book

Visual Basic 2005 Cookbook

by John Clark Craig, Tim Patrick

September 2006

Intermediate to advanced

739 pages

18h 19m

English

O'Reilly Media, Inc.

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Dedication
A Note Regarding Supplemental Files
Preface
Who This Book Is ForHow This Book Is OrganizedWhat You Need to Use This BookConventions Used in This BookUsing Code ExamplesComments and QuestionsSafari® EnabledAcknowledgmentsFrom Tim PatrickFrom John Clark Craig
1. Visual Basic Programming
Introduction1.1. Creating a Windows Forms Application1.2. Creating a Console Application1.3. Creating an ASP.NET Web Forms Application
2. The Development Environment
Introduction2.1. Discovering and Using a Code Snippet2.2. Creating a New Snippet2.3. Sharing Snippets2.4. Adding Snippet Files to Visual Studio2.5. Getting an Application’s Version Number2.6. Letting Visual Studio Automatically Update an Application’s Version Number2.7. Setting the Startup Form for an Application2.8. Setting the Startup to a Sub Main Procedure2.9. Getting an Application’s Command Line2.10. Testing an Application’s Command Line2.11. Obfuscating an Application2.12. Determining if an Application Is Running in the Visual Studio Environment2.13. Accessing Environment Variables2.14. Accessing the Registry2.15. Getting System Information2.16. Getting the User’s Name
3. Application Organization
Introduction3.1. Creating a Code Module3.2. Creating a Class3.3. Creating a Structure3.4. Creating Other Item Types3.5. Creating Object Instances3.6. Initializing a Class Instance with Data3.7. Releasing an Instance’s Resources3.8. Using Namespaces3.9. Splitting a Class Across Multiple Files3.10. Creating a Form Based on Another Form3.11. Passing and Returning Structures and Other Objects3.12. Creating and Using an Enumeration3.13. Converting Between Numeric and String Enumeration Values3.14. Creating a Method That Accepts Different Sets of Arguments3.15. Using Standard Operators for Nonstandard Purposes3.16. Enforcing Strong Data Typing in an Otherwise Weakly Typed Collection
4. Forms, Controls, and Other Useful Objects
Introduction4.1. Creating and Adding Controls at Runtime4.2. Iterating Through All Controls on a Form4.3. Sharing Event-Handler Logic Among Many Controls4.4. Working with Timers4.5. Determining If a Control Can Take the Focus4.6. Programmatically Clicking a Button4.7. Drawing a Control4.8. Making a Form the Top-Most Form4.9. Indicating the Accept and Cancel Buttons on a Form4.10. Remembering a Form’s Position Between Uses4.11. Attaching a Control to the Edge of a Form4.12. Moving or Resizing Controls as a Form Resizes4.13. Limiting the Sizing of a Form4.14. Centering a Form4.15. Creating and Moving a Borderless Form4.16. Creating a Fading Form4.17. Creating a Nonrectangular Form4.18. Changing Menus at Runtime4.19. Creating Shortcut Menus
5. Strings
Introduction5.1. Using a StringBuilder5.2. Creating a String of N Identical Characters5.3. Creating a String by Repeating a String N Times5.4. Obfuscating a String5.5. Converting Binary Data to a Hexadecimal String5.6. Extracting Substrings from Larger Strings5.7. Converting a String’s Case5.8. Comparing Strings with Case Sensitivity5.9. Comparing Strings Without Case Sensitivity5.10. Converting Strings to and from Character Arrays5.11. Converting Strings to and from Byte Arrays5.12. Tallying Characters5.13. Counting Words5.14. Removing Extra Whitespace5.15. Using the Correct End-of-Line Characters5.16. Replacing Substrings5.17. Inserting a Character or String5.18. Inserting a Line5.19. Double-Spacing a String5.20. Formatting Numbers into Strings5.21. Trimming Sets of Characters from a String5.22. Identifying and Validating Types of Data in a String5.23. Converting Strings Between Encoding Systems5.24. Determining a Character’s Type5.25. Parsing Strings5.26. Concatenating Strings5.27. Speeding Up String Manipulation5.28. Counting Occurrences of a Substring5.29. Padding a String for Exact Length and Alignment5.30. Converting Tabs to Spaces5.31. Reversing a String5.32. Shuffling a String5.33. Using a Simple String Encryption5.34. Converting a String to Morse Code5.35. Adding Strings to an Application’s Resources5.36. Converting Any Data to a String5.37. Using Regular Expressions to Extract All Numbers5.38. Getting a Count of Regular Expression Matches5.39. Getting the Nth Regular Expression Match5.40. Compiling Regular Expressions for Speed5.41. Using Regular Expressions to Validate Data5.42. Using Regular Expressions to Count Characters, Words, or Lines5.43. Converting a String to and from Base645.44. Splitting a String5.45. Creating a String of Space Characters
6. Numbers and Math
Introduction6.1. Using Compact Operator Notation6.2. Choosing Integers of the Right Size and Type for the Job6.3. Using Unsigned Integers6.4. Swapping Two Integers Without Using a Third6.5. Using Single- and Double-Precision Variables6.6. Using Decimal Variables for Maximum Precision6.7. Converting Between Number Types6.8. Rounding Numbers Accurately6.9. Declaring Loop Counters Within Loops6.10. Converting Between Radians and Degrees6.11. Limiting Angles to a Range6.12. Creating Double-Precision Point Variables6.13. Converting Between Rectangular and Polar Coordinates6.14. Creating Three-Dimensional Variables6.15. Converting Between Rectangular, Spherical, and Cylindrical Coordinates6.16. Working with Complex Numbers6.17. Solving Right Triangles6.18. Solving Any Triangle6.19. Determining if a String Contains a Valid Number6.20. Converting Numbers to Integers6.21. Calculating π to Thousands of Digits6.22. Getting a Number’s Prime Factors6.23. Using Recursion to Calculate Factorials6.24. Manipulating Bits with Bitwise Operators6.25. Storing and Retrieving Bits in a BitArray6.26. Enhancing the Random Number Generator6.27. Generating Random Integers in a Range6.28. Generating Random Real Numbers in a Range6.29. Generating Normal-Distribution Random Numbers6.30. Generating Exponential-Distribution Random Numbers6.31. Creating a Matrix6.32. Inverting a Matrix6.33. Calculating the Determinant of a Matrix6.34. Solving Simultaneous Equations6.35. Listing of the MatrixHelper Class
7. Dates and Times
Introduction7.1. Getting the System Date and Time7.2. Accessing the System’s Time Zone7.3. Using System Ticks7.4. Timing Application Activities7.5. Calculating Elapsed Time Using Ticks7.6. Calculating Elapsed Time with the Stopwatch7.7. Extracting Year, Month, and Day Numbers from a Date Value7.8. Extracting Hour, Minute, and Second Numbers from a Date Value7.9. Creating a Date or Time Value from Its Parts7.10. Formatting Dates and Times7.11. Parsing and Validating Dates and Times7.12. Adding to Dates and Times7.13. Subtracting from Dates and Times7.14. Determining the Number of Days Between Two Dates7.15. Determining the Day of the Week for a Date7.16. Determining the Day of the Year for a Date7.17. Determining the Number of Days in a Month7.18. Using Controls to Enter or Select a Date7.19. Calculating the Phase of the Moon7.20. Creating a Calendar7.21. Checking for Leap Years7.22. Dates and Times in ISO 8601 Formats

