Special Edition Using Microsoft® Visual Basic® .NET

Table of contents

1. Copyright
2. About the Authors
3. Acknowledgments
4. Tell Us What You Think!
5. Introduction
6. Getting Started with Visual Basic .NET
   1. Introduction to Visual Basic .NET
      1. Understanding Programming and Visual Basic’s Role
      2. The Importance of Application Design
      3. Tips for a Good Design
      4. Big Changes in Visual Basic .NET
      5. From Here . . .
   2. Creating Your First Windows Application
      1. Setting Up a New Windows Project
      2. Designing the User Interface
      3. Coding Your Program’s Actions
      4. Running Your Program
      5. From Here…
   3. Creating Your First Web Application
      1. Getting Started with Web Applications
      2. Creating the Sample Web Application
      3. Enhancing Your Web Application
      4. Troubleshooting Web Applications
   4. Understanding the Development Environment
      1. Getting Started
      2. The Visual Studio .NET Work Area
      3. Customizing the Development Environment
      4. Troubleshooting
   5. Visual Basic Building Blocks
      1. Terminology You Must Know
      2. Understanding Namespaces
      3. Error Handling
      4. Introduction to Debugging
      5. From Here . . .
7. Visual Basic Programming Fundamentals
   1. Storing Information in Variables
      1. Declaring and Naming Variables
      2. Understanding Data Types
      3. Working with Numeric Data Types
      4. Using Math Operations
      5. Using Date and Time Values
      6. Working with Strings
      7. Using Arrays
      8. Understanding Regional Settings
   2. Controlling the Flow of Your Program
      1. Understanding If Statements
      2. Using Select Case
      3. Structuring Your Code Logically
      4. Working with Loops
      5. Exercise: The Pop-Up Eliminator
      6. From Here . . .
   3. Managing Program Tasks with Procedures
      1. Procedures Defined
      2. Working with Sub Procedures
      3. Working with Function Procedures
      4. Reusing Functions and Procedures
      5. From Here…
   4. Creating Code Components
      1. Understanding Classes
      2. Building a Class
      3. Using a New Class in an Application
      4. Using Remoting to Work with Distributed Objects
      5. From Here…
8. Building Windows Applications
   1. Understanding Windows Forms
      1. Changing the Look of Your Forms
      2. Adding Menus to Your Forms
      3. Working with Multiple Forms
      4. From Here . . .
   2. Fundamental Controls
      1. Introduction to Controls
      2. Basic Controls
      3. Controls for Making Choices
      4. From Here…
   3. Advanced Controls
      1. Automatically Controlling a Control’s Size and Position
      2. Specialized Date Input Controls
      3. Other Specialized Controls
      4. From Here…
   4. Using Dialog Boxes
      1. Using Message Boxes to Keep the User Informed
      2. Using Input Boxes to Get Information from the User
      3. Using the Dialog Controls
      4. Creating Your Own Dialog Boxes
      5. From Here . . .
   5. Designing an Effective User Interface
      1. Designing Effective Forms
      2. User PC Differences
      3. Dealing with User Expectations
      4. Using Graphics
      5. Working with Text and Fonts
      6. From Here . . .
   6. Multiple Document Interface (MDI) Applications
      1. Overview of MDI Applications
      2. Creating the Parent Form for the Sample Application
      3. Creating the Child Form Template
      4. Displaying a New Child Form
      5. Opening an Existing Document
      6. Child Window Management
      7. Saving Files
      8. Adding a Print Function
      9. Summarizing the Code
      10. From Here…
   7. Creating Your Own Windows Controls
      1. Windows Control Basics
      2. Creating a Windows Control
      3. Testing the Control
      4. Adding Your Custom Controls to Other Projects
      5. Enhancing a Windows Control
      6. From Here . . .
9. Working with the Web
   1. Using Active Server Pages.NET
      1. Understanding Web Communication
      2. Using HTML with ASP.NET
      3. Bringing Dynamic Content to the Web
      4. Creating ASP.NET Pages
      5. Using ASP.NET’s Built-In Classes
      6. Exercise: Creating a Web Photo Album
      7. From Here…
   2. Web Applications and Services
      1. Understanding the Web Forms Programming Model
      2. Writing Code Behind a Web Form
      3. Managing Your Web Application Project
      4. Sharing Functionality with Web Services
      5. From Here. . .
   3. Web Controls
      1. Using ASP.NET Server Controls
      2. Validating User Input
      3. Working with Lists and Grids
      4. Special-Purpose Web Controls
      5. From Here…
10. Visual Basic and Databases
    1. Database Basics
       1. Understanding Databases
       2. Designing a Database
       3. Introducing the Structured Query Language
       4. Using the SELECT Statement
       5. Using SQL Action Statements
       6. Using DDL Statements
       7. Storing SQL Statements in the Database
       8. Troubleshooting Hints
    2. ActiveX Data Objects (ADO)
       1. Using the ADO Objects
       2. Using Disconnected Recordsets
       3. Exercise: Displaying a Recordset in a DataGrid
    3. Using ADO.NET (ADO)
       1. Data and Your Application
       2. Executing Database Commands
       3. Understanding DataSets
       4. Building a Reusable Data Access Layer
    4. Creating and Using Reports
       1. Printing with Windows Forms
       2. Using Crystal Reports
       3. From Here…
11. Advanced Programming Topics
    1. Working with Files
       1. Manipulating the File System Using VB
       2. Working with File Streams
       3. Parsing XML Files
       4. Accessing the Registry
       5. Traditional Visual Basic File Functions
       6. Questions: Using Files
    2. Interacting with Other Applications
       1. Remote-Controlling Microsoft Excel
       2. Remote Controlling Microsoft Word
       3. Using the SmtpMail Class to Add E-mail Functionality to an Application
       4. From Here…
    3. Debugging and Performance Tuning
       1. Working with Exceptions in Visual Studio
       2. Writing Code to Handle Exceptions
       3. Monitoring Application Performance
       4. Measuring Execution Time
       5. Exercise: Using Performance Counters
    4. Writing a Pocket PC Application
       1. Installing eMbedded Visual Basic
       2. Creating the Sample Application
       3. Synchronizing Application Data
       4. From Here . . .
12. Packaging Your Applications
    1. Creating an Installer
    2. Using the Setup Project Wizard to Create a Setup Project for a Windows Application
    3. Setting Options for the Setup Package
    4. Customizing the User’s File System
    5. Building the Setup Project
    6. Deploying the MSI Installer Package
13. Tips on Conversion from VB6
    1. Why the Visual Basic Language Has Changed
    2. Changes to the Language
    3. Changes to Controls
    4. Converting an Existing VB6 Project to Visual Basic .NET