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VisualBasicNotes

VisualBasic.NETClassNotes
Introduction
StepstoCreatingaProgram
SystemDevelopmentLifecycle
VisualBasicIDE
Controls/Objects
ObjectNamingConventions
ObjectProperties
ObjectMethods
ObjectEvents
AddingCodetoaVBProgram
Outputtingdata
InternalDocumentation
DataTypes
Variables
AssigningValuestoVariables
ArithmeticOperators
Constants
Inputtingdata
SimpleIPOcharts
SelectionIF
CompoundSelection
IPOSelection
CountedRepetitionFor
IPORepetition
UncountedRepetitionDo
FileInputandOutput
CountingandAccumulating

TerminatingaForm
Debugging
MathFunctions
StringObjectMethods
StringObjectNumericFunctions
FormatFunctions
RandomNumbers
Subprograms
UserDefinedFunctions
VariableScope
FormLoad
MessageBox
InputBox
ShowingMultipleForms
ModalForms
Arrays
DynamicArrays
MultidimensionalArrays
StopWatchObject
Searching
Sorting
Menus
TimerObjects
MovingImages(Animation)
ReadingfromanAccessDatabase
ListViewControl
ListBoxControl

WhatisComputerProgramming?
Aprogramisasetofinstructionsthatguidethecomputerincarryingoutaspecifictask.Towriteaprogramyouneedtohaveaprogramming
language(software)suchas:VisualBasic,Turing,Basic,Java,Fortran,Cobol,C++,etc.TheseareEnglishlikelanguagesthathumanscan
read,understandandwrite,howeverthecomputercannotunderstandtheselanguages!Inorderforthecomputertocarryouttheinstructions,
theprogrammustbetranslatedtoalanguagethemachineunderstands,calledmachinelanguageandthenexecuted.Theprogramswewritein
VisualBasicarefirsttranslatedbytheVBsoftware.Whenthestatementsintheoriginalorsourceprogramaretranslatedtomachinelanguage,
calledtheobjectprogram,theprogramissaidtobecompiledandreadyforexecution

WhyWritePrograms
Allthesoftwareweuseonthecomputerareprogramswrittentocarryoutvariousapplications.EvenDOSandWindowsisaprogram(orsetof
programs)writtenasaninterfacebetweentheuserandthehardware.DOSandWindowsareoperatingsystems.Withoutoneofthemwe
wouldneedtoknowagreatdealmoretocommunicatewith,andmanagethehardwarecomponentsofthecomputersystem.Windowsisa
softwarepackagethatallowsustoworkinDOSwithoutneedingtounderstandallthebuiltincommands.Itmakesthecomputerfriendliertouse
becausethemenusandiconsreplacetheneedtorememberalltheDOScommands.
Thereissoftwarereferredtoasapplicationsoftwaresuchaswordprocessors(MSWorks/Word),spreadsheets(Works,Lotus,Excel),desktop
publishing(Pagemaker,VenturaPublisher),databaseprograms(Access,dBASE,Paradox,)graphicsprograms(CorelDRAW,AutoCAD)and
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communicationssoftware(PCtalk,HyperAccess).Theseprogramsarebuilttotoparticulartypesofjobsandallowustoprocessinformation
easily.
Ifinformationneedstobeprocessedinarepetitivemannerthenprogrammingacomputertocarryoutthetaskwillmakethejobquickerand
easier.

StepsToCreatingaProgram:
Softwarereferstoacollectionofinstructions,calledaprogram(VBcallsthemasolution)thatdirectsthehardware(monitor,keyboard,mouse,
CPUetc.)
Thefirststepinwritinginstructionstocarryoutataskistodeterminewhattheoutputshouldbe.Thesecondstepistoidentifythedata,orinput,
necessarytoobtaintheoutput.Thelaststepistodeterminehowtoprocesstheinputtoobtaintheoutput.Therefore,theproblemsolvingprocess
usedwillalwaysconsistofthreesteps:
1.input
2.processing
3.output
Whensolvingacomputerproblem,eachassignmentasksyoutofirstcreateanIPOchart.IPOstandsforinput,processingandoutput.IPO
chartsaredonebeforeyoustarttocode.IPOchartsstatetheprocessinginastructuredenglish,sometimescalledpseudocode.Forexample:
CreateanIPOchartforaprogramthatwillallowapersontoinputanamounttobedepositedinabankaccount,theinterestrateandthenumber
ofyearsthemoneywillbeleftintheaccount.Printtheamountofmoneyintheaccountattheendofthetime.
Input

Processing

Output

amountdeposited
interestrate
numberofyears

finalamount=amountdeposited
repeatforthenumberofyears
finalamount=finalamount+finalamount*interestrate

finalamount

NoticethattheIPOchart'explains'howtochangetheinputtotheoutput.Alltheinputsareusedintheprocessingandtheoutputsareclearly
calculatedintheprocessing.TheprocessingisstructuredandindentedsimilartoVBprogramsbutthelanguageismorelike'normal'English
thanaprogramminglanguage.ManyVBdetailsarenotincluded,suchasdim,endif,next,toString,becausetheyare'understood'tobeneeded
whenyoustarttocode.

SystemDevelopmentLifecycle
Whenworkinginteamsofprogrammers,oronlargeprogrammingprojects,itisimportanttostayorganized.Manyefficientprogrammersplan
theirprogramsusingthesystemdevelopmentlifecycleorSDLC.Thestepbystepprocessisshownbelow:
Step

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Analysis

Defineandunderstandtheproblem

Besureyouunderstandwhattheprogramshoulddo,thatis,whattheinputandoutputshouldbe.
Findalogicalsequenceofprecisestepsthatsolvetheproblem.CreatetheIPOchart,inthisclass.

Planthesolutiontotheproblem

AsequenceofstepssuchasthisiscalledanAlgorithm.Threepopularmethodsusedtodeveloplogicalplans
areflowcharts,pseudocodeandtopdowncharts.Thesetoolsormethodswillassisttheprogrammerin
breakingdownalargeproblemintosmallertasks.

ChoosetheInterface

Determinehowtheinputwillbeobtainedandhowtheoutputwillbedisplayedlayouttheform(s)

Development

Code

Createtheformandtranslatethealgorithmintoaprogramminglanguage.Theprogramiswrittenduringthis
stage.Writecommentsinsidetheprogramthatexplaintootherprogrammerswhatthecodeisdoing.

Testing

TestandDebug

Locateandremoveanyerrorsintheprogram.

Implementation

Installtheworkingprogramontheuser'scomputer
andtraintheuser

Writedocumentationthatisintendedtoallowanotherpersontounderstandtheprogramandtraintheuser
howtousetheprogram.

Design

Thismethodoforganizingaprogrammingprojectissometimescalledthewaterfallmethod,becausethestepsproceedfromonetothenext,

likewaterfallingdownfromsteptostep.
Thereareotherprojectmethodologiesthatexistsuchas:
rapidapplicationdevelopment(RAD)
jointapplicationdevelop(JAD)
spiralmodel
synchronizeandstabilize
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extremeprogramming(XP)
Allthesemethodologiesareusedtocoordinateteamsofprogrammersworkingonlargeprojects.Eachmethodologyhasitsstrengthsand
weaknesses.

VisualBasicProgrammingEnvironment(IDEIntegratedDevelopmentEnvironment)

Controls/Objects
InVB,aprogramisstartedbydrawingtheuserinterface(thepartoftheprogramauserwillsee)onaform(therectangularareawiththegrid
marksinthecenteroftheIDE).Allthecontrolsyoucanplaceonaformareinthetoolbox,ontheleftsideoftheIDE.Controlsyouplaceona
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formandtheformitselfarecalledobjects.
Examplesofobjects:
formawindowsscreen
button
labelusercannotchangeduringruntime
textBoxusercanchangeduringruntime
horizontalscrollbar
pictureBox
TheToolboxcontainsthefollowingstandardcontrols:
PictureBox
Label
TextBox
Button
GroupBox
CheckBox
RadioButton
ComboBox
ListBox
HorizontalScrollBar
VerticalScrollBar
Timer
Whenplacingseveralobjectsonaform,usethecommandsontheFormatmenutoplace,size,andaligntheobjects.First,dragthemouse
aroundtheobjectstoselectthem.UsingthecommandsontheFormatmenu,youcanthenalignorsizetheobjectsasnecessary.Object
propertiescangenerallybesetateitherdesigntimeorruntime
HereisaformwithLabel,TextBoxandButtonobjects.

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LabelControl
Alabelisagraphicalcontrolusedtodisplaytext.Theusercannoteditthetextinalabel.ThemostcommonuseforaLabelcontrolistoidentify
controlsthatdonothaveaCaptionproperty,suchastheTextBoxcontrol.YoucanalsousetheLabelcontroltodisplaytextsuchasstatus
messagesandotherprograminformation.

TextBoxControl
YouuseaTextBoxcontroltoobtaininformationfromtheuserortodisplayinformationprovidedbytheapplication.Unlikeinformationdisplayedin
alabel,theusercanchangeinformationdisplayedinatextbox.
TextBoxobjectshavea'ReadOnly'property,thatwhensetto'true'doesnotallowtheusertotypeintothetextbox.

ButtonControl:
AButtonperformsataskwhentheuserclicksthebutton.YouuseaButtoncontroltobegin,interrupt,orendaprocess.Whenclicked,a
commandbuttonappearstobepushedinandsoissometimescalledapushbutton.ThemostcommoneventforaButtoncontrolistheClick
event.

ObjectNamingConventions
Allobjectsyouplaceonaformmustbegivenaname,inthiscourse.Anobject'snameisusedtorefertotheobjectinyourprogramcode.You
canassignanynametoanobject,butitisagoodideatoadoptanamingconventionanduseitconsistentlythroughoutyourprograms.
ThefollowingtableliststhestandardnamingconventionsusedinVisualBasic.Adoptingtheseconventionsmakesiteasierforothersfamiliar
withthestandardnamingconventionstounderstandyourcode.
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SuggestedPrefixesforControls
ControlType

Prefix

Example

Checkbox

chk

chkReadOnly

Combobox,dropdownlistbox

cbo

cboEnglish

Button

btn

btnExit

Form

frm

frmEntry

Horizontalscrollbar

hsb

hsbVolume

Label

lbl

lblHelpMessage

Listbox

lst

lstPolicyCodes

Menu

mnu

mnuFileOpen

Radiobutton

rad

radGender

Picturebox

pic

picVGA

Textbox

txt

txtLastName

Timer

tmr

tmrAlarm

Verticalscrollbar

vsb

vsbRate

Properties
Propertiesdefinetheappearanceandbehaviorofobjects.Text,Font,andNamearecommonexamplesofproperties.Propertiesarethe
attributesyousetorretrieve.Eachobjecthasalonglistofproperties.Thesepropertiesareveryimportanttomakingthescreenlookrightandto
makingtheprogramactright.

