Chapter 3.  Fundamentals of Programming in Visual Basic                                 Page 1 of 114
                                                         [Page 41]
           Chapter 3. Fundamentals of Programming in Visual Basic
           (This item omitted from WebBook edition)
            3.1  Visual Basic Controls                                                 42
                     z Starting a New Visual Basic Program
                     z A Text Box Walkthrough
                     z A Button Walkthrough
                     z A Label Walkthrough
                     z A List Box Walkthrough
                     z The Name Property
                     z A Help Walkthrough
                     z Fonts
                     z Auto Hide
                     z Positioning and Aligning Controls
            3.2  Visual Basic Events                                                   60
                     z An Event Procedure Walkthrough
                     z Properties and Event Procedures of the Form
                     z The Header of an Event Procedure
            3.3  Numbers                                                               73
                     z Arithmetic Operations
                     z Variables
                     z Incrementing the Value of a Variable
                     z Built-In Functions: Math.Sqrt, Int, Math.Round
                     z The Integer Data Type
                     z Multiple Declarations
           file:///C:/Users/CTESORIERO14/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh50C3.htm                                9/11/2013
           Chapter 3.  Fundamentals of Programming in Visual Basic                            Page 2 of 114
                    z Parentheses
                    z Three Types of Errors
           3.4  Strings                                                           88
                    z Variables and Strings
                    z Using Text Boxes for Input and Output
                    z Concatenation
                    z String Properties and Methods: Length Property and ToUpper, 
                      ToLower, Trim, IndexOf, and Substring Methods
                    z The Empty String
                    z Initial Value of a String
                    z Option Strict
                    z Internal Documentation
                    z Line-Continuation Character
           3.5  Input and Output                                                  105
                    z Formatting Output with Format Functions
                    z Formatting Output with Zones
                    z Reading Data from Files
                    z Getting Input from an Input Dialog Box
                    z Using a Message Dialog Box for Output
                    z Using a Masked Text Box for Input
                Summary                                                           127
                Programming Projects                                              128
                                                      [Page 42]
           3.1. Visual Basic Controls
           file:///C:/Users/CTESORIERO14/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh50C3.htm                          9/11/2013
           Chapter 3.  Fundamentals of Programming in Visual Basic                               Page 3 of 114
           Visual Basic programs display a Windows-style screen (called a form) with boxes into which users type 
           (and in which users edit) information and buttons that they click to initiate actions. The boxes and 
           buttons are referred to as controls. In this section, we examine forms and four of the most useful Visual 
           Basic controls.
           Starting a New Visual Basic Program
           For our purposes, Visual Basic programs are also known as applications, solutions, or projects. Each 
           program is saved (as several files and subfolders) in its own folder. Before starting a new program, you 
           should use Windows Explorer to create a folder to hold the folders for your programs.
           The process for invoking Visual Basic varies slightly with the edition of Visual Basic installed on the 
           computer. To invoke Visual Basic from a computer that has Visual Basic Express installed, click the 
           Windows Start button, hover over All Programs, and then click on Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Express 
           Edition. With the other editions of Visual Basic, hover over All Programs, hover over Microsoft Visual 
           Studio 2005, and then click on Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 in the short list that is revealed.
           The window that appears after Visual Basic is invoked has a menu bar whose first item is "File". Click 
           on File, and then click on New Project to produce a New Project input dialog box. Figure 3.1 shows the 
           New Project input dialog box produced by Visual Basic Express. The "Windows Application" icon 
           should be selected as the installed template. If this is not the case, click on "Windows Application" to 
           select it. (The other editions of Visual Basic contain a pane identifying a Project type. You should select 
           "Visual Basic" as the Project type.)
                                Figure 3.1. The Visual Basic Express New Project input dialog box.
                                      (This item is displayed on page 43 in the print version) 
                                                  [View full size image]
           Note: The number of project types and icons showing will vary depending on the version of Visual 
           Basic you are using. Figure 3.1 was created from the Express Edition.
           file:///C:/Users/CTESORIERO14/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh50C3.htm                             9/11/2013
           Chapter 3.  Fundamentals of Programming in Visual Basic                               Page 4 of 114
           The name of the program, initially set to WindowsApplication1, can be specified at this time. Since we 
           will have a chance to change the name later, let's just call the program WindowsApplication1 for now. 
           Click on the OK button to invoke the Visual Basic programming environment. See Figure 3.2. Note: 
           Your screen will resemble, but may differ somewhat, from Figure 3.2. The Visual Basic programming 
           environment is often referred to as the IDE (Integrated Development Environment).
                                     Figure 3.2. The Visual Basic programming environment.
                                      (This item is displayed on page 43 in the print version) 
                                                  [View full size image]
           The Menu bar of the IDE displays the commands you use to work with Visual Basic. Some of the 
           menus, like File, Edit, View, and Window, are common to most Windows applications. Others, such as 
           Project, Build, and Debug, provide commands specific to programming in Visual Basic.
           The Toolbars hold a collection of icons that carry out standard operations when clicked. For example, 
           you can use the fifth icon, which looks like a stack of three diskettes, to save the files associated with the 
           current program. To reveal the purpose of a Toolbar icon, hover the mouse pointer over the icon for a 
           few seconds. The little information rectangle that pops up is called a tooltip.
           In Figure 3.2, the Main area currently holds the Windows Form Designer. The rectangular Form 
           window, or form for short, becomes a Windows window when a program is executed. Most information 
           displayed by the program appears on the form. The information usually is displayed in controls that the 
           programmer has placed on the form.
                                                        [Page 44]
           The Solution Explorer window is used to display various parts of a program. The Properties window is 
           used to change how objects look and react.
           The Toolbox holds icons representing controls that can be placed on the form. These controls are 
           file:///C:/Users/CTESORIERO14/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh50C3.htm                             9/11/2013