Chapter 1

Introduction to Visual Basic.Net

This chapter covers object-oriented terminology and concepts, the basic files comprising a
VB project, elements of the Visual Studio integrated development environment, VB Help,
and the first hands-on project introducing VB objects, properties, and methods.
Objective
Course objective learn to design and develop Windows-based applications using Visual
Basic.NET programs that meet commercial programming standards.
VB supports programming projects that run in both Microsoft Windows and Internet
environments. This course focuses on the Windows operating system(s).
Commercial GUI Design/Development Approach
Modern programs run in a graphical user interface (GUI) environment. You can open up
any desktop program or web browser and examine the GUI. This interface includes:
Buttons (some with Icons and Graphical Images) and Menus on which you point and
click.
TextBox controls in which you type information.
Graphical images to guide a system user in using the program.
Other components.

Microsoft Visual Studio and Visual Basic (.NET Version)

Programming Languages
Microsoft's Visual Studio 2008 (also called Visual Studio.NET) includes several different
programming languages: Visual Basic, Visual C++, Visual C# (C sharp). It also includes
the .NET 3.5 Framework upon which these languages operate.
All of these languages compile (means are translated from human readable-form to machine
readable-form) to the same Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL).
MSIL run within the Common Language Runtime (CLR) a component of the .NET
Framework.
Visual Basic (also termed Visual Basic.NET or VB) is a major revision of earlier Microsoft VB
products. This latest version is Version 9 of VB. VB (version 9) is an upgrade of the .NET
version 8 the two versions are not completely compatiblea version 8 project that is
upgraded to version 9 cannot be opened again with the version 8 software.
Version 6 and earlier are not .NET-compatible programs created with these versions are
completely incompatible with .NET applications.
VB is available in several editions: Express Edition, Standard Edition, Professional
Edition, and a Team System Edition.

Visual Studio Components

When Visual Studio is installed on a computer, there are two mandatory components to the
installation and an optional third component.

.NET Framework Class Library. This is a library of predefined class objects. It

enables you to quickly build a computer application through the use of predefined
objects such as forms, text boxes, labels, buttons, drop-down list controls, and others
(mandatory).
Common Language Runtime (CLR). This component manages the execution of a
programming project written in any of the languages that are included within Visual
Studio including Visual Basic as a language (mandatory). This component is
installed as part of the .NET Framework.
MSDN (Help). This is the help component and provides access to a help reference
library. This is covered in detail at the end of this set of notes. It is an optional, but
highly recommended component.

Object-Oriented Programming Terminology

VB is an object-oriented programming language.
Means you work with objects in building an application, e.g., Form objects, Button
objects, TextBox objects, Label objects, ListBox objects, PictureBox objects, and
more.
VB is also termed an event-driven programming language because you will write program
code that responds to events that are controlled by the system user. Example events
include:
Clicking a button or menu.
Opening or Closing a form.
Moving the mouse over the top of an object such as a text box.
Moving from one text box to another.
In order to work with VB, you need to understand "object" terminology as defined in Table 1.

Table 1

Terminolog
y

Definition

Object

A thing like a noun in English. Examples include forms and controls you
place on forms such as buttons, text boxes, and icons.

Property

Objects have properties like adjectives in English. Properties describe

object behaviors. Examples of properties include Text, Name, BackColor,
Font, and Size.
Refer to a property by the notation ObjectName.PropertyName (use
the .dot notation) example: TotalDueTextBox.Text or
AccountLabel.ForeColor.

Method

Like a verb in English these are the actions that objects exhibit.
Examples include methods to Show and Hide forms and methods to Print
and Close forms.
Refer to a method with the notation ObjectName.MethodName example
Me.Close will close the current form.

Event

Events are actions usually triggered by the system user such as clicking a
button; however, events can also be triggered by the actions of objects.
For example, closing a form can trigger an event.

