Visual Basic 2010 Unleashed

Part I Learning the Basics of VB

1 Introducing the .NET Framework 4.0 1

What Is the .NET Framework?........................................................................1

Where Is the .NET Framework ..............................................................2

The .NET Framework Architecture ........................................................2

The Common Language Runtime ..................................................................4

Writing Managed Code .........................................................................4

.NET Assemblies.....................................................................................5

The Base Class Library ....................................................................................5

.NET Languages...............................................................................................6

.NET Framework Tools ....................................................................................7

Windows Software Development Kit ....................................................7

What's New in .NET Framework 4.0 ..............................................................8

2 Getting Started with the Visual Studio 2010 IDE 11

What's New in Visual Studio 2010 ...............................................................11

Start Page.......................................................................................................12

Get Started Tab ....................................................................................13

The Guidance and Resources Tab........................................................13

The Latest News Tab ............................................................................14

Working with Projects and Solutions...........................................................15

Creating Visual Basic Projects .............................................................16

Multitargeting......................................................................................17

Accessing Recent and Online Templates.............................................18

Searching for Installed Templates .......................................................20

Creating Reusable Projects and Items Templates................................21

Creating Your First Visual Basic 2010 Project .....................................21

Finding Visual Basic Projects...............................................................23

Working with the Code Editor............................................................24

Working with Tool Windows........................................................................26

The Solution Explorer Window...........................................................27

Error List Window ...............................................................................28

The Properties Window .......................................................................30

Output Window...................................................................................31

My Project .....................................................................................................31

Application Tab....................................................................................33

Compiling Projects .......................................................................................37

Debug and Release Configurations .....................................................38

Other Compile Options.......................................................................41

Advanced Compile Options ................................................................44

Debugging Overview.....................................................................................47

Debugging an Application...................................................................47

Breakpoints and Data Tips ..................................................................49

About Runtime Errors..........................................................................52

Edit and Continue ...............................................................................53

Browsing the Visual Basic and .NET Documentation..................................54

Online Help and the MSDN Library ...................................................55

Object Browser Window......................................................................55

3 The Anatomy of a Visual Basic Project 59

Brief Overview of Types and Members.........................................................59

Classes ..................................................................................................60

Properties .............................................................................................60

Methods ...............................................................................................60

Modules ...............................................................................................61

Structures .............................................................................................61

Inheritance...........................................................................................61

Namespaces..........................................................................................62

Accessing Members..............................................................................63

Imports Directives................................................................................64

#Region..#End Region Directives........................................................64

Attributes .............................................................................................65

A New Feature: Implicit Line Continuation .......................................65

Visual Basic 2010 Reserved Keywords ..........................................................67

Understanding Project Files..........................................................................70

Dissecting My Project ..........................................................................70

Application.MyApp .............................................................................70

AssemblyInfo.vb ..................................................................................72

Resources and the Resources.resx File .................................................73

Application Settings.............................................................................77

Understanding References ............................................................................79

Adding References to COM Libraries ..................................................82

Deploy Without PIAs...........................................................................83

Final Considerations............................................................................84

4 Data Types and Expressions 85

Common Type System..................................................................................85

Everything Is an Object.......................................................................86

Introducing Value Types and Reference Types ...................................86

System.Object and System.ValueType...............................................87

Understanding Value Types..........................................................................89

.NET Framework Primitive Value Types ..............................................90

Using Value Types................................................................................92

Working with BigInteger ...................................................................100

Building Custom Value Types ...........................................................101

Understanding Reference Types .................................................................101

.NET Framework Primitive Reference Types .....................................103

Differences Between Value Types and Reference Types .............................104

Memory Allocation............................................................................104

Object-Oriented Differences..............................................................107

Performance Differences....................................................................109

What Custom Type Should I Choose?..............................................109

Converting Between Value Types and Reference Types.............................110

Understanding Implicit Conversions................................................110

Boxing and Unboxing .......................................................................112

Deep Copy and Shallow Copy ..........................................................114

The GetType Keyword........................................................................118

Conversion Operators.................................................................................119

Widening and Narrowing Conversions ............................................119

Working with .NET Fundamental Types ....................................................124

Working with Strings.........................................................................125

Working with Dates...........................................................................137

Working with Time............................................................................143

Working with TimeZone and TimeZoneInfo ......................................144

Working with GUIDs.........................................................................147

Working with Arrays..........................................................................148

Common Operators ....................................................................................155

Arithmetic Operators.........................................................................155

Assignment Operators .......................................................................157

Logical, Bitwise and Shift Operators .................................................158

Concatenation Operators ..................................................................163

Comparison Operators ......................................................................164

Iterations, Loops, and Conditional Code Blocks .......................................166

Iterations............................................................................................166

Loops..................................................................................................169

Conditional Code Blocks...................................................................171

Constants...........................................................................................174

With..End With statement................................................................175

5 Debugging Visual Basic 2010 Applications 177

Preparing an Example.................................................................................177

