Learn Visual Basic A College Prep Tutorial
Table of Contents
Preview 1-1
Course Objectives 1-2
What is Visual Basic? 1-3
Visual Basic vs. Visual Basic .NET vs. Visual Basic 6.0 1-5
A Brief Look at Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) 1-6
Structure of a Visual Basic Windows Application 1-7
Steps in Developing a Windows Application 1-9
Starting Visual Basic 1-10
Visual Basic Integrated Development Environment (IDE) 1-12
Saving a Visual Basic Project 1-20
Drawing the User Interface 1-21
Example 1-1: Stopwatch Application – Drawing Controls 1-24
Opening a Saved Visual Basic Project 1-25
Setting Properties of Controls at Design Time 1-27
Setting Properties at Run Time 1-30
How Names Are Used in Control Events 1-31
Use of Form Name Property 1-32
Example 1-2: Stopwatch Application – Setting Properties 1-34
Writing Code 1-36
Variables 1-40
Visual Basic Data Types 1-41
Variable Declaration 1-43
Arrays 1-46
Constants 1-48
Variable Initialization 1-49
Intellisense Feature 1-50
Example 1-3: Stopwatch Application – Writing Code 1-51
1. Introduction to the Visual Basic Environment (cont.)
Class Review 1-55
Practice Problems 1 1-56
Problem 1-1. Beep Problem
Problem 1-2. Caption Problem
Problem 1-3. Enabled Problem
Problem 1-4. Date Problem
2. The Visual Basic Language
Review and Preview 2-1
A Brief History of BASIC 2-2
Visual Basic Statements and Expressions 2-3
Strict Type Checking 2-5
Visual Basic Arithmetic Operators 2-7
Comparison and Logical Operators 2-9
Concatenation Operators 2-11
Visual Basic Functions 2-12
String Functions 2-13
String Class Methods 2-17
Dates and Times 2-21
Random Number Object 2-24
Math Functions 2-25
Example 2-1: Savings Account 2-27
Tab Stops and Tab Order 2-32
Example 2-2: Savings Accounts – Setting Tabs 2-35
Improving a Visual Basic Application 2-36
Visual Basic Decisions – If Statements 2-37
Select Case – Another Way to Branch 2-40
Key Trapping 2-42
Control Focus 2-44
Example 2-3: Savings Account – Key Trapping 2-45
Visual Basic Looping 2-49
Visual Basic Counting 2-53
Example 2-4: Savings Account – Decisions 2-55
Class Review 2-62
Practice Problems 2 2-63
Problem 2-1. Random Number Problem
Problem 2-2. Price Problem
Problem 2-3. Odd Integers Problem
Problem 2-4. Pennies Problem
Problem 2-5. Code Problem
Exercise 2-2: Flash Card Addition Problems 2-65
3. Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)
Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) 3-2
Objects in Visual Basic 3-4
Adding a Class to a Visual Basic Project 3-5
Declaring and Constructing an Object 3-7
Adding Properties to a Class 3-8
How Visual Basic Puts Controls on a Form 3-10
Another Way to Add Properties to a Class 3-12
Validating Class Properties 3-14
Adding Constructors to a Class 3-16
Adding Methods to a Class 3-18
Inheritance 3-23
Example 3-1. Savings Account 3-30
Inheriting from Visual Basic Controls 3-35
Building a Custom Control 3-36
Adding New Properties to a Control 3-40
Adding Control Event Procedures and Methods 3-43
Example 3-2. Savings Account (Revisited) 3-46
Class Review 3-48
Practice Problems 3 3-49
Problem 3-2. Accelerated Mortgage Problem
Problem 3-3. Flashing Label Problem
4. Exploring the Visual Basic Toolbox
Review and Preview 4-1
Function Overloading 4-2
MessageBox Dialog 4-3
Form Object 4-8
Button Control 4-11
Label Control 4-13
TextBox Control 4-15
Example 4-1: Password Validation 4-18
CheckBox Control 4-23
RadioButton Control 4-25
GroupBox Control 4-28
Panel Control 4-30
Handling Multiple Events in a Single Procedure 4-32
Control Arrays 4-35
Example 4-2: Pizza Order 4-37
ListBox Control 4-46
ComboBox Control 4-49
Example 4-3: Flight Planner 4-51
Class Review 4-56
Practice Problems 4 4-57
Problem 4-1. Message Box Problem
Problem 4-2. Tray Problem
Problem 4-3. List Box Problem
Problem 4-4. Combo Box Problem
5. More Exploration of the Visual Basic Toolbox
Review and Preview 5-1
Control Z Order 5-2
NumericUpDown Control 5-3
DomainUpDown Control 5-5
Example 5-1: Date Input Device 5-7
Horizontal and Vertical ScrollBar Controls 5-10
TrackBar Control 5-15
Example 5-2: Temperature Conversion 5-17
Picture Box Control 5-23
OpenFileDialog Control 5-29
Example 5-3: Picture Box Playground 5-32
Legacy Controls 5-38
DriveListBox Control 5-40
DirListBox Control 5-41
FileListBox Control 5-42
Synchronizing the Drive, Directory, and File List Box Controls 5-44
Example 5-4: Image Viewer 5-46
Class Review 5-53
Practice Problems 5 5-54
Problem 5-1. Tic-Tac-Toe Problem
Problem 5-2. Number Guess Problem
Problem 5-3. File Times Problem
6. Windows Application Design and Distribution
Review and Preview 6-1
Application Design Considerations 6-2
Multiple Form Visual Basic Applications 6-3
Adding a Module 6-6
Visual Basic Multiple Document Interface (MDI) 6-7
Example 6-1: Shopping Cart 6-8
Using General Procedures in Applications 6-22
Example 6-2: Circle Geometry 6-27
Using General Functions in Applications 6-31
Example 6-3: Average Value 6-33
MenuStrip Control 6-39
ContextMenuStrip Control 6-45
Font Object 6-46
FontDialog Control 6-48
Example 6-4: Note Editor 6-50
Distribution of a Visual Basic Application 6-57
Application Icons 6-60
Visual Basic Setup Wizard 6-63
Debug Versus Release Configuration 6-75
Building the Setup Program 6-76
Installing/Removing a Visual Basic Application 6-77
ClickOnce Deployment 6-80
Class Review 6-81
Practice Problems 6 6-82
Problem 6-1. Note Editor About Box Problem
Problem 6-2. Normal Numbers Problem
Problem 6-3. Context Menu Problem
7. Sequential Files, Error-Handling and Debugging
Review and Preview 7-1
Sequential Files 7-2
Sequential File Output (Variables) 7-5
Application Path 7-10
Example 7-1: Writing Variables to Sequential Files 7-11
Sequential File Input (Variables) 7-15
Example 7-2: Reading Variables from Sequential Files 7-18
Parsing Data Lines 7-27
Example 7-3. Parsing Data Lines 7-29
Building Data Lines 7-33
Example 7-4: Building Data Lines 7-35
Configuration Files 7-40
Example 7-5: Configuration Files 7-42
Writing and Reading Text Using Sequential Files 7-45
SaveFileDialog Control 7-48
Example 7-6: Note Editor – Reading and Saving Text Files 7-51
StreamWriter Object 7-54
StreamReader Object 7-58
Error Handling 7-61
Run-Time Error Trapping and Handling 7-63
Example 7-7: Note Editor – Error Trapping 7-66
Debugging Visual Basic Programs 7-69
Example 7-8: Debugging Example 7-71
Using the Debugging Tools 7-74
Debugging Strategies 7-88
Class Review 7-89
Practice Problems 7 7-90
Problem 7-1. Option Saving Problem
Problem 7-2. Text File Problem
Problem 7-3. Data File Problem
Problem 7-4. Debugging Problem
Exercise 7-2: ‘Recent Files’ Menu Option 7-93
8. Graphics Techniques with Visual Basic
Review and Preview 8-1
Simple Animation 8-2
Example 8-1: Simple Animation 8-4
Timer Control 8-7
Example 8-2: Timer Control 8-9
Basic Animation 8-11
Example 8-3: Basic Animation 8-13
Random Numbers (Revisited) and Games 8-18
Example 8-4: One-Buttoned Bandit 8-20
Randomly Sorting Integers 8-28
Example 8-5: Random Integers 8-29
Graphics Methods 8-33
Graphics Object 8-34
Colors 8-37
ColorDialog Control 8-39
Pen Object 8-42