Class

This is a really abstract term it is a sort of template for an object. For

example, all forms belong to the Form class of object. All buttons belong
to the Button class of object. Classes include definitions for object
properties, methods, and associated events. Each class is assigned an
identifying namespace within the .NET Framework Class Library.
Each new object you create is defined based on its class the new object
is called a class instance.

Getting Started with Visual Studio

You will use the VB component of Visual Studio to create and test projects.
The programming applications you will design and develop are called solutions in
VB.
A solution can actually contain more than one project, but in this course we will
focus on just creating a single project in a solution.
Each solution is stored in a folder identified by the solution name.
This is covered in more detail later in this set of notes.
Launching Visual BasicStart VB Click the Windows Start button and locate
Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 launch the program by clicking. The first screen to
display may require you to choose your Default Environment Settings.

If this screen displays, click the Visual Basic Development Settings option in the
list box and then click the Start Visual Studio button

This is the Start Page for Visual Studio 2008 (Professional Edition).

Click the Project link shown in the figure above to create a new project. This opens the New
Project dialog box shown below.

VB 2008 (Professional Edition) New Project dialog box.

The first project will be a Visual Basic Project using a Windows Forms
Application template as shown in the figures above.
Enter the project name: Ch01VBUniversity.
Click the OK button it takes several seconds to create the project files from the
template.

The Integrated Development Environment

Familiarize yourself with the Integrated Development Environment (IDE).
Across the top are menus with different options used in the designing of an
application.

Toolbars with shortcut icons are shown below the menus.

Form Designer (also termed the Document Window).
o Displays open documents such as the Form1 shown in the figure below.
o Tabs along the top are used to allow you to switch rapidly between open
documents.
o Every project starts with a default form named Form1 the form you modify to
build your business application.
o The form can be resized by using the sizing handles.
o The form can be renamed (youll do this later in an exercise).
Solution Explorer Window displays filenames for files that comprise a project.
The solution name is also shown here (Ch01VBUniversity).
Properties Window displays properties of the currently selected object in the
figure the properties displayed are those of the Form object.
ToolBox Window this is shown along the left edge of the figure in collapsed
display.

The Toolbox
The Toolbox:
Contains controls that are used to build forms.
Can be expanded or collapsed with the Pin/Unpin icon.
Parts of the Toolbox can be expanded/collapsed with the +/- icons.
Used to add controls (tools) to a form by either double-clicking or dragging/dropping
(your option on which to use).

Set Up Your Work Environment

The IDE shows the default work environment in terms of the windows that are displayed.
Experiment with pinning and unpinning these windows by using the AutoHide pushpin icon
for each window.
Toolbox
Solution Explorer
Properties
You can also close/open these windows with the View menu.

Resetting the Default IDE Layout

Sometimes you startup VB and the IDE layout is not what you expect.
Windows you want such as Solution Explorer, Toolbox, or Properties may be closed.
The quick way to reset the layout is through the Window menu, Reset Window
Layout submenu option

Building the Ch01VBUniversity Application

Setup the Project and Form
There are several actions you need to take for every project.

Change the form's FileName property click the FileName in the Solution Explorer
window change the FileName property in the Properties window.

Changing the form's FileName also changes the Name property of the form select
the Form and examine the Name property (the easiest way to select the form is to
single-click the title bar).

Change the Title Bar value of a form by typing a new value into the Text property for
the form.
o Select the Form.
o Click the Alphabetic icon shown in the figure below to list the properties
alphabetically.
o Type the new value VB University Student Information in the Text
property of the Properties window.

Size the form as needed by clicking the white squares around the form and
dragging/dropping.
Set the form's StartPosition property to CenterScreen. This will cause the project
when it runs to display in the center of the computer monitor screen.
Set the form's Font property usually you'll leave this at about an 8.25 point font,
but in class I use a 10 point bold font so everyone in the back of the room can see
the overhead display.

