book

Beginning Microsoft® Visual Basic® 2008

Name: Beginning Microsoft® Visual Basic® 2008
ISBN: 9780470191347

by Thearon Willis, Bryan Newsome

May 2008

Beginner

909 pages

22h 50m

English

Wrox

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Copyright
About the Authors
Credits
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Who Is This Book For?What Does This Book Cover?What Do I Need to Run Visual Basic 2008?ConventionsSource CodeErratap2p.wrox.com
1. Welcome to Visual Basic 2008
1.1. Event-Driven Programming1.2. Installing Visual Basic 20081.3. The Visual Basic 2008 IDE1.3.1. The Profile Setup Page1.3.2. The Menu1.3.3. The Toolbars1.4. Creating a Simple Application1.4.1. Windows in the Visual Studio 2008 IDE1.4.2. The Toolbox1.4.3. Modified Hungarian Notation1.4.4. The Code Editor1.5. Using the Help System1.6. Summary1.7. Exercise
2. The Microsoft .NET Framework
2.1. Microsoft's Reliance on Windows2.1.1. MSN 1.02.1.2. The .NET Vision2.1.3. This Sounds like Java2.1.4. Where Now?2.2. Writing Software for Windows2.2.1. The .NET Framework Classes2.2.2. Executing Code2.3. Common Language Runtime2.3.1. Code Loading and Execution2.3.2. Application Isolation2.3.3. Security2.3.4. Interoperation2.3.5. Exception Handling2.4. The Common Type System and Common Language Specification2.5. Summary
3. Writing Software
3.1. Information and Data3.1.1. Algorithms3.1.2. What Is a Programming Language?3.2. Working with Variables3.3. Comments and Whitespace3.3.1. Comments3.3.2. Whitespace3.4. Data Types3.4.1. Working with Numbers3.4.2. Common Integer Math Operations3.4.3. Integer Math Shorthand3.4.3.1. The Problem with Integer Math3.4.3.2. Floating-Point Math3.4.3.3. Other States3.4.3.4. Single-Precision Floating-Point Numbers3.4.4. Working with Strings3.4.4.1. Concatenation3.4.4.2. Using the Concatenation Operator Inline3.4.4.3. More String Operations3.4.4.4. Substrings3.4.4.5. Formatting Strings3.4.4.6. Localized Formatting3.4.4.7. Replacing Substrings3.4.5. Using Dates3.4.5.1. Formatting Date Strings3.4.5.2. Extracting Date Properties3.4.5.3. Date Constants3.4.5.4. Defining Date Literals3.4.5.5. Manipulating Dates3.4.6. Boolean3.5. Storing Variables3.5.1. Binary3.5.2. Bits and Bytes3.5.3. Representing Values3.5.4. Converting Values3.6. Methods3.6.1. Why Use Methods?3.6.2. Methods You've Already Seen3.6.3. Building a Method3.6.4. Choosing Method Names3.6.5. Scope3.7. Summary3.8. Exercises
4. Controlling the Flow
4.1. Making Decisions4.2. The If Statement4.2.1. The Else Statement4.2.2. Allowing Multiple Alternatives with ElseIf4.2.3. Nested If Statements4.2.4. Single-Line If Statement4.2.5. Comparison Operators4.2.5.1. Using Not Equal To4.2.5.2. Using the Numeric Operators4.2.5.3. The And and Or Operators4.2.5.4. Using the And Operator4.2.5.5. More on And and Or4.2.6. String Comparison4.3. Select Case4.3.1. Case-Insensitive Select Case4.3.2. Multiple Selections4.3.3. The Case Else Statement4.3.4. Different Data Types with Select Case4.4. Loops4.4.1. The For. . .Next Loop4.4.1.1. Step4.4.1.2. Looping Backwards4.4.2. The For Each. . .Next Loop4.4.3. The Do. . .Loop Loops4.4.3.1. Do While. . .Loop4.4.3.2. Acceptable Expressions for a Do. . .Loop4.4.3.3. Other Versions of the Do. . .Loop4.4.4. Nested Loops4.4.5. Quitting Early4.4.6. Quitting Do. . .Loops4.4.7. Infinite Loops4.5. Summary4.6. Exercises
5. Working with Data Structures
5.1. Understanding Arrays5.1.1. Defining and Using Arrays5.1.2. Using For Each. . .Next5.1.3. Passing Arrays as Parameters5.1.4. Sorting Arrays5.1.5. Going Backwards5.1.6. Initializing Arrays with Values5.2. Understanding Enumerations5.2.1. Using Enumerations5.2.2. Determining the State5.2.3. Setting Invalid Values5.3. Understanding Constants5.3.1. Using Constants5.3.2. Different Constant Types5.4. Structures5.4.1. Building Structures5.4.2. Adding Properties to Structures5.5. Working with ArrayLists5.5.1. Using an ArrayList5.5.2. Deleting from an ArrayList5.5.3. Showing Items in the ArrayList5.6. Working with Collections5.6.1. Creating CustomerCollection5.6.2. Adding an Item Property5.7. Building Lookup Tables with Hashtable5.7.1. Using Hashtables5.7.2. Cleaning Up: Remove, RemoveAt, and Clear5.7.3. Case Sensitivity5.8. Advanced Array Manipulation5.8.1. Dynamic Arrays5.8.2. Using Preserve5.9. Summary5.10. Exercises

6. Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML)
6.1. What Is XAML?6.2. XAML Syntax6.3. Windows Presentation Foundation6.3.1. Creating a Rich WPF User Interface6.3.2. Using WPF Common Controls6.3.3. Wiring Up Events6.4. Summary6.5. Exercise
7. Building Windows Applications
7.1. Responding to Events7.1.1. Setting Up a Button Event7.2. Building a Simple Application7.2.1. Building the Form7.2.2. Counting Characters7.2.3. Counting Words7.3. Creating More Complex Applications7.3.1. The Text Editor Project7.3.2. Creating the Toolbar7.3.3. Creating the Status Bar7.3.4. Creating an Edit Box7.3.5. Clearing the Edit Box7.3.6. Responding to Toolbar Buttons7.4. Using Multiple Forms7.4.1. The About Dialog Box7.5. Summary7.6. Exercises
8. Displaying Dialog Boxes
8.1. The MessageBox Dialog Box8.1.1. Available Icons for MessageBox8.1.2. Available Buttons for MessageBox8.1.3. Setting the Default Button8.1.4. Miscellaneous Options8.1.5. The Show Method Syntax8.1.6. Example Message Boxes8.2. The OpenDialog Control8.2.1. The OpenFileDialog Control8.2.2. The Properties of OpenFileDialog8.2.3. The Methods of OpenFileDialog8.2.4. Using the OpenFileDialog Control8.3. The SaveDialog Control8.3.1. The Properties of SaveFileDialog8.3.2. The Methods of SaveFileDialog8.3.3. Using the SaveFileDialog Control8.4. The FontDialog Control8.4.1. The Properties of FontDialog8.4.2. The Methods of FontDialog8.4.3. Using the FontDialog Control8.5. The ColorDialog Control8.5.1. The Properties of ColorDialog8.5.2. Using the ColorDialog Control8.6. The PrintDialog Control8.6.1. The Properties of PrintDialog8.6.2. Using the PrintDialog Control8.6.3. The PrintDocument Class8.6.3.1. The Properties of the PrintDocument Class8.6.4. Printing a Document8.7. The FolderBrowserDialog Control8.7.1. The Properties of FolderBrowserDialog8.7.2. Using the FolderBrowserDialog Control8.8. Summary8.9. Exercises
9. Creating Menus
9.1. Understanding Menu Features9.1.1. Images9.1.2. Access Keys9.1.3. Shortcut Keys9.1.4. Check Marks9.1.5. The Properties Window9.2. Creating Menus9.2.1. Designing the Menus9.2.2. Adding Toolbars and Controls9.2.3. Coding Menus9.2.4. Coding the View Menu and Toolbars9.2.5. Testing Your Code9.3. Context Menus9.3.1. Creating Context Menus9.3.2. Enabling and Disabling Menu Items and Toolbar Buttons9.4. Summary9.5. Exercise
10. Debugging and Error Handling
10.1. Major Error Types10.1.1. Syntax Errors10.1.2. Execution Errors10.1.3. Logic Errors10.2. Debugging10.2.1. Creating a Sample Project10.2.2. Setting Breakpoints10.2.2.1. The Breakpoints Window10.2.2.2. Useful Icons on the Toolbar10.2.3. Debugging Using the Watch Window10.2.4. Debugging with the Locals Window10.3. Error Handling10.3.1. Using Structured Error Handling10.4. Summary10.5. Exercises
11. Building Objects
11.1. Understanding Objects11.1.1. Encapsulation11.1.2. Methods and Properties11.1.3. Events11.1.4. Visibility11.1.5. What Is a Class?11.2. Building Classes11.3. Reusability11.4. Designing an Object11.4.1. State11.4.2. Behavior11.4.3. Storing State11.4.4. Real Properties11.4.5. Read/Write Properties11.4.6. The IsMoving Method11.5. Constructors11.6. Inheritance11.6.1. Adding New Methods and Properties11.6.2. Adding a GetPowerToWeightRatio Method11.6.3. Changing Defaults11.6.4. Polymorphism: Scary Word, Simple Concept11.6.5. Overriding More Methods11.6.6. Inheriting from the Object Class11.7. Objects and Structures11.8. The Framework Classes11.8.1. Namespaces11.8.2. The Imports Statement11.8.3. Creating Your Own Namespace11.8.4. Inheritance in the .NET Framework11.9. Summary11.10. Exercises
12. Advanced Object-Oriented Techniques
12.1. Building a Favorites Viewer12.1.1. Internet Shortcuts and Favorites12.1.2. Using Classes12.1.3. Scanning Favorites12.1.4. Viewing Favorites12.2. An Alternative Favorite Viewer12.2.1. Building a Favorites Tray12.2.2. Displaying Favorites12.3. Using Shared Properties and Methods12.3.1. Using Shared Procedures12.3.2. Using Shared Methods12.4. Understanding Object-Oriented Programming and Memory Management12.4.1. Garbage Collection12.4.2. Releasing Resources12.4.3. Defragmentation and Compaction12.5. Summary12.6. Exercise