Debugging Instrumentation .......................................................................178

Debugging in Steps............................................................................178

Mixed Mode Debugging ....................................................................180

"Just My Code" Debugging ...............................................................180

Working with Breakpoints and Trace Points.....................................182

Locals Window ..................................................................................185

Command Window...........................................................................185

Call Stack Window ............................................................................186

Watch Windows.................................................................................187

Threads Window................................................................................189

Autos Window ...................................................................................190

Debugger Visualizers ...................................................................................191

Debugging in Code .....................................................................................192

The Debug Class .................................................................................192

The Trace Class .................................................................................194

Understanding Trace Listeners ..........................................................195

Using Debug Attributes in Your Code...............................................201

6 Handling Errors and Exceptions 207

Introducing Exceptions...............................................................................207

Handling Exceptions...................................................................................208

Are You Upgrading from Visual Basic 6? ..........................................209

System.Exception, Naming Conventions and Specialization .........209

Try..Catch..Finally........................................................................209

The Throw Keyword ...........................................................................218

The When Keyword .............................................................................222

Catching Exceptions Without a Variable..........................................224

Part II Object-Oriented Programming with Visual Basic 2010

7 Class Fundamentals 225

Declaring Classes.........................................................................................225

Nested Classes....................................................................................226

Fields ...........................................................................................................227

Avoiding Ambiguities with Local Variables ......................................228

Properties.....................................................................................................229

Read-Only Properties .........................................................................231

Write-Only Properties ........................................................................231

Exposing Custom Types ....................................................................232

Accessing Properties...........................................................................232

Default Properties ..............................................................................233

Scope ...........................................................................................................234

Methods ......................................................................................................236

Invoking Methods .............................................................................236

Methods Arguments: ByVal and ByRef .............................................237

Overloading Methods........................................................................242

Exit from Methods.............................................................................245

Partial Classes..............................................................................................246

Partial Methods ...........................................................................................249

Constructors................................................................................................251

Overloading Constructors .................................................................254

Object Initializers...............................................................................256

Shared Members..........................................................................................257

Shared Classes....................................................................................258

Shared Fields ......................................................................................258

Shared Properties ...............................................................................259

Shared Methods .................................................................................259

Shared Constructors ..........................................................................261

Common Language Specification...............................................................262

Where Do I Need to Apply? ..............................................................262

Marking Assemblies and Types as CLS-Compliant ...........................263

Naming Conventions ........................................................................263

Rules About Classes ...........................................................................265

Rules About Properties.......................................................................265

Rules About Methods ........................................................................265

Rules About Arrays.............................................................................266

8 Managing an Object's Lifetime 267

Understanding Memory Allocation............................................................267

Understanding Garbage Collection............................................................268

Understanding the Finalize Method........................................................269

Understanding Dispose and the IDisposable Interface............................271

Using..End Using Statement.............................................................273

Putting Dispose and Finalize Together...........................................273

Object Resurrection.....................................................................................276

Advanced Garbage Collection ....................................................................277

Interacting with the Garbage Collector ............................................277

Understanding Generations and Operation Modes................................278

9 Organizing Types Within Namespaces 281

Understanding What Namespaces Are.......................................................281

Organizing Types Within Namespaces.......................................................282

Why Are Namespaces So Useful? ......................................................285

Nested Namespaces............................................................................286

Scope ..................................................................................................289

Root Namespace ................................................................................289

Global Keyword.................................................................................290

Imports Directives .............................................................................291

Namespaces and Common Language Specification .........................294

10 Modules 295

Modules Overview ......................................................................................295

Scope ..................................................................................................296

Differences Between Modules and Classes .................................................297

No Constructor..................................................................................297

No Inheritance Support.....................................................................297

No Interface Implementation............................................................297

11 Structures and Enumerations 299

Assignments ................................................................................................302

Passing Structures to Methods....................................................................302

Members' Visibility .....................................................................................303

Inheritance Limitations and Interfaces Implementation ..........................303

Memory Allocation .....................................................................................303

Organizing Structures .................................................................................304

Overloading Operators................................................................................305

Overloading CType.............................................................................307

Structures and Common Language Specification ......................................308

Enumerations..............................................................................................309

Using Enumerations ..........................................................................310

Useful Methods from System.Enum ...................................................311

Using Enums As Return Values From Methods ................................314

Enum Values As Bit Flags...................................................................315

Enumerations and Common Language Specification ......................315

12 Inheritance 317

Applying Inheritance ..................................................................................318

Illustrating System.Object in Detail ..........................................................321

Introducing Polymorphism ........................................................................323

Overriding Members ...................................................................................325

NotOverridable Keyword..................................................................328

Overloading Derived Members .........................................................328

Conditioning Inheritance...........................................................................328

NotInheritable Keyword..................................................................329

MustInherit and MustOverride Keywords .......................................330

Accessing Base Classes Members ................................................................331

MyBase Keyword.................................................................................332

MyClass Keyword...............................................................................334