Naming Rules and Conventions

Now you are ready to build a form you will be placing controls on a form and you need to
know the naming rules and conventions that you will follow this term in naming controls.
Visual Basic automatically assigns a value to the Name property of each control, for
example, Label1, Label2, Label3, or TextBox1, TextBox2, TextBox3, or Button1,
Button2, Button3. However, it is difficult to remember these names so:
if you are going to later refer to the controls, it is best to rename them to a more
meaningful name,
if you are not going to refer to the controls later, then just use the assigned default
name such as Label1.
When you name an object such as a Label or TextBox or Button, you must follow these
rules:
An object name can begin with an alphabetic letter or the special underscore
character.
An object name can include letters, digits, and underscores.
An object name CANNOT include a space or a punctuation mark.
An object name CANNOT be a VB reserved word such as Button, Close, or
TextBox.
An object name can contain a VB reserved word object names such as
PrintButton, CloseButton, NameTextBox, and MajorTextBox are legal names.
Several naming conventions exist within industry the common ones are the Hungarian
Naming Convention and the Pascal Naming Convention. Naming conventions are simply
guidelines to help other programmers read your code more easily. We will use the Pascal
naming convention. The rules are:
Begin an object name with an uppercase alphabetic character.
Capitalize each word that is part of an object name.
Select object names that are meaningful.
Append the full name of the control class to the end of the name.
Avoid abbreviations unless they are standard abbreviations such as SSN (social
security number).
Examples of valid names: MajorTextBox, ResetButton, MessageLabel,
TotalDueTextBox, and CloseButton.
This table gives examples of both the Camel Casing and Hungarian naming conventions.
Camel Casing and Hungarian Naming Conventions
Control
Example Camel Casing
Hungaria Example Hungarian
Type
Control Names
n
Control Names
Naming
Prefix
TextBox
NameTextBox, MajorTextBox
txt
txtName, txtMajor
Button
ShippingButton, ExitButton,
btn
btnShipping, btnExit,
ResetButton
btnReset
Label
NameLabel, OutputLabel
lbl
lblName, lblOutput
Note: Label controls are often not renamed they are not referred to later in writing
computer code so the default assigned name is unchanged.

Build a Form Like This One

Open the Toolbox select the Common Controls node.

Place a Label control on the form by either double-clicking the Label tool or by
drag/dropping a label to the form.
o Notice that when you select the Toolbox's label control, the mouse pointer on
the form becomes a crosshair showing you where the upper left corner of the
label will be displayed.
o Drag the new label to where you want it in the upper left corner of the form.
o Change the label's Text property to Student name:
o The label also has a Name property the first label is named Label1. This is
a satisfactory name and you will not refer to the label when you later write
programming code so leave it named Label1.

Add a second label control on the form. Set the Text property to Academic major: a
this label is named Label2.

Add two text box controls as shown.

o Name the first text box control NameTextBox.
o Name the second text box control MajorTextBox.
o These TextBox controls will only display output so set the properties
ReadOnly = True and TabStop = False.

Add six button controls as shown.

o Name the button controls Display1Button, Display2Button,
Display3Button, ResetButton, PrintButton, and ExitButton.
o Set the Text property of the buttons to display the text shown in the figure
above. Use the ampersand (&) symbol as part of the text in order to create
button hot keys (hot keys work just like clicking a button when you press the
Alt key + the hot key simultaneously).
o Examples:
For the ResetButton type the following: &Reset Form
For the PrintButton type: &Print Form
For the ExitButton type: E&xit
For Display1Button type: Display Student #&1

If you accidentally place a control on a form and discover that you don't need the control,
simply delete it.

Resize each control to an appropriate size.

Saving and Running a Project

To save a project, use the File-Save All menu

There are several ways to run a project to test it.

Use the Debug menu, Start Debugging option, or
Press the F5 function key to run the project, or
Click the shortcut green arrow on the shortcut toolbar.

Run the project. Confirm that the project starts up centered on the console, and the
alignment of controls is professional in appearance.

Name and Text Properties

As you have seen already, forms, labels, text boxes, and buttons have numerous properties.
We will focus on learning just a few of these in this chapter.

