Sams Teach Yourself Visual Basic 2010 in 24 Hours Complete Starter Kit

Introduction 1

PART I: The Visual Basic 2010 Environment

HOUR 1: Jumping in with Both Feet: A Visual Basic 2010 Programming Tour 5

Starting Visual Basic 2010 ....................................................................................6

Creating a New Project ..........................................................................................7

Understanding the Visual Studio 2010 Environment ........................................10

Changing the Characteristics of Objects ............................................................11

Adding Controls to a Form..................................................................................16

Designing an Interface ........................................................................................17

Writing the Code Behind an Interface................................................................21

Running a Project ................................................................................................25

HOUR 2: Navigating Visual Basic 2010 29

Using the Visual Basic 2010 Start Page ..............................................................30

Navigating and Customizing the Visual Basic Environment ............................32

Working with Toolbars ........................................................................................37

Adding Controls to a Form Using the Toolbox ..................................................38

Setting Object Properties Using the Properties Window ....................................40

Managing Projects ..............................................................................................45

A Quick-and-Dirty Programming Primer ..........................................................51

Getting Help ........................................................................................................53

HOUR 3: Understanding Objects and Collections 57

Understanding Objects ........................................................................................58

Understanding Properties ....................................................................................58

Understanding Methods ......................................................................................65

Building a Simple Object Example Project ........................................................67

Understanding Collections ..................................................................................72

Using the Object Browser ....................................................................................75

00_067233318X_fm.qxd 4/16/10 11:35 AM Page iv

HOUR 4: Understanding Events 79

Understanding Event-Driven Programming ......................................................79

Building an Event Example Project ....................................................................87

Keeping Event Names Current ............................................................................92

PART II: Building a User Interface

HOUR 5: Building Forms: The Basics 95

Changing a Form's Name ..................................................................................96

Changing a Form's Appearance ........................................................................97

Showing and Hiding Forms ..............................................................................107

HOUR 6: Building Forms: Advanced Techniques 117

Working with Controls ......................................................................................117

Creating Topmost Nonmodal Windows............................................................134

Creating Transparent Forms..............................................................................134

Creating Scrollable Forms..................................................................................134

Creating MDI Forms ..........................................................................................136

Setting the Startup Form....................................................................................140

HOUR 7: Working with Traditional Controls 145

Displaying Static Text with the Label Control ................................................145

Allowing Users to Enter Text Using a Text Box ................................................146

Creating Buttons................................................................................................154

Creating Containers and Groups of Option Buttons........................................157

Displaying a List with the List Box ..................................................................161

Creating Drop-Down Lists Using the

Combo Box ........................................................................................................168

HOUR 8: Using Advanced Controls 173

Creating Timers ................................................................................................174

Creating Tabbed Dialog Boxes ..........................................................................177

Storing Pictures in an Image List Control ......................................................180

Building Enhanced Lists Using the List View Control ....................................182

Creating Hierarchical Lists Using the

Tree View Control ............................................................................................187

HOUR 9: Adding Menus and Toolbars to Forms 195

Building Menus..................................................................................................196

Using the Toolbar Control ................................................................................207

Creating a Status Bar ........................................................................................213

PART III: Making Things Happen-Programming

HOUR 10: Creating and Calling Code Procedures 217

Creating Visual Basic Code Modules ................................................................217

Writing Code Procedures ..................................................................................219

Calling Code Procedures....................................................................................225

Exiting Procedures ............................................................................................231

Avoiding Infinite Recursion ..............................................................................232

HOUR 11: Using Constants, Data Types, Variables, and Arrays 237

Understanding Data Types ................................................................................238

Defining and Using Constants ..........................................................................242

Declaring and Referencing Variables................................................................244

Working with Arrays..........................................................................................250

Determining Scope ............................................................................................254

Declaring Variables of Static Scope ..................................................................258

Naming Conventions ........................................................................................259

Using Variables in Your Picture Viewer Project ................................................261

HOUR 12: Performing Arithmetic, String Manipulation, and Date/Time Adjustments 269

Performing Basic Arithmetic Operations with Visual Basic ............................270

Comparing Equalities ........................................................................................274

Understanding Boolean Logic ..........................................................................274

Manipulating Strings ........................................................................................278

Working with Dates and Times ........................................................................283

HOUR 13: Making Decisions in Visual Basic Code 293

Making Decisions Using If...Then ................................................................293

Branching Within a Procedure Using GoTo ......................................................304

HOUR 14: Looping for Efficiency 309

Looping a Specific Number of Times Using For...Next ................................309

Using Do...Loop to Loop an Indeterminate Number of Times ......................315

HOUR 15: Debugging Your Code 323

Adding Comments to Your Code ......................................................................324

Identifying the Two Basic Types of Errors ........................................................326

Using Visual Basic's Debugging Tools ..............................................................329

Writing an Error Handler Using Try...Catch...Finally ............................336

HOUR 16: Designing Objects Using Classes 347

Understanding Classes ......................................................................................348

Instantiating Objects from Classes....................................................................357

HOUR 17: Interacting with Users 367

Displaying Messages Using the MessageBox.Show() Function ......................367

Creating Custom Dialog Boxes ........................................................................373

Using InputBox() to Get Information from a User ........................................377

Interacting with the Keyboard ..........................................................................379

Using the Common Mouse Events ....................................................................382

HOUR 18: Working with Graphics 389

Understanding the Graphics Object ................................................................389

Working with Pens ............................................................................................392

Using System Colors ..........................................................................................393

Working with Rectangles ..................................................................................396

Drawing Shapes ................................................................................................397

Drawing Text......................................................................................................399

Persisting Graphics on a Form..........................................................................400

Building a Graphics Project Example ..............................................................400

PART IV: Working with Data

HOUR 19: Performing File Operations 409

Using the OpenFileDialog and SaveFileDialog Controls ............................409

Manipulating Files with the File Object..........................................................415

Manipulating Directories with the Directory Object ....................................424

HOUR 20: Working with the Registry and Text Files 427

Working with the Registry ................................................................................427

Reading and Writing Text Files ........................................................................439

HOUR 21: Working with a Database 451

Introducing ADO.NET ......................................................................................452

Manipulating Data............................................................................................456

HOUR 22: Controlling Other Applications Using Automation 469

Automating Microsoft Excel ..............................................................................470

Automating Microsoft Word..............................................................................475

PART V: Deploying Solutions and Beyond

HOUR 23: Deploying Applications 481

Understanding ClickOnce Technology ..............................................................481

Using the Publish Wizard to Create a ClickOnce Application ........................482

Testing Your Picture Viewer ClickOnce Install Program ..................................486

Uninstalling an Application You've Distributed ..............................................486

Setting Advanced Options for Creating ClickOnce Programs..........................488

HOUR 24: The 10,000-Foot View 491

The .NET Framework ........................................................................................491

Common Language Runtime............................................................................492

Microsoft Intermediate Language ....................................................................493

Namespaces ......................................................................................................494

Common Type System ......................................................................................496

Garbage Collection ............................................................................................496

Further Reading ................................................................................................497