8. Arrays and Collections
Introduction8.1. Filling an Array While Declaring It8.2. Sorting Array Elements8.3. Reversing an Array8.4. Inserting into an Array8.5. Shuffling an Array8.6. Swapping Two Array Values8.7. Resizing Arrays Without Losing Existing Values8.8. Quickly Copying Part of an Array into Another8.9. Writing a Comma-Separated-Values File from a String Array8.10. Reading a Comma-Separated-Values File into a String Array8.11. Using a Multivalue Array Instead of a Two-Dimensional Array8.12. Converting Between Delimited Strings and Arrays8.13. Formatting an Array as a Single String8.14. Iterating Through Array Elements8.15. Passing Arrays to Methods8.16. Returning Arrays from Functions8.17. Creating a Collection8.18. Inserting an Item into a Collection8.19. Deleting a Collection Item8.20. Iterating Through a Collection
9. Graphics
Introduction9.1. Creating Graphics Objects9.2. Drawing on Controls for Special Effects9.3. Letting the User Select a Color9.4. Working with Coordinate Systems (Pixels, Inches, Centimeters)9.5. Creating a Bitmap9.6. Setting a Background Color9.7. Drawing Lines, Ellipses, and Rectangles9.8. Drawing Lines One Pixel Wide Regardless of Scaling9.9. Forcing a Form or Control to Redraw9.10. Using Transparency9.11. Scaling with Transforms9.12. Using an Outline Path9.13. Using Gradients for Smooth Color Changes9.14. Drawing Bezier Splines9.15. Drawing Cardinal Splines9.16. Limiting Display Updates to Specific Regions9.17. Drawing Text9.18. Rotating Text to Any Angle9.19. Mirroring Text on the Canvas9.20. Getting the Height and Width of a Graphic String9.21. Drawing Text with Outlines and Drop Shadows9.22. Calculating a Nice Axis9.23. Drawing a Simple Chart9.24. Creating Odd-Shaped Forms and Controls9.25. Using the RGB, HSB (HSV), and HSL Color Schemes9.26. Creating a Rubber-Band Rectangular Selection9.27. Animating with Transparency9.28. Substitutions for Obsolete Visual Basic 6.0 Features
10. Multimedia
Introduction10.1. Playing an Audio File10.2. Displaying Image Files10.3. Playing a Video File10.4. Making Your Computer Beep10.5. Creating an Animation Using Multiple Images10.6. Creating an Animation by Generating Multiple Bitmaps10.7. Creating an Animation by Drawing at Runtime10.8. Creating Animated Sprites10.9. Resizing and Compressing JPEG Files10.10. Getting JPEG Extended Information10.11. Creating Thumbnails10.12. Displaying Images While Controlling Stretching and Sizing10.13. Scrolling Images10.14. Merging Two or More Images10.15. Using Resource Images10.16. Capturing an Image of the Screen10.17. Getting Display Dimensions10.18. Speeding Up Image Processing10.19. Converting an Image to Grayscale10.20. Performing Edge Detection on an Image10.21. Full Listing of the LockImage Class
11. Printing
Introduction11.1. Enumerating Printers11.2. Sending “Raw” Data to a Printer11.3. Get Details About the Default Printer11.4. Creating a Print Preview11.5. Prompting for Printed Page Settings11.6. Drawing Text and Graphics to a Printer11.7. Determining the Print Destination11.8. Creating Graph Paper
12. Files and File Systems