Constructors' Inheritance ...........................................................................335

Shadowing...................................................................................................336

Overriding Shared Members.......................................................................337

Practical Inheritance: Building Custom Exceptions...................................338

13 Interfaces 341

Defining Interfaces......................................................................................341

Implementing and Accessing Interfaces.....................................................343

Passing Interfaces As Method Arguments .........................................345

Interfaces and Polymorphism.....................................................................345

Interfaces Inheritance .................................................................................346

Defining CLS-Compliant Interfaces ...........................................................347

Most Common .NET Interfaces ..................................................................348

The IEnumerable Interface ................................................................348

The IComparable Interface ................................................................351

The IConvertible Interface ..............................................................353

The IFormattable Interface ..............................................................356

14 Generics and Nullable Types 359

Introducing Generics ..................................................................................359

Creating and Consuming Generics ............................................................360

Consuming Generic Types ................................................................362

Implementing Generic Methods .......................................................363

Understanding Constraints ...............................................................363

Overloading Type Parameters............................................................366

Introducing Nullable Types ........................................................................367

15 Delegates and Events 371

Understanding Delegates............................................................................371

Declaring Delegates ...........................................................................372

Combining Delegates: Multicast Delegates.......................................374

Handling Events..........................................................................................375

Registering for events: AddHandler and RemoveHandler...................375

Declaring Objects with the WithEvents Keyword.............................377

Offering Events to the External World.......................................................378

Raising Events....................................................................................378

Creating Custom Events....................................................................381

16 Working with Collections 385

Understanding Collections Architecture....................................................385

Working with Nongeneric Collections.......................................................386

The ArrayList Collection .................................................................386

The Queue Collection.........................................................................389

The Stack Collection.........................................................................390

The HashTable Collection .................................................................390

The ListDictionary Collection ........................................................391

The OrderedDictionary Collection ..................................................391

The SortedList Collection ...............................................................392

The HybridDictionary Collection ....................................................392

The StringCollection Collection ....................................................392

The StringDictionary Collection ....................................................393

The NameValueCollection Collection...............................................393

The BitArray Collection ...................................................................393

The Bitvector32 Collection..............................................................394

Working with Generic Collections .............................................................395

The List(Of T) Collection...................................................................395

Working with Collection Initializers.................................................397

The ReadOnlyCollection(Of T) Collection .......................................398

The Dictionary(Of TKey, TValue) Collection ....................................399

The SortedDictionary(Of TKey, TValue) Collection..........................400

The ObservableCollection(Of T) Collection .....................................400

The ReadonlyObservableCollection(Of T) Collection ......................402

The LinkedList(Of T) Collection .......................................................403

The Queue(Of T) and Stack(Of T) Collections..................................405

Building Custom Collections......................................................................405

Concurrent Collections ..............................................................................406

17 Visually Designing Objects 407

Visual Studio Class Designer.......................................................................407

Enabling the Class Designer..............................................................408

Adding and Designing Objects..........................................................409

Implementing Derived Classes..........................................................413

Creating Multiple Diagrams ..............................................................416

Exporting the Diagram......................................................................416

Class View Window ....................................................................................417

Class Details Window .................................................................................418

18 "Generate From Usage" Coding Techniques 421

Coding New Types ......................................................................................421

Generating Shared Members .............................................................425

On-the-Fly Code and Object Initializers ...........................................425

Generating Complex Objects .....................................................................426

Interfaces Additions...........................................................................428

Part III Advanced VB Language features

19 Manipulating Files and Streams 429

Manipulating Directories and Pathnames..................................................429

The System.IO.Path Class.................................................................430

The System.IO.Directory Class .......................................................431

The System.IO.DirectoryInfo Class................................................434

The System.IO.DriveInfo Class .......................................................434

Handling Exceptions for Directories and Pathnames ................................435

Manipulating Files ......................................................................................436

The System.IO.File Class.................................................................436

The System.IO.FileInfo Class .........................................................438

Handling File Exceptions...................................................................439

Understanding Permissions...............................................................439

Introducing Streams....................................................................................440

Reading and Writing Text Files .........................................................441

Reading and Writing Binary Files......................................................442

Using Memory Streams .....................................................................442

Using Streams with Strings................................................................443

Compressing Data with Streams .......................................................444

Networking with Streams ..................................................................448

20 The My Namespace 451

Introducing My ............................................................................................451

My.Application...........................................................................................452

Retrieving Assembly Information .....................................................452

Working with Cultures ......................................................................453

Deployment and Environment Information ....................................454

My.Computer ................................................................................................456

Working with the File System ...........................................................457

Working with the Clipboard .............................................................458

Playing Audio Files ............................................................................459

Managing the Keyboard ....................................................................460

Working with the Registry ................................................................460

Accessing the Network ......................................................................461

Getting Computer Information ........................................................462

My.Settings ................................................................................................464

My.Settings Events ...........................................................................469

My.Resources ..............................................................................................470

