Learning to Program in

>> Visual Basic

S Langfield
Learning to Program in

Visual
Basic .NET >>
S Langfield

Published by
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Graphics: PG Online Ltd
Design and artwork: PG Online Ltd
First edition 2019
A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-910523-18-6
Copyright © S Langfield, PM Heathcote, 2017
All rights reserved

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retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means
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MIX
Printed on FSC certified paper Paper from
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Preface
Programming is fun! Trial and error is to be encouraged and you should type all of the
examples and try all the exercises to get used to entering and debugging programs and
to see how the programs run.
This book is intended for individuals and students who may have done some
programming in other languages, but are not familiar with Visual Basic .NET. It is intended
that users of the book should work through the book sequentially, starting at Chapter 1.
However, it will be a useful reference book for students on a programming course or
anyone working on a programming project.
It teaches basic syntax and programming techniques and introduces a number of useful
features such as:
• Developing graphical user interfaces (GUIs) with the visual designer in Visual Studio.
• SQLite, which enables the creation and processing of a database from within a Visual
Basic .NET program. This provides an alternative to writing to a text file when data
needs to be stored and retrieved.
• The Visual Studio debugger, which can be used to help find elusive logic errors.
Questions and exercises are included throughout every chapter. Over 120 VB programs
for all the examples and exercises given in the book may be downloaded from
www.pgonline.co.uk. We strongly advise you to write your own code and check your
solutions against the sample programs provided.
This book is a companion volume to the book Learning to Program in Python by
P.M. Heathcote, and uses the same format. Questions and exercises from that text have
been used throughout this book, with answers and programs rewritten in Visual Basic.
Enjoy – the sky’s the limit!

iii
 Downloading Visual Basic .NET
LEARNING TO PROGRAM IN VISUAL BASIC

VB.NET is a high-level programming language, implemented on the .NET Framework.

Microsoft® launched VB.NET in 2002 as the successor to its original Visual Basic
language. Microsoft’s integrated development environment (IDE) for developing programs
in VB.NET is called Visual Studio. Visual Studio Express and Visual Studio Community
are freeware. VB.NET is available to be downloaded free from https://visualstudio.
microsoft.com/vs/express/. The programs have been written and tested in Visual Studio
Express 2019. Many schools and individuals may prefer to use alternative development
environments and the book is equally applicable to these.

iv
Contents
Chapter 1 – Input, output and assignment 1
Programming in VB .NET 1
Programming in VB .NET console mode 2
Adding comments 4
Programming conventions 5
Data types 5
Rounding a result 6
Variables7
Augmented assignment operators 9
The Write and WriteLine statements 9
The ReadLine statement 11

Chapter 2 – Strings and numbers 14

String functions 14
Syntax errors 16
Numbers16
Inputting numbers 17
Converting between strings and numbers 18
Functions and methods 16
Constants19

Chapter 3 – Selection 20
Programming constructs 20
Boolean conditions 21
The ElseIf clause 21
Case statements 22
Nested selection statements 23
Complex Boolean expressions 23
Generating a random number 24

v
 Chapter 4 – Iteration 26
LEARNING TO PROGRAM IN VISUAL BASIC

The For loop 26

The While loop 28
The Do … Loop statement 30
String processing 31
Substrings32
Interrupting execution 32

Chapter 5 – Arrays and tuples 34

Arrays34
Operations on arrays 35
Array processing 36
Two-dimensional arrays 37
Tuples39
Arrays of tuples 40
Structures40
Arrays of structures 41

Chapter 6 – Validating user input 43

Validating user input 43
The ASCII code 44
Functions Asc() and Chr() 46
Regular expressions 47

Chapter 7 – Searching and sorting 51

Dictionary data structure 51
Adding to a list 54
Sorting a list 54
Storing a list in a dictionary 55

Chapter 8 – Procedures and functions 57

Types of subroutine 57
Built-in subroutines 58
Writing your own functions 59
Writing your own procedures 59
Using parameters and return values 60
Local and global variables 63

vi
Chapter 9 – Reading and writing files 67
Storing data 67
Records and fields 68
Opening, reading and closing a text file 68
Writing to a file 72
Formatting output 75
File processing 77

Chapter 10 – Databases and SQL 80

Flat file databases 80
Records, fields and primary keys 81
Querying a database 82
Adding a record to a database table 82
Updating a record 83
Deleting records from a table 83

Chapter 11 – Using SQLite 85

Using SQL commands in a VB.NET program 85
Creating a database 85
Importing data from a text file 89
Creating a new database and loading it with data 90
Querying the database 92
Adding records entered by the user 94
Error handling 95
Deleting a record 96
Updating the database 97

