Overview of Microsofts Visual Basic

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Chapter
Overview of Microsofts Visual Basic
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• Presentation Outline
• Overview of Visual Basic
• Components of VB Database Applications
• VB Projects
• VB Development Environment
• Creating a VB Database Application
• And much, much more

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• Overview of Visual Basic

What is Visual Basic (VB)?

• Microsoft VB is a development language that
  enables programmers to create Windows-based
  programs.

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• Overview of Visual Basic

What is Visual Basic (VB)?

• An event-driven programming language
• Program statements execute in response to user
  actions or to system actions.

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• Overview of Visual Basic

• In VB, you work with objects, which have
  properties and methods.
• Objects i.e., forms (windows, dialog boxes,
  etc.) and controls (elements you place inside a
  form, such as a text box, command button, etc.)
• Properties tell something about an object
  (name, color, size, location or how it will
  behave)
• Methods actions associated with objects (Move,
  Print, Resize, Clear)

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• Overview of Visual Basic

Components of a VB Program

• Project file every VB program has an individual
  project file, with a .vbp extension
• Specifies properties of the program and names of
  the individual components of the program.

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• Overview of Visual Basic

Components of a VB Program

• Project file
• Main components of a VB project
• Forms (.frm)
• Visible interface that the user sees and
  interacts with and the
• Associated code that responds to user and system
  actions

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• Overview of Visual Basic

Components of a VB Program

• Project file
• Main components of a VB project
• Standard Modules
• Contains only code
• Used to store declarations for variables that are
  used in multiple forms

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• Overview of Visual Basic

Components of a VB Program

• Project file
• Main components of a VB project
• Standard Modules (contd)
• Procedure manipulates variable values
• Function returns a single value based on
  parameters that are passed to the function.

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• Overview of Visual Basic

Components of a VB Program

• Controls the visible items on a form

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• Visual Basic Projects

• When VB is started, a new project is created,
  which corresponds to an individual user
  application
• You can select the type of project it will be,
  which specifies how the project file is compiled.

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• Visual Basic Projects

Visual Basic project types
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• The VB Development Environment

• Integrated development environment (IDE)
• Environment for developing programs

VB IDE components
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• The VB Development Environment

• Main IDE components include
• The Toolbar provides quick access to menu bar
  commands for opening
• The Object window shows the form and the position
  of the controls on the form
• The Toolbox contains icons that are used to
  create form controls

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• The VB Development Environment

• Main IDE components include
• The Project Explorer displays a hierarchical list
  of the components of the current project
• The Properties window is used to assign and
  display the properties of the object that is
  currently selected in the Form window

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• Creating a VB Database Application

• Data control
• Form control that is attached to a database table
• Used to sequentially step through the record to
  view the items

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• Creating a VB Database Application

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Modifying Form Properties

• The properties of a VB object specify the
  objects appearance and behavior
• Name property Determines how objects are
  internally identified within the project.
• Must begin with a letter and can contain
  characters, numbers, or underscores.
• Border Style determines whether the user can
  resize the form
• Caption the form description displayed in the
  forms title bar

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Modifying Form Properties

• The properties of a VB object specify the
  objects appearance and behavior
• MaxButton allows the user to maximize the form
  so that it is displayed full-screen
• MinButton allows the user to minimize the form
• StartUpPosition determines where the form is
  displayed on the screen when the application is
  running.

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Saving VB Projects

• A VB project is saved in a file with a .vbp
  extension
• Forms are saved in files with an .frm extension
• Note It is very important to always save the
  project .vbp file and the form .frm file in the
  same folder in your file system.

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Using VB with a DB
Figure 6-12 Microsoft data access architecture
using ODBC
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Creating an ActiveX Data Control

• ActiveX data control
• A control that is displayed on a form
• Different from an ordinary form control because
  it is associated with a recordset
• A specific set of database records based on a SQL
  query

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Creating an ActiveX Data Control
Figure 6-14 ActiveX data control
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Code in VB Programs

• A VB project consists of forms and standard code
  modules
• Every form and every code module has a section
  called the General Declarations section
• Contains declarations for variables, and the code
  for functions and procedures

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Variables in VB Programs

• Visual Basic code has variables and data types
  just like other programming languages
• It is a good programming practice to always
  declare variables before using them
• VB does not require you to declare variables, but
  allows you to assign a value to a variable
  without declaring it first. This can lead to
  errors

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Displaying VB Programs Using Web Pages

• Visual Basic projects can be created to make
  standard executable files
• Also can be created using different ActiveX
  options to make programs that can be installed
  and/or run by clicking a hyperlink on a Web page
• When creating a Internet package using Package
  and Development Wizard, the Wizard creates an
  HTML file containing the command for the
  hyperlink that references the ActiveX document

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Presentation Summary

• Visual Basic is a development language and used
  to create Windows-based applications
• A VB project can have forms and code modules
• Visual Basic has an integrated development
  environment (IDE) with multiple windows for
  displaying and modifying project components

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Presentation Summary

• Visual Basic forms and controls have properties,
  which determine how the forms and controls look
  and function
• An Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) driver is a
  program that allows an application to interact
  with a database
• You can create a VB project that is an ActiveX
  document, which has both visual components and
  code, and can be displayed as a Web page using
  the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser

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Chapter
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