Getting Resources by Name in Code ................................................474

My.User........................................................................................................474

My.WebServices...........................................................................................476

Extending My..............................................................................................476

Extending My.Application and My.Computer...................................478

Extending My.Resources and My.Settings ......................................480

My in Different Applications .......................................................................480

Understanding Application Events ...................................................483

21 Advanced Language Features 485

Local Type Inference...................................................................................485

Option Infer Directive .....................................................................487

Local Type Inference Scope ...............................................................488

Array Literals ...............................................................................................489

Multidimensional and Jagged Arrays ................................................489

Extension Methods .....................................................................................490

Coding Custom Extension Methods.................................................495

Exporting Extension Methods...........................................................497

Anonymous Types ......................................................................................498

Relaxed Delegates........................................................................................500

Lambda Expressions....................................................................................500

Type Inference and Lambda Expressions..........................................503

Multiline Lambdas.............................................................................504

Sub Lambdas......................................................................................505

Lexical Closures .................................................................................506

Ternary If Operator....................................................................................507

Generic Variance .........................................................................................509

Covariance .........................................................................................509

Contra Variance .................................................................................510

Part IV Data Access with ADO.NET and LINQ

22 Introducing ADO.NET and DataSets 513

Introducing ADO.NET ................................................................................513

Data Providers....................................................................................514

Connection Modes ............................................................................515

Understanding Connections and Data Readers................................515

Introducing DataSets ..................................................................................517

Creating DataSets...............................................................................517

23 Introducing LINQ 523

What Is LINQ? ............................................................................................523

LINQ Examples ...........................................................................................525

Language Support .......................................................................................526

Understanding Providers ............................................................................527

Overview of LINQ Architecture ..................................................................528

24 LINQ to Objects 531

Introducing LINQ to Objects......................................................................531

Querying in Memory Objects.....................................................................532

Understanding Deferred Execution...................................................539

Introducing Standard Query Operators......................................................541

Projection Operators..........................................................................542

Restriction Operators.........................................................................543

Aggregation Operators.......................................................................544

Understanding the Let Keyword.......................................................546

Conversion Operators........................................................................546

Generation Operators ........................................................................548

Ordering Operators............................................................................549

Set Operators......................................................................................550

Grouping Operators...........................................................................551

Union Operators................................................................................553

Equality Operators .............................................................................556

Quantifiers .........................................................................................556

Concatenation Operators ..................................................................557

Elements Operators............................................................................557

Partitioning Operators.......................................................................558

25 LINQ to SQL 561

Introducing LINQ to SQL ...........................................................................561

Prerequisites .......................................................................................562

Understanding LINQ to SQL Classes ................................................562

Behind the Scenes of LINQ to SQL Classes.......................................573

Querying Data with LINQ to SQL ..............................................................574

Insert/Update/Delete Operations with LINQ .............................................579

Inserting Entities................................................................................579

Updating Entities...............................................................................583

Deleting Entities ................................................................................584

Mapping Stored Procedures...............................................................584

Using the Log.....................................................................................587

Advanced LINQ to SQL...............................................................................588

Custom Validations ...........................................................................588

Handling Optimistic Concurrency....................................................590

Using SQL Syntax Against Entities....................................................591

LINQ to SQL with SQL Server Compact Edition........................................592

Writing the Connection String .........................................................593

26 LINQ to DataSets 595

Querying Datasets with LINQ ....................................................................595

Building Complex Queries with Anonymous Types ........................598

LINQ to DataSets' Extension Methods .......................................................598

Understanding CopyToDataTable ......................................................598

Understanding Field(Of T) and SetField(Of T)...........................600

27 Introducing ADO.NET Entity Framework 603

Introducing Entity Framework ...................................................................603

Understanding Entity Data Models............................................................604

Understanding the ObjectContext class: The Visual Basic Mapping .........612

Entity Designer Tool Windows..........................................................617

Insert/Update/Delete Operations for Entities.............................................620

Instantiating the ObjectContext .......................................................620

Adding Entities ..................................................................................623

Deleting Entities ................................................................................624

Updating Entities...............................................................................625

Handling Optimistic Concurrency....................................................626

Validating Data ..................................................................................627

Querying EDMs with LINQ to Entities.......................................................628

Querying EDMs with Entity SQL................................................................629

Mapping Stored Procedures ........................................................................631

28 Manipulating Xml Documents with LINQ and Xml Literals 635

Introducing LINQ to Xml...........................................................................635

The System.Xml.Linq Namespace.....................................................636

Xml Literals.................................................................................................641

LINQ Queries with Xml Literals........................................................644

Understanding Embedded Expressions.............................................646

Xml Schema Inference................................................................................649

29 Overview of Parallel LINQ 655

Introducing PLINQ .....................................................................................655

Simulating an Intensive Work...........................................................656

Measuring Performances of a Classic LINQ Query...........................656

Measuring Performances of a PLINQ Query .....................................657

Ordering Sequences ...........................................................................659

