Visual Basic

Statements and
Expressions
 The simplest statement is the assignment statement. It consists of a
variable name, followed by the assignment operator (=), followed by
some sort of expression
 Examples:
StartTime = Now
Explorer.Caption = "Captain Spaulding"
BitCount = ByteCount * 8
Energy = Mass * LIGHTSPEED ^ 2
NetWorth = Assets – Liabilities
The assignment statement stores information.
 Statements normally take up a single line with no terminator.
Statements can be stacked by using a colon (:) to separate them.
Example:
StartTime = Now : EndTime = StartTime + 10

 (Be careful stacking statements, especially with If/End If structures.

You may not get the response you desire.)
 If a statement is very long, it may be continued to the next line using
the continuation character, an underscore ( _). Example:
Months = Log(Final * IntRate / Deposit + 1) _
/ Log(1 + IntRate)
 Comment statements begin with the keyword Rem or a single quote
('). For example:
Rem This is a remark
' This is also a remark
x = 2 * y ' another way to write a remark or comment
 You, as a programmer, should decide how much to comment your
code. Consider such factors as reuse, your audience, and the legacy
of your code
Visual Basic Operators
 The simplest operators carry out arithmetic operations. These
operators in their order of precedence are:
 Parentheses around expressions can change precedence.
 To concatenate two strings, use the & symbol or the + symbol:
lblTime.Caption = "The current time is" & Format(Now, “hh:mm”)
txtSample.Text = "Hook this “ + “to this”
 Operator Operation
^ Exponentiation
*/ Multiplication and division
\ Integer division (truncates)
Mod Modulus
+- Addition and subtraction
 There are six comparison operators in Visual Basic:
 Operator Comparison
> Greater than
< Less than
>= Greater than or equal to
<= Less than or equal to
= Equal to
<> Not equal to
 The result of a comparison operation is a Boolean value (True or
False).
 We will use three logical operators
 Operator Operation
Not Logical not
And Logical and
Or Logical or

 The Not operator simply negates an operand.

 The And operator returns a True if both operands are True.
Else, it returns a False.
 The Or operator returns a True if either of its operands is True,
else it returns a False.
 Logical operators follow arithmetic operators in precedence.
Visual Basic Functions
 Visual Basic offers a rich assortment of built-in functions. The on-line
help utility will give you information on any or all of these functions
and their use. Some examples are:
 Function Value Returned
Abs Absolute value of a number
Asc ASCII or ANSI code of a character
Chr Character corresponding to a given ASCII or ANSI code
Cos Cosine of an angle
Date Current date as a text string
Format Date or number converted to a text string
Left Selected left side of a text string
Len Number of characters in a text string
Mid Selected portion of a text string
Now Current time and date
Right Selected right end of a text string
Rnd Random number
Sin Sine of an angle
Sqr Square root of a number
Str Number converted to a text string
Time Current time as a text string
Timer Number of seconds elapsed since midnight
Val Numeric value of a given text string
Visual Basic Symbolic Constants
 Many times in Visual Basic, functions and objects require data
arguments that affect their operation and return values you want to
read and interpret
 These arguments and values are constant numerical data and difficult
to interpret based on just the numerical value
 To make these constants more understandable, Visual Basic assigns
names to the most widely used values - these are called symbolic
constants.
 As an example, to set the background color of a form named
frmExample to blue, we could type:
 frmExample.BackColor = 0xFF0000
 or, we could use the symbolic constant for the blue color (vbBlue):
 frmExample.BackColor = vbBlue
 Defining Your Own Constants
 You can also define your own constants for use in Visual Basic. The format
for defining a constant named PI with a value 3.14159 is:
Const PI = 3.14159
Visual Basic Branching - If
Statements
 Branching statements are used to cause certain actions within a
program if a certain condition is met.
 You can also have If/Then/End If blocks to allow multiple
statements:
If Balance - Check < 0 Then
Print "You are overdrawn"
Print "Authorities have been notified"
End If
 In this case, if Balance - Check is less than zero, two lines of information
are printed
 Or, If/Then/Else/End If blocks:
If Balance - Check < 0 Then
Print "You are overdrawn"
Print "Authorities have been notified"
Else
Balance = Balance - Check
End If
 Here, the same two lines are printed if you are overdrawn (Balance - Check
< 0),but, if you are not overdrawn (Else), your new Balance is
computed.
 Or, we can add the ElseIf statement:
If Balance - Check < 0 Then
Print "You are overdrawn"
Print "Authorities have been notified"
ElseIf Balance - Check = 0 Then
Print "Whew! You barely made it"
Balance = 0
Else
Balance = Balance - Check
End If
 Now, one more condition is added. If your Balance equals the Check
amount (ElseIf Balance - Check = 0), a different message appears.
Select Case - Another Way to
Branch
 In addition to If/Then/Else type statements, the Select Case format can be
used when there are multiple selection possibilities.
 Say we've written this code using the If statement:
If Age = 5 Then
Category = "Five Year Old"
ElseIf Age >= 13 and Age <= 19 Then
Category = "Teenager"
ElseIf (Age >= 20 and Age <= 35) Or Age = 50 Or (Age >= 60 and Age <= 65)
Then
Category = "Special Adult"
ElseIf Age > 65 Then
Category = "Senior Citizen"
Else
Category = "Everyone Else"
End If
 The corresponding code with Select Case would be:
Select Case Age
Case 5
Category = "Five Year Old"
Case 13 To 19
Category = "Teenager"
Case 20 To 35, 50, 60 To 65
Category = "Special Adult"
Case Is > 65
Category = "Senior Citizen"
Case Else
Category = "Everyone Else"
End Select
 The GoTo Statement
 Visual Basic Looping
 Visual Basic Counting