Introduction12.1. Enumerating Drives12.2. Determining if a Directory Exists12.3. Creating a New Directory12.4. Copying Directories12.5. Moving Directories12.6. Renaming Directories12.7. Parsing File and Directory Paths12.8. Searching Iteratively Through Directories and Subdirectories12.9. Finding Directories and Files Using Wildcards12.10. Determining If a File Exists12.11. Getting and Setting File Attributes12.12. Accessing Special User and Windows Directories12.13. Determining the Space on a Drive12.14. Browsing for a Directory12.15. Getting File Information12.16. Using File-Access Methods12.17. Reading and Writing Files as Strings12.18. Reading and Writing Binary Files12.19. Copying or Moving a File12.20. Sending a File to the Recycle Bin12.21. Creating a Temporary File12.22. Calculating a Checksum for a File12.23. Comparing Two Files for Equality12.24. Locking a File During Access12.25. Reading from a File at a Specific Position12.26. Reading and Writing Objects in a File12.27. Creating a Comma-Separated-Values File
13. Databases
Introduction13.1. Connecting to a Data Provider13.2. Issuing SQL Commands13.3. Retrieving Results from a Database Query13.4. Using SQL Parameters13.5. Using Stored Procedures13.6. Using Transactions13.7. Storing the Results of a Query in Memory13.8. Creating In-Memory Data Tables Manually13.9. Writing In-Memory Data Tables to an XML File13.10. Reading an XML File into In-Memory Data Tables
14. Special Programming Techniques
Introduction14.1. Preventing Multiple Instances of a Running Application14.2. Creating a Simple User Control14.3. Describing User Control Properties14.4. Starting Other Applications by EXE, Document, or URL14.5. Waiting for Applications to Finish14.6. List All Running Processes14.7. Terminating a Running Process14.8. Pausing Execution of a Program14.9. Control Applications by Simulating Keystrokes14.10. Watching for File and Directory Changes14.11. Creating an Icon in the System Tray14.12. Accessing the Clipboard14.13. Adding Tooltips to Controls14.14. Dragging and Dropping Files to a ListBox14.15. Dragging and Dropping Between ListBox Controls14.16. Disposing of Objects Appropriately14.17. Fine-Tuning Garbage Collection14.18. Moving the (Mouse) Cursor14.19. Intercepting All Key Presses on a Form14.20. Accessing the Registry14.21. Running Procedures in Threads14.22. Reading XML into a TreeView14.23. Creating an XML Document14.24. Validating an XML Document14.25. Using Generic Collections14.26. Creating a Screensaver14.27. Localizing the Controls on a Form14.28. Adding Pop-up Help to Controls14.29. Maintaining User-Specific Settings Between Uses of an Application14.30. Verifying a Credit Card Number14.31. Capturing a Console Application’s Output14.32. Reading an Assembly’s Details14.33. Performing Serial I/O14.34. Rebooting the System
15. Exceptions
Introduction15.1. Catching an Exception15.2. Throwing an Exception15.3. Catching Unhandled Exceptions15.4. Displaying Exception Information15.5. Creating New Exception Types15.6. Ignoring Exceptions in a Block of Code
16. Cryptography and Compression
Introduction16.1. Generating a Hash16.2. Encrypting and Decrypting a String16.3. Encrypting and Decrypting a File16.4. Prompting for a Username and Password16.5. Handling Passwords Securely16.6. Compressing and Decompressing a String16.7. Compressing and Decompressing a File16.8. Generating Cryptographically Secure Random Numbers16.9. Complete Listing of the Crypto.vb Module16.10. Complete Listing of the Compress.vb Module
17. Web Development
Introduction17.1. Displaying Web Pages on a Form17.2. Accessing Content Within an HTML Document17.3. Getting All Links from a Web Page17.4. Get the Local Computer’s IP Address17.5. Resolving a Host Name or IP Address for Another Computer17.6. Pinging an IP Address17.7. Using FTP to Download Files17.8. Calling a Web Service17.9. Sending Email Using SMTP17.10. Getting POP3 Emails17.11. Sending a Message to Another Computer17.12. Adding Hyperlinks to a (Desktop) Form
Index
About the Authors
Colophon
Copyright

