Sams Teach Yourself Visual Basic 2010 in 24 Hours Complete Starter Kit

Introduction 1

PART I: The Visual Basic 2010 Environment

HOUR 1: Jumping in with Both Feet: A Visual Basic 2010 Programming Tour 5

Starting Visual Basic 2010 ....................................................................................6

    Creating a New Project ..........................................................................................7

    Understanding the Visual Studio 2010 Environment ........................................10

    Changing the Characteristics of Objects ............................................................11

    Adding Controls to a Form..................................................................................16

    Designing an Interface ........................................................................................17

    Writing the Code Behind an Interface................................................................21

    Running a Project ................................................................................................25

HOUR 2: Navigating Visual Basic 2010 29

    Using the Visual Basic 2010 Start Page ..............................................................30

    Navigating and Customizing the Visual Basic Environment ............................32

    Working with Toolbars ........................................................................................37

    Adding Controls to a Form Using the Toolbox ..................................................38

    Setting Object Properties Using the Properties Window ....................................40

    Managing Projects ..............................................................................................45

    A Quick-and-Dirty Programming Primer ..........................................................51

    Getting Help ........................................................................................................53

HOUR 3: Understanding Objects and Collections 57

    Understanding Objects ........................................................................................58

    Understanding Properties ....................................................................................58

    Understanding Methods ......................................................................................65

    Building a Simple Object Example Project ........................................................67

    Understanding Collections ..................................................................................72

    Using the Object Browser ....................................................................................75

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HOUR 4: Understanding Events 79

    Understanding Event-Driven Programming ......................................................79

    Building an Event Example Project ....................................................................87

    Keeping Event Names Current ............................................................................92

PART II: Building a User Interface

HOUR 5: Building Forms: The Basics 95

    Changing a Form’s Name ..................................................................................96

    Changing a Form’s Appearance ........................................................................97

    Showing and Hiding Forms ..............................................................................107

HOUR 6: Building Forms: Advanced Techniques 117

    Working with Controls ......................................................................................117

    Creating Topmost Nonmodal Windows............................................................134

    Creating Transparent Forms..............................................................................134

    Creating Scrollable Forms..................................................................................134

    Creating MDI Forms ..........................................................................................136

    Setting the Startup Form....................................................................................140

HOUR 7: Working with Traditional Controls 145

    Displaying Static Text with the Label Control ................................................145

    Allowing Users to Enter Text Using a Text Box ................................................146

    Creating Buttons................................................................................................154

    Creating Containers and Groups of Option Buttons........................................157

    Displaying a List with the List Box ..................................................................161

    Creating Drop-Down Lists Using the

    Combo Box ........................................................................................................168

HOUR 8: Using Advanced Controls 173

    Creating Timers ................................................................................................174

    Creating Tabbed Dialog Boxes ..........................................................................177

    Storing Pictures in an Image List Control ......................................................180

    Building Enhanced Lists Using the List View Control ....................................182

    Creating Hierarchical Lists Using the

    Tree View Control ............................................................................................187

HOUR 9: Adding Menus and Toolbars to Forms 195

    Building Menus..................................................................................................196

    Using the Toolbar Control ................................................................................207

    Creating a Status Bar ........................................................................................213

PART III: Making Things Happen–Programming

HOUR 10: Creating and Calling Code Procedures 217

    Creating Visual Basic Code Modules ................................................................217

    Writing Code Procedures ..................................................................................219

    Calling Code Procedures....................................................................................225

    Exiting Procedures ............................................................................................231

    Avoiding Infinite Recursion ..............................................................................232

HOUR 11: Using Constants, Data Types, Variables, and Arrays 237

    Understanding Data Types ................................................................................238

    Defining and Using Constants ..........................................................................242

    Declaring and Referencing Variables................................................................244

    Working with Arrays..........................................................................................250

    Determining Scope ............................................................................................254

    Declaring Variables of Static Scope ..................................................................258

    Naming Conventions ........................................................................................259

    Using Variables in Your Picture Viewer Project ................................................261

HOUR 12: Performing Arithmetic, String Manipulation, and Date/Time Adjustments 269

    Performing Basic Arithmetic Operations with Visual Basic ............................270

    Comparing Equalities ........................................................................................274

    Understanding Boolean Logic ..........................................................................274

    Manipulating Strings ........................................................................................278

    Working with Dates and Times ........................................................................283

HOUR 13: Making Decisions in Visual Basic Code 293

    Making Decisions Using If...Then ................................................................293

    Branching Within a Procedure Using GoTo ......................................................304

HOUR 14: Looping for Efficiency 309

    Looping a Specific Number of Times Using For...Next ................................309

    Using Do...Loop to Loop an Indeterminate Number of Times ......................315

HOUR 15: Debugging Your Code 323

    Adding Comments to Your Code ......................................................................324

    Identifying the Two Basic Types of Errors ........................................................326

    Using Visual Basic’s Debugging Tools ..............................................................329

    Writing an Error Handler Using Try...Catch...Finally ............................336

HOUR 16: Designing Objects Using Classes 347

    Understanding Classes ......................................................................................348

    Instantiating Objects from Classes....................................................................357

HOUR 17: Interacting with Users 367

    Displaying Messages Using the MessageBox.Show() Function ......................367

    Creating Custom Dialog Boxes ........................................................................373

    Using InputBox() to Get Information from a User ........................................377

    Interacting with the Keyboard ..........................................................................379

    Using the Common Mouse Events ....................................................................382

HOUR 18: Working with Graphics 389

    Understanding the Graphics Object ................................................................389

    Working with Pens ............................................................................................392

    Using System Colors ..........................................................................................393

    Working with Rectangles ..................................................................................396

    Drawing Shapes ................................................................................................397

    Drawing Text......................................................................................................399

    Persisting Graphics on a Form..........................................................................400

    Building a Graphics Project Example ..............................................................400

    PART IV: Working with Data

HOUR 19: Performing File Operations 409

    Using the OpenFileDialog and SaveFileDialog Controls ............................409

    Manipulating Files with the File Object..........................................................415

    Manipulating Directories with the Directory Object ....................................424

HOUR 20: Working with the Registry and Text Files 427

    Working with the Registry ................................................................................427

    Reading and Writing Text Files ........................................................................439

HOUR 21: Working with a Database 451

    Introducing ADO.NET ......................................................................................452

    Manipulating Data............................................................................................456

HOUR 22: Controlling Other Applications Using Automation 469

    Automating Microsoft Excel ..............................................................................470

    Automating Microsoft Word..............................................................................475

PART V: Deploying Solutions and Beyond

HOUR 23: Deploying Applications 481

    Understanding ClickOnce Technology ..............................................................481

    Using the Publish Wizard to Create a ClickOnce Application ........................482

    Testing Your Picture Viewer ClickOnce Install Program ..................................486

    Uninstalling an Application You’ve Distributed ..............................................486

    Setting Advanced Options for Creating ClickOnce Programs..........................488

HOUR 24: The 10,000-Foot View 491

    The .NET Framework ........................................................................................491

    Common Language Runtime............................................................................492

    Microsoft Intermediate Language ....................................................................493

    Namespaces ......................................................................................................494

    Common Type System ......................................................................................496

    Garbage Collection ............................................................................................496

    Further Reading ................................................................................................497

TOC, 9780672331138, 4/19/10

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