Chapter 12 – Introduction to the

graphical user interface 100
Creating a Windows Forms App 100
Controls102
The “Hello World” program 102
Responding to user input 104
Setting Form properties 105

vii
 Chapter 13 – Developing a Windows application 107
LEARNING TO PROGRAM IN VISUAL BASIC

Sample Application 1 107

Designing the data input window 107
Building the form 108
Sample Application 2 111
Sample Application 3 114

Chapter 14 – Program design 117

Planning a program 117
The sample task 118

Chapter 15 – Testing and debugging 120

Drawing up a test plan 120
Using the debugging feature 123

Index127

viii
Chapter 1
Input, output and assignment
Objectives
• Write a simple console application
• Use string, numeric and Boolean data types and operators
• Learn the rules and guidelines for declaring and naming variables
• Use input and output statements

Programming in VB .NET 1
Visual Basic (VB) is a popular programming language. A VB program is simply a series of
instructions written according to the rules or syntax of the language, usually designed to
perform some task or come up with a solution to a problem. You write the instructions,
and then the computer translates these instructions into binary machine code which the
computer can execute. It will do this using a translator program, called a compiler.
VB.NET is the latest version of the Visual Basic programming language. It comes with an
integrated development environment (IDE) which enables you to enter your program,
save it, edit it, translate it to machine code and run it once it is free of syntax errors. If you
have written a statement incorrectly, it will be reported by the IDE or the compiler as a
syntax error, and you can correct it and try again.
You can write simple programs as a console application or you can write Windows®
based applications using Windows forms (see Chapters 12 and 13).

1
Augmented assignment operators

INPUT, OUTPUT AND ASSIGNMENT

These operators provide a shortcut to writing assignment statements.

Operator Example Equivalent to

+= score += 1 score = score + 1
score -=
-= score = score - losses
losses
*= score *= 2 score = score * 2
/= score /= total score = score / total
\= score \= 7 score = score \ 7
Table 1.4: Augmented assignment operators

Write statements using augmented assignment operators to do the following:

Q4 (a) Add 1 to counter.
(b) Double a variable called housePrice.
(c) Subtract a variable called penalty from a variable called hits.
(d) Divide totalCostOfMeal by 3.

The Write and WriteLine statements

You have already seen the Console.Write and Console.WriteLine statements
used to display text on the screen.

Using an ampersand (&) as a concatenation operator

1
You can use & to separate strings or variables:
Dim length As Integer = 15
Console.WriteLine("The length is " & length & " metres")
produces the output:
The length is 15 metres

Using & has the advantage that you do not have to worry about the variable type. You can
mix integers, real numbers and strings in the Write statement.

Using + as a concatenation operator

Instead of using &, you can use a + operator to concatenate strings in the output.
However, you cannot join a string to an integer or real number, so you first have to convert
any numbers to strings.

9
 ARRAYS AND TUPLES
What will happen if you write
Q1 Dim name = {"Mark", "Juan", "Ali", "Cathy",
"Sylvia", "Noah"}
For index = 0 To 6
    Console.WriteLine(name(index))
Next

Operations on arrays
Some array methods are shown in the table below. Assume a = {45,13,19,13,8}.

Array array Return

Description Example
operation contents value
Count() Counts the elements in the a.Count() {45, 13, 19, 5
array 13, 8}
Length() Return the number of a.Length() {45, 13, 19, 5
elements 13, 8}
Contains(Item) Returns True if Item exists in a.Contains {45, 13, 19, True
array, False otherwise (13) 13, 8}
Max() Returns the largest value a.Max() {45, 13, 19, 45
13, 8}
Min() Returns the smallest value a.Min() {45, 13, 19, 8
13, 8}
Sum() Returns the sum of all a.Sum() {45, 13, 19, 98
elements of a numeric array 13, 8}
Average() Returns the average of all
elements of a numeric array
a.Average() {45, 13, 19,
13, 8}
19.6 5
Table 5.1 Array operations

Example 2
Determine whether the number 100 is in the array
numbers = {56,78,100,45,88,71}, and if so, print its index.
'Program name: Ch 5 Example 2 Array of numbers
Dim numbers = {56, 78, 100, 45, 88, 71}
Dim index = Array.IndexOf(numbers, 100)

If index = -1 Then
    Console.WriteLine("100 is not in the array")
Else
    Console.WriteLine("100 is at index number: " & index)
End If
An array is a static data structure, that means it is fixed in size. The elements of an array
must all be of the same data type.