Overview

This book will help you solve more than 300 of the most common and not-so-common tasks that working Visual Basic 2005 programmers face every day. If you're a seasoned .NET developer, beginning Visual Basic programmer, or a developer seeking a simple and clear migration path from VB6 to Visual Basic 2005, the Visual Basic 2005 Cookbook delivers a practical collection of problem-solving recipes for a broad range of Visual Basic programming tasks.

The concise solutions and examples in the Visual Basic 2005 Cookbook range from simple tasks to the more complex, organized by the types of problems you need to solve. Nearly every recipe contains a complete, documented code sample showing you how to solve the specific problem, as well as a discussion of how the underlying technology works and that outlines alternatives, limitations, and other considerations. As with all O'Reilly Cookbooks, each recipe helps you quickly understand a problem, learn how to solve it, and anticipate potential tradeoffs or ramifications.

Useful features of the book include:

Over 300 recipes written in the familiar O'Reilly Problem-Solution-Discussion format
Hundreds of code snippets, examples, and complete solutions available for download
VB6 updates to alert VB6 programmers to code-breaking changes in Visual Basic 2005
Recipes that target Visual Basic 2005 features not included in previous releases
Code examples covering everyday data manipulation techniques and language fundamentals
Advanced projects focusing on multimedia and mathematical transformations using linear algebraic methods
Specialized topics covering files and file systems, printing, and databases

In addition, you'll find chapters on cryptography and compression, graphics, and special programming techniques. Whether you're a beginner or an expert, the Visual Basic 2005 Cookbook is sure to save you time, serving up the code you need, when you need it.

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
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