Introduction to VB.NET Tonga Institute of Higher Education

Programming Basics Program / Application – A set of instructions that a computer uses to do something. Programming / Developing – The act of creating or changing a program Programmer / Developer – A person who makes a program Run / Execute – The act of using a program Source Code – Code written in a programming language by a developer. Every program was created by someone Computers use special languages Programmers use special languages to create or change a program

Introduction to Visual Basic.Net Visual Basic.Net (VB.Net) is a programming language created by Microsoft.  Many programmers use VB.Net VB.Net is an object oriented language.

Impact on Visual Basic 6.0 Visual Basic 6 is old technology Visual Basic 6 will still be used for many years to maintain existing programs The future of Visual Basic development is Visual Basic.NET

Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) IDEs are programs designed to make programming easier.  Graphical Interface is intuitive  Program management is easier  Source code is easier to read  Errors are easier to fix  Too many features to list! You do not need an IDE to create a program. But they are very helpful. There are a few different IDE’s for VB.Net. But most VB.Net developers use Visual Studio.Net. (VS.Net)

First Look at VS.NET Allows you to customize your IDE Options you can look at Different windows you can use

Setting Up Your Environment You cannot save files to the C Drive You must save files to the P Drive We want to organize our files on the P Drive  Use good names  Keep related files in the same location To tell VS.Net to use your P Drive 1. Start VS.Net 2. Go to Tools -> Options 3. Go to Environment -> Project and Solutions 4. Change Visual Studio Projects Location to your folder on the P drive. (You may create a new folder if you click the Browse button) 5. Click OK button

Demonstration Setting up VS.Net

Class Exercise Start VS.Net Setup VS.Net to save to a directory on your P drive

How to Make and Run a Program 1. Create a new project 1. Click on Projects tab 2. Click on New Project button 3. Enter “HelloWorld” as the name of the new project. 4. Make sure that the Windows Application template is selected. 5. Click the OK button 2. Start the application 1. Click on Debug -> Start menu item

Demonstration How to Make and Run a Program HelloWorld

Class Exercise Create a Windows Application The name of the Windows Application is HelloWorld Run the program

Solutions and Projects Solution – An organizer for projects.  A solution can contain many projects Project – An organizer for a program.  A project can include many files. Examples of how Solutions and Projects work together  Molisi Management Solution Customer Project Financial Project Manager Project  Homework 1 Solution Program 1 Program 2  Homework 8 Solution Big Program

Solutions and Projects To make a new solution, go to File -> New -> Blank Solution  A solution can contain many projects To make a new project, go to File -> New -> Project  A project can include many files. The same window is used for creating Solutions and Projects Make sure the correct item Is selected

Projects There are many different kinds of project we can make. This class focuses on Windows Applications Can choose to add to the current solution or create a new solution Make sure your project is saved in the correct folder

Best Practices Keep your Solution and Project names simple and descriptive  Good Examples: Assignment5, Bank, Customer  Bad Examples: ILoveYou, IMissYou, INeedYou Don’t use spaces in your names

Demonstration Creating Solutions and Projects

Adding Forms to a Project A form is a window To add forms to a project: 1. Solution Explorer -> Project Name -> Right Click -> Add -> Add Windows Form 2. Enter the name of the new form

Adding Projects to a Solution To add projects to a solution: 1. Solution Explorer -> Right Click -> Add -> New Project 2. Select the project type 3. Enter the name of the new form

Demonstration Adding Forms to a Project and Adding Projects to a Solution

Setting Startup Projects A solution may contain more than 1 project To tell Visual Studio.NET which project should be started when the solution is run:  Solution Explorer -> Project Name -> Set as Startup Project

Setting Startup Objects Often, your project has more than 1 object that can be started To tell Visual Studio.NET which object should be started when the program is run:  Solution Explorer -> Project Name -> Right Click -> Common Properties -> General -> Startup Object

Demonstration Selecting a Startup Project and Selecting a Startup Object

Stumbling Blocks You can’t change properties when a program is running If you rename a file, make sure you keep the.vb extension Make sure you’re saving to the P drive

Class Exercise Create a solution called MyFirstSolution Create 2 projects inside MyFirstSolution Each project will have 2 forms All 4 forms will have different colors Practice Running each different form

Behind the Scenes - 1 All files are stored on the computer The location is determined by your settings 2 Folders exist  Bin – Contains the files needed to run the program To give the program to someone else, copy these files to their computer The running the.exe file will begin the program  Obj – Contains the files needed to debug (fix) the program These are useful when fixing errors in a program When you start the application this way: Click on Debug -> Start menu item, files are automatically created for you in both folders

Demonstration Creating, Deleting and Executing Files Behind the Scenes

Behind the Scenes - 2 All files are stored on the computer The location is determined by your settings Solutions and Projects use different files  Solutions.sln.suo  Projects AssemblyInfo.vb.vbproj.vbproj.user The organization of the files is determined by the order that you create the solutions and projects in

Demonstration Viewing Solution and Project Files

Behind the Scenes - 3 The organization of the files is determined by the order you create solutions and projects: From a clean start:  If a solution is created first, a folder is created The solution’s name is the name of the folder The solution’s files are inside this folder  If a project is added to the solution, a folder is created inside of the solution folder The project’s name is the name of the folder The project’s files are inside this folder

Demonstration File Organization when Solution is Created First

Behind the Scenes - 4 The organization of the files is determined by the order you create solutions and projects: From a clean start:  If a project is created first, a folder is created The project’s name is the name of the folder The project’s files are inside this folder The solution’s files are also inside this folder

Demonstration File Organization when Project is Created First

Class Activity What will happen for these different solution / project creation scenarios?

Continuing Work on a Program Always open your Solution or Project file.  Solution files:.sln  Project files:.vbproj  Some files depend on other files. If you only open a.vb file, your references may not be correctly setup. Therefore, your application may not work. If you open a project file without a solution file:  The solution files are automatically created  You will be asked to save the files when you exit VS.Net

Demonstration Show how Solution files are automatically created

VS.NET Windows - 1 How do we write programs?  Write the code  Fix any errors Bug - An error in a program Debug – The act of removing errors from a program Many windows are available to help you create code and debug your programs better

VS.NET Windows - 2 Solution Explorer Shows all the projects in your solution Shows all the files in each project ToolBox  Allows you to add controls to your form Properties  Allows you to change object properties Task List  Shows all current syntax errors  Tracks pending changes and additions to code ‘Todo  Right Click on column header and go to Show Tasks to change what is displayed

Demonstration VS.Net Windows

Managing Your Windows Windows can dock in different parts of your screen Many windows docked in the same location are organized with tabs The pin allows you to choose whether you want the windows to hide when you are not using them Only show the windows you want to use! Tabs Docked Windows

Demonstration Managing Windows

VS.NET Features Outlining  #Region “RegionName”  #End Region Intellisense  Helps you choose the word you want to type  Ctrl + Space Autocode  Creates code automatically for you  Use ComboBoxes in code view Lines to Separate Methods

Demonstration Other VS.Net Features