Introduction 1
PART I: The Visual Basic 2010 Environment
HOUR 1: Jumping in with Both Feet: A Visual Basic 2010 Programming Tour 5
Starting Visual Basic 2010 ....................................................................................6
Creating a New Project ..........................................................................................7
Understanding the Visual Studio 2010 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 2010 29
Using the Visual Basic 2010 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 ....................................40
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
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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..............................................................................134
Creating Scrollable Forms..................................................................................134
Creating MDI Forms ..........................................................................................136
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................................................................................................154
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 ..............................................................329
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..............................................................................475
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
TOC, 9780672331138, 4/19/10