Name property used to name a control for your reference. For example, we will
name the buttons with a name such as DisplayButton or ExitButton.
o Notice that the name begins with a word that describes the control often you
will use the text on a control such as a button as part of the controls name.
o Next the type of control such as Button or TextBox is added to the name to
create a unique name.
o Text boxes may be named NameTextBox and MajorTextBox, or some other
meaningful name.
o If you're not going to reference a control in the project, you can just use the
default name assigned by VB.

Text property used to display text values on a control.

o The Text property for a form displays the words that are displayed in the
form's Title Bar.
o The Text property of a button displays the words on the button, such as
Display or Exit. Using the ampersand causes a letter on a button to be
underlined.

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The Text property for a text box control displays the actual words typed into
the text box.

Locking Controls
After you finish sizing control on a form, you can lock the controls to prevent accidental
movement of the controls.
Right-click any control and select the Lock Controls option in the context menu that
displays as shown in the figure below.
Right-click again and select Lock Controls to unlock the controls.
You'll notice a small "padlock" icon on the upper left corner of the locked controls.

Program Coding
Programming or writing program code is the means used to cause something to happen
when an event, such as a button click occurs. There are six events to be coded for this
project the first three events are for the three display buttons.

Click event for the button named Display1Button, Display2Button, and

Display3Button.
Click event for the button named ResetButton.
Click event for the button named PrintButton.
Click event for the button named ExitButton.

Accessing an Event Procedure

Double-click the Display1Button control.
This opens the coding window shown in the figure below.
o The window is called the View Code window.

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o
o

You can also access the code view from the View menu or the View icon in
the Solution Explorer window.
The programmer has typed remarks above the Public Class statement
remarks begin with a single quote mark and display in green print remarks
are for humans to read the computer ignores remarks.

Double-clicking the Display1Button control causes VB to generate an event sub procedure

named Display1Button_Click to handle the Click event of the Display1Button control.
The Handles clause indicates that this sub procedure handles the Click event of the
button named Display1Button.
The sub procedure ends with the line of code End Sub.
Each sub procedure must have a unique name VB generates a name by combining
the name of the control + an underscore + the name of the event, e.g.,
Display1Button_Click.
Each sub procedure has two parameters inside of the parentheses that accompany
the event name these are named sender and e. For now you can ignore these
parameters. Later in the course we will learn to refer to them whenever we need to
in order to write more complex code.
The form named StudentInfo is created as an instance of the general Form object defined
in the .NET Framework class library.
It is declared by the Public Class StudentInfo statement.
The End Class statement marks the end of the form's class definition.

The Remark Statement

A Remark statement is a line of code shown in green.
Remark statements are non-executable.
A Remark is only read by human beings VB ignores remarks when running a
project. The Remark statement is used to document your program code.
Remarks are very useful for large programs. They can be used to embed comments
that only programmers will read into programs for later reference.
Each sub procedure should contain remarks that identify the purpose of the sub
procedure.
A Remark can also be placed in-line at the end of a line of programming code.
Remarks are entered in the general declarations area of the program by placing the
mouse cursor just before the Public Class statement, then pressing the Enter key
several times to make room to type remarks.

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Here are some example Remark statements.

'Ch01VBUniversity
,CS2
'Today's Date
'Illustrates displaying information to read-only TextBox
'controls by clicking Button controls

Switching Between the View Designer and View Code Windows

Often you will need to switch between the View Designer and View Code windows. The
different ways to do this are shown in the figure below.
Click one of the tabs to display either the View Designer or View Code windows.
Click the View Code icon in the Solution Explorer to open the coding window.
Click the View Designer icon in the Solution Explorer to display the form for
additional design layout.
Click the View menu and select either the Code or Designer submenu options.

Accessing Intellisense
VB's Intellisense feature makes it easier for you to type programming statements.
To access Intellisense simply begin to type the name of an object such as the NameTextBox
control shown in this figure VB will pop up a window that displays possible selections this
makes it easier for you to type code and leads to fewer typing errors.

