Sams Teach Yourself Visual Basic 2010 in 24 Hours

Table of Contents......Page 5
Introduction......Page 12
HOUR 1: Jumping in with Both Feet: A Visual Basic 2010 Programming Tour......Page 16
Starting Visual Basic 2010......Page 17
Creating a New Project......Page 18
Understanding the Visual Studio 2010 Environment......Page 21
Changing the Characteristics of Objects......Page 22
Adding Controls to a Form......Page 27
Designing an Interface......Page 28
Writing the Code Behind an Interface......Page 32
Running a Project......Page 36
HOUR 2: Navigating Visual Basic 2010......Page 40
Using the Visual Basic 2010 Start Page......Page 41
Navigating and Customizing the Visual Basic Environment......Page 43
Working with Toolbars......Page 48
Adding Controls to a Form Using the Toolbox......Page 49
Setting Object Properties Using the Properties Window......Page 51
Managing Projects......Page 56
A Quick-and-Dirty Programming Primer......Page 62
Getting Help......Page 64
HOUR 3: Understanding Objects and Collections......Page 68
Understanding Properties......Page 69
Understanding Methods......Page 76
Building a Simple Object Example Project......Page 78
Understanding Collections......Page 83
Using the Object Browser......Page 86
Understanding Event-Driven Programming......Page 90
Building an Event Example Project......Page 98
Keeping Event Names Current......Page 103
HOUR 5: Building Forms: The Basics......Page 106
Changing a Form’s Name......Page 107
Changing a Form’s Appearance......Page 108
Showing and Hiding Forms......Page 118
Working with Controls......Page 128
Creating Scrollable Forms......Page 145
Creating MDI Forms......Page 147
Setting the Startup Form......Page 151
Displaying Static Text with the Label Control......Page 156
Allowing Users to Enter Text Using a Text Box......Page 157
Creating Buttons......Page 165
Creating Containers and Groups of Option Buttons......Page 168
Displaying a List with the List Box......Page 172
Creating Drop-Down Lists Using the Combo Box......Page 179
HOUR 8: Using Advanced Controls......Page 184
Creating Timers......Page 185
Creating Tabbed Dialog Boxes......Page 188
Storing Pictures in an Image List Control......Page 191
Building Enhanced Lists Using the List View Control......Page 193
Creating Hierarchical Lists Using the Tree View Control......Page 198
HOUR 9: Adding Menus and Toolbars to Forms......Page 206
Building Menus......Page 207
Using the Toolbar Control......Page 218
Creating a Status Bar......Page 224
Creating Visual Basic Code Modules......Page 228
Writing Code Procedures......Page 230
Calling Code Procedures......Page 236
Exiting Procedures......Page 242
Avoiding Infinite Recursion......Page 243
HOUR 11: Using Constants, Data Types, Variables, and Arrays......Page 248
Understanding Data Types......Page 249
Defining and Using Constants......Page 253
Declaring and Referencing Variables......Page 255
Working with Arrays......Page 261
Determining Scope......Page 265
Declaring Variables of Static Scope......Page 269
Naming Conventions......Page 270
Using Variables in Your Picture Viewer Project......Page 272
HOUR 12: Performing Arithmetic, String Manipulation, and Date/Time Adjustments......Page 280
Performing Basic Arithmetic Operations with Visual Basic......Page 281
Understanding Boolean Logic......Page 285
Manipulating Strings......Page 289
Working with Dates and Times......Page 294
Making Decisions Using If ... Then......Page 304
Branching Within a Procedure Using GoTo......Page 315
Looping a Specific Number of Times Using For ... Next......Page 320
Using Do ... Loop to Loop an Indeterminate Number of Times......Page 326
HOUR 15: Debugging Your Code......Page 334
Adding Comments to Your Code......Page 335
Identifying the Two Basic Types of Errors......Page 337
Using Visual Basic’s Debugging Tools......Page 340
Writing an Error Handler Using Try ... Catch ... Finally......Page 347
HOUR 16: Designing Objects Using Classes......Page 358
Understanding Classes......Page 359
Instantiating Objects from Classes......Page 368
Displaying Messages Using the MessageBox.Show ( ) Function......Page 378
Creating Custom Dialog Boxes......Page 384
Using InputBox ( ) to Get Information from a User......Page 388
Interacting with the Keyboard......Page 390
Using the Common Mouse Events......Page 393
Understanding the Graphics Object......Page 400
Working with Pens......Page 403
Using System Colors......Page 404
Working with Rectangles......Page 407
Drawing Shapes......Page 408
Drawing Text......Page 410
Building a Graphics Project Example......Page 411
Using the OpenFileDialog and SaveFileDialog Controls......Page 420
Manipulating Files with the File Object......Page 426
Manipulating Directories with the Directory Object......Page 435
Working with the Registry......Page 438
Reading and Writing Text Files......Page 450
HOUR 21: Working with a Database......Page 462
Introducing ADO.NET......Page 463
Manipulating Data......Page 467
HOUR 22: Controlling Other Applications Using Automation......Page 480
Automating Microsoft Excel......Page 481
Automating Microsoft Word......Page 486
Understanding ClickOnce Technology......Page 492
Using the Publish Wizard to Create a ClickOnce Application......Page 493
Uninstalling an Application You’ve Distributed......Page 497
Setting Advanced Options for Creating ClickOnce Programs......Page 499
The .NET Framework......Page 502
Common Language Runtime......Page 503
Microsoft Intermediate Language......Page 504
Namespaces......Page 505
Garbage Collection......Page 507
Further Reading......Page 508
A......Page 510
C......Page 511
D......Page 514
E......Page 516
F......Page 517
G......Page 518
I......Page 519
M......Page 520
O......Page 522
P......Page 523
Q-R......Page 524
S......Page 525
T......Page 526
U......Page 527
W-X-Y-Z......Page 528