AsParallel and Binary Operators.....................................................660

Using ParallelEnumerable ...............................................................660

Controlling PLINQ Queries ...............................................................661

Handling Exceptions...................................................................................663

Part V Building Windows Applications

30 Creating Windows Forms 4.0 Applications 665

What Windows Forms Is Today..................................................................665

Creating Windows Forms Applications......................................................666

What's New in Windows Forms 4.0..................................................667

Available Windows Forms Controls..................................................667

Building Windows Forms Applications with ADO.NET Entity Framework and Chart Control.....668

Providing Custom Validation............................................................674

Understanding Chart Control...........................................................675

Populating the Chart Control ...........................................................677

Running the Sample Application......................................................680

31 Creating WPF Applications 681

What Is WPF?..............................................................................................682

Improvements in WPF 4 ...................................................................682

WPF Architecture ........................................................................................683

Building WPF Applications with Visual Studio 2010.................................685

Understanding the eXtensible Application Markup Language (XAML)....687

Declaring and Using Controls with the Designer and XAML..........689

Understanding Visual Tree and Logical Tree..............................................692

Handling Events in WPF.............................................................................694

A More Thorough Discussion: Introducing the Routed Events .......695

Arranging Controls with Panels .................................................................697

The Grid Panel...................................................................................697

The StackPanel Panel .......................................................................700

The WrapPanel Panel .........................................................................701

The Canvas Panel ...............................................................................703

The DockPanel Panel .........................................................................703

The ViewBox Panel .............................................................................704

Managing Windows....................................................................................704

Instantiating Windows at Runtime...................................................706

Introducing the Application Object .........................................................707

Brief Overview of WPF Browser Applications ............................................710

32 WPF Common Controls 715

Introducing WPF Controls Features ...........................................................715

Understanding the ContentControl...........................................................716

Understanding Common Controls ............................................................717

Border ................................................................................................717

Button ................................................................................................718

Calendar ............................................................................................718

CheckBox ............................................................................................719

ComboBox ............................................................................................720

DataGrid ............................................................................................721

DatePicker.........................................................................................721

DocumentViewer .................................................................................723

Ellipse ..............................................................................................723

Expander ............................................................................................723

Frame ..................................................................................................724

GroupBox ............................................................................................725

Image ..................................................................................................726

Label ..................................................................................................726

ListBox ..............................................................................................727

ListView ............................................................................................728

MediaElement .....................................................................................729

Menu....................................................................................................729

PasswordBox.......................................................................................732

ProgressBar.......................................................................................732

RadioButton.......................................................................................734

Rectangle...........................................................................................734

RichTextBox.......................................................................................734

ScrollBar...........................................................................................735

ScrollViewer .....................................................................................735

Separator...........................................................................................736

Slider ................................................................................................736

StatusBar...........................................................................................737

TabControl..........................................................................................737

TextBlock...........................................................................................738

TextBox ..............................................................................................739

ToolBar ..............................................................................................740

TreeView ............................................................................................741

WebBrowser.........................................................................................742

WindowsFormsHost..............................................................................742

Using Common Dialogs .............................................................................743

xx Visual Basic 2010 Unleashed

33 Brushes, Styles, Templates, and Animations in WPF 745

Introducing Brushes....................................................................................745

Applying a SolidColorBrush.............................................................747

Applying a LinearGradientBrush .....................................................748

Applying a RadialGradientBrush .....................................................749

Applying an ImageBrush....................................................................751

Applying SelectionBrush and CaretBrush ......................................753

Applying a VisualBrush ....................................................................754

Applying a DrawingBrush ..................................................................755

Applying a BitmapCacheBrush...........................................................757

Introducing Styles .......................................................................................759

Styles Inheritance ..............................................................................761

Understanding Triggers .....................................................................761

Introducing Control Templates ..................................................................763

Introducing Transformations......................................................................766

Applying RotateTransform ...............................................................767

Applying ScaleTransform .................................................................767

Applying SkewTransform ...................................................................768

Applying TranslateTransform..........................................................768

Applying Multiple Transforms ..........................................................769

Introducing Animations .............................................................................770

Applying DoubleAnimation ...............................................................771

Applying ColorAnimation .................................................................773

Working with Animation Events ......................................................775

Creating Animations with Visual Basic.............................................776

34 Manipulating Documents and Media 781

Viewing Images ...........................................................................................781

Playing Media .............................................................................................783

Manipulating Documents...........................................................................786

Understanding the RichTextBox Control .........................................795

Viewing XPS Documents ............................................................................796

35 Introducing Data-Binding 799

Introducing the Data-Binding ....................................................................799

Binding UI Elements with the Binding Markup Extension..............800

Understanding the DataGrid and the ObservableCollection.........802

Discussing the New Drag'n'Drop Data-Binding.........................................806

Creating Tabular Data Forms.............................................................807

Creating Master-Details Forms ..........................................................813

Understanding Views and Binding Lists ...........................................818