With the Intellisense focus on the NameTextBox, just type a dot (period) and the
Intellisense will next display all of the properties of the NameTextBox type the
letters "Te" (see the figure below) and Intellisense will search and find the Text
property and set the focus to that property for this text box control.

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Private Sub Display1Button_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object,

ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Display1Button.Click
'Display information for the first student
NameTextBox.Text = "Douglas Bock"
End Sub

The Assignment Statement

The Assignment Statement is used to assign values to a property of an object such as a
control.
The general form of the assignment statement is shown here.
The value on the right side of the equal sign is assigned to the property of the object
on the left side of the equal sign.
Object.Property = Value
Assign a student name to the Text property of the TextBox control named NameTextBox
and a students major to the TextBox control named MajorTextBox. The assignment
statements to do this are:
Private Sub Display1Button_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object,
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Display1Button.Click
'Display information for the first student
NameTextBox.Text = "Douglas Bock"
MajorTextBox.Text = "Computer Management & Information
Systems"
End Sub
Notice that the value is enclosed within double-quote marks this indicates the value is a
string of characters and only string data is stored to the Text property of a TextBox control.
The value is displayed in brown text.

The Clear Method

The Clear method is used to clear the contents of a TextBox control. The general way to
execute a method is shown here:
Object.Method()
Return to the design view and double-click the Reset Form button control this will
generate a Click event sub procedure for this button. Type a remark and two statements to
clear the contents of the two TextBox controls as shown here.
Private Sub ResetButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object,
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles ResetButton.Click
'Reset the form by clearing the TextBox controls
NameTextBox.Clear()
MajorTextBox.Clear()
End Sub

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The Close Method

The Close method is used to close a form. To close a form use the keyword Me to refer to
the form.
Return to the design view and double-click the Exit button control this will generate a Click
event sub procedure for this button. Type a remark and a statement to close the form as
shown here.
Private Sub ExitButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object,
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles ExitButton.Click
'Exit the application by closing it
Me.Close()
End Sub

Printing a Form
Visual Basic includes a PrintForm component this is not a visible control on the form when
added to a form rather, it displays in the component tray of the project.

Return to the forms Design View (the Toolbox does not display in code view).
As shown in this figure, locate the PrintForm component in the Visual Basic
PowerPacks section of the Toolbox.
Double-click the PrintForm component you will see it display in the component tray
of the IDE below the form you are designing. It will be named PrintForm1.

Your printing PrintAction options when printing a form are to print to: (1) Print to Printer, (2)
Print to File, and (3) Print to Preview this third option saves paper so we will use it.
Double-click the Print Form button control and then enter remarks and two coding
statements as shown here.
Private Sub PrintButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object,
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles PrintButton.Click
'Print the form to a print preview window
'Assign a PrintAction option
PrintForm1.PrintAction = Printing.PrintAction.PrintToPreview
'Print the form

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PrintForm1.Print()
End Sub

Finish Coding the Application

To finish the application you need to write code for two buttons named Display2Button and
Display3Button. The code for these buttons is shown here. Notice that these buttons are
coded like Display1Button, however, different student and major information is displayed.
Private Sub Display2Button_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object,
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Display2Button.Click
'Display information for the second student
NameTextBox.Text = "Samuel Oppong"
MajorTextBox.Text = "Computer Management & Information
Systems"
End Sub
Private Sub Display3Button_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object,
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Display3Button.Click
'Display information for the third student
NameTextBox.Text = "John Mensah"
MajorTextBox.Text = "Computer Science"
End Sub
Save the program and execute it to test it.
If you have not done so already, add Remark statements before the Public Class
statement. These remarks identify the project, you as the programmer, and the date the
program was written and must ALWAYS be included in the project.
Place the mouse cursor in front of the Public Class statement.
Click the Enter key several times to add blank lines above the Public Class
statement.
Type additional remarks similar to those shown here.
'Ch01VBUniversity
'CS2
'Today's Date
'Illustrates displaying information to read-only TextBox
'controls by clicking Button controls
Opening an Existing Project
Now you've returned from lunch and are ready to resume work on your project.
Use the Windows Start button, then find Microsoft Visual Studio.Net!
Locate the Ch01VBUniversity project listed under existing projects.
Click on Ch01VBUniversity.sln to launch the project this will enable you to revise
or continue work on an existing project.
Program Errors
From time to time you will make errors when entering program code. VB expects you to
follow specific rules for syntax, punctuation, and spelling.

