Visual Basic 2008 Recipes (eBook)

Rakesh Rajan was a Microsoft "Most Valuable Professional" in C# and an MCSD in .NET from the Bangalore, India area. He worked as a software engineer in the U.S. at Trivandrum. Rakesh passed away in 2006.

Contents at a Glance 5
Contents 6
About the Author 13
About the Technical Reviewer 14
Acknowledgments 15
Introduction 16
Application Development 17
1-1. Create a Console Application from the Command Line 18
1-2. Create a Windows- Based Application from the Command Line 21
1-3. Create and Use a Code Module from the Command Line 24
1-4. Create and Use a Code Library from the Command Line 26
1-5. Embed a Resource File in an Assembly 27
1-6. Build Projects from the Command Line Using MSBuild.exe 30
1-7. Access Command-Line Arguments 33
1-8. Include Code Selectively at Build Time 35
1-9. Manipulate the Appearance of the Console 39
1-10. Access a Program Element That Has the Same Name As a Keyword 41
1-11. Create and Manage Strong-Named Key Pairs 42
1-12. Give an Assembly a Strong Name 43
1-13. Verify That a Strong-Named Assembly Has Not Been Modified 46
1-14. Delay Sign an Assembly 47
1-15. Sign an Assembly with an Authenticode Digital Signature 48
1-16. Create and Trust a Test Software Publisher Certificate 53
1-17. Manage the Global Assembly Cache 54
1-18. Make Your Assembly More Difficult to Decompile 55
1-19. Use Implicitly Typed Variables 56
1-20. Use Object Initializers 57
1-21. Use Anonymous Types 60
1-22. Create and Use Extension Methods 61
1-23. Create and Use Lambda Expressions 63
Data Manipulation 67
2-1. Manipulate the Contents of a String Efficiently 67
2-2. Encode a String Using Alternate Character Encoding 70
2-3. Convert Basic Value Types to Byte Arrays 72
2-4. Base64 Encode Binary Data 75
2-5. Validate Input Using Regular Expressions 78
2-6. Use Compiled Regular Expressions 81
2-7. Create Dates and Times from Strings 84
2-8. Add, Subtract, and Compare Dates and Times 86
2-9. Convert Dates and Times Across Time Zones 89
2-10. Sort an Array or an ArrayList 93
2-11. Copy a Collection to an Array 95
2-12. Manipulate or Evaluate the Contents of an Array 96
2-13. Use a Strongly Typed Collection 100
2-14. Create a Generic Type 102
2-15. Store a Serializable Object to a File 105
2-16. Read User Input from the Console 108
Application Domains, Reflection, and Metadata 112
3-1. Load an Assembly into the Current Application Domain 113
3-2. Create an Application Domain 115
3-3. Execute an Assembly in a Different Application Domain 117
3-4. Avoid Loading Unnecessary Assemblies into Application Domains 119
3-5. Create a Type That Cannot Cross Application Domain Boundaries 120
3-6. Create a Type That Can Be Passed Across Application Domain Boundaries 121
3-7. Instantiate a Type in a Different Application Domain 124
3-8. Pass Data Between Application Domains 128
3-9. Unload Assemblies and Application Domains 130
3-10. Retrieve Type Information 131
3-11. Test an Object’s Type 134
3-12. Instantiate an Object Using Reflection 136
3-13. Create a Custom Attribute 139
3-14. Inspect the Attributes of a Program Element Using Reflection 142
Threads, Processes, and Synchronization 144
4-1. Execute a Method Using the Thread Pool 145
4-2. Execute a Method Asynchronously 148
4-3. Creating an Asynchronous Method to Update the User Interface 155
4-4. Execute a Method Periodically 160
4-5. Execute a Method at a Specific Time 162
4-6. Execute a Method by Signaling a WaitHandle Object 165
4-7. Execute a Method Using a New Thread 167
4-8. Synchronize the Execution of Multiple Threads Using a Monitor 169
4-9. Synchronize the Execution of Multiple Threads Using an Event 174
4-10. Synchronize the Execution of Multiple Threads Using a Mutex 178
4-11. Synchronize the Execution of Multiple Threads Using a Semaphore 180
4-12. Synchronize Access to a Shared Data Value 182
4-13. Know When a Thread Finishes 184
4-14. Terminate the Execution of a Thread 186
4-15. Create a Thread-Safe Collection Instance 188
4-16. Start a New Process 189
4-17. Terminate a Process 192
4-18. Ensure That Only One Instance of an Application Can Execute Concurrently 194
Files, Directories, and I/O 197