Implementing String Formatters and Value Converters...................822

36 Localizing Applications 829

Introducing .NET Localization ...................................................................829

Windows Forms Localization .....................................................................830

WPF Localization ........................................................................................832

Preparing the LocBaml tool...............................................................832

Localizing a WPF Application ...........................................................833

Part VI Building Web Applications

37 Building ASP.NET Web Applications 839

Introducing the ASP.NET Model.................................................................839

Understanding Page Requests ...........................................................840

Scalability and Performances.............................................................840

Available Project Templates...............................................................841

Web Forms and Master Pages .....................................................................842

Web Forms .........................................................................................842

ASP.NET Controls........................................................................................845

Server Controls ..................................................................................845

HTML Controls..................................................................................847

Handling Events..........................................................................................848

Understanding State Management.............................................................848

The Application State.......................................................................849

The Cache State..................................................................................849

The Context State ..............................................................................850

Using Cookies for Saving Information..............................................850

The Session State ..............................................................................851

The ViewState State ..........................................................................851

Creating a Web Application with VB 2010 with Navigation and Data-Binding .....851

Master Pages.......................................................................................852

Adding the Data Model .....................................................................855

Adding a New Web Form ..................................................................855

Adding Data Controls........................................................................857

Adding Filtering Capabilities.............................................................860

Adding Navigation Controls .............................................................861

Running the Application...................................................................861

Configuring a Web Application for Security..............................................863

38 Publishing ASP.NET Web Applications 865

Deployment Overview................................................................................865

The 1-Click Deployment ...................................................................866

Classic Publishing .......................................................................................866

MSDeploy Publish.......................................................................................868

Understanding Packages....................................................................868

Deploy with MSDeploy .....................................................................868

39 Building Rich Internet Applications with Silverlight 871

Introducing Silverlight................................................................................871

Creating Silverlight Projects with Visual Basic 2010 .................................872

Adding Controls and Handling Events ......................................................875

How Silverlight Applications Are Packaged ......................................876

Playing Media .............................................................................................876

Animating UI Elements ..............................................................................880

Introducing Navigation Applications.........................................................882

Introducing WCF RIA Services ...................................................................886

Adding the Data Source.....................................................................887

Adding the Domain Service Class .....................................................887

Data-Binding to Controls ..................................................................891

Running the Application...................................................................893

"Out of Browser" Applications ...................................................................894

40 Building and Deploying Applications for Windows Azure 899

About Windows Azure Platform.................................................................899

Registering for the Windows Azure Developer Portal................................901

Downloading and Installing Tools for Visual Studio .................................901

Additional Tools.................................................................................902

Creating a Demo Project.............................................................................902

Understanding Web Roles and Web Configuration .........................902

Adding a Silverlight 3 Project............................................................905

Testing the Application Locally.........................................................911

Deploying Applications to Windows Azure ...............................................913

Activating the Storage Account ..................................................................921

Using the Windows Azure Management Console Snap-In ..............922

Part VII Networking and Exposing Data Through Networks

41 Creating and Consuming WCF Services 927

Introducing Windows Communication Foundation.................................928

Understanding Endpoints .................................................................928

Address, Binding, Contract: The ABC of WCF .................................928

Implementing WCF Services ......................................................................929

Implementing Custom Logic for the WCF Service...........................933

Consuming WCF Services...........................................................................937

Creating the Client and Adding a Service Reference........................938

Understanding the Proxy Class.........................................................938

Invoking Members from the Service.................................................939

Handling Exceptions in WCF .....................................................................943

Hosting WCF Services in Internet Information Services ...........................944

Configuring Services with the Configuration Editor .................................945

42 Implementing and Consuming WCF Data Services 949

What Are Data Services? .............................................................................949

Querying Data via Http Requests......................................................950

Implementing WCF Data Services..............................................................951

Deploying WCF Data Services to Internet Information Services .....957

Consuming WCF Data Services ..................................................................957

Creating a Client Application ...........................................................957

Querying Data ...................................................................................962

Implementing Service Operations ..............................................................963

Implementing Query Interceptors..............................................................965

Understanding Query Interceptors ...................................................965

Understanding Change Interceptors.................................................967

Understanding Server-Driven Paging .........................................................968

Part VIII Advanced .NET Framework with VB 2010

43 Serialization 971

Objects Serialization ...................................................................................972

Binary Serialization............................................................................972

Soap Serialization...............................................................................975

Providing Serialization for Custom Objects......................................976

NonSerialized events .........................................................................978

XML Serialization........................................................................................979

Customizing Xml Serialization .........................................................980

Custom Serialization...................................................................................982

Serialization Events............................................................................983

Serialization with XAML.............................................................................984

Serialization in Windows Communication Foundation............................987

JSON Serialization..............................................................................989

Serialization in the ADO.NET Entity Framework.......................................990

44 Processes and Multithreading 993

Managing Processes ....................................................................................994

Querying Existing Processes ..............................................................995

Introducing Multithreading .......................................................................996

