Lecture Set 2 Part A: Creating an Application with Visual Studio – Solutions, Projects, Files 8/10/ :35 PM

Slide 2 Objectives (Much of this Lecture Set should be read with Visual Studio open in another window. The figures in these slides are VB and not C#. You may prefer to see actual C# versions as shown in the text.) Introduction to Console and Windows Applications Understand basic terminology – Solutions Projects, Applications, etc. See how to create new Solutions, new Applications/Projects General navigation around a Windows Application and the Solution Explorer and other windows in the Visual Studio IDE 01/02/2016 4:40PM

Slide 3 BIG WARNING Name everything you create with a meaningful name more on this to come do not let the system name things for you we will discuss naming conventions later from the creation of you application to the smallest of buttons – use meaningful names!! 7/29/ :36 PM

Slide 4 Console Applications Visual Studio supports the creation of a number of different types of Applications  Each different type of Application has a different structure and automatically provides support for different applications code Types of Applications we will work with in this course Windows Applications (if time permits) A little work with Web Applications 7/29/ :36 PM

Slide 5 Types of Applications 7/29/ :36 PM

Slide 6 Windows Applications We now move on to examine (more thoroughly) Windows Applications We begin with a look at the Visual Studio 2012 interface for a sample Windows Application  Note the default list of References and the Form (as distinguished from what we saw in the Console interface) To get full views of information )all files, etc. click on “Show All Files” (top of Solution Explorer window) More solution information shows up after you do a Build 01/02/2016 4:36PM

Slide 7 VS 2012 Interface for Windows Application 01/02/2016 4:36 PM

Slide 8 Solutions and Applications Look again at the VS 2012 Interface for a Windows Application (one slide back) What do we see? Applications? Solutions Projects Toolbox Look at the files associated with solution 01/02/2016 4:36 PM

Slide 9 What are these things? Solution Each Application that you create is organized by Visual Studio into a Solution The Solution file is the heart of an Application’s structure A Solution in turn consists of numerous files and folders, including one or more Projects Multiple folders – look at slide 7 The is also a Solution File (.sln) (not to be monkeyed with) 8/10/ :36 PM

Slide 10 A Visual Studio Solution 7/29/ :36 PM

Slide 11 Solution Explorer 8/10/ :36 PM

Slide 12 A Solution – As Seen in Your Files System 8/10/ :36 PM

Slide 13 Project Characteristics Again, refer back to Slide 11 A project contains one or more namespaces Every project has one root namespace But projects can have many other Namespaces Every project has a type (Console, Windows, Web etc.) Each project gets compiled into an Assembly Every project has an entry point Usually a function included in the partial class for the main form Forms apply only to Windows Application projects 7/29/ :36 PM

Slide 14 A Project (continued) 7/29/ :36 PM

Slide 15 Project References A project has references to.NET Framework class library namespaces (See Slide 11).NET automatically adds references to commonly used namespaces based on the type of project template Use the References tab of the project property page to add additional namespace references 7/29/ :36 PM

Slide 16 Some FCL Namespaces That Can Be Referenced 8/10/ :36 PM

Slide 17 Creating a New Solution (you did this already) Click on VS 2012 Icon on your desktop. Click on Create New Project to display the New Project dialog box Specify the project template and the project file name OR pull down the File menu and follow the same directions Different templates appear based on the installed Visual Studio edition  01/02/2016 4:36 PM

Slide 18 New Project Dialog Box (VB example) 7/29/ :36 PM

Slide 19 Creating a New Project A new project does not exist in a vacuum – it must be part of an application In VS, you begin with the application you wish to create, and VS organizes everything you do into a Solution (with one or more Projects) The Application, and everything related to it is encapsulated in a Visual Studio solution There may be multiple projects inside a solution The solution takes on the name of the first Project created 8/10/ :36 PM

Slide 20 Saving a Visual Studio Project Click File, Save All to save the solution the first time Be sure you understand where all the solution files are being saved (discussed in other documentation related to this course) By default, a new folder is created for a new solution 7/29/ :36 PM

Slide 21 Organization of a Visual Studio Solution The Solution Explorer is used to manage the elements of a solution The folder named My Project contains configuration information common to all projects The file AssemblyInfo.cs contains assembly metadata The References folder contains references to namespaces containing other assemblies The bin folder contains the executable file produced as a result of compiling the application A project contains one or more parts 7/29/ :36 PM

Slide 22 Solution Explorer with All Folders Expanded (VB) 7/29/ :36 PM

Slide 23 Using the Solution Explorer The Solution Explorer is a tool window as opposed to a document window Use the drill-down interface to expand and collapse folders Icons appear to identify different file types File names appear to the right of the file type icon Use the Solution Explorer to rename files rather than Windows Explorer (Again – look at an example with Visual Studio open and focused on items such as the options menu, the toolbox, and the solution explorer.) 7/29/ :36 PM

Slide 24 The Solution Explorer Toolbar The Properties button displays the Properties window The View Code button displays the Code Editor for a module The View Designer button displays a visual designer The visual designer varies based on the file’s contents Not all files have an associated visual designer The Refresh button synchronizes files The Show All Files button displays all folders and files The View in Diagram button displays a class in a hierarchical view 8/10/ :36 PM

Slide 25 Windows of the Visual Studio IDE Windows are of two types Tool windows are common to all applications Tool windows are used for development in all Visual Studio languages Document windows are used to create the visual interface and code for an application You will see examples of both types of windows in your work 7/29/ :36 PM

Slide 26 Tool Windows The Solution Explorer groups the elements of a solution The Properties window is used to set properties for objects The Toolbox contains controls that are created on a form Several tool windows exist for debugging Refer to Appendix A in the Lecture Notes The Error List window displays syntax errors The Output window displays information as a project is compiled 7/29/ :36 PM

Slide 27 Displaying Tool Windows Tool windows can be anchored along an edge of the IDE The process is called docking Docked windows can be Auto Hidden Auto Hidden windows appear when the mouse is positioned over the hidden window tab Floating windows appear anywhere on the desktop Some tool windows can be configured to appear as document windows 8/10/ :36 PM

Slide 28 The Appearance of Tool Windows in the Visual Studio IDE (VB) 7/29/ :36 PM