Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Visual Basic .NET 2003 in 24 Hours Complete Starter Kit

James Foxall, MCSD, is vice president of Tigerpaw Software, Inc., a Microsoft Certified Partner specializing in commercial database applications. He is responsible for management of all Windows application development, and is an authority on application interface and behavior standards of applications for the Microsoft Windows and Office environments. In addition to being a well-known book author, he contributes to several journals and magazines, speaks internationally, and teaches college-level courses on Visual Basic. He has been featured in news shows, trade publications, and newspaper articles for his technology expertise.

Introduction.
I. THE VISUAL BASIC .NET ENVIRONMENT.

Hour 1. Jumping In with Both Feet: A Visual Basic .NET


Programming Tour. Starting Visual Basic .NET. Creating a New Project. Understanding the Visual Studio .NET Environment. Changing the Characteristics of Objects. Designing an Interface. Writing the Code Behind an Interface. Designating a Startup Object. Running a Project. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Hour 2. Navigating Visual Basic .NET.


Using the Visual Studio .NET Start Page. Navigating and Customizing the Visual Basic Environment. Working with Toolbars. Adding Controls to a Form Using the Toolbox. Setting Object Properties Using the Properties Window. Managing Projects. A Quick-and-Dirty Programming Primer. Storing Values in Variables. Using Procedures to Write Functional Units of Code. MessageBox.Show(). Getting Help. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Hour 3. Understanding Objects and Collections.


Understanding Objects. Understanding Properties. Understanding Methods. Building a Simple Object Example Project. Understanding Collections. Using the Object Browser. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Hour 4. Understanding Events.


Understanding Event-Driven Programming. Building an Event Example Project. Keeping Event Names Current. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

II. BUILDING A USER INTERFACE.

Hour 5. Building Forms-The Basics.


Changing the Name of a Form. Changing the Appearance of a Form. Showing and Hiding Forms. Showing Forms. Understanding Form Modality. Unloading Forms. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Hour 6. Building Forms-Advanced Techniques.


Working with Controls. Creating TopMost Windows. Creating Transparent Forms. Creating Scrollable Forms. Creating MDI Forms. Setting the Startup Object. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Hour 7. Working with the Traditional Controls.


Displaying Static Text with the Label Control. Allowing Users to Enter Text Using a Text Box. Creating Buttons. Creating Containers and Groups of Option Buttons. Displaying a List with the List Box. Creating Drop-Down Lists Using the Combo Box. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Hour 8. Using Advanced Controls.


Creating Timers. Creating Tabbed Dialog Boxes. Storing Pictures in an Image List. Building Enhanced Lists Using the List View. Creating Hierarchical Lists with the Tree View. Adding Nodes to a Tree View. Removing Nodes. Clearing All Nodes. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Hour 9. Adding Menus and Toolbars to Forms.


Building Menus. Programming Menus. Using the Toolbar Control. Creating a Status Bar. Summary. Q&A. Workshop. Quiz. Exercises.

III. MAKING THINGS HAPPEN PROGRAMMING.

Hour 10. Creating and Calling Code Procedures.


Creating Visual Basic Code Modules. Writing Code Procedures. Creating the User Interface of Your Project. Calling Code Procedures. Exiting Procedures. Avoiding Infinite Recursion. Using Sub Main. Working with Tasks. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Hour 11. Using Constants, Data Types, Variables, and Arrays.


Understanding Data Types. Defining and Using Constants. Declaring and Referencing Variables. Working with Arrays. Determining Scope. Declaring Variables of Static Scope. Naming Conventions. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Hour 12. Performing Arithmetic, String Manipulation, and Date/Time Adjustments.


Performing Basic Arithmetic Operations with Visual Basic .NET. Comparing Equalities. Understanding Boolean Logic. Working with Dates and Times. Summary. Q&A. Workshop. Quiz. Exercises.

Hour 13. Making Decisions in Visual Basic Code.


Making Decisions Using If...Then. Evaluating an Expression for Multiple Values Using Select Case. Branching Within a Procedure Using GoTo. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Hour 14. Looping for Efficiency.


Looping a Specific Number of Times Using For...Next. Using Do...Loop to Loop an Indeterminate Number of Times. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Hour 15. Debugging Your Code.


Adding Comments to Your Code. Identifying the Two Basic Types of Errors. Using Visual Basic .NET's Debugging Tools. Writing an Error Handler Using. Try...Catch...Finally. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Hour 16. Designing Objects Using Classes.


Understanding Classes. Instantiating Objects from Classes. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Hour 17. Interacting with Users.


Displaying Messages Using the MessageBox.Show() Function. Creating Custom Dialog Boxes. Using InputBox() to Get Information from a User. Interacting with the Keyboard. Using the Common Mouse Events. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Hour 18. Working with Graphics.


Understanding the Graphics Object. Working with Pens. Using System Colors. Working with Rectangles. Drawing Shapes. Drawing Text. Persisting Graphics on a Form. Building a Graphics Project Example. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

IV. WORKING WITH DATA.

Hour 19. Performing File Operations.


Using the Open File Dialog and Save File Dialog Controls. Manipulating Files with the File Object. Manipulating Directories with the Directory Object. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Hour 20. Controlling Other Applications Using Automation.


Creating a Reference to an Automation Library. Creating an Instance of an Automation Server. Manipulating the Server. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Hour 21. Working with a Database.


Introducing ADO.NET. Manipulating Data. Using the Data Form Wizard. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

V. DEPLOYING SOLUTIONS AND BEYOND.

Hour 22. Deploying a Visual Basic .NET Application.


Creating a Custom Setup Program. Running a Custom Setup Program. Uninstalling an Application You've Distributed. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Hour 23. Introduction to Web Development.


Understanding ASP.NET. Creating Dynamic Web Content with Web Forms. XML Web Services. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Hour 24. Building a Real-World Application.


Building the Interface. Building the Menu. Building the Toolbar. Adding the List View to Display Albums. Adding the Browse For Database OpenFileDialog Control. Writing the Code of the CD Cataloger. Testing Your Application.

Appendix A. The 10,000-Foot View.


The .NET Framework. Common Language Runtime. Microsoft Intermediate Language. Namespaces. Common Type System. Garbage Collection.

Appendix B. Answers to the Quizzes.


Hour 1. Hour 2. Hour 3. Hour 4. Hour 5. Hour 6. Hour 7. Hour 8. Hour 9. Hour 10. Hour 11. Hour 12. Hour 13. Hour 14. Hour 15. Hour 16. Hour 17. Hour 18. Hour 19. Hour 20. Hour 21. Hour 22. Hour 23.

Index.