Creating Threads................................................................................996

Passing Parameters.............................................................................997

Understanding the .NET Thread Pool ........................................................997

Getting and Setting Information in the Thread Pool.......................998

Threads Synchronization............................................................................999

The SyncLock..End SyncLock Statement .......................................1000

Synchronization with the Monitor Class........................................1001

Read/Write Locks .............................................................................1001

45 Parallel Programming 1005

Introducing Parallel Computing...............................................................1006

Introducing Parallel Classes.............................................................1006

Understanding and Using Tasks ...............................................................1007

What Is a Task? ................................................................................1007

Running Tasks with Parallel.Invoke ............................................1008

Creating, Running, and Managing Tasks: The Task Class..............1009

Creating Tasks That Return Values..................................................1009

Exception Handling.........................................................................1011

Cancelling Tasks ..............................................................................1012

The Barrier Class............................................................................1014

Parallel Loops ............................................................................................1015

Parallel.For Loop..........................................................................1017

Parallel.ForEach Loop ..................................................................1018

Debugging Tools For Parallel Tasks...........................................................1021

Concurrent Collections ............................................................................1022

ConcurrentBag(Of T)......................................................................1023

ConcurrentQueue(Of T) ..................................................................1024

ConcurrentStack(Of T) ..................................................................1024

ConcurrentDictionary(Of TKey, TValue) ....................................1025

BlockingCollection(Of T) ............................................................1026

46 Working with Assemblies 1029

Assembly Overview...................................................................................1029

Information Stored Within Assemblies...........................................1030

Assembly Location...........................................................................1030

Signing Assemblies ..........................................................................1031

Assembly Information and Attributes.............................................1031

Understanding Application Domains.......................................................1031

Creating Application Domains and Executing Assemblies ............1031

Overview of Security Changes in .NET 4.0 ..............................................1034

Permissions ......................................................................................1035

The Transparency Level 2................................................................1036

Sandboxing ......................................................................................1038

Conditional APTCA .........................................................................1041

Migrating from Old CAS-Based Code..............................................1041

47 Reflection 1043

Introducing Reflection..............................................................................1043

Understanding Assemblies' Metadata.......................................................1044

Preparing a Sample Assembly..........................................................1045

Getting Assembly Information.................................................................1046

Reflecting Types ........................................................................................1048

Reflecting a Single Type...................................................................1053

Invoking Code Dynamically.....................................................................1055

Generating Code at Runtime with Reflection.Emit ..............................1057

Late Binding Concepts ....................................................................1062

48 Coding Attributes 1065

Applying Attributes...................................................................................1065

Coding Custom Attributes........................................................................1068

Applying Custom Attributes............................................................1070

Applying Attributes Multiple Times................................................1071

Defining Inheritance .......................................................................1071

Reflecting Attributes .................................................................................1073

49 Platform Invokes and Interoperability with the COM Architecture 1075

Importing and Using COM Objects .........................................................1075

Importing COM Components into Visual Studio ..........................1076

Using COM Objects in Code...........................................................1077

Catching Exceptions........................................................................1078

Releasing COM Objects ...................................................................1078

Exposing .NET Objects to the COM World..............................................1078

P/Invokes and Unmanaged Code.............................................................1081

Understanding P/Invokes ................................................................1081

Encapsulating P/Invokes..................................................................1082

Converting Types to Unmanaged ...................................................1084

The StructLayout Attribute ............................................................1085

The VBFixedString attribute...........................................................1087

Handling Exceptions .......................................................................1087

References to the Win32 API calls............................................................1089

50 Documenting the Source Code 1091

Understanding XML Documents..............................................................1091

Enabling XML Comments...............................................................1092

Implementing XML Comments ...............................................................1093

Defining Complex Code Documentation.......................................1095

Generating Compiled Help Files ..............................................................1102

51 Advanced Compilations with MSBuild 1105

Introducing MSBuild.................................................................................1105

Introducing Projects ........................................................................1107

Understanding Tasks and Creating Targets.....................................1111

Advanced MSBuild Features......................................................................1114

Batching...........................................................................................1114

Logging ............................................................................................1116

Transformations...............................................................................1116

52 Building Customizations for Microsoft Office 1119

Introducing the Visual Studio Tools for Office ........................................1120

Understanding Application-Level Solutions and Document-Level Solutions..1120

What Are Office Business Applications? .........................................1121

Creating an Application-Level Add-In for Microsoft Word .....................1121

Creating a Document-Level Add-In for Microsoft Excel..........................1126

Designing the Add-In ......................................................................1129

Interacting with Documents via Visual Basic 2010 Code ..............1130

Running the Customized Document ..............................................1132

Deploying VSTO Add-Ins..........................................................................1132

Part IX Applications Deployment

53 Understanding the Global Assembly Cache 1137

The Dll Hell Problem ................................................................................1137

XCopy Deployment.........................................................................1138

The Global Assembly Cache .....................................................................1139

