design time (Properties window)

Run time (Code Editor)


8/22

26Lecture SectionC

Addawe

The Visual Studio Tools15

Object list- itemizes all the UI

elements (objects) on the form

Property settings

Properties list

Events button

Alphabetical button

Categorized button

Properties button

Visual Studio IDE

Toolbox

16

a conta ner or a t e

controls


9/22

26Lecture SectionC

Addawe

Tab Name Description

All Windows

Form

Contains all the standard Windows Forms controls that are available in the

Toolbox.Common

Controls

Contains the most common controls that are typically used in Windows-based

applications.

Toolbox Tabs

Containers Contains controls that hold other controls, such as GroupBox controls and Panel

controls. Containers can help isolate a set of controls from other controls on the

form.

Menus and

ToolBars

Contains controls that enable you to create menus and toolbars for your

application, such as the MenuStrip and ToolStrip controls.

Data Contains controls that help you easily work with data in your application, such

as the DataGridView control.

Components Contains components that typically do not have a user interface, such as the

Timer and the ErrorProvider.

Printing Contains controls that enable you to provide printing capabilities to anapplication.

Dialogs Contains controls that let you use common dialog boxes in your application,

such as the SaveFileDialog, FolderBrowserDialog and FontDialog controls.17

IDE Features18


10/22

26Lecture SectionC

Addawe

Auto hide pushpin

IDE Features19

Docking guides20


11/22

26Lecture SectionC

Addawe

IDE Navigator-a feature that allows the user to cycle through open files and tools

by using key combinations (Ctrl+Tab; Ctrl+Shift+Tab reverse direction)

Press Alt+F7 or Shift+Alt+F7 to cycle through open tools without opening the IDE

Navigator

Switching among files and tools using the IDE Navigator21

Creatin the User Interface22


12/22

26Lecture SectionC

Addawe

Terminology (OOP)

Control

23

,

objects are created on a form; controls are selected from the

toolbox and then drawn on the form

Different ways of adding controls to the Form:

By double-clicking (default size)

Drag and drop (default size)

Click and drag

Terminology (OOP)

Object

24

Toolbox

Technically speaking objects are instances of a class that

supports properties, methods and events

Has inherent functionality - they know how to operate and can

respond to certain situations on their own (e.g. a list box knows

how to scroll)


13/22

26Lecture SectionC

Addawe

Terminology (OOP)

Class

25

the object does (but is not the object itself)

In Visual Basic, you can use existing Visual Studio classes (like

System.Math and System.Windows.Forms.Form) and you can build

your own classes and inherentproperties, methods and events

from them

Note:Inheritance allows one class to acquire the pre-existing interface

and behavior characteristics of another class

Terminology (OOP)

Namespace

26

(e.g. System.Windows and System.Diagnostics)

Note: To access the classes and underlying objects within a

namespace, place an Imports statement at the top of your

program code


14/22

26Lecture SectionC

Addawe

Terminology (OOP)

Property

27

Setting a property:

Design time using the Properties window

Run time using statements in the program code

Object.Property =Valuee.g. Label1.Text =Hello!

Me.BackColor=Color.Yellow

Event procedure

A block of code that is executed when an object is manipulated in

a program

Terminology (OOP)

Method

28

particular object in a program

Notation:Object.Method(Value)

e.g. Textbox1.Clear()

Me.Hide()

Listbox1.Items.Add(Check)


15/22

26Lecture SectionC

Addawe

Interface Styles

Single-Document Interface (SDI)

29

n y one ocument at a time is opene

Multiple-Document Interface (MDI)

Multiple forms within a single container form

Explorer-Style Interface

a single window containing two panes or regions,

usually consisting of a tree or hierarchical view on the

left and a display area on the right

Interface Styles

Single-Document Interface (SDI)

30


16/22

26Lecture SectionC

Addawe

Interface Styles31

Multiple-Document Interface (MDI)

Interface Styles32

Explorer-Style Interface


17/22

26Lecture SectionC

Addawe

Interface Desi n33

Positioning of objects

More important elements must be readily apparent to

34

Most user's eyes will be drawn to the upper left

portion of the screen first.

Organize the user interface so that the information flows

either vertically or horizontally, with most important

information always located in the upper-left corner of the

screen


18/22

26Lecture SectionC

Addawe

Positioning of objects

Grouping of elements and controls is also important.

35

,

GroupBox, or Panel

The use of white space can help emphasize elements and

improve usability

Under Containers category in the Toolbox

Consistency of interface elements

Inconsistency makes your application confusing, chaotic,

36

Establish a design strategy and style conventions

before you begin development

Keep it simple


19/22

26Lecture SectionC

Addawe

Tooltip control

Tooltip an object used to provide visual clues to

37

u

Tips on GUI design

Images and Icons

38

interest to your application, but again, careful design isessential

Choosing Fonts

select fonts that will be easily readable at differentresolutions and on different types of displays


20/22

26Lecture SectionC

Addawe

Tips on GUI design

Use meaningful captions or text in all objects

39

Label each control in the user interface

Align the labels and controls in the userinterface

ue an p n snap nes

Naming Objects

Must begin with a letter

40

Can contain letters and numbers

Cannot contain a period

It is better to prefix a name with letters

representing the kind of object they are naming

to eliminate confusion especially when the

application contains many objects

Use meaningful names


21/22

26Lecture SectionC

Addawe

Writin the code41

Writing the code

Code Editor Window Contains program statements associated with the form

42

Program statements that are used together to performsome action are typically grouped in a programmingconstruct called a procedure

Procedures are typically executed when certain events occur(e.g. when a button is clicked) When a procedure is associated with a particular object and event,

it is called an event handleror an event procedure.

Method NameClass Name


22/22

26Lecture SectionC

Running a Visual Basic Program

Click the Start Debugging button

43

Press F5

Click the Start Debugging command on the Debug

menu

Building Executable Files

Creating an application for Windows (.exe)

Two types of files that can be created:

44

Debug build Stored in a folder called bin\debug within the project folder

Contains debugging information that makes the program slightlyslower

Release build Stored in a folder called bin\release within the project folder

Optimized executable files

Documents

2-4 Visual Basic 2008-Intro