SettingPropertiesatDesignTime:
Designtimeisthetimewhenyouarelayingoutyourformandwritingyourprogramcode.Mostpropertiesofanyobjectmaybesetatdesign
time.Whenanobjectontheformisselected,thepropertiesfortheobjectaredisplayedontherightsideoftheIDE.Tochangeorsetaproperty,
simplytypeyourdesiredchangeintheareanexttothepropertyname.
ExamplesofLabelproperties:
textthetextthatappearsonthescreen
namethenameoftheobject
NB:WewillneverleavethenamesLabel1,Label2,etcbecausethesearenotmeaningfulnamesandwillbeconfusing.
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Wewillusethesuggestedprefix(seeabove)andmeaningfulnamessothatothersfamiliarwiththestandardnamingconventionswillmoreeasily
understandyourcode.Eg.changethenameofLabel1tolblTitle
fontcontrolsthefont,size,style(bolditalics)
forecolorcontrolsthecolourofletters.Thepropertieswindowshowsacodednumber(morelateronthehexnumber)
backcolorcontrolsthebackgroundcolorofthelabel(abox)
visiblecontrolswhetherthelabelisvisibleornot(TrueorFalse)
ExamplesofFormproperties:
backcolorcontrolsthebackgroundcolorofthewholescreen
textthetextthatappearsintheform'stitlebar
windowstatecontrolshowbigthewindowiswhentheprogramisrun
0Normal1Minimized2Maximized(best)
namethenameoftheform
eg.changeForm1tofrmTitlescreen
FormBorderStylecontrolstheappearanceoftheform=sborder
alsodetermineswhethertheusercanresizetheform
yousettheBorderStylepropertyatdesigntime
youcannotchangetheBorderStylepropertyatruntime
Sizetosetthesizeofaform

ChangingObjectPropertiesduringRunTime
Whentheuserisrunningtheprogram,thisiscalledruntime.Anypropertyofanyobjectcanbechangedduringruntime.Thegeneralformof
commandstochangeobjectpropertiesis:
objectname.property=value
Examples:
lblQuestion.visible=False(makeslblQuestioninvisible)
lblAnswer.ForeColor=&H000000FF&(changestheforegroundcolorofthelabeltored.&Hhexadecimalnumber(base160123456
789ABCDEF).Tofigurethisnumberout,manuallychangethepropertyandcarefullyrecordthenumber.Thehexadecimalcode
numbersarebuiltbasedonsomuchRedGreenandBlue)

Methods
Methodsareactionsthatanobjectispreprogrammedtoperform,suchasmove,hide,showitself,etc.
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TheHidemethod,isanexampleofamethodthatdoesnothavearguments.ThefollowingcodemakestheformfrmGamedisappearfrom
view:
e.g.frmGame.Hide
Incontrast,theFindStringmethod,whichfindsastringinaListBoxrequiresthedesiredstringtobefound.Thefollowingcodereturnsthe
locationintheListBoxoftheword'school':
e.g.location=lstBuildings.FindString("school")

Events
Eventsareactionstheusercanperfom,whichobjectscanbeprogrammedtorespondto,suchasclick,doubleclick,keypressetc.Aneventis
anactionrecognizedbyanobject.Clickingamouseorpressingakeyareexamplesofevents.
Someeventsinclude:
ActivateDragOverLoad
ChangeGotFocusLostFocus
ClickKeyDownMouseDown
DblClickKeyPressMouseMove
DragDropKeyUpMouseUp
Eachobjecthasitsownsetofeventsthatitrecognizes.Theeventslisteddonotapplytoallobjects.Forexample,aformcanrecognizeeithera
ClickorDblClickeventwhileabuttononlyrecognizesaClickevent.

AddingCodetoaVBProgram
EveryVBobjectmayhavecode(programs)attachedtoit.Whentheuserclicksontheobject,VBwillexecutethisprogram.Doubleclickonan
objectontheformatdesigntimetobringupitscodewindowwhichlookslike:
PrivateSubobjectname_Click()
EndSub
YourcommandsgoinbetweenPrivateSubandEndSub.Commandsarethelinesofcodeyoutypeinordertogettheprogramtoperformas
youdesire.
NevereraseorchangePrivateSubandEndSub.
Alwaysrenameyourobjectsbeforecodingthemorthecodewillnotbeexecutedforthecorrectobjects
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Somesamplelinesofcodeinclude:
closeterminatetheexecutionoftheprogram
frmQ2.showshowfrmQ2onthescreen(movetonewquestioninQuizprogram)
txtName.Text="Hello,World!"changethetextitselftoHello,World!

AutoListMembersFeature:
Whenthenameofacontrolorobjectisentered,theAutoListMembersfeaturepresentsadropdownlistofavailablemembers(suchas
propertiesandmethods).

Whenyoutypeinthefirstfewlettersofthepropertyname,thenameisselectedinthelist.PressingtheTABkeyentersthepropertyinthecode
window.Inadditiontoacceleratingyourtyping,thisoptionishelpfulwhenyouaren'tsurewhichpropertiesareavailableforagivencontrol.

TheAutoQuickInfoFeature:
TheAutoQuickInfofeaturedisplaysthesyntaxforstatementsandfunctions.WhenyouenterthenameofavalidVisualBasicstatementor
function,thesyntaxisshownimmediatelybelowthecurrentlinewiththefirstargumentinbold,asshowninthefollowingillustration.Afteryou
enterthefirstargumentvalue,thesecondargumentappearsinbold.

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Intheexampleabove,noticethe'1of12'toindicatethereare12differentpossiblesetsofparametersthatareacceptable.

OutputtingData
Informationcanbedisplayedtotheuserinatextbox.InyourcodeyouassignyouroutputtotheTEXTpropertyofthetextboxobject.
Ifyoudonotwanttheusertochangethecontentsoftheoutput,thentheReadOnlypropertyofthetextboxcanbesettotrue.
Ifyouyouroutputwillbemorethanonelinelong,thensettheMULTILINEpropertyofthetextboxobjecttotrue.
Ifyouroutputwillbemanylineslongandyourtextboxobjectistooshorttodisplayallthelinesofoutput,youcanaddascrollbartothe
textboxobject,settheSCROLLBARpropertytovertical.
Tojointogethermanystringsintooneoutputline,usethestringconcatenationoperator(&or+).
Toassignnonstringstothetextboxtextproperty,usetheconverttostringbuiltinfunctionToString.
Tostartanewline,usethevbNewLineconstant.(ortheSystem.Environment.NewLineconstant)
Toleftalignastringandallowforpaddingontherightsideofthestring,withanexactnumberofoutputplaces,usethepadRight(n)function
with'n'toindicatetheroomtheoutputshouldtake,suchas"Tigers".padRight(20)
Toformatanumberwithanexactnumberofoutputplacesandalignright,usethepadLeft(n)commandontheconvertedtostringvalue,
suchas50.ToString.padLeft(20)

Examples:
txtOutput.text="hellothere"
txtOutput.text="hello"+"there"
txtOutput.text="hello"+name
txtOutput.text="hello"+name+vbNewLine+"goodbyenow"

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txtOutput.text="hello"+name+vbNewLine
txtOutput.text=txtOutput.text+"goodbyenow"
txtOutput.text="myageis"+16.ToString
txtOutput.text=name.padRight(15)

InternalDocumentation:
Internaldocumentation,alsocalledcomments,areEnglishstatementsaddedtoyourprogramcodethatexplainsyourprogramtootherpeople,
whichthecomputerdoesnotprocess.Addingcommentstocodemakesiteasierforsomeoneelsetodeterminewhatthecodedoes.Italsohelps
youtounderstandthecodeatsomelaterdate.
InVisualBasictherearetwomethodsforaddingcommentstocode.VisualBasicignoresanythingfollowingasinglequote(')orREM,so
commentscanbeplacedontheirownlineorattheendofalineofcode.
Youmustaddthefollowingcommentstoyourprograminthe'General'section:
1.questionnumber
2.name
3.date
4.purposeoftheproject.
Example:
'assignment:4
'programmer:FrankFurter
'date:Feb.21,2000
'purpose:Aprogramthatcalculatesprofitforacompanybyreadingfromafilethe
'revenueandexpensesofagiven'file.

Atthetopofeachsub/endsub,youmustincludecommentstoexplainthecode.Donotplaceacommentaboveeachlineofcode.
Tocommentasectionofyourprogram,whenyouaretestingaprogramanddon'twantsomeoftheprogramtorun,selectthelinesoftextor
codetobecommentedandclickCommentBlockiconontheTextEdittoolbar.

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ToaccesstheTextEdittoolbar,clickonView,thenToolbarsandthenTextEdit.

DataTypes
Thecomputerstoresalldata(anumber,aname)asapatternof0'sand1's.Eachsingleletterisadifferentpatternof160'sand1's.Thesame
patternmaymeantheletter'a'orthenumber97.Thecomputerknowshowtointerpretthepatterns,becausetheprogrammergiveseachpattern
adatatype.Adatatypeisaninstructionthattellsthecomputerhowtointerpretapatternof0'sand1's.
VisualBasichasthefollowingdatatypes:
Variabletype

Purpose

AlternateName

Size

Boolean
Byte
Char
Decimal

1character

2bytes
1byte
2bytes
16bytes

Double

numberwithdecimalportion

8bytes

Integer
Long
Short
Single

numberwithoutdecimalportion
numberwithoutdecimalportion
numberwithoutdecimalportion
numberwithdecimalportion

Int32
Int64
Int16

4bytes
8bytes
2bytes
4bytes

String

Dependson
implementingplatform

Valuerange
TrueorFalse.
0through255(unsigned).
0through65535(unsigned).
0through+/79,228,162,514,264,337,593,543,950,335withnodecimal
point
0through+/7.9228162514264337593543950335with28placestothe
rightofthedecimalsmallestnonzeronumberis
+/0.0000000000000000000000000001(+/1E28).
1.79769313486231570E+308through
4.94065645841246544E324fornegativevalues
4.94065645841246544E324through1.79769313486231570E+308for
positivevalues.
2,147,483,648through2,147,483,647.
9,223,372,036,854,775,808through9,223,372,036,854,775,807.
32,768through32,767.
3.4028235E+38through1.401298E45fornegativevalues1.401298E
45through3.4028235E+38forpositivevalues.
0toapproximately2billionUnicodecharacters.

Variables:
Avariableincomputerprogrammingislocationinthecomputer'smemorythatwillstoreasinglevalue,towhichyougiveanameanddatatype.
Youcanthinkofavariableasastorageboxwithanameforholdingcertaintypesofthings:

Thisisthevariablewhosenameisageandthenumbervalue16isstoredinthebox.
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Whatisstoredinthismemorylocationcanchangeitcanvary.
Youmustnameyourvariablessothatyourprogramcanrememberwhereyoustoredtheinformationandyoumustgiveadatatypesothe
computerknowshowtointerpretwhatisstored.Inamachine'slanguagethesememorylocationsarenumberedwhichcanbeveryconfusingfor
theprogrammer.InahighlevellanguagelikeVisualBasic,goodprogrammersgivemeaningfulnamestotheirvariables,suchas'age'tostorean
age,'name'tostoreaname,'address'tostoreanaddress.Indoingthis,programsbecomeeasiertofollow.Variableslikexandbcanbeused
butitbecomesmoredifficulttoknowwhatisstoredinthemandusingmeaninglessnamesispoorprogrammingstyleandshouldbeavoided
whereverpossible.

NamingConventionsforVariables
VisualBasicinsiststhatthenameofavariablemustbeginwithaletterfollowedbyletters,numbersortheunderscore.Youcannotputany
specialcharacterssuchasspaces,hyphens,periodsetc.inthevariablename.Youmustalsoavoidusingreservedwordsorcommandnames
likeprint,tab,var,etcThesewordsarepartoftheVisualBasiclanguageandusingthemwouldconfusetheprocessor.

DeclaringVariables
Itisgoodprogrammingpracticetodeclareallvariablesbeforetheycanbeusedinaprogram.Wedeclareavariabletoinstructtheprocessorto
setasidealocationinmemoryforouruse,toassignanametothememorylocationandtoinformtheprocessorwhattypeofdatawewishto
storethere.AprogrammerinVBusesthekeyworddimtodeclareavariable.Thereareseveraldifferenttypesofdatainteger,Double,string
andboolean.Stringdataconsistsofanyalphanumericcharacters,suchasnames,addresses,phonenumbers.Numberscanbestoredasstring
dataifyoudonotwishthecarryoutmathematicaloperationsonthem.
Herearesomedeclarationstatementsandwhattheydo:
dimageasinteger
Thisstatementwillsetupamemorylocationcalledagetostoreaninteger(apositiveornegativenumberwithoutdecimals).Inmost
computersanintegeronlyrequires2bytesofmemory.

dimanswerasDouble
Thisstatementwillsetupamemorylocationcalledanswer,tostorerealvalues(positiveornegativenumbersthatcontainadecimal
portion).Thecommonnumberofbytesusedisfour.

dimflagasboolean
Thistypeofvariablecanonlyhavetwovaluestrueorfalse.Abooleanvariablecouldberepresentedbyonebit.

dimnameasstring
Thisstatementwillsetupamemorylocationcalledname,tostorestringdatadataconsistingofalphanumericcharacters.Eachlocation
willhaveenoughspacesetasideforupto256charactersofstring.(eachcharacterisonebyteofinformation)
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Youcanrequirethatallvariablesbedeclaredbeforetheyareused.YoudothatbyplacingtheOptionExplicitONstatementintheGeneral
Declarationssectionofthemodule.ThisensuresthatmisspelledvariablenamesdonotgetautomaticallydeclaredbyVBwhichcancause
programerrorsthataredifficulttofind.

