Visual Basic in easy steps

by Mike McGrath

Overview

Now in its 7th edition, Visual Basic in easy steps shows how to create Windows applications using the latest Visual Studio Community programming environment. Using examples with free downloadable code, this renowned guide covers:

Form controls, application properties, the programming language, live code analysis, problem-solving and debugging techniques.

Creating macros for Word and Excel in Microsoft Office, using VBA.

Manipulating files and data using VBScript.

Incorporating external data into your applications from text files, Excel spreadsheets, XML documents, live RSS web feeds, and SQL databases.

Ideal for anyone wanting to quickly understand Visual Basic fundamentals and master the key techniques. By the end of the book, you’ll be creating your own interactive applications!

Visual Basic in easy steps, 7th edition has an easy-to-follow style that will appeal to anyone who wants to begin Windows programming, including:

Programmers who want to quickly learn the latest Visual Basic techniques.

Students who are studying computing at school or college.

Those seeking a career in Information Technology who need a thorough understanding of Visual Basic programming.

Updated for Visual Basic 2022 edition (Visual Basic 17.0).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781840789768
Publisher:	In Easy Steps Limited
Publication date:	11/29/2022
Series:	In Easy Steps
Edition description:	7th ed.
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Mike McGrath gained his extensive knowledge of computer languages while working as a developer contracting to companies around the world. Mike is an established In Easy Steps author with several guides to his credit. Mike resides in Bulgaria.

Table of Contents

1 Getting started 7

Introducing Visual Basic 8

Installing Visual Studio 10

Exploring the IDE 12

Starting a new project 14

Adding a visual control 16

Adding functional code 18

Saving projects 20

Reopening projects 21

Summary 22

2 Setting properties 23

Form properties 24

Meeting the properties editor 25

Editing property values 26

Coding property values 28

Applying computed values 30

Applying user values 32

Prompting for input 34

Specifying dialog properties 36

Summary 38

3 Using controls 39

Tab order 40

Using Button 41

Using TextBox 42

Using ComboBox 43

Using Label 44

Using PictureBox 45

Using ListBox 46

Using CheckBox 48

Using RadioButton 49

Using WebBrowser 50

Using Timer 52

Summary 54

4 Learning the language 55

Elements of a program 56

Declaring variable types 58

Understanding variable scope 60

Working with variable arrays 62

Performing operations 64

Branching code 66

Looping code 68

Calling object methods 70

Creating a sub method 72

Sending parameters 73

Creating a function 74

Doing mathematics 75

Generating a random number 76

Summary 78

5 Building an application 79

The program plan 80

Assigning static properties 82

Designing the Interface 84

Initializing dynamic properties 86

Adding runtime functionality 88

Testing the program 90

Deploying the application 92

Summary 94

6 Solving problems 95

Real-time error detection 96

Fixing runtime errors 98

Debugging code 100

Setting debug breakpoints 102

Anticipating logic errors 104

Catching runtime errors 106

Getting help 108

Summary 110

7 Extending the interface 111

Color, Font, & Image dialogs 112

Open, Save, & Print dialogs 114

Creating application menus 116

Making menus work 118

Adding more forms 120

Controlling multiple forms 122

Playing sounds 124

Playing multimedia 126

Summary 128

8 Scripting with Visual Basic 129

Introducing VBA macros 130

Creating a Word macro 132

Creating an Excel macro 134

Running advanced macros 135

An introduction to VBScript 138

Enforcing declarations 139

Validating input 140

Merging text files 142

Getting registry data 144

Summary 146

9 Harnessing data 147

Reading text files 148

Streaming lines of text 150

Reading Excel spreadsheets 152

Reading XML files 154

Creating an XML dataset 156

Reading RSS feeds 158

Addressing XML attributes 160

Summary 162

10 Employing databases 163

An introduction to databases 164

Designing a database 166

Creating a database 168

Adding database tables 170

Defining table columns 172

Making table relationships 174

Entering table data 176

Creating a database dataset 178

Adding form data controls 180

Binding meaningful data 182

Building custom SQL queries 184

Summary 186

Index 187