13. Building Class Libraries
13.1. Understanding Class Libraries13.1.1. Creating a Class Library13.1.2. Building a Class Library for Favorites Viewer13.1.3. A Multitiered Application13.2. Using Strong Names13.2.1. Signing Assemblies13.2.2. Assembly Versions13.3. Registering Assemblies13.3.1. Gacutil Utility13.3.2. Why Is My Assembly Not Visible in the References Dialog Box?13.4. Designing Class Libraries13.5. Using Third-Party Class Libraries13.6. Viewing Classes with the Object Browser13.7. Summary13.8. Exercise
14. Creating Windows Forms User Controls
14.1. Windows Forms Controls14.2. Creating and Testing a User Control14.3. Exposing Properties from User Controls14.3.1. Adding Properties14.3.2. Exposing Methods from User Controls14.3.3. Exposing Events from User Controls14.4. Design Time or Runtime14.5. Creating a Command Link Control14.5.1. Building the Command Link Control14.5.2. Using the Command Link Control14.6. Summary14.7. Exercise
15. Programming Custom Graphics
15.1. Building a Simple Paint Program15.1.1. Creating a Project with User Controls15.1.2. How Drawing Programs Work15.1.2.1. Raster Graphics15.1.2.2. Vector Graphics15.1.3. The GraphicsItem Class15.1.4. Screen and Client Coordinates15.1.5. Listening to the Mouse and Drawing GraphicsCircle Objects15.1.6. Invalidation15.1.7. Optimized Drawing15.1.8. Choosing Colors15.1.8.1. Creating the ColorPalette Control and Sizing the Control15.1.9. Responding to Clicks15.2. Dealing with Two Colors15.2.1. Indicating the Assigned Buttons15.2.2. Using Advanced Colors15.2.2.1. Using the Color Dialog Box15.2.2.2. Using System Colors15.2.3. Using Different Tools15.2.4. Implementing Hollow Circle15.3. Working with Images15.3.1. Drawing Images15.3.2. Scaling Images15.3.3. Preserving the Aspect Ratio15.4. More Graphics Methods15.5. Summary
16. Accessing Databases
16.1. What Is a Database?16.1.1. Microsoft Access Objects16.1.2. Tables16.1.3. Queries16.2. The SQL SELECT Statement16.3. Queries in Access16.4. Creating a Customer Query16.5. Data Access Components16.3.1. DataSet16.4.1. DataGridView16.4.2. BindingSource16.4.3. BindingNavigator16.4.4. TableAdapter16.6. Data Binding16.7. Summary16.8. Exercises
17. Database Programming with SQL Server and ADO.NET
17.1. ADO.NET17.1.1. ADO.NET Data Namespaces17.1.2. The SqlConnection Class17.1.2.1. Working with the Connection String Parameters17.1.2.2. Opening and Closing the Connection17.1.3. SqlCommand17.1.3.1. The Connection Property17.1.3.2. The CommandText Property17.1.3.3. The Parameters Collection17.1.3.4. The ExecuteNonQuery Method17.1.4. SqlDataAdapter17.1.4.1. The SelectCommand Property17.1.4.1.1. Setting SelectCommand to SQL Text17.1.4.1.2. Setting SelectCommand to a Stored Procedure17.1.4.2. Using Command Builders to Create the Other Commands17.1.4.3. The Fill Method17.1.5. The DataSet Class17.1.6. DataView17.1.6.1. The Sort Property17.1.6.2. The RowFilter Property17.1.6.3. The Find Method17.2. The ADO.NET Classes in Action17.2.1. Examining a DataSet Example17.3. Data Binding17.3.1. BindingContext and CurrencyManager17.3.2. Binding Controls17.3.2.1. Binding Example17.4. LINQ to SQL17.5. Summary17.6. Exercises
18. ASP.NET
18.1. Thin-Client Architecture18.2. Web Forms versus Windows Forms18.2.1. Windows Forms Advantages18.2.2. Web Forms Advantages18.3. Web Applications: The Basic Pieces18.3.1. Web Servers18.3.2. Browsers18.3.3. HyperText Markup Language18.3.4. VBScript and JavaScript18.3.5. Cascading Style Sheets18.4. Active Server Pages18.4.1. Benefits of ASP.NET Web Pages18.4.2. Special Web Site Files18.4.2.1. Global.asax18.4.2.2. Web.config18.4.3. Development18.4.4. Controls: The Toolbox18.5. Building Web Applications18.5.1. Creating a Web Form for Client- and Server-Side Processing18.5.2. Web Site Locations with VS 200818.5.3. Performing Data Entry and Validation18.5.4. Designing the Site's Look and Feel18.5.5. Using the GridView to Build a Data-Driven Web Form18.6. Summary18.7. Exercises