5-1. Retrieve Information About a File, Directory, or Drive 198
5-2. Set File and Directory Attributes 203
5-3. Copy, Move, or Delete a File or a Directory 204
5-4. Calculate the Size of a Directory 208
5-5. Retrieve Version Information for a File 210
5-6. Show a Just-in-Time Directory Tree in the TreeView Control 211
5-7. Read and Write a Text File 214
5-8. Read and Write a Binary File 217
5-9. Parse a Delimited Text File 218
5-10. Read a File Asynchronously 222
5-11. Find Files That Match a Wildcard Expression 225
5-12. Test Two Files for Equality 226
5-13. Manipulate Strings Representing File Names 228
5-14. Determine Whether a Path Is a Directory or a File 229
5-15. Work with Relative Paths 230
5-16. Create a Temporary File 232
5-17. Get the Total Free Space on a Drive 233
5-18. Show the Common File Dialog Boxes 235
5-19. Use an Isolated Store 237
5-20. Monitor the File System for Changes 239
5-21. Access a COM Port 242
5-22. Get a Random File Name 243
5-23. Manipulate the Access Control Lists of a File or Directory 243
Language Integrated Query (LINQ) 247
6-1. Query a Generic Collection 248
6-2. Query a Nongeneric Collection 250
6-3. Control Query Results 251
6-4. Sort Data Using LINQ 253
6-5. Filter Data Using LINQ 254
6-6. Perform General Aggregate Operations 256
6-7. Perform Average and Sum Calculations 257
6-8. Perform Count Operations 259
6-9. Perform Min and Max Calculations 260
6-10. Group Query Results 262
6-11. Query Data from Multiple Collections 264
6-12. Returning Specific Elements of a Collection 267
6-13. Display Collection Data Using Paging 268
6-14. Compare and Combine Collections 270
6-15. Cast a Collection to a Specific Type 273
LINQ to XML and XML Processing 276
7-1. Create an XML Document 277
7-2. Load an XML File into Memory 281
7-3. Insert Elements into an XML Document 282
7-4. Change the Value of an Element or Attribute 284
7-5. Remove or Replace Elements or Attributes 285
7-6. Query an XML Document Using LINQ 287
7-7. Query for Elements in a Specific XML Namespace 289
7-8. Query an XML Document Using XPath 291
7-9. Join and Query Multiple XML Documents 293
7-10. Convert an XML File to a Delimited File ( and Vice Versa) 294
7-11. Validate an XML Document Against a Schema 298
7-12. Use XML Serialization with Custom Objects 303
7-13. Create a Schema for a .NET Class 306
7-14. Generate a Class from a Schema 307
7-15. Perform an XSL Transform 308
Database Access 312
8-1. Connect to a Database 314
8-2. Use Connection Pooling 317
8-3. Create a Database Connection String Programmatically 319
8-4. Store a Database Connection String Securely 321
8-5. Execute a SQL Command or Stored Procedure 324
8-6. Use Parameters in a SQL Command or Stored Procedure 329
8-7. Process the Results of a SQL Query Using a Data Reader 333
8-8. Obtain an XML Document from a SQL Server Query 336
8-9. Perform Asynchronous Database Operations Against SQL Server 340
8-10. Write Database-Independent Code 343
8-11. Create a Database Object Model 347
8-12. Generate Data Object Classes from the Command Line 351
8-13. Discover All Instances of SQL Server on Your Network 353
Windows Forms 355
9-1. Add a Control Programmatically 356
9-2. Link Data to a Control 359
9-3. Process All the Controls on a Form 360
9-4. Track the Visible Forms in an Application 362
9-5. Find All MDI Child Forms 364
9-6. Save Configuration Settings for a Form 367
9-7. Force a List Box to Scroll to the Most Recently Added Item 370
9-8. Restrict a Text Box to Accepting Only Specific Input 371
9-9. Use an Autocomplete Combo Box 374
9-10. Sort a List View by Any Column 376
9-11. Lay Out Controls Automatically 380
9-12. Make a Multilingual Form 381
9-13. Create a Form That Cannot Be Moved 384
9-14. Make a Borderless Form Movable 385
9-15. Create an Animated System Tray Icon 388
9-16. Validate an Input Control 389
9-17. Use a Drag-and-Drop Operation 391
9-18. Use Context-Sensitive Help 393
9-19. Display a Web Page in a Windows-Based Application 394
9-20. Create a Windows Presentation Foundation Application 397
9-21. Run a Windows Vista Application with Elevated Rights 399
Multimedia 402
10-1. Find All Installed Fonts 403