AssigningValues
Valuescanbeassignedtoavariableusingthe=sign.Thevariablenamealwaysappearsontheleftofthe=sign.Whateverisontherightis
evaluatedandthenstoredinthevariable.Therightsidemaybealiteral(suchas"Devoy"),anumericvalue(suchas18),anobjectproperty
(suchastxtName.text)oranexpression(suchas3+1),oranothervariable.

ArithmeticOperators
Parenthesesshouldbeusedwhennecessarytoclarifythemeaningofanexpression.Whennoparenthesesareused,normalBEDMASrules
apply.VBhasdesignatedcertainsymbolstorepresentcertainmathematicaloperators.Seetablebelowfordetails:
Operator
Addition

Symbol

Code

Output

3+4

Subtraction

74

Multiplication

4*7

28

Division

25/5

IntegerDivision

7\2

3roundstothelowest
integer.

Math.pow(4,2)

(foursquared)16

(80+90+100)/3

90

4E01

0.4

5.6E02

560

Exponent

Math.pow()

Parentheses

()

ScientificNotation

Constants
Aconstantisameaningfulnamethattakestheplaceofanumberorstringthatdoesnotchange.Althoughaconstantsomewhatresemblesa
variable,youcan'tmodifyaconstantorassignanewvaluetoitasyoucantoavariable.VBhasmanypredefinedconstants,theseallstartwith
vb___.UserdefinedconstantsaredeclaredusingtheConststatement,inamannersimilartodeclaringvariables.Forexample:
constPIasDouble=3.141592
constTAX_RATEasDouble=0.08
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Constantsareusedtomakeyourprogrammorereadable,sinceanamesuchasTAX_RATEprovidesmoremeaningthananumbersuchas
0.08.Theyarealsousedwhenavalueappearsmanytimesthroughoutyourprogramachangetothevalueoftheconstantmustonlybemade
inthedeclare,notthemanyplacesinyourprogramwheretheconstantisuse.
Tomakeothersawarethatanameisaconstant,itisgoodprogrammingpracticetomakethenameallcapitals,withindividualwordsseparated
byanunderscore.

InputtingData
Onaform,inputformtheuserisfrequentlyacceptedinatextboxobject.TheTEXTpropertyofthetextboxobjectcontainstheuserinput.After
theuserhastypedtheirinputintoatextbox,theyoftenarerequiredtousethemousetoclickabutton.Yourcodecanthenassignthecontentsof
thetextboxobjecttoanappropriatevariable.

Examples:
dimnameasstring
name=txtName.text
dimageasinteger
age=Convert.ToInt32(txtAge.text)
dimcostasDouble
cost=Convert.ToDouble(txtCost.text)

IPOChart
Input
listalldatatheuserwillinputtomakethe
programwork
usemeaningfulnames

studentName
studentage
numberofyears

Processing
showhowtheinputdatawillbeconvertedintotheoutputdata
usetheexactsamenamesyouhaveintheinputandoutputcolumns
statetheconversionsasequations,asyouwouldinMathclass,withtheoutputontheleftsideofthe
equalsign
futureage=studentage+numberofyears

Output
listalldatatheprogramwilloutput
usemeaningfulnames

futureage

Selection

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Inyourcomputerprogram,youcaninstructthecomputertomakeadecisionandthenbasedonthedecision,selecttorunapartofyourprogram
ornotrunapartofyourprogram.TheVisualBasiccommandformakingthisselectionisthe'if'command.

Generalformatis:
if<condition>then
codetorunonlywhentheconditionisTRUE
endif

Or:
if<condition>then
codetorunonlywhentheconditionisTRUE
else
codetorunonlywhentheconditionisFALSE
endif
Youreplacethe<condition>withsometestthatcanbetrueorfalse,suchasgrade=11
Note:the'elseclause'isnotrequiredwhennoactionistobeperformedwhentheconditionisfalse.

3wayorMoreDecisions
if<condition1>then
codetorunonlywhencondition1isTRUE
elseif<condition2>then
codetorunonlywhencondition1isFALSEandcondition2isTRUE
elseif<condition3>then
codetorunonlywhencondition1isFALSEandcondition2isFALSEandcondition3isTRUE
else
codetorunonlywhenallconditionsareFALSE
endif

RelationalOperators
=equalto
<lessthan
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>greaterthan
<=lessthanorequalto
>=greaterthanorequalto
<>notequalto
Note:twostringsmaybecompared,orastringmaybecomparedtoaliteral.Inthiscase,thevaluesarecomparedletterbyletter,asyouwould
listwordsinadictionary.However,capitalletterscomebeforelowercaseletters(eg."A"islessthan"a").Tocomparestringswithouttheconcern
forupperandlowercase,youmaywanttoconvertthestringstoallcapitalsorlowerletterspriortodoingthecompare(seeUCaseandLCase
below).

Examples:
ifuserschoice=6then
(somecodegoeshere)
endif
ifage>13then
(somecodegoeshere)
(anotherlineofcodegoeshere)
endif
ifage>=13then
(somecodegoeshere)
else
(someothercodegoeshere)
endif
iftown="Winchester"then
(somecodegoeshere)
elseiftown="Cambridge"
(someothercodegoeshere)
elseiftown="Kitchener"
(someothercodegoeshere)
else
(someothercodegoeshere)
endif

Notethattheelseclausemaybeomitted,whennotneeded.
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CodingConventions
Thecodewithineachsubsectionoftheselection(IF)structueisindentedoneTAB,forclarity.Remembertoalwaysindentyourprogramsfor
easierreadibility.

CompoundSelectionStatements
Attimeswehaveamorecomplexconditionthanjustonesimpletesttodeterminewhetheraportionoftheprogramshouldbeexecutedornot.In
thiscasewemustconnecttogethermultipletestsusingtheBooleanoperators.

Logical(Boolean)Operators
ABooleanexpressioncanbeformedusingthelogicaloperatorsAND,ORandNOT.Alogicalexpressionjoinstwoexpressionsandcreatesan
expressionthatevaluatestoeithertrueorfalse.WhenANDisusedbothexpressionsmustevaluatetotruefortheentireconditiontobeconsider
true.IfORisused,eitheroneoftheexpressionsorbothexpressionsmustevaluatetotruefortheentireconditiontobeconsideredtrue.
Ifcondition1ANDcondition2Then
Statements
Endif
Ifcondition1ORcondition2Then
Statements
Endif
IfNOTcondition1Then
Statements
Endif

OperatorHierarchy
Theuseofparentheseswithlogicaloperatorsimprovesreadability:however,theycanbeomittedsometimes.
VisualBasichasaoperatorhierarchyfordecidinghowtoevaluateexpressionswithoutparentheseswhichis:
1.allarithmeticoperationsarecarriedout
2.thenallexpressionsinvolving>,<and=areevaluatedtotrueorfalse
3.thenlogicaloperatorsarenextapplied,intheorder:
1.BRACKETS
2.NOT
3.AND
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4.OR

Examples:
ifage<18ORgrade=12ANDweight>100+10then
(somecodegoeshere)
endif
if(heightA<heightB10ORweight<110)ANDgrade>9then
(somecodegoeshere)
endif

IPOChartsSelection
WhencreatingIPOchartsthatmakeuseofselection,clearlyshowthedecisionthecomputerwillmake.Indentanyinstructionsthatwillbe
executedbasedonthedecision.Itisnotnecessarytowritethe'endif'command.
Input

Processing

Output

age
grade
weight

ifage<18orgrade=12andweight>100+10then

sportsteameligible

sportteameligible=true
else
sportsteameligible=false

ForNextLoops:
Aloopisusedtorepeatasequenceofstatementsanumberoftimes.Whenweknowhowmanytimesaloopshouldbeexecuted,aspecialtype
ofloop,calledaForNextloopcanbeused.TheForNextloopdesignatesanumericvalue,calledthecontrolvariable,thtisinitializedand
thenautomaticallychangesaftereachexecutionoftheloop.
TheFor..Nextlooptakesonthefollowingform:
ForI=mton
Statement(s)
NextI
I=controlvariable
M=initialvalue
N=terminatingvalue
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Example1:AProgramthatdisplaysthefirstfivenumbersandtheirsquares.
DimxAsInteger
Forx=1To5
txtOutput.text=x.ToString+Math.pow(x,2).ToString.padLeft(8)
Nextx

Intheaboveexample,thecontrolvariablewasincreasedby1aftereachpassthroughtheloop.AvariationoftheForstatementallowsany
numbertobeusedastheincrement.Thestatement
For1=mtonstepx
Instructsthenextstatementtoadd'x'tothecontrolvariableinsteadof1.Thenumberxiscalledthestepvalueoftheloop.
Example2:aprogramthatthatuses0asanintialnumberandrequestsanendingnumberandastepvalueasinputfromtheuserandthen
displaysthenumberswithinthatrange.
dimxAsInteger
dimendsAsInteger
dimincrementsAsInteger
ends=Convert.ToInt32(txtEnds.Text)
increments=Convert.ToInt32(txtSteps.Text)
Forx=0ToendsStepincrements
txtOutput.text=txtOutput.text+x.ToString+vbNewLine
Nextx

NestedLoops
ThestatementsinsideaForNextlooporaDoLoopcanconsistofanotherForNextloop.Suchaconfigurationisknownasanestedloopand
isusefulinrepeatingasingledataprocessingroutineseveraltimes.
Example3:Aprogramthatprintsamultiplicationgrid3X3
dimjAsInteger
dimkAsInteger
txtOutput.text=""
Forj=1To3

Fork=1To3

txtOutput.text=txtOutput.text+j.ToString+"X"+k.ToString+"="+(j*k).ToString+Space(8)

Nextk

txtOutput.text=txtOutput.text+vbNewLine
Nextj
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IPOChartsForLoops
WhencreatingIPOchartsthatmakeuseofa'for'loop,clearlyshowhowmanytimestheloopwillrepeat.Indentanyinstructionsthatwillbe
repeated.Itisnotnecessarytowritethe'next'command.
Input

Processing

Output

amountdeposited
interestrate
numberofyears

finalamount=amountdeposited
forthenumberofyears
finalamount=finalamount+finalamount*interestrate

finalamount

DoLoops
ADOLOOPrepeatsasequenceofstatementseitherWhileorUntilacertainconditionistrue.ADOstatementprecedesthesequenceof
statementsandaLoopstatementfollowsthesequenceofstatements.Thecondition,alongwitheitherthewordWhileorUntil,followstheword
Do.
TheformatfortheDOLOOPisasfollows:
DoWhilecondition
Statements
Loop
Example4:Writeaprogramthatdisplaysthenumbers1to10usingaDoWhile
DimnumAsInteger
num=1
txtOutput.text=""
DoWhilenum<=10

txtOutput.text=txtOutput.text+num.ToString+vbNewLine

num=num+1
Loop

Example5:Writeaprogramthatdisplaysthenumbersto10usingaDoUntil
DimnumAsInteger

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num=1
txtOutput.text=""
DoUntilnum>10

txtOutput.text=txtOutput.text+num.ToString+vbNewLine

num=num+1
Loop

Example6:Writeaprogramthatprintsamessageoncethecorrectpasswordisentered.
DimpasswordAsString
txtOutput.text=""
DoWhilepassword<>"HOOAH"

password=InputBox("Pleaseenteryourpassword")

password=UCase(password)
Loop
txtOutput.text="Congratulations,you'veenteredmyserverspace."