19. Web Projects
19.1. Web Site Authentication19.1.1. Windows Authentication19.1.2. Forms Authentication19.1.3. Web Site Administration Tool (WAT)19.1.4. Login Controls19.2. Summary19.3. Exercises
20. Visual Basic 2008 and XML
20.1. Understanding XML20.1.1. What Does XML Look Like?20.1.2. XML for Visual Basic Newcomers20.2. The Address Book Project20.2.1. Creating the Project20.2.2. The SerializableData Class20.2.3. Loading the XML File20.2.4. Changing the Data20.2.5. Sending E-mail20.2.6. Creating a List of Addresses20.2.7. Ignoring Members20.2.8. Loading Addresses20.2.9. Adding New Addresses20.2.10. Navigating Addresses20.2.11. Deleting Addresses20.2.12. Testing at the Edges20.3. Integrating with the Address Book Application20.3.1. Demonstrating the Principle of Integration20.3.2. Reading the Address Book from Another Application20.4. Summary20.5. Exercises
21. Distributed Computing with Windows Communication Foundation
21.1. What Is a Web Service?21.1.1. How Does a Web Service Work?21.1.2. SOAP21.2. Building a Web Service21.2.1. A Web Services Demonstration21.2.2. Adding More Methods21.3. Understanding WCF Services21.3.1. WCF services21.4. Summary21.5. Exercises
22. Building a Sequential Workflow Using the Windows Workflow Foundation
22.1. Visual Studio Workflow Templates22.2. Workflow Foundation Components22.3. Sequential Workflow Activities22.4. Creating a Sequential Worklow22.5. Property Tax Listing Form Workflow22.6. Summary22.7. Exercises
23. Building Mobile Applications
23.1. Understanding the Environment23.1.1. Common Language Runtime23.1.2. ActiveSync and Windows Mobile Device Center23.1.3. Common Types in the Compact Framework23.1.4. The Compact Framework Classes23.2. Building a Pocket PC Game23.3. Summary23.4. Exercise
24. Deploying Your Application
24.1. What Is Deployment?24.1.1. ClickOnce Deployment24.1.2. XCOPY Deployment24.2. Creating a Visual Studio 2008 Setup Application24.3. User Interface Editor24.4. Deploying Different Solutions24.4.1. Private Assemblies24.4.2. Shared Assemblies24.4.3. Deploying Desktop Applications24.4.4. Deploying Web Applications24.4.5. Deploying XML Web Services24.4.6. Useful Tools24.5. Summary24.6. Exercises
25. Where to Now?
25.1. Online Resources25.1.1. P2P.Wrox.com25.1.2. Microsoft Resources25.1.3. Other Resources25.2. Offline Resources (Books)25.2.1. Professional Visual Basic 200825.2.2. Visual Basic 2008 Programmer's Reference
A. Exercise Solutions
A.1. Chapter 1A.2. Chapter 3A.3. Chapter 4A.4. Chapter 5A.5. Chapter 6A.6. Chapter 7A.7. Chapter 8A.8. Chapter 9A.9. Chapter 10A.10. Chapter 11A.11. Chapter 12A.12. Chapter 13A.13. Chapter 14A.14. Chapter 16A.15. Chapter 17A.16. Chapter 18A.17. Chapter 19A.18. Chapter 20A.19. Chapter 21A.20. Chapter 22A.21. Chapter 23A.22. Chapter 24
B. Using the Microsoft Solutions Framework
B.1. Software Development Life CycleB.2. Microsoft Solutions FrameworkB.2.1. The Envisioning PhaseB.2.1.1. Problem StatementB.2.1.2. GoalsB.2.1.3. Define RolesB.2.1.4. Create a Scope DocumentB.2.1.5. Risk AnalysisB.2.2. The Planning PhaseB.2.3. The Developing PhaseB.2.3.1. Setup: Building Staging Areas for Development and TestingB.2.3.2. Completing the PrototypeB.2.3.3. Completing the CodeB.2.3.4. Supply Application DocumentationB.2.4. The Testing PhaseB.2.5. The Deployment PhaseB.3. Managing TradeoffsB.4. Defining Success with the MSFB.5. Summary
C. An Introduction to Code Security and SSL
C.1. Code Access SecurityC.1.1. PermissionsC.1.2. Security PolicyC.1.3. EvidenceC.2. Secure Sockets LayerC.3. Finding Information and AnswersC.4. Summary
D. An Introduction to Windows CardSpace
D.1. Using CardSpaceD.2. Adding Cardspace to Your SiteD.3. Info on the InternetD.4. Summary
E. .NET Framework Differences
E.1. What's New in the .NET Framework: Major Additions since Version 2.0E.2. What's New in the .NET Framework: Minor Additions since Version 2.0E.3. What's New in Visual Studio 2008E.4. Info on the Internet