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VB has a smart editor that attempts to find and fix most errors.
If VB cannot understand some of your code, it will display a blue squiggly line under
the part of the line; that cannot be interpreted.
In the figure below the blue squiggly line indicates that VB does not understand
what the textName or textMajor objects are.
Most likely, you named these two objects NameTextBox and MajorTextBox when
designing the form, but then used the wrong name when typing code in the sub
procedure.

Typical syntax errors include:

Referring to an object such as a label or button control by the wrong name either
you forgot to name the control or you made a mistake when typing the name.
Forgetting to use the syntax: object.property.
o Forgetting the dot between the object and property names will cause an error.
o Typing an incorrect or invalid property name will also cause an error.
VB lists errors in the Error List window that opens when you run your VB project. The figure
shown below displays two error messages corresponding to the two errors shown in the
earlier figure above.

There are two other types of errors that we will study in later chapters:
Run-Time error an error or exception that occurs while running a program.
Logic error a program error that causes the display of erroneous output.
A Clean Compile
After you correct errors in your code, access the Build menu and select the Rebuild option
to recompile the program into a new MSIL version.
Compiling means to convert the program from human-readable form to machine-readable
form all referenced classes and components are combined by VB into an executable (.exe)
file.

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Design Time, Run Time, Break Time

There are some additional terms for you to learn about designing and executing a VB
program.

Design Time when you are designing a project using the IDE, you are in what is
termed Design Time.
Run Time when you execute or run a project, you are in Run Time.
Break Time occurs whenever VB encounters some type of processing error that
prevents program execution from continuing. We will cover error-handling
throughout your studies of VB.
VB Help

MSDN
The Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) library contains books and technical articles to
help you answer questions that will arise as you learn the VB language. This must be
installed on your computer in order for it to be available from the Help menu within VB.
MSDN can be access from a hard drive, network drive, or the Web (requires an
Internet connection).
Hard drive installation is fastest and most convenient.
Web access is from http://msdn.microsoft.com.

Solution
'VBUniversity
'Illustrates displaying information to read-only TextBox
'controls by clicking Button controls
Public Class StudentInfo
Private Sub Display1Button_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object,
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Display1Button.Click
'Display information for the first student
NameTextBox.Text = "Douglas Oppong"
MajorTextBox.Text = "Computer Management & Information
Systems"
End Sub
Private Sub Display2Button_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object,
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Display2Button.Click
'Display information for the second student
NameTextBox.Text = "John Mark"
MajorTextBox.Text = "Computer Management & Information
Systems"
End Sub

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Private Sub Display3Button_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object,

ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Display3Button.Click
'Display information for the third student
NameTextBox.Text = "John Mensah"
MajorTextBox.Text = "Computer Science"
End Sub
Private Sub ResetButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object,
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles ResetButton.Click
'Reset the form by clearing the TextBox controls
NameTextBox.Clear()
MajorTextBox.Clear()
End Sub
Private Sub PrintButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object,
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles PrintButton.Click
'Print the form to a print preview window
'Assign a PrintAction option
PrintForm1.PrintAction = Printing.PrintAction.PrintToPreview
'Print the form
PrintForm1.Print()
End Sub
Private Sub ExitButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object,
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles ExitButton.Click
'Exit the application by closing it
Me.Close()
End Sub
End Class

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