FileInputandOutput
Todate,ourdatahasbeenputintomemoryusingassignmentstatementscreatedbytheprogrammer
(e.g.name="FrankFurter",num=5)
orwehaveassignedthecontentsofanobjecttoavariable
(e.g.name=txtName.text,num=Convert.toInt32(txtNumber))
Thesemethodsaresufficientforsmallscaleapplicationsbutwithlargevolumesofdataandmostrealworldapplicationsweneedabetter,more
versatileandaccessiblewayofstoringdata.Theharddiskorfloppydiskoffersthesolution.Datafilesstoredondiskcanbeaccessedbyseveral
programsfordifferentpurposes.

Whyuseadisk?
Nonprogrammerscanuseaprogramandmodifythedataondiskwithoutknowinghowtoprogram,suchasastudenttypinganessayinMS
Word.Dataonadiskmaybeaccessedandmodifiedmanytimes,suchaschangestoanessay.Dataonadiskmaybeusedbymanydifferent
programs,suchasanessaycreatedinMSWordusedforinputtoaMSPublisherdocument.
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TypesofDiskFileAccess
Yourprogramscanaccessfilesin2ways
1.sequentially
2.randomly
Asequentialfileaccessesinformationonerecordatatime,inthesameordertherecordswerewritten,thisislikeacassettetape,whereyou
mustpassbythefirst3songstogetthethefourthsong.
Arandomaccessfilecanbeaccessedinanyorderyouwant.ThisislikesongsonaCDwhereyoucanjumptoanysongyouwant,inanyorder.

ProcessingaDataFile
Thefollowing3tasksmustbecarriedoutwhenaccessingadatafile:
1)Openthedatafile
2)Processtherecords,asrequiredbytheprogram(eitherreadorwrite)
3)Closethefile
Example#1:Writeaprogramthatusesafileforinputanddisplayswhatisread.Theformshouldconsistofacommandbuttonandatextbox.Use
Windows'Notepadtocreatethefiledata.txtcontainingthefollowingline.
Data.txt
4,HighStreet
Example:Programmerassignsvalues
PrivateSubcmdDisplay_Click()
dimschoolNumberasinteger

dimstreetasstring

txtOutput.text=""
schoolNumber=4
street="HighStreet"
txtOutput.text="Mr.Devoy'shouseislocatedon"+schoolnumber.ToString+street
EndSub

Example:Userstoresvaluesonhard/floppydiskanddataisreadfromthefile
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PrivateSubcmdDisplay_Click()

dimschoolNumberasinteger
dimStreetasstring
txtOutput.text=""
FileOpen(1,"data.txt",OpenMode.Input)
input(1,schoolNumber)
input(1,Street)
txtOutput.text="Mr.Devoy'shouseislocatedon"+schoolnumber.ToString+street
FileClose(1)

EndSub

FileOpenNotes:
TheopenstatementtakestheformFileOpen(filenumber,"Filename",mode)
ThefilenameisthenameoffileyoucreatedinNotepad.
Yourfilemustbestoredinthesamefolderasyourexecutableprogramfile(thatisthe'bin'folder)
ThemodeiseitherOpenMode.Input,OpenMode.OutputorOpenMode.Append.
Themodehasthefollowingaffect:
inputlooksforanexistingfileandplacesyouatthebeginningofthefileforreading
outputcreatesanemptyfileifitdoesn'talreadyexist,oreraseseverythinginanexistingfileandplacesyouatthebeginningready
towritedata
appendlooksforanexistingfileandplacesyouattheend,readytowritedata.
Thefilenumberisanintegerthatlinksthefiletoanumberfrom1to255usedthroughouttheprogram,andisanynumberyouchoose.

FileInputNotes
TheinputstatementtakestheformINPUT(filenumber,variablename)
VBusesthekeyword'input'toreaddatafromafile
thefilenumbermustbethesameasusedontheopencommand
thevariablenamemustbeavariablepreviouslydeclaredandthedatainthefilewillbeplacedintothisvariable
Eachinputcommandmovesfurtherthroughthefile.

FileOutputNotes
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TheoutputstatementtakestheformWriteLine(filenumber,variablename,variablename,...)
VBusesthekeyword'WriteLine'tooutputdatatoafile
thefilenumbermustbethesameasusedontheopencommand
thevariablenamemustbeavariablepreviouslydeclaredandthedatainthevariablewillbeplacedintothefile
morethanonevariablemaybeononeWriteLinestatement
EachWriteLinecommandmovesfurtherthroughthefile.

MakingDataFiles
WhencreatingadatafileusingNotepad,theformatisimportantifthedataistobereadinproperly:
Insertcommasbetweeneachdataentry
Nocommaisrequiredafterthelastdataentryonaline.Thiscommaisenteredautomatically.
Encloseastringwithquotationmarksifitcontainscommasorspacesaspartofthestring.
Sinceweareworkingwithsequentialfiles,thefilemustbereadthesamewayinwhichitwascreated.Forexample,ifthefilecontainsfour
variables...astring,anintegerandthentwomorestrings.Toloadthedatabackin,wemustprovidefourvariablesofthesamedatatypein
thesameorder.
Saveyourfileinthe'bin'folderofyourVBassignment,sotheFileOpencommandcanfindit(otherwise,fullqualifythepathtothefile)
Oneofthemainapplicationsofprogrammingistheprocessingoflistsofdata.ADoloopisusedtodisplayallorselecteditemsfromlists,search
listsforspecificitems,andperformcalculationsonthenumericalentriesofalist.
Example:Userstoresvaluesonhard/floppydiskandalldataisreadfromthefileanddisplayed.
Createafilenameddata.txtwith5namesoffriend(remembertoencloseeachnameinquotes)
PrivateSubcmdDisplay_Click()

dimcountasinteger
dimnameasstring

txtOutput.text=""
FileOpen(1,"data.txt",OpenMode.Input)

forcount=1to5
input(1,name)
txtOutput.text=txtOutput.text+name+vbNewLine

nextcount

FileClose(1)
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EndSub

EOFFunction
Oftentheamountofdatainafilemayvary,unliketheexampleabovethathad5names.Insteadofacountedloop(for)thedatainafiletobe
processedareoftenretrievedbyaDoloop.VisualBasichasausefulfunctioncalled,EOF,thattellsusifwehavereachedtheendofthefilefrom
whichwearereading.Ifafilehasareferencenumber"1"thenthefunctiontakesonthefollowingform:
EOF(1)
Example7:Aprogramthatdisplaysthecontentsofatelephonedirectory.Thenamesandphonenumbersarecontainedinafile.Theloopwill
repeataslongastheendoffileisnotreached.
dimnamesAsString
dimphoneAsString

FileOpen(1,"ex4.txt",OpenMode.Input)
DoWhileNotEOF(1)
Input(1,names)
Input(1,phone)
txtOutput.text=txtOutput.text+names+Space(5)+phone+vbNewLine
Loop

FileClose(1)

Example8:Aprogramthatwillsearchthetelephonedirectoryinthepreviousquestionforanamespecifiedbytheuser.Ifthenamedoesnot
appearinthedirectory,amessageofnotificationwillappear.
dimnamesAsString
dimphoneAsString

names=""
FileOpen(1,"ex4.txt",OpenMode.Input)

DoUntilEOF(1)Ornames=txtName.Text
Input(1,names)
Input(1,phone)
Loop

Ifnames=txtName.TextThen
txtOutput.text=names+Space(5)+phone
Else
txtOutput.text="Namenotfound"
EndIf
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FileClose(1)

CountersandAccumulators
Acounterisavariablethatisusedtocalculatethenumberofelementsinlists.
Anaccumulatorisavariablethatisusedtosumnumericalvaluesinlists.
Example9:Aprogramthatcountsandfindsthevalueofcoinslistedinafile.
dimnumCoinsAsInteger
dimsumAsDouble
dimvalueAsDouble

sum=0
numCoins=0

FileOpen(1,"ex6.txt",OpenMode.Input)

DoWhileNotEOF(1)
Input(1,value)
numCoins=numCoins+1
sum=sum+value
Loop

txtOutput.text="Thevalueofthe"+numCoins.ToString+"coinsis"+sum.ToString

Inthisexample,numCoinsisthecounterbecausewitheachiterationoftheloop,weaddonetoitsvalue,thusintheend,wehave
countedhowmanycoinstherewereinthefile.
Inthisexample,sumistheaccumulatorbecausewitheachiterationoftheloop,weaddthevalueofthecoin,thusintheend,wehave
addeduphowmuchallthecoinsareworth.
Notethepatternofthecountandaccumulationstatements:thecountandaccumulatorvariableappearsonboththerightandleftside
oftheequalssign!
Also,itisimportanttostartthecountandaccumulatorvariablesoutatsomevaluebeforewestarttheloop(inthiscase0),thisis
calledinitializingthevariables.

TerminatingaForm
Toterminateaformwhichexitstheprogramwhenthereisonlyoneformusethecommand:
me.close()
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'me'referstotheformitselfandcloseisamethodoftheformthatwillasktheformtoterminate.

Debugging

ComputerProgrammingErrors
Preparingacomputerprogramtosolveaproblemrequiresyoutobesystematicandprecise.Whatismore,aprogramthatislessthancorrectis
nouseatall.Youmustredefineituntilitisperfect.Whenyoufirstprepareaprogramitmightproducecrazyanswers.Youmustcorrectthe
programerrorsorbugsuntilitgivescorrectresultsonthetestdatathatyoufeedit.Youmustgiveitawideenoughrangeoftestdatatoensureit
alwaysgivescorrectresults.
Therearethreetypesoferrors:
1.syntaxerrors
2.runtimeerrors
3.logicerrors
Asyntaxerrorisonethatviolatesthegrammaticalrulesorsyntaxrulesoftheprogramminglanguage.Asyntaxerrorwillresultinanerror
messageyouaretypingyourprogram,andsoiseasytofindandfix.
Aruntimeerrorisanerrorthatoccurswhentheprogrammingisrunningandsomeinstructionisimpossibleforthecomputertoperform,suchas
divisionbyzero.TheprogramisstoppedandyouaregivenamessageboxthatasksifyouwanttoENDorDEBUG.IfyouselectDEBUG,then
VBhighlightsthelineofcodewiththeerror.
Ontheotherhand,withalogicerrortheprogramcorrectlyrunsbutperformsthewrongtask.Theseerrorscanonlybefoundbyexaminingthe
resultsandrunningtheprogramwithavarietyoftestdata.Thecorrectingofprogramerrorsiscalleddebugging.

Settingabreakpoint
Settingabreakpointallowsyoutostoptheprogramsexecutionatthelineofcodewherethebreakpointisadded.Tosetabreakpoint,clickthe
MarginIndicatorbarnexttothelineofcode.Wheninbreakmode,youcanmovethemouseoveranyvariablenameandtheToolTipboxwill
appeargivingthevalueofthevariable.Onceinbreakmode,youcanclickonthestepinto,stepoutorstepoverbuttonsonthedebugtoolbarto
executetheprogram.Tostepintoaproceduremeanstorunitonelineattime.Tostepoveraproceduremeanstorunitasaunit.Tostepoutofa
proceduremeanstorununtilitcompletesthecurrentprocedureandreturnstothecallingprocedure.Therearefunctionkeyequivalentstothe
'stepinto''stepover'andstepoutof'buttons.

Addingthedebugtoolbar
Rightclickanywhereonthecodeandclickondebug.AsecondmethodistoclickonView,ToolbarsandDebug.
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ImmediateWindow(wheninBreakmode)
Wheneveryouareinbreakmode,youcanprintthevalueofanyvariableintheimmediatewindow.SimplytypeprintvariableNameandpress
enterintheimmediatewindow.Iftheimmediatewindowisnotvisible,simplyclickViewandImmediateWindow.Forexample,toprintthevalueof
thevariableintLoanPaymentsimplytypeprintintLoanPaymentor?intLoanPayment.Whenyoupressenter,thevalueofthevariablewillbe
displayed.Theprogrammustberunningandinbreakmodefortheimmediatewindowtofunction.