Overview

Beginning Microsoft Visual Basic 2008 is designed to teach you how to write useful programs in Visual Basic 2008 as quickly and easily as possible.

There are two kinds of beginners for whom this book is ideal:

You're a beginner to programming and you've chosen Visual Basic 2008 as the place to start. That's a great choice! Visual Basic 2008 is not only easy to learn, it's also fun to use and very powerful.
You can program in another language but you're a beginner to .NET programming. Again, you've made a great choice! Whether you've come from Fortran or Visual Basic 6, you'll find that this book quickly gets you up to speed on what you need to know to get the most from Visual Basic 2008.

Visual Basic 2008 offers a great deal of functionality in both tools and language. No one book could ever cover Visual Basic 2008 in its entirety—you would need a library of books. What this book aims to do is to get you started as quickly and easily as possible. It shows you the roadmap, so to speak, of what there is and where to go. Once we've taught you the basics of creating working applications (creating the windows and controls, how your code should handle unexpected events, what object-oriented programming is, how to use it in your applications, and so on), we'll show you some of the areas you might want to try your hand at next. To this end, the book is organized as follows:

Chapters 1 through 9 provide an introduction to Visual Studio 2008 and Windows programming.
Chapter 6 provides an introduction to XAML and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) programming.
Chapter 10 provides an introduction to application debugging and error handling.
Chapters 11 through 13 provide an introduction to object-oriented programming and building objects.
Chapter 14 provides an introduction to creating Windows Forms user controls.
Chapter 15 provides an introduction to graphics in Windows applications.
Chapters 16 and 17 provide an introduction to programming with databases and covers Access, SQL Server, ADO.NET and LINQ.
Chapters 18 and 19 provide an introduction to ASP.NET and show you how to write applications for the Web.
Chapter 20 provides a brief introduction to XML, a powerful tool for integrating your applications—regardless of the language they were written in.
Chapter 21 introduces you to web services and the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF).
Chapter 22 introduces you to sequential workflows using the Windows Workflow Foundation (WF).
Chapter 23 introduces you to building applications for mobile devices using the Compact Framework classes.
Chapter 24 introduces you to deploying applications using ClickOnce technology.
Chapter 25 provides some insight on where to go next in your journey to learn about VisualBasic 2008.
Appendix A provides the answers to chapter exercises.
Appendix B introduces the Microsoft Solution Framework.
Appendix C provides some background on security.
Appendix D provides insight into Windows CardSpace.
Appendix E compares the differences between the latest versions of the .NET Framework.

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