DrawLine Method 8-44
Graphics Methods (Revisited) 8-45
Persistent Graphics 8-48
Example 8-6: Drawing Lines 8-51
Rectangle Structure 8-55
DrawRectangle Method 8-57
Brush Object 8-58
FillRectangle Method 8-59
DrawEllipse Method 8-60
FillEllipse Method 8-61
Example 8-7: Drawing Rectangles and Ellipses 8-62
DrawPie Method 8-70
FillPie Method 8-72
Example 8-8: Drawing Pie Segments 8-74
Pie Charts 8-80
Line Charts and Bar Charts 8-84
Coordinate Conversions 8-87
Example 8-9: Line, Bar and Pie Charts 8-96
8. Graphics Techniques with Visual Basic (cont.)
Class Review 8-105
Practice Problems 8 8-106
Problem 8-1. Bounce Problem
Problem 8-2. Dice Rolling Problem
Problem 8-3. Find the Burger Game
Problem 8-4. RGB Colors Problem
Problem 8-5. Plotting Problem
Problem 8-6. Pie Chart Problem
9. More Graphics Methods and Multimedia Effects
Review and Preview 9-1
Mouse Events 9-2
Example 9-1: Blackboard 9-5
Persistent Graphics, Revisited (Image and Bitmap Objects) 9-14
Example 9-2: Blackboard (Revisited) 9-17
More Graphics Methods 9-20
Point Structure 9-21
DrawLines Method 9-22
DrawPolygon Method 9-24
FillPolygon Method 9-25
DrawCurve Method 9-26
DrawClosedCurve Method 9-28
FillClosedCurve Method 9-29
Example 9-3: Drawing Lines, Polygons, Curves, Closed Curves 9-31
Example 9-4: Drawing Animated Lines and Curves 9-39
HatchBrush Object 9-42
Example 9-5: Hatch Brush 9-44
LinearGradientBrush Object 9-46
Example 9-6: Linear Gradient Brush 9-48
TextureBrush Object 9-50
Example 9-7: Texture Brush 9-51
DrawString Method 9-53
Multimedia Effects 9-59
Animation with DrawImage Method 9-60
Example 9-8: Bouncing Ball 9-62
Scrolling Backgrounds 9-68
Example 9-9: Horizontally Scrolling Background 9-71
Sprite Animation 9-75
Keyboard Events 9-78
Example 9-10. Sprite Animation 9-80
Collision Detection 9-85
Example 9-11: Collision Detection 9-86
Playing Sounds 9-91
Example 9-12: Bouncing Ball with Sound! 9-93
9. More Graphics Methods and Multimedia Effects (cont.)
Class Review 9-95
Practice Problems 9 9-96
Problem 9-1. Blackboard Problem
Problem 9-2. Rubber Band Problem
Problem 9-3. Shape Guessing Game
Problem 9-4. Plot Labels Problem
Problem 9-5. Bouncing Balls Problem
Problem 9-6. Moon Problem
Problem 9-7. Sound File Problem
10. Other Windows Application Topics
Review and Preview 10-1
Other Controls 10-2
LinkLabel Control 10-3
Example 10-1: Link Label Control 10-5
TabControl Control 10-7
Example 10-2: Tab Control 10-10
MonthCalendar Control 10-17
DateTimePicker Control 10-19
Example 10-3: Date Selections 10-20
RichTextbox Control 10-23
Example 10-4: Rich Text Box Example 10-26
ToolBar (Toolstrip) Control 10-29
Example 10-5: Note Editor Toolbar 10-33
ToolTip Control 10-38
Example 10-6: Tool Tip Control 10-39
Adding Controls at Run-Time 10-41
Example 10-7: Rolodex – Adding Controls at Run-Time 10-43
Printing with Visual Basic 10-46
Printing Pages of a Document 10-49
PageSetupDialog Control 10-56
PrintDialog Control 10-59
PrintPreviewDialog Control 10-61
Example 10-8: Printing 10-63
Using the Windows API 10-71
Timing with the Windows API 10-73
Example 10-9. Stopwatch Application (Revisited) 10-75
Adding a Help System to Your Application 10-77
Creating a Help File 10-79
Starting HTML Help Workshop 10-80
Creating Topic Files 10-82
Creating Table of Contents File 10-85
Compiling the Help File 10-90
HelpProvider Control 10-93
Example 10-10: Help System Display 10-95
10. Other Windows Application Topics (cont.)
Class Review 10-97
Practice Problems 10 10-98
Problem 10-2. Rich Textbox Note Editor Problem
Problem 10-3. Loan Printing Problem
Problem 10-4. Plot Printing Problem
Problem 10-5. Sound Timing Problem
Problem 10-6. Note Editor Help Problem
11. Visual Basic Database and Web Applications
Review and Preview 11-1
Database Applications 11-2
Database Structure and Terminology 11-3
DataSet Objects 11-7
Simple Data Binding 11-16
Database Navigation 11-19
Example 11-1: Accessing the Books Database 11-20
Creating a Virtual Table 11-26
Example 11-2: Creating a Virtual Table 11-27
DataView Objects 11-36
Example 11-3: ‘Rolodex’ Searching of the Books Database 11-39
Complex Data Binding 11-43
Web Applications 11-47
Starting a New Web Application 11-49
Web Form Controls 11-51
Building a Web Application 11-58
Example 11-4: Loan Payments 11-60
Example 11-5: Loan Repayment Schedule 11-65
Class Review 11-69
Course Summary 11-70
Practice Problems 11 11-71
Problem 11-1. New DataView Problem
Problem 11-2. Multiple Authors Problem
Problem 11-3. Stopwatch Problem
Practice Problems Solutions (Part 1: Classes 1 to 6) P1-1
Practice Problems Solutions (Part 2: Classes 7 to 11) P2-1
Exercise Solutions (Part 1: Classes 1 to 6) E1-1
Exercise Solutions (Part 2: Classes 7 to 11) E2-1