FormatFunctions
Inthefollowingtablenrepresentsanumberornumericvariable.dateStringrepresentsadateinaformsuchasmonth/day/year.
Function

Purpose

Format(n,"Standard")

convertsnumberstostringrepresentationshavingtwodecimalplacesand
commaseverythreedigitstotheleftofthedecimalpoint

Format(n,"Currency")

convertsnumberstostringrepresentationswithaleadingdollarsign,two
decimalplaces,commaseverythreedigitstotheleftofthedecimalpoint,
andenclosesnegativenumbersinparentheses

Format(n,"#,0")

Examples
Format(1/6,"Standard")

OutputValue
0.17

Format(12345,"Standard")

12,345.00

Format(2000,"Currency")

$2000.00

Format(0.2,"Currency")

($0.20)

convertsnumberstostringrepresentationsandroundsnumberstowhole
numbersandplacescommaseverythreedigitstotheleftofthedecimal
point

Format(10002.8,"#,0")

10,003

Format(n,"###,###,##0.00)

convertsnumberstostringrepresentationsandroundsnumberstotwo
decimalplacesandplacescommaseverythreedigitstotheleftofthe
decimalpoint,takingaminimumspaceof14places(#willbeblankifno
digit,0showsadigitalways)

Format(32.7,"###,##0.00)

Format(n,"Percent")

convertsnumberstostringrepresentationsofthenumbersinpercentwith
twodecimalplacesandatrailingpercentsign

Format(0.281,"Percent")

Format(n,"Scientific")

convertsnumberstostringrepresentationsofnumbersinscientificnotation Format(0.018,"Scientific")
withdecimalplaces
Format(1018,"Scientific")

Format(dateString,
"LongDate")

returnsaformattedversionofthedate

32.70(where
representblanks)

28.10%

1.80E02
"1.02E+03"

Format("3/17/00","LongDate")
"Friday,March17,
2000"

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MathFunctions
Function

Purpose

Sqrt(n)

calculatesthesquarerootofthenumbern

pow(x,y)

calculatesxraisedtothepowerofy

Int(n)

returnsthenumber,withthefractionalportiontruncated

nModm

returnsthewholenumberremainderwhennisdividedbym

Round(n,d)

returnsnroundedtoddecimalplaces

Examples

Output
Value

Math.Sqrt(16)

Math.Sqtr(2)

1.414214

Math.pow(2,3)

Int(16.01)

16

Int(16.967)

16

Int(16.11)

16

15Mod4

8Mod3

Math.Round(7.666,
1)

7.7

RandomNumbers
PseudorandomnumberscanbegeneratedbythecomputerwiththeuseoftheRandomclass.Todeclarearandomnumbergenerator:
dimrandgenasRandom

Tocreateanobjectoftherandomgenerator:
randgen=NewRandom
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Togeneratearandomintegerbetween1and6(including1butexcluding6)
dimnumberasInteger
number=randgen.Next(1,6)

Togeneratearandomdecimalvaluebetween0.0and1.0(including0.0butexcluding1.0)
dimnumberasdouble
number=randgen.NextDouble()

StringFunctions
Inthefollowingtablenandmrepresentnumbersornumericvariables,strrepresentsastringorstringvariable.
Function

Purpose

Examples
dimfirstasstring
simlastasstring
dimfullNameasstring

String.concat(str1,str2)

concatentationjoinstogethertwostrings

first="sam"
last="jones"
fullName=String.concat(first,last)

dimfirstasstring
simlastasstring
dimfullNameasstring

+(or&)

concatentationgluetogether2stringstocreatealongerstring

str.substring(m,n)

returnsastringconsistingofncharactersofstrstartingwiththem'th
character
Iftheparameternisomitted,str.substring(m)isallthecharactersfromthe
m'thcharacteron.
Note:thefirstcharacterisinposition0

str.Remove(m,n)

removesncharacters,startingatpositionm

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OutputValue
samjones

samjones

first="sam"
last="jones"
fullName=first+last

dimnameasstring
dimanswerasstring
name="Mr.Devoy"
answer=name.substring(2,5)

".Dev"
"voy"

answer=name.substring(6)
dimnameasstring
dimanswerasstring
name="Mr.Devoy"
answer=name.remove(0,5)

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VisualBasicNotes
insertsstr2inthemiddleofstr,startingatpositionn

dimnameasstring
dimanswerasstring

Mr.MikeDevoy

name="Mr.Devoy"
answer=name.insert(3,"Mike")
dimnameasstring
dimanswerasstring
str.ToUpper()

changesalllowercaseletterstouppercase

name="Mr.Devoy"

"MR.DEVOY"

answer=name.ToUpper()
dimnameasstring
dimanswerasstring
str.ToLower()

changesalluppercaseletterstolowercase

name="Mr.Devoy"

"mr.devoy"

answer=name.ToLower()
dimnameasstring
dimanswerasstring
str.Trim()

removesallthespacesfromthebeginningandendofstr

name="Mr.Devoy"

"Mr.Devoy"

answer=name.Trim()
dimnumasinteger
dimanswerasstring
num.ToString()

convertsnumberstostrings

num=8

"8"

answer=num.ToString()
dimnameasstring
dimanswerasstring
str.Replace(find,replace)

returnsanewstringwithalloccurencesoffindchangedtoreplace

name="Mr.Devoy"

"Mr.Divoy"

answer=name.replace("e","i")
str.equals(str2)

returnstrueifstr2containsthesamecharactersasstr,falseotherwise

dimnameasstring
name="Doyle"

true

ifname.equals("Doyle")
dimname1asstring
dimename2asstring
String.compare(str1,str2)

returns0ifthecharactersinthetwostringsarethesame,anegativevalue
ifthecharactersinstr1arealphabeticallybeforestr2,otherwiseapostive
number

name1="Doyle"
name2="Mustang"

wouldbetruesinceDoyleis
alphabeticallybefore
Mustang

ifString.compare(name1,name2)<0

String.compare(str1,str2,case
insensitive)

ifcaseinsensitiveistrue,thencomparesasabovebutignoresupperand
lowercasedifferences.
ifcaseinsensitiveisfalse,comparesasabove

dimname1asstring
dimename2asstring
name1="Doyle"
name2="doyle"

wouldbefalse,thecompare
returnsa0sincebothstrings
arethesamewithcase
ignored

ifString.compare(name1,name2,true)<0
dimnameasstring
str.padLeft(n)

addsspacestotheleftofthestringstrtocreateatotalwidthofncharacters
name="Mike"
usedforrightaligning

"Mike"(whererepresent
ablank)

name.padLeft(10)
dimnameasstring
addsspacestotherightofthestringstrtocreateatotalwidthofn

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"Mike"(where

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str.padRight(n)

charactersusedforleftaligning

representsablank)

name="Mike"
name.padRight(10)

StringRelatedNumericFunctions
Inthefollowingtablenrepresentsanumberornumericvariable,str,str1,str2representstringsorstringvariables.
Function

Purpose

Examples

OutputValue

dimnameasstring
dimanswerasinteger
str.Length()

thenumberofcharactersinthestringstr

name="Mr.Devoy"
answer=name.Length()

Thevalueofthefunctionisthepositionofstr2instr.
str.index(str2)

Note:thefirstletterispostion0

dimwordasstring
dimanswerasinteger

word="function"
answer=word.index("o")

returnstheANSInumbercorrespondingtothefirstcharacterofstr

Asc("a")

97

returnsthesinglecharactercorrespondingtotheANSIvalueofint
(reverseofAsc)

Chr(97)

convertsavalueinastringvariabletoanIntegervariabletype

Convert.ToInt32("97")

97

convertsavalueinastringvariabletoasinglevariabletype

Convert.ToSingle("97.5")

97.5

convertsavalueinastringvariabletoadoublevariabletype

Convert.ToDouble("197.5")

197.5

astringconsistingofnspaces

"Go"&Space(3)&"Now"

"GoNow"

Asc(str)

Chr(int)

Convert.ToInt32(str)

Convert.ToSingle(str)

Convert.ToDouble(str)

Space(n)

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FormLoad
Ifyouhavecodethatyouwantexecutedautomaticallywhenaformcomesup,putthecommandsin:
FormLoadonlyexecuteswhentheformisfirstloaded.
Warning:mostoftenyoushouldplaceyourcodeinsidethebuttonclickcommand,youshouldnotnormallyneedtousetheseevents.

MessageBoxes
PopupmessageboxesarecreatedbytheMessageBox.showcommandinyourprogramming.
Examplesofmessageboxes:
Messagebox.show("Thepostalcodeisnotenteredcorrectly.")
MessageBox.Show("Youmustenteraname.","NameEntryError",buttonsConstant,iconConstant)
wherebuttonsConstantcanbeoneofmanychoicessuchas
MessageBoxButtons.OK
MessageBoxButtons.YesNoCancel
MessageBoxButtons.YesNo
MessageBoxButtons.OKCancel
MessageBoxButtons.RetryCancel
MessageBoxButtons.AbortRetryIgnore
whereiconsConstantcanbeoneofmanychoicessuchas
MessageBoxIcon.Exclamation
MessageBoxIcon.Asterisk
MessageBoxIcon.Error
MessageBoxIcon.Hand
MessageBoxIcon.Information
MessageBoxIcon.None
MessageBoxIcon.Question
MessageBoxIcon.Stop
MessageBoxIcon.Warning
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UsingtheReturnedValueofmessageboxes
userschoice=MessageBox.show("Areyousureyouwanttoquit?","Quit",MessageBoxButtons.YesNo)
Ifuserschoice=DialogResult.YesThen
me.close()
EndIf
TheMsgBoxreturnsanumericvaluedependingonwhattheuserdoesandthisnumberisstoredinthevariableuserschoice.Again,thenumeric
valueexistsinbuiltinconstants.
constant

User'sAction

DialogResult.OK

OkButton

DialogResult.Cancel

CancelButton

DialogResult.Abort

AbortButton

DialogResult.Retry

RetryButton

DialogResult.Ignore

IgnoreButton

DialogResult.Yes

YesButton

DialogResult.No

NoButton

InputBox
Usually,atextboxisusedtoobtaininputdescribedbyalabel.Sometimeswewantjustonepieceofinputandwouldrathernothaveatextbox
andlabelstayonthescreenforever.Theproblemcanbesolvedwithaninputbox,whichisaninputformautomaticallycreatedbyVBforyou.To
displayaninputBoxusethefollowingstatement.
dimresponseasstring
response=InputBox(prompt,title)

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Example:
dimlastnameAsString
lastname=InputBox("Pleaseenteryourlastname","RegistrationEntry")
iflastname=Nothingthen
MessageBox.Show("Youpressedthecancelbuttonordidn'tenteranything.")
else
MessageBox.Show("Soyou'retheonethatmadethismess!")
endif

Iftheuserpressesthecancelbutton,thenthevaluereturnedbytheInputBoxistheVBconstantNothing.

ModularCodeSubprograms
Largestructuresarebuiltfromsmallermodules(e.g.Ikeafurniture,Stereo,andcomputersystems)Allthesearemodularbecauseyoubuilda
completesystemfromasetofindividuallypurchasedcomponents.Wecanbuildcompletecomputerprogramsfrommodules.VBhastwotypes
ofmoduleswecanusetobuilduplargerprograms,theyarecalled
1.subprograms(sometimescalledprocedures)
2.functions
WhyuseModularCodewithinourprograms?
Codebecomesmoreorganizedandreadable
Codewillbecomesmaller,faster,andmoreefficientusinglesscodetodothesamething.
Allowsteamsofprogrammerstoseparateaprojectintosmaller,independentpartsthatindividualscanworkon.

Subprograms/procedures
Callstatements:
Asubprogram,asthenamesuggests,isaprogramwrittenseparatelyfromthemainprogram.Itislikeaminiprogram.Eachsubprogramshould
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doone,welldefinedjob.Toperformitsjob,asubprogrammayhavetobesentinsomedata,thesearecalledarguments.

RunningaSubprogram
Subprogramsarerun(executed)withtheVBCALLstatement.
CallAddNumber(num1,num2)
Noticethatthefirstletterofthesubprogramname,'AddNumber'isuppercasetodistinguishitfromavariable.
Arguments:
InsidetheparenthesesofaCallStatementareargumentswhichinthiscasearevariables.(num1,num2).Theycouldalsobeconstants
AddNumber(2,3,)orexpressionsAddNumber(num1+2,num2+3).