Installing and Uninstalling Assemblies...........................................1140

Signing Assemblies with Strong Names ..........................................1141

Top Reasons for Installing (or Not) Assemblies to the GAC...........1143

Adding References from Visual Studio to Your Own Assemblies ...1143

54 Setup & Deployment Projects for Windows Installer 1145

Windows Installer Overview.....................................................................1145

Creating a Setup Project ...........................................................................1146

Configuring the Setup Project ..................................................................1149

Editing the File System ....................................................................1150

Editing Registry Values ....................................................................1152

Customizing Dialogs........................................................................1152

Creating File Types ..........................................................................1153

Providing Custom Actions ..............................................................1154

Specifying Launch Conditions ........................................................1155

Package Configuration and Prerequisites........................................1156

Building and Deploying the Windows Installer Package.........................1158

55 Deploying Applications with ClickOnce 1159

Introducing ClickOnce .............................................................................1159

How ClickOnce Handles Applications ............................................1160

When Should I Use ClickOnce? ......................................................1160

Deploying Applications with ClickOnce..................................................1161

Structure of a ClickOnce Deployment ............................................1164

Configuring ClickOnce.............................................................................1165

Application Files ..............................................................................1166

Prerequisites .....................................................................................1166

Updates ............................................................................................1167

Options ............................................................................................1168

Security Considerations ............................................................................1169

Providing Certificates ......................................................................1170

Programmatically Accessing ClickOnce ...................................................1171

Registration-Free COM..............................................................................1172

Part X Mastering the Visual Studio 2010 IDE

Online Chapters (available at www.informit.com/title/9780672331008)

56 Advanced IDE Features Web: 1175

Exporting Templates........................................................................Web: 1175

Exporting Project Templates ..................................................Web: 1175

Exporting Item Templates ......................................................Web: 1178

Customizing Visual Studio 2010 .....................................................Web: 1181

Customizing the Tools Menu.................................................Web: 1181

Customizing Commands and Toolbars .................................Web: 1182

Managing User Settings ...................................................................Web: 1185

Exporting Settings ..................................................................Web: 1185

Importing Settings..................................................................Web: 1186

Customizing the Toolbox................................................................Web: 1189

Using, Creating, and Managing Reusable Code Snippets...............Web: 1190

Consuming Code Snippets.....................................................Web: 1190

The Code Snippet Manager....................................................Web: 1192

Creating and Consuming Custom Code Snippets ................Web: 1193

57 Introducing the Visual Studio Extensibility Web: 1199

Introducing Visual Studio Extensibility ..........................................Web: 1199

What's New in the Extensibility with Visual Studio 2010 ....Web: 1200

The Visual Studio 2010 SDK ..................................................Web: 1201

Building a Visual Studio Package ....................................................Web: 1201

Deploying Visual Studio Extensions ...............................................Web: 1212

Managing Extensions with the Extension Manager.......................Web: 1214

Managing Add-Ins with the Add-In Manager.................................Web: 1216

Extending the Code Editor..............................................................Web: 1217

58 Advanced Analysis Tools Web: 1223

Introducing Analysis Tools ..............................................................Web: 1224

Performing Code Analysis ...............................................................Web: 1224

Calculating Code Metrics ................................................................Web: 1230

Profiling Applications......................................................................Web: 1231

Profiling External Executables ...............................................Web: 1241

IntelliTrace, the Historical Debugger...............................................Web: 1242

IntelliTrace Options................................................................Web: 1242

Creating a Sample Application ..............................................Web: 1243

Tracking Application Events and Exceptions with IntelliTrace....Web: 1245

Analyzing IntelliTrace Logs ....................................................Web: 1247

Using IntelliTrace for Unit Tests ............................................Web: 1248

Generating Dependency Graphs.....................................................Web: 1248

59 Testing Code with Unit Tests, Test-Driven Development, and Code Contracts Web: 1251

Testing Code with Unit Tests ..........................................................Web: 1251

Creating Unit Tests.................................................................Web: 1252

Running Unit Tests.................................................................Web: 1256

Enabling Code Coverage........................................................Web: 1257

Unit Tests and IntelliTrace .....................................................Web: 1259

Introducing Test-Driven Development ...........................................Web: 1261

Creating a Test Project............................................................Web: 1261

Creating Unit Tests.................................................................Web: 1263

Refactoring Code ....................................................................Web: 1266

Understanding Code Contracts.......................................................Web: 1267

Setting Up the Environment..................................................Web: 1267

Setting Contracts Properties...................................................Web: 1268

Tools for Code Contracts .......................................................Web: 1269

Preconditions..........................................................................Web: 1269

Post-Conditions......................................................................Web: 1271

Invariants................................................................................Web: 1272

Assertions and Assumptions ..................................................Web: 1273

Contract Events ......................................................................Web: 1273

Appendixes

A Installing Visual Studio 2010 1175

B Useful Resources and Tools for Visual Basic 1181

TOC, 9780672311008, 4/20/10