10-2. Perform Hit Testing with Shapes 405
10-3. Create an Irregularly Shaped Control 408
10-4. Create a Movable Sprite 410
10-5. Create a Scrollable Image 414
10-6. Perform a Screen Capture 416
10-7. Use Double Buffering to Increase Redraw Speed 418
10-8. Show a Thumbnail for an Image 420
10-9. Play a Simple Beep or System Sound 421
10-10. Play a WAV File 423
10-11. Play a Sound File 424
10-12. Show a Video with DirectShow 426
10-13. Retrieve Information About Installed Printers 429
10-14. Print a Simple Document 431
10-15. Print a Multipage Document 434
10-16. Print Wrapped Text 437
10-17. Show a Dynamic Print Preview 439
10-18. Manage Print Jobs 442
Networking and Remoting 447
11-1. Obtain Information About the Local Network Interface 448
11-2. Detect Changes in Network Connectivity 451
11-3. Download Data over HTTP or FTP 453
11-4. Download a File and Process It Using a Stream 456
11-5. Respond to HTTP Requests from Your Application 458
11- 6. Get an HTML Page from a Site That Requires Authentication 462
11-7. Send E-mail Using SMTP 465
11-8. Resolve a Host Name to an IP Address 468
11-9. Ping an IP Address 470
11-10. Communicate Using TCP 472
11-11. Create a Multithreaded TCP Server That Supports Asynchronous Communications 476
11-12. Communicate Using UDP 484
11-13. Communicate Using Named Pipes 487
11-14. Make an Object Remotable 491
11-15. Register All the Remotable Classes in an Assembly 496
11-16. Host a Remote Object in IIS 498
11-17. Control the Lifetime of a Remote Object 499
11-18. Control Versioning for Remote Objects 501
11-19. Consume an RSS Feed 503
Security and Cryptography 505
12-1. Allow Partially Trusted Code to Use Your Strong-Named Assembly 506
12-2. Disable Execution Permission Checks 508
12-3. Ensure the Runtime Grants Specific Permissions to Your Assembly 510
12-4. Limit the Permissions Granted to Your Assembly 512
12-5. View the Permissions Required by an Assembly 513
12-6. Determine at Runtime Whether Your Code Has a Specific Permission 515
12-7. Restrict Who Can Extend Your Classes and Override Class Members 516
12-8. Inspect an Assembly’s Evidence 518
12-9. Determine Whether the Current User Is a Member of a Specific Windows Group 521
12-10. Restrict Which Users Can Execute Your Code 524
12-11. Impersonate a Windows User 527
12-12. Create a Cryptographically Random Number 531
12-13. Calculate the Hash Code of a Password 532
12-14. Calculate the Hash Code of a File 536
12-15. Verify a Hash Code 538
12-16. Ensure Data Integrity Using a Keyed Hash Code 540
12-17. Work with Security-Sensitive Strings in Memory 543
12-18. Encrypt and Decrypt Data Using the Data Protection API 546
Code Interoperability 549
13-1. Call a Function in an Unmanaged DLL 550
13-2. Get the Handle for a Control, Window, or File 553
13-3. Call an Unmanaged Function That Uses a Structure 555
13-4. Call an Unmanaged Function That Uses a Callback 558
13-5. Retrieve Unmanaged Error Information 559
13-6. Use a COM Component in a .NET Client 561
13-7. Release a COM Component Quickly 563
13-8. Use Optional Parameters 564
13-9. Use an ActiveX Control in a .NET Client 566
13-10. Expose a .NET Component to COM 568
13-11. Use a Windows Presentation Foundation Control from a Windows Form 569
Commonly Used Interfaces and Patterns 571
14-1. Implement a Serializable Type 571
14-2. Implement a Cloneable Type 577
14-3. Implement a Comparable Type 581
14-4. Implement an Enumerable Type Using a Custom Iterator 585
14-5. Implement a Disposable Class 592
14-6. Implement a Type That Can Be Formatted 596
14-7. Implement a Custom Exception Class 599
14-8. Implement a Custom Event Argument 603
14-9. Implement the Singleton Pattern 605
14-10. Implement the Observer Pattern 607
Windows Integration 614
15-1. Access Runtime Environment Information 614
15-2. Retrieve the Value of an Environment Variable 618
15-3. Write an Event to the Windows Event Log 619
15-4. Read and Write to the Windows Registry 621
15-5. Search the Windows Registry 624
15-6. Create a Windows Service 627
15-7. Create a Windows Service Installer 632
15-8. Create a Shortcut on the Desktop or Start Menu 635
Index 639