DefiningaSubprogram
Theblockofcodethatistobethesubprogrammuststartwiththesubprogramheaderandendwithan'EndSub'statement.
Thesubprogramheaderhastheform:
PrivateSub<subprogramname>(<parameterdeclares>)
SubprogramName
Thesubprogramnamecanbeanynameyouchoose.Itmuststartwithaletterandcontainonlyletters,digitsand_(noblanksareallowed).In
ourclass,thenameshouldtaketheformofatleasttwowordsthatdescribewhatthesubprogramdoes,thefirstwordshouldbeaverbandthe
secondshouldbeanoun.
ParameterDeclares
Parametersarevariablesthataredatathatwillbereceivedbythesubprogramfromthemainprogram,soitcandoitsjob.Theyappearinthe
headingofasubprogram,suchas:
PrivatesubAddNumber(byValnum1asDouble,byValnum2asDouble)
theVBkeywordbyValindicatesthatanychangesbythesubprogramtothevalueofaparameter,willnotbesentbacktothecalling
programyoushouldalwaysuseByValunlessyouhaveagoodreasonnotto!
theVBkeywordByRefindicatesthatanychangesbythesubprogramtothevalueofaparameter,AREsentbacktothecalling
programByRefwillnormallyonlybeusedbysubprogramsthatgatherinputfromthetextboxesonaform
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theparametertypemustbeincluded(e.g.Double,string,integer)
thenamesoftheargumentsandparameterscanbethesameordifferent.Whatmattersisthattheorder,numberandtypesof
argumentsandparametersmatch.
CreatingaSubprogram
1.Moveyourcursortheendofyourcode,justbeforethe'EndClass'statement
2.Typeintheheaderofthesubprogramwhichhasthefollowingformat:
PrivateSub<subprogramname>(<parameterdeclares>)
3.Aseparatorlineandtwolinesofcodehavebeenaddedatthebottomofthecodewindow,alongwithan'EndSub'statement.
4.TypethestatementsofthesubprogrambetweenthePrivateSubandEndSubstatements.
PropertiesofProcedures:
theyareseparatefromthemainprogram
theycanuselocalvariables
theycanobtainparametersfrom,andreturnthemto,themainprogram

VariableScope:
LocalVariables
Themainprogramandeachsubprogramhasitsownsetofvariablesevenifthevariableshavethesamenames!Thismeansthatavariable
usedinthemainprogramcannotbeaccessedbyanyoftheSubs,andthatvariablesusedintheSubscannotbeaccessedbythemainprogram
oranyotherSubs.ThesevariablesaresaidtobeLocal.Thismakessensewhenyouconsiderthatmuchofprogrammingtodayusestheteam
approach.Therewouldbechaosifthevariablesinonesubcouldaffectthevaluesofvariablesinanothersub.
FormLevelVariables:
VisualBasicprovidesawaytomakeavariablevisibletoeveryprocedureinaform'scodewithoutbeingpassedasaparameter.Suchavariable
iscalledaformlevelvariableorglobalvariable.Formlevelvariablesappearatthetopofthecodewindowandareseparatedfromtherestofthe
codebyahorizontalseparatorline.
SubProgramExamples
'Example1:
'Aprogramthataddstwonumberswithouttheuseofsubprograms.

OptionExpliciton
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PrivateSubcmdAdd_Click()
dimnum1AsDouble
dimnum2AsDouble
dimanswerAsDouble

num1=2
num2=3
answer=num1+num2

'Displaythesumoftwonumbers

txtOutput.text="Thisprogramdisplaysasentence"+vbnewline
txtOutput.text=txtOutput.text+"identifyingtwonumbersandtheirsum."+vbnewline
txtOutput.text=txtOutput.text+"Thesumof"+num1+"and"+num2+"is"+answer
EndSub
'Example2:Aprogramthataddstwonumbersandcallsasubprogramto
'displaytheheader

OptionExpliciton

PrivateSubcmdAdd_Click()
dimnumlAsDouble
dimnum2AsDouble
dimanswerAsDouble

numl=2
num2=3
answer=num1+num2

CallExplainPurpose

txtOutput.text=txtOutput.text+"Thesumof"+numl+"and"+num2+"is"+answer
EndSub
PrivateSubExplainPurpose()
'Explainthetaskperformedbytheprogram

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txtOutput.text=txtOutput.text+"Thisprogramdisplaysasentence"+vbnewline
txtOutput.text=txtOutput.text+"identifyingtwonumbersandtheirsum."
EndSub
'Example3:
'Aprogramthatcalculatesthesumoftwonumbersandcalls2subprograms
'1stsubdisplaysheader
'2ndsubadds/displaysthesumof2numbersbypassingthevaluesfromthe
'mainprogramtothesubprogram'AddDisplay

OptionExpliciton

PrivateSubcmdAdd_Click()
dimnumlAsDouble
dimnum2AsDouble

num1=2
num2=3

CallExplainPurpose
CallAddDisplay(num1,num2)
EndSub
PrivateSubExplainPurpose()
'Explainthetaskperformedbytheprogram
txtOutput.text=txtOutput.text+"Thisprogramdisplaysasentence"+vbnewline
txtOutput.text=txtOutput.text+"identifyingtwonumbersandtheirsum."+vbnewline
EndSub
PrivateSubAddDisplay(byValnum1AsDouble,byValnum2AsDouble)
'Displaynumbersandtheirsubs
dimanswerasDouble
answer=num1+num2
txtOutput.text=txtOutput.text+"Thesumof"+num1+"and"+num2+"is"+answer
EndSub
'Example#4

'Aprogramthatcalculatesthesumoftwonumbersthreetimesbyincluding
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'thenumbersasarguments.Subprogramscanbecalledaninfinitenumberof
'timessavingtheprogrammervaluabletime.

OptionExpliciton

PrivateSubcmdAdd_Click()
'DisplaythesumoftwonumberswiththeAddsubprogramcalledseveral
'times.

CallExplainPurpose
CallAddDisplay(2,3)
CallAddDisplay(4,6)
CallAddDisplay(7,8)
EndSub
PrivateSubExplainPurpose()
'Explainthetaskperformedbytheprogram
txtOutput.text=txtOutput.text+"Thisprogramdisplaysasentence"+vbnewline
txtOutput.text=txtOutput.text+"identifyingtwonumbersandtheirsum."+vbnewline

EndSub
PrivateSubAddDisplay(num1AsDouble,num2AsDouble)
'Displaynumbersandtheirsubs
txtOutput.text=txtOutput.text+"Thesumof+;num1+"and"+num2+"is"+num1+num2
EndSub
'Example#5
'Calculatesthesumoftwonumberscalling3subprograms
'1stsubexplainspurpose
'2ndsubgetstwonumbersinputtedbytheuser
'3rdsubaddsanddisplaysthesumoftwonumbers.

OptionExpliciton
PrivateSubcmdAdd_Click()
'Calculatesthesumoftwonumberscalling3subprograms

dimnum1AsDouble
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dimnum2AsDouble

CallExplainPurpose
CallGetData(num1,num2)
CallAddDisplay(num1,num2)
EndSub
PrivateSubExplainPurpose()
'Explainthetaskperformedbytheprogram
txtOutput.text=txtOutput.text+"Thisprogramdisplaysasentence"+vbnewline
txtOutput.text=txtOutput.text+"identifyingtwonumbersandtheirsum."+vbnewline

EndSub
PrivateSubAddDisplay(byValnum1AsDouble,byValnum2AsDouble)
'Displaynumbersandtheirsubs
DimanswerAsDouble
answer=num1+num2
txtOutput.text=txtOutput.text+"Thesumof"+num1+"and"+num2+"is"+answer
EndSub
PrivateSubGetData(byRefnum1AsDouble,byRefnum2AsDouble)
'Receivestwonumbersfromtheuser.
num1=Convert.ToDouble(txtNum1.Text)
num2=Convert.ToDouble(txtNum2.Text)
EndSub

UserDefinedFunctions
UserdefinedfunctionsarethesecondtypeofmodulethatVBsupports.Afunctionissimilartoasubprogrambecauseitisablockofcodethat
performsonejob.Functionsdifferfromsubprograms,becauseafunctionalwaysreturnsexactlyonevalue.Youhaveseenmanyfunctionsin
mathclass,toexecuteafunctionyoumustsendinanumberornumbersandthefunctionreturnstheanswer,anexampleisthecalculationofthe
areaofacircle.

PropertiesofUserDefinedFunctions:
theyareseparatefromthemainprogram
theycanuselocalvariables
theycanobtainparametersfromthemainprogram
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theyreturnexactlyonevalue(answer),always

ExecutingaUserDefinedFunction:
Sincefunctionsreturnexactlyonevalue,wemusthaveavariableinwhichtostoretheanswerreturned.Becauseofthis,functionsareexecuted
usinganassignmentstatement.Forexample,ifourfunctionisCalculateArea,thentorunthisfunctionwewouldwrite:
dimareaasDouble
area=CalculateArea(3)'3istheradiusofthecircle

DefiningaUserDefinedFunction
Creatingauserdefinedfunctionissimilartocreatingasubprogram,exceptthelaststatementmustbetheanswertobereturned.Theblockof
codethatistobethefunctionmuststartwiththefunctionheaderandendwithan'EndFunction'statement.
Thefunctionheaderhastheform:
PrivateFunction<functionname>(<parameterdeclares>)As<returnvariabletype>
FunctionName
Thefunctionnamecanbeanynameyouchoose.Itmuststartwithaletterandcontainonlyletters,digitsand_(noblanksareallowed).Inour
class,thenameshouldtaketheformofatleasttwowordsthatdescribewhatthefunctiondoes,thefirstwordshouldbeaverbandthesecond
shouldbeanoun.
ParameterDeclares
Parametersarevariablesthataredatathatwillbereceivedbythefunctionfromthemainprogram,soitcandoitsjob.Theyappearinthe
headingofafunction,suchas:
PrivateFunctionCalculateArea(byValradiusasDouble)AsDouble
theVBkeywordbyValindicatesthatanychangesbythefunctiontothevalueofaparameter,willnotbesentbacktothecalling
programyoushouldalwaysuseByValunlessyouhaveagoodreasonnotto!
theVBkeywordByRefindicatesthatanychangesbythefunctiontothevalueofaparameter,AREsentbacktothecallingprogram
ByRefwillnormallyonlybeusedbysubprogramsthatgatherinputfromthetextboxesonaformandneverbyfunctions,inourclass
theparametertypemustbeincluded(e.g.Double,string,integer)
thenamesoftheargumentsandparameterscanbethesameordifferent.Whatmattersisthattheorder,numberandtypesof
argumentsandparametersmatch.
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ReturnVariableType
Sincethefunctionmustreturnexactlyonevalue(answer),theheaderisfinishedwiththetypeofvariablethatwillbesentback.Itcanbeanyof
theVBvariabletypes(integer,Double,string,etc.)
CreatingaFunction
1.Moveyourcursortheendofyourcode,justbeforethe'EndClass'statement
2.Typeintheheaderofthefunctionwhichhasthefollowingformat:
PrivateFunction<functionname>(<parameterdeclares>)As<returntype>
3.Aseparatorlineandtwolinesofcodehavebeenaddedatthebottomofthecodewindow,alongwithan'EndFunction'statement.
4.TypethestatementsofthefunctionbetweenthePrivateFunctionandEndFunctionstatements.
FunctionExample
'Example1:
'Aprogramthatcalculatestheareaofacircle.

OptionExpliciton
OptionStrictOn

PrivateSubcmdCircle_Click()
dimradiusAsDouble
dimareaAsDouble
radius=2
area=CalculateArea(radius)
'Displaythearea
txtOutput.text="Theareaofthecircleis"+area.toString+vbnewline

EndSub
PrivateFunctionCalculateArea(byValradasDouble)AsDouble

dimareaasDouble
area=Math.PI*Math.pow(rad,2)
returnarea
EndFunction
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ShowingMultipleForms
AVBprogrammayconsistofmanyforms.Theformthatisfirstdisplayedwhentheprogramisstartedisspecifiedintheprojectpropertiesmenu
option.

