Sams Teach Yourself Visual Basic 2012 in 24 Hours, Complete Starter Kit

Product Author Bios

James Foxall is president of Tigerpaw Software, Inc. (www.tigerpawsoftware.com), a Bellevue, Nebraska, Microsoft Certified Partner specializing in software solutions for technology providers. Tigerpaw’s award-winning business automation solution is designed to automate contact management, marketing, service and repair, proposal generation, inventory control, and purchasing. At the start of 2012, the current release of Tigerpaw had more than 35,000 licensed users. Foxall’s experience in creating certified Office-compatible software has made him an authority on application interface and behavior standards of applications for the Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office environments.

Foxall has been writing commercial production Visual Basic code for more than 14 years. He’s the author of numerous books, including Practical Standards for Microsoft Visual Basic and MCSD in a Nutshell: The Visual Basic Exams. He also has written articles for Access-Office-VBA Advisor and Visual Basic Programmer’s Journal. Foxall has a bachelor’s degree in management of information systems (MIS) and a master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA). He is a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer and an international speaker on programming technologies as well as business process improvements. James enjoys spending time with his family, playing guitar, listening to amazing bands, and playing computer games. You can reach him at www.jamesfoxall.com.

In just 24 sessions of one hour or less, you’ll learn how to build  complete, reliable, and modern applications with Visual Basic 2012. Using this book’s straightforward, step-by-step approach, you’ll master the entire process, from navigating VB 2012 to deploying finished solutions. You’ll learn how to write efficient object-oriented code; build superior user interfaces; work with graphics, text, and databases; and even control external applications. Each lesson builds on what you’ve already learned, giving you a strong, practical foundation for success!

Step-by-step instructions carefully walk you through the most common Visual Basic 2012 tasks.

Quizzes and Exercises at the end of each chapter help you test your knowledge.

By the Way notes present interesting information related to the discussion.

Did You Know? tips offer advice or show you easier ways to perform tasks.

Watch Out! cautions alert you to possible problems and give you advice on how to avoid them.

Learn how to…

• Navigate the VB 2012 environment and use VB’s powerful new tools
• Work with objects, collections, and events
• Build attractive, highly functional user interfaces
• Make the most of VB 2012’s advanced controls
• Create efficient modules and reusable procedures
• Store data, make decisions in code, and use loops to improve efficiency
• Use powerful object-oriented programming techniques
• Interact effectively with users
• Work with graphics, text files, and databases
• Debug and troubleshoot applications
• Manipulate external applications, file systems, and the Windows Registry
• Distribute the software you’ve created

On the Web:

• Access code examples from the book, as well as updates, and corrections as they become available at informit.com/title/9780672336294
• Download Visual Studio 2012 Express for Windows Desktop from www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/downloads

Downloads

Download free code files.

Sample Pages

Download the sample pages (includes Chapter 3 and Index)

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

PART I: The Visual Basic 2012 Environment

HOUR 1: Jumping in with Both Feet: A Visual Basic 2012 Programming Tour 5

    Starting Visual Basic 2012 . . . . . . . . . 6

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

    Understanding the Visual Studio 2012 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 2012 29

    Using the Visual Basic 2012 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 . . . . 39

    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

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 . . . . . . . . 135

    Creating Scrollable Forms. . . . . . . . . 135

    Creating MDI Forms . . . . . . . . . . 137

    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. . . . . . . . . . 153

    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 . . . . . . . 328

    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 . . . . . . . . 476

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

9780672336294, 9/17/2012