35
 produces the output:
LEARNING TO PROGRAM IN VISUAL BASIC

Key: Wesley Value: 5

Key: Jo Value: 9
Key: Betty Value: 6
Key: Robina Value: 5
To look up the mark obtained by a particular student (the key), write the name of the
dictionary followed by the key in brackets. You cannot index a dictionary in the same way
as an array, using an index number – an item can only be accessed through its key.
The statement
Console.WriteLine("Betty: " & studentMarks("Betty"))
produces the output:
Betty: 6

Q1 Write a statement to print the mark obtained by Robina.

The table below shows some of the most useful built-in dictionary methods.

Method Description
ContainsKey(key) Finds if a key is present in the dictionary
Add(key, value) Adds a key to the dictionary
Keys Returns all the keys in the dictionary
Remove(key) Removes an item from the dictionary
7 Table 7.1: Useful dictionary methods

Example 1a: Looking up a value

If you try to print the mark for a student whose name is not in the dictionary, it will return
an error. To avoid this, you should test whether the key is in the dictionary before trying to
access it.
Dim studentMarks As New Dictionary(Of String, Integer) From
  {{"Wesley", 5}, {"Jo", 9}, {"Betty", 6}, {"Robina", 5}}
Dim name As String
Console.Write("Enter a student name to look up: ")
name = Console.ReadLine()
If studentMarks.ContainsKey(name) Then
    Console.WriteLine("Mark: " & studentMarks(name))
Else
    Console.WriteLine("Name not found")
End If

52
 Example 6
LEARNING TO PROGRAM IN VISUAL BASIC

Write a program that uses StreamWriter to create a new file called temperatures.txt, or
append records to the file if one already exists.
Imports System.IO
' Program name: Ch 9 Example 6 writing to a file using
StreamWriter
Module Module1
    Sub Main()
        Dim tempsFile As New StreamWriter("temperatures.txt",
        True)
        Dim city, localTime As String
        Dim temperature As Integer
        Console.WriteLine("Writes data to temperatures.txt")
        Console.WriteLine("If file does not exist, it will
                          be created")
        Console.Write("Enter city name, xxx to end: ")
        city = Console.ReadLine()
        Do While Not city = "xxx"
            Console.Write("Enter temperature: ")
            temperature = Console.ReadLine()
            Console.Write("Enter local time: ")
            localTime = Console.ReadLine()
            tempsFile.WriteLine(city & "," & temperature &
                                "," & localTime)
            Console.Write("Enter city name: ")
            city = Console.ReadLine()
        Loop
        tempsFile.Close()
        Console.Write("Press Enter to exit ")
        Console.ReadLine()
9     End Sub
End Module

Q1 Write a program to read and print all the records in temperatures.txt.

Example 7
Read the data in the file temperatures.txt, convert all the Centigrade temperatures to
Fahrenheit and print out both the Centigrade and Fahrenheit temperatures.
Imports System.IO
' Program name: Ch 9 Example 7 process temperatures file
Module Module1
    Sub Main()
        Dim tempsFile = 1
        Dim city, localTime As String
        Dim temperatureC As Integer
        Dim temperatureF As Double

74
 Controls
LEARNING TO PROGRAM IN VISUAL BASIC

Controls are GUI objects, such as buttons and text entry fields, that are used to interface
with the program. They can also be used to display information to the user in the form of
a label or a graphic. When adding a control to the form designer, it is a good idea to give
it a sensible name, so that your program code will be easier to maintain. The convention is
to use a prefix with each control identifier that represents the control’s type. For example,
the identifier for a confirm button might be btnConfirm.
Here is a list of prefixes for some common components along with an example:

Components Prefix Example

Button btn btnConfirm
Checkbox chk chkSunday
Form frm frmConfirmation
Label lbl lblInstructions
Textbox txt txtFirstName
ComboBox cbo cboTasks
GroupBox grp grpDeliveryMethod

The “Hello World” program

Example 1
Select the Label component from the toolbox and drag it onto the form.
In the Properties window change the Text property to “Hello World".
12

102
 Sample application 3
LEARNING TO PROGRAM IN VISUAL BASIC

This application allows a user (for example, a teacher) to create a multiple-choice test
consisting of several questions which could be saved in a text file or database. The input
window will look like this:

Create a new Windows Forms App project and add the following components to the
form. The values for key properties are shown below.