Withinthedialogboxthatappearsfortheprojectproperties,the'startupObject'shouldindicatewhichformtoloadwhentheprogramisfirst
started.

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OtherformsthatmaybeinthesolutioncanbeshowninthecodeyouwritebyusingtheVBmethod'Show',thissetstheVisiblepropertyofa
formtotrue.The'Hide'methodcanbeusedtomakeaformdisappear,thissetstheVisiblepropertyofaformtofalse.Toshowaformcalled
form2anddrawabluesquarewecouldaddthecodebelowtoabuttononthefirstforminourprogram.
'declareaformobjectcalledabout,asatypeofform2
DimaboutAsNewform2()
about.Show()

'Drawabluesquareontheform.
'NOTE:Thisisnotapersistentobject,itwillnolongerbe
'visibleafterthenextcalltoOnPaint.Tomakeitpersistent,
'overridetheOnPaintmethodanddrawthesquarethere

DimgAsGraphics=about.CreateGraphics()
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g.FillRectangle(Brushes.Blue,10,10,50,50)

ModalForms
Attimesyoumaywantyourprogramtouseasecondformtoallowuserinput,butthestandardinputboxdoesnotmeetyourneeds.Inthiscase,
youneedtodesignasecondform,whichyoucanshowwhenneeded.Aformthatappearsandkeepsthefocus,untiltheuserdismissesit,is
called'modal'.TheVBmethod'ShowDialog'isusedtodisplaytheform.TheShowDialogmethodtakesaparameterwhichistheparentofthe
dialogform.Aftertheuserdismissesthedialogform,thecontentsoftheformcanberead,afterwhichyoushoulddisposeoftheformtorelease
unneededmemory.
'declareaformobjectcalledtestDialogasatypeofformwehavealreadydesigned(form2)

DimtestDialogAsNewForm2()

'ShowtestDialogasamodaldialoganddetermineifuserclickedOKbuttontoleave
IftestDialog.ShowDialog(Me)=System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OKThen
'ReadthecontentsoftestDialog'sTextBox.
txtResult.Text=testDialog.TextBox1.Text
Else
txtResult.Text="Cancelled"
EndIf
testDialog.Dispose()

Arrays
Avariableisanametowhichthecomputercanassignasinglevalue.Anarrayvariableisanorderedcollectionofvariablesofthesametypeto
whichthecomputercanefficientlyassignalistofvalues.
Avariablemarkwouldlooklikethis:
mark
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Anarrayof10markswouldlooklikethis:

index

mark
64

77

87

75

65

54

95

47

66

87

Allthestorageboxesarecalledmarkandtotellonefromanother,eachhasitsownnumber,calledtheindex.So,anarrayissimilartoamotel,
theentiremotelhasonenameandtodistinguishbetweenrooms,eachhasanumberonthedoor.Ineachelementofthearray(roomofthe
motel),wecanstoreonenumber.Intheexampleabove,64isstoredinthefirstelementofthemarkarray.

CreatinganArray
InVisualBasicwefirstmustdeclare(create)anarray(buildthemotel)beforewetrytostoreinformationinit.ThecommandfordoingthisisDIM.
DIMmark(20)asDouble
Createsanarraycalledmarkwithelements0to20thatstores21Doubles
DIMage(15)asinteger
Createsanarraycalledagewithelements0to15thatstores16integers
DIMname(10)asstring
Createsanarraycallednamewithelements0to10thatstores11strings

AssigningValuestotheelementsinanArray
Mark(1)=76Storesthenumber76inthefistelementofthearraymark
Mark(3)=87Storesthenumber87inthethirdelementofthearraymark
Displayingvaluesinanarray
txtOutput.Text=mark(1).toString
Toassign0ineveryelementinmark
mark(0)=0
mark(1)=0
mark(2)=0...
mark(20)=0
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OR
forx=0to20
age(x)=0
nextx

Toreadfromafile20marksandstoreinanarray
FileOpen(1,"marks.text",OpenMode.Input)
Forx=0to19
input(1,mark(x))
Nextx
FileClose(1)
Toreadfromafilewithanunknownnumberofrecord
FileOpen(1,"marks.text",OpenMode.Input)
count=0
Dowhilenoteof(1)
count=count+1
input(1,mark(count))
Loop
FileClose(1)
Todisplayall20marksinReverseOrder
forx=19to0step1
txtOutput.Text=txtOutput.Text+mark(x).ToString
nextx
Todisplaythevaluesstoredinoddelements,backwards,ononeline:
Forx=19to0step2
txtOutput.Text=txtOutput.Text+mark(x).ToString
Nextx
ToCalculatethetotalofallagesandtheaverage
total=0'initializevariables
Forx=0to19
total=total+mark(x)
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Nextx

average=total/20

txtOutput.Text=total.ToString+average.ToString
Toprintthehighestmark
highest=0
Forx=0to19
Ifmark(x)>highestthen
highest=mark(x)
endif
Nextx
txtOutput.toString=highest.ToString
Example1:Readingdataintoparallelarrayswhenthenumberofentriesinknown.
Thetablebelowgivesnamesandtestscoresfromamathematicscontest.Writeaprogramtodisplaythenamesofthestudentsscoringabove
theaveragefortheseeightstudents.
RichardDolen

133

GeraldineFerraro

114

JamesB.Fraser

92

JohnH.Malby

91

PaulH.Monsky

130

MaxA.Plager

114

RovertA.Shade

91

BarbaraM.White

124

'Thefollowingprogramcreatesastringarraytoholdthenamesofthecontestents
'andanumericarraytoholdthescores.Thenumberofcontestentsisknown.
PrivateSubcmdShow_Click()
dimtotalAsInteger
dimstudentAsInteger
dimaverageAsDouble

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'Createarraysfornamesandscores

dimnom(7)AsString
dimscore(7)AsInteger

'Assumethedatahasbeenplacedinthefile"SCORES.TXT"
'(Thefirstlineofthefileis"RichardDolen",135)
FileOpen(1,"student.txt",OpenMode.Input)
Forstudent=0To7
Input(1,nom(student))
Input(1,score(student))
Nextstudent
FileClose(1)
'Analyzeexamscores
total=0
Forstudent=0To7
total=total+score(student)
Nextstudent
average=total/8
'Displayallnameswithaboveaveragegrades

Forstudent=0To7
Ifscore(student)>averageThen
txtOutput.Text=txtOutput.Text+nom(student)+vbnewline
EndIf
Nextstudent
EndSub

Dynamicarrays
Canbeusedwhenyoudon'tknowexactlyhowlargetomakeanarraybecauseitcanberesizedatanytime.Afteradynamicarrayisinitially
declared,youcanaddnewelementsasneeded,ratherthanestablishingthesizeofthearrayatthetimethecodeiswritten.
Youdeclarethearrayasdynamicbygivingitanemptydimensionlistasfollows:
dimage()asinteger

Todimensionthearray,usetheRedimcommandasfollows:
Redimage(6)

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Or,usingavariable:
dimcountasinteger
count=6
redimage(count)

Note:redimdoesnotspecifythetypeofthearrayagainandthevalueinthebracketsistheindexoftheupperbound.

BoundsoftheArray
Sincetheupperboundcanbechangedbytheredimcommand,weneedawaytofindwhatithasbeensetat.VBprovidesthefunction:
arrayname.GetLength(0)returnsthenumberofelementsinthe1dimensionalarray,notethatthiswillalwaysbeonelargerthantheindexof
theupperboundbecausearraysareindexedstartingatthenumber0
Tocreateaforloopthatdisplaysallelementsofanarraynamed'age',withoutknowingtheupperboundwecanwrite:
forindex=0toage.GetLength(0)1
txtOutput.Text=txtOutput.Text+age(index).ToString+vbnewline
Nextindex

ArraysasParameterstofunctionsandsubs
Arrayscanbesenttofunctionsandsubsasparameters.Whensendinganarrayasaparameter,justsendthearrayname,notthearraysizeor
type.
Thisistrueforuserdefinedfunctionsandsubs.
Whencreatingauserdefinedsuborfunction,wespecifythearraynameandtype,butnotthebounds,inthefunctionheader,forexample:
PrivateSubDisplayNames(byrefnames()asstring)

Note:passinganarraybyrefmeansthatasecondcopyofthearrayisnotcreated,thussavingmemory.

RelatedArrays
Twoormorearraysaresaidtoberelated,iftheycontaininformationthatgoestogether,suchasonearraywithstudentnamesandasecond
arraywithscores.Inthiscase,theindexofthearraysconnecttheinformationinthearrays,forexample,index3isstudentnamesmithand
index3isthescoreforsmith.
'Thefollowingprogramcreatesastringarraytoholdthenamesofthecontestantsandanumericarraytoholdthescores.Thenumberof
contestantsisunknown.Usethedatafilefromthepreviousquestion.
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privateSubcmdShow_Click()
dimnumStudentsAsInteger
dimnTempAsString
dimsTempAsInteger
dimstudentAsInteger
dimTotalAsInteger
dimaverageAsDouble
dimnom()asstring
dimscore()asinteger
'Determineamountofdatatobeprocessed
numStudents=0
FileOpen(1,"scores.txt",OpenMode.Input)

DoWhileNotEOF(1)
Input#1,nTemp,sTemp
numStudents=numStudents+1
Loop
FileClose(1)

'Createarraysfornamesandscores

redimnom(numStudents1)AsString
redimscore(numStudents1)AsInteger
FileOpen(1,"scores.txt",OpenMode.Input)

Forstudent=0TonumStudents1
Input#1,nom(student),score(student)
Nextstudent
FileClose(1)

'Analyzeexamscores

Total=0
Forstudent=0TonumStudents1
Total=Total+score(student)
Nextstudent
average=Total/numStudents

'Displayallnameswithaboveaveragegrades

Forstudent=0TonumStudents1
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Ifscore(student)>averageThen
txtOutput.Text=txtOutput.Text+nom(student)+vbnewline
EndIf
Nextstudent
EndSub

StopWatchObject
VBhasaclassnamedStopWatchwhichcanbeusedtodetermineanelapsedtimebetweentwotimes.
TodeclareaStopWatchobject:
dimmyWatchasNewStopWatch

TheStopWatchmethodsandpropertiesare:
Method/Property

Purpose

Examples

OutputValue

Start

starts,orresumes,measuringelapsedtimeforaninterval

Stop

stopsmeasuringelapsedtimeforaninterval

myWatch.Stop()

ElapsedMilliseconds

returnstheelapsedtimeofinterval,measuredinmilliseconds

myWatch.ElapsedMilliseconds

numberofmillisecondsbetweenwhenthe
watchwasstartedandstopped

myWatch.Start()

Tocalculatehowmanymillisecondsablockofcodehasbeenrunningfor(theelapsedtime):
DimmyWatchasNewStopWatch

myWatch.Start()
....blockofcodetotimegoeshere...
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myWatch.Stop()
timeElapsed=myWatch.ElapsedMilliseconds

Searching

LinearSearch
Ifwehadanarrayof500namesandwantedtofindthelocationofaspecificnameinthearray,wecouldstartatthefirstelementofthearray,
checkit,thenmovetothenextelementofthearray,checkit,andsoonuntilwefoundthenamewewanted,oruntilwereachedtheendofthe
array.
Thealgorithmcanbestatedas:
currentindex=0
found=false
foundIndex=1
repeatwhilenotfoundandcurrent_index<array_upper_bound
ifcurrent_list_element=desired_elementthen
found=true
foundIndex=current_index
else
add1tocurrentindex

TocodeauserdefinedfunctioninVBthatreturnedtheindexofanameinanarrayofnames,wecouldwrite:
privatefunctionfindName(byrefnames()asstring,byvalseekNameasstring)asinteger
dimfoundasboolean
dimcurrentIndexasinteger
dimfoundIndexasinteger

found=false
foundIndex=0
currentIndex=0

dowhile(NOTfoundandcurrentIndex<names.GetLength(0))
ifseekName=names(currentIndex)then

found=true

foundIndex=currentIndex

else

currentIndex=currentIndex+1

endif
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loop

iffoundthen
returnfoundIndex
else
return1
endif
endsub

Thelinearsearchiseasytounderstandandcode.Itwillworkonanyarray.However,itisnotanefficientsearchingtechnique.

BinarySearch
Ifwehadanarrayof500namesinalphabeticalorderandwantedtolocateaspecificpersoninthelistweoneapproachistostartwiththefirst
nameandconsidereachnameuntilamatchwasfound.Thisprocessiscalledalinearsearch.Wewouldfindapersonsnamethatbeginswith
theletter"A"considerablyfasterthanwewouldanamebeginningwith"Z".Thismethodistimeconsumingforlargelists.
Ifalisthasalreadybeensortedamoreefficientbinarysearchcanbeperformed.
SampleList:
1.Alex
2.Dave
3.Dan
4.Dylan
5.Jason
6.Kyle
7.Matt
8.Saroja
LetsassumewearelookingforthenameKyle.Abinarysearchlooksforwhichhalfofthelistthenameliesinanddiscardstheotherhalf.The
retainedpartofthelistnowbecomestheentirelist.Thisprocessisrepeateduntiltheitemisfound.AflagcanindicateifKyleisfound.Thisis
muchthesamewayyouwouldlookupapersoninthetelephonebook.
Thealgorithmisasfollows:
1.Ateachstage,denotethesubscriptofthefirstitemintheretainedlistbyfirstandthesubscriptofthelastitembylast.Initially,thevalueof
firstisthelowerboundofthearray,thevalueoflastistheupperboundofthearray,andthevalueofthefoundflagisFalse.
2.Lookatthemiddleitemofthecurrentlist,theitemhavingthesubscriptmiddle=int(first+last)/2).
3.IfthemiddleitemisKyle,theflagissettoTrueandthesearchisover.
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4.IfthemiddleitemisgreaterthanKyle,thenKyleshouldbeinthefirsthalfofthelist.SothesubscriptofKylemustliebetweenfirstand
middle1.Thatis,thenewvalueoflastismiddle1
5.IfthemiddleitemislessthanKyle,thenKyleshouldbeinthesecondhalfofthelistofpossibleitems.SothesubscriptofKylemustlie
betweenmiddle+1andlast.Thatis,thenewvalueoffirstismiddle+1
6.Repeatsteps2through5untilKyleisfoundoruntilthehalvingprocessusesuptheentirelist.(Whentheentirelisthasbeenusedup,first
>=last.)Inthesecondcase,Kylewasnotintheoriginallist.
TocodeauserdefinedfunctioninVBthatreturnedtheindexofanameinanarrayofnames,wecouldwrite:
privatefunctionfindName(byrefnames()asstring,byvalseekNameasstring)asinteger
dimfoundasboolean
dimlowIndexasinteger
dimhighIndexasinteger
dimmiddleIndexasinteger

found=false
lowIndex=0
highIndex=names.GetLength(0)1
middleIndex=Convert.toInt32((highIndex+lowIndex)/2)

dowhile(NOTfoundandlowIndex<=highIndex)
ifseekName=names(middleIndex)then

found=true

elseifseekName>names(middleIndex)then

lowIndex=middleIndex+1
middleIndex=int((highIndex+lowIndex)/2)
else
highIndex=middleIndex1
middleIndex=int((highIndex+lowIndex)/2)

endif
loop

iffound=truethen
returnmiddleIndex
else
return1
endif
endsub

Thebinarysearchisnotaseasytocodeorunderstandasthelinearsearch,andthearraymustbesorted,however,itismuchmoreefficientthan
thelinearsearchingtechnique.

SortAlgorithms
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Therearemanydifferenttypesofsortingroutines.Herearesomeexamples.Belowisthepseudocodefortwodifferentsorts.

SelectionSort
Inaselectionsort,westartatoneendofthearraythe'selected'element.Wecompareeachelementinthearrayagainsttheselectedelement
andswapthemifnecessary.Whenonepassthroughtheentirearrayiscomplete,theselectedelementcontainsthelargest(orsmallest)value.
Wethenselectthenextelementtocompareallelementsagainst.
fori=thebeginningofthearraytotheend1

forj=thei+1elementtothelastelement
ifthejthelementissmallerthantheithelement
swapthejthelementwiththeithelement

Moreinformationishere.

BubbleSort
Inabubblesort,adjacentvaluesarecomparedandexchangediftheyarenotinorder.Witheachpassthroughtheentirearray,onemorevalue
'bubbles'upintoplace.

fori=beginningofthearraytotheend1

forj:beginningofthearraytoi1

ifthejthelementissmallerthanthej+1element
swapthejthelementwiththej+1element

Moreinformationisfoundhere,
Amoreefficientversionisfoundhere.
Aquiziffoundhere.

MultidimensionalArrays:
Twodimensionalarrayscanbethoughtofaslookinglikeatable,withrowsandcolumns.Therowsarethefirstdimensionandthecolumnsare
theseconddimension.
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columns
|
v

rows>

Thefollowingstatementdeclaresatwodimensional10by10array:
dimmatrixA(9,9)asDouble

Twodimensionalarrayscanalsobedynamicarraysanddeclaredwithoutanysizeandthenlaterdimensioned,forexample:
dimmatrixA(,)asString(Note:thecommaisrequiredtoindicate2dimensions)
dimmatrixA(5,7)

Todeterminethenumberofrowsandcolumnsofanexistingtwodimensionalarray,wecanusetheGetLengthcommand.Theparameterafter
thearraynameisthedimensionnumberweareinterestedingetting(startingat0).Forexample:
dimrowsasinteger
dimcolumnsasinteger
rows=matrixA.GetLength(0)1
columns=matrixA.GetLength(1)1

Whenaccessinganelementofatwodimensionalarray,wemustalwaysspecifybothdimensions.Forexample,theoutputthevalueofan
elementinrow5,column2toapicturebox,wewouldwrite:
txtOutput.Text=matrixA(5,2)

Twodimensionalarraysareoftenprocessedinnestedforloops.Forexample,tooutputallelementsofamatrix,wewouldwrite:
forrow=0tomatrixA.GetLength(0)1
forcolumn=0tomatrixA.GetLength(1)1
txtOutput.Text=txtOutput.Text+matrixA(row,column)
nextcolumn
nextrow

Menus
YoucanmakeyourVBprojectsveryprofessionalbyaddingmenustoyourprograms.YouselecttheMainMenucontrolfromthetoolboxandraw
itanywhereontheform.Youmustalsosettheformproperty'MenuName'toMainMenu,sothemenuisdisplayedwhentheprogramruns.
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ALT+lettershortcuts:
Typean&infrontoftheletterforwhichyouwouldliketheshortcut.Forexample,ifyouwantALT+finthefilemenusimplytype&Fileinthe
captionsectionofthemenueditor
Code:
Toaddcodetothemenuoptionsimplydoubleclickonthemenuitemintheprojectwindowandthecodewindowwiththesub/endsubforthat
menuitemwillbedisplayed.Addyoucode.

TimerObjects
Atimercanbeplacedonaform.Itdoesnotappearwhentheprogramisrun.Thetimergoesoffafterasetnumberofclicks(intervalproperty).
Whenthetimergoesoffitrunsthecodeinthetimer_timersub.Itcontinuestoruntheprograminthetimersubeverytimethetimeintervalis
reachedandinthatsenseisalsoarepetitionstructure.

MovingImages
Imageshave2propertiesthatcontrolwheretheimageappearsontheform.leftand.top.Thenumbersforthesepropertiesstartattheupper
leftcorneroftheform.Asthetopnumberincreasestheimagemovesdownthescreen.Astheleftnumberincreasestheimagesmovestothe
right
Tomovetheimagechangeitstopandleftproperties.
YoucanchangethepictureshownbyapictureBoxbycopyingthepicturefromanotherpictureBoxobject(usuallyinvisible).
picImage1.picture=picImage2.picture
changesimage1tothepicturethatisinpicImage2
Theswitchingisdonebyabooleanvariable,ifstatementandanot.
Exampleofswitchingimages:
inmodule
publicswitchasboolean
intimer

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ifswitchthen
picRealimage.picture=picInvisibleimage1.picture
else
picRealimage.picture=picInvisibleimage2.picture
endif
switch=notswitch

ReadingfromanAccessDatabase
DatamaybestoredinanAccessDatabase,ratherthanatextfile.Databasesallowyoutoaccessdatainadirectmanner,ratherthanneedingto
readthroughallthedatatofindwhatyouwant.Inaddiiton,withtheuseofanSQLSELECTstatement,adatabasefindsonlythedatayouare
interestedin.TheexamplebelowbuildsanSQLstatementthatselectsjusttheOrderIDandCustomerIDfieldsfromtheOrderstablewherethe
CustomerIDisequaltoavaluetakenfromatextboxontheformandtheamountoftheorderisgreaterthananamounttakenfromatextboxon
theform.TheAccessdatabasecalledCustomer.mdbholdsthedata.AReaderobjectreturnsthedatadesired.
DimmySelectQueryAsString=_
"SELECTOrderID,CustomerIDFROMOrdersWHERECustomerID='"&txtCust.Text&"'ANDAmount>'"&txtAmount.Text&"'"
DimmyConnStringAsString=_
"Provider=Microsoft.Jet.Oledb.4.0;DataSource=Customer.mdb"
DimmyConnectionAsNewOleDbConnection(myConnString)
DimmyCommandAsNewOleDbCommand(mySelectQuery,myConnection)
myConnection.Open()
DimmyReaderAsOleDbDataReader=myCommand.ExecuteReader()
dimstrOutputasstring

Try
WhilemyReader.Read()
strOutput="Customer:"&Reader.Item("CustomerID")&vbNewLine
strOutput&="Order:"&Reader.Item("OrderID")
MessageBox.Show(strOutput,"SearchResults")
EndWhile
CatchexAsException
MessageBox.Show("Anerroraccessingthedatabase.","ERROR!")

Finally
'alwayscallClosewhendonereading.
myReader.Close()
'alwayscallClosewhendonereading.
myConnection.Close()
EndTry

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ListBoxControl
AListBoxcontrol,displaysalistofitems.Ifthetotalnumberofitemsexceedsthenumberthatcanbedisplayed,ascrollbarisautomatically
addedtotheListBoxcontrol.
ToadditemsinaListBoxcontrol,usetheItems.Add,forexample:
lstNames.Items.Add("Michael")

ToremoveallitemsfromtheListBoxcontrol,usetheItems.Clearmethod,forexample:
lstNames.Items.Clear()

ListViewControl
AListViewcontrolcandisplayatableofrowsandcolumns.TosetthetheListViewcontroltodisplayinformationinrowsandcolumns,setthe
ViewpropertytoDetails.
ColumntitlesareaddedatdesigntimebyusingtheColumnsproperty,clicktheellipsesnexttoCollections.TheColumnHeaderCollections
EditorthenappearsandyoucanaddthecolumnheadingsintheTextpropertyforeachcolumn.
EachrowintheListViewcontrolisconsideredanListViewItem.Tostartanewrow,createanewListViewItem.Thecolumns,afterthefirst,are
consideredsubitems.ToadddatatothecolumnsusetheSubItems.Add()method.Whenyouhavecreatedallthedatafortherow,thenaddthe
rowtotheListViewwiththeItems.Add()method.Forexample:
DimrowAsListViewItem

row=NewListViewItem("Mike")
row.SubItems.Add("Casey")
row.SubItems.Add("12")
row.SubItems.Add("M")
lvwNames.Items.Add(row)
row=NewListViewItem("Pete")
row.SubItems.Add("Smith")
row.SubItems.Add("10")
row.SubItems.Add("M")
lvwNames.Items.Add(row)

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row=NewListViewItem("Sue")
row.SubItems.Add("Jones")
row.SubItems.Add("10")
row.SubItems.Add("F")
lvwNames.Items.Add(row)

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