13 Component
Form1
Property
Text
Value
Question entry
BackColor 192, 255, 255
GroupBox1 Text ""
BackColor 224, 224, 224
Label1 Text Name of test
Font Arial, 12pt, Bold
TextBox1 Name txtTestName
GroupBox2 Text ""
BackColor 224, 224, 224
Label2 Text Question number
Label3 Text Question
Label 4 Text Possible answers
Label5 Text Correct answer:
TextBox2 Name txtQuestionNumber

114
Index

INDEX
A D F
ampersand 9 database fields 40, 68
append mode 72 attribute 81 file processing 77
array 34 connection object 87 flat file 80
2D 37 creating 85 For Each loop 31
array processing 36 error handling 95 For loop 26
Asc() 46, 58 field 81 nested 27
ASCII code 44 flat file 80 format check 43, 48
assignment operator 7 primary key 81 format items 75
assignment statement 8 query 92 format modifiers 76
attribute 81 record 81 format operators 75
augmented assignment updating 97 formatting output 75
operators 9 database table functions 18, 57
add new record 82 string 14
data structure
B static 35
Boolean 6, 21
data types 5
G
expressions 23 global variable 63
Boolean 6
condition 28 group boxes 108
collection 51
breakpoint 123 GUI application 107
floating-point 5
built-in functions 58
numeric 5
button 103
string 5 I
debugging 120, 123 identifier 81
C decimal 5 index 31
call statement 59 Designer view 104 indexing arrays 34
camel case 8 dictionary 51 Indexing strings 31
case statements 22 key 51 initialise 36
Chr() 46 value 51 input statement 33
Clear button 110
close() method 88
command object 87
Do ... Loop 30
dot notation 40
double 5
integer 5
integer division 5
integrated development
I
comments 4 Do Until 30 environment 1
commit() method 88 Do While 30 interrupting execution 32
compiler 1 InvalidCastException 10
composite formatted strings 75 iteration 20
E
concatenate 5, 9
ElseIf 21
connection object 87
console mode 2
encapsulation 64 K
event subroutines 110 key-value pair 53
constants 19
ExecuteNonQuery() method 88
control 102
conventions 5
cursor object 87

127
 L Q T
LEARNING TO PROGRAM IN VISUAL BASIC

Len() function 43 query 80 terminate 32, 122

length check 43 testing 120
length of a string 15 test plan 121
LIMIT parameter 93
R text editor 67
random number 24
list 54 text file
reading files 67
see also array closing 68
ReadLine 11, 58
lists 54 reading 68
records 68, 81
local variable 63 trace 123
deleting 96
logical operators 7 Try...Catch 96
regular expressions 47
logic error 123 tuple 39
relational operator 7
loop two-dimensional arrays 37
Return statement 60
endless 32 type check 44
return values 60
for 26
Reverse() method 54
while 28
Rnd() function 24 V
rounding 6 validation 43
M length check 43
message box 112 regular expressions 47
methods 18
S type check 44
selection 20
Mod 5 variable
sequence 20
mode Boolean 21
single 5
append 72 convert 18
sorting a list 54
write 72 declaring 7
Sort() method 54
modulus 5 global 63
SQL 80
multi-line statement 11 initialise 36
command object 87
mutable 39, 51 local 63
SQLite 81, 85
naming guidelines 8
StreamReader 70
vbCrLf 10
N StreamWriter 73
vbTab 10
nested string 5, 14
For loops 27 concatenate 5

I selection statements 23
nested selection 23
numbers 16
index 31
length 15
processing 31
W
While loop 28
widget 106
Submit button 110 Windows form
subroutine 57 closing 113
O substrings 32 Windows Forms app 100
object 18
syntax 1 write statement 9
operator 7
syntax errors 16 mixing variables 12
operators
WriteLine 9, 58
augmented 9
writing files 67
Boolean 21

X
P XML documentation block 60
parameter 58, 60
primary key 81
printing 10
procedure 57
Properties window 101
pseudocode 118

128
Visual Basic >>
Learning to Program in

This book is intended for individuals and Cover picture:

students learning to program. You may already ‘Fosse No1’
have done some programming in other Oil on linen,
languages, but not be familiar with Visual Basic. 30x30cm © Barbara Burns 2015
Novice programmers should work through the www.slaneart.com
book sequentially, starting at Chapter 1. It will
also be a useful reference book for students on
a programming course or anyone working on a
programming project.
It teaches basic syntax and programming
techniques, and introduces databases, SQL and
SQLite, and the development of a graphical user
interface for a Windows application.
Questions and exercises are included in every
chapter. Answers to these as well as over 120
VB programs for all the examples and exercises
given in the book may be downloaded from
www.pgonline.co.uk. These programs enable
users of the book to try out the in-text examples
and check possible solutions to the exercises.