Starting Out With Visual Basic 2008 Update

Tony Gaddis is the principal author of the Starting Out with series of textbooks. He has nearly two decades of experience teaching computer science courses, primarily at Haywood Community College. Tony is a highly acclaimed instructor who was previously selected as the North Carolina Community College Teacher of the Year, and has received the Teaching Excellence award from the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development. The Starting Out with series includes introductory textbooks covering Programming Logic and Design, Alice, C++, Java, Microsoft Visual Basic, and Python.

Chapter 1 Introduction to Programming and Visual Basic

1.1 Computer Systems: Hardware and Software

1.2 Programs and Programming Languages

TUTORIAL 1-1: Running the Wage Calculator application

TUTORIAL 1-2: Running an application that demonstrates event procedures

1.3 More about Controls and Programming

TUTORIAL 1-3: Running an application that demonstrates various controls

1.4 The Programming Process

1.5 Visual Studio and Visual Basic Express (the Visual Basic Environment)

TUTORIAL 1-4: Starting Visual Studio

TUTORIAL 1-5: Opening the Design, Solution Explorer, Dynamic Help, and Properties windows in Visual Studio

TUTORIAL 1-6: Getting familiar with Visual Studio

 

Chapter 2 Creating Applications with Visual Basic

2.1 Focus on Problem Solving: Building the Directions Application

TUTORIAL 2-1: Beginning the Directions application

TUTORIAL 2-2: Adding a Label control to the Directions application

TUTORIAL 2-3: Setting the Label’s TextAlign property

TUTORIAL 2-4: Changing the Label’s font size and style

TUTORIAL 2-5: Deleting a control

TUTORIAL 2-6: Inserting a PictureBox control

TUTORIAL 2-7: Saving and running the application

TUTORIAL 2-8: Closing a Visual Basic project

TUTORIAL 2-9: Opening an existing project

TUTORIAL 2-10: Using the Object box, Alphabetical button, and Categorized button

2.2 Focus on Problem Solving: Responding to Events

TUTORIAL 2-11: Placing the lblDirections, btnDisplayDirections, and btnExit controls in the Directions application

TUTORIAL 2-12: Writing event procedures for the Directions application

TUTORIAL 2-13: Changing the text colors

TUTORIAL 2-14: Setting the FormBorderStyle property and locking the controls in the Directions application

2.3 Modifying the Text Property with Code

TUTORIAL 2-15: Examining an application that displays messages

2.4 The AutoSize, BorderStyle, and TextAlign Properties

2.5 Clickable Images

TUTORIAL 2-16: Writing Click event procedures for PictureBox controls

2.6 Using Visual Studio Help

TUTORIAL 2-17: Using Dynamic Help in Visual Studio

2.7 Debugging Your Application

TUTORIAL 2-18: Locating a compile error in Design mode

 

Chapter 3 Variables and Calculations

3.1 Gathering Text Input

TUTORIAL 3-1: Using a TextBox control

TUTORIAL 3-2: Building the Date String application

TUTORIAL 3-3: Using the Focus method

TUTORIAL 3-4: Changing the tab order

TUTORIAL 3-5: Setting access keys, accept, and cancel buttons

3.2 Variables and Data Types

TUTORIAL 3-6: Assigning text to a variable

3.3 Performing Calculations

3.4 Mixing Different Data Types

TUTORIAL 3-7: Examining a Simple Calculator application

3.5 Formatting Numbers and Dates

TUTORIAL 3-8: Examining the Format Demo application

3.6 Exception Handling

TUTORIAL 3-9: Salary Calculation application with exception handling

3.7 Group Boxes and the Load Event Procedure

3.8 Focus on Program Design and Problem Solving: Building the Room Charge Calculator Application

TUTORIAL 3-10: Beginning the Room Charge Calculator application

TUTORIAL 3-11: Changing a label’s colors

3.9 More about Debugging: Locating Logic Errors

TUTORIAL 3-12: Single-stepping through an application’s code at runtime

 

Chapter 4 Making Decisions and Working with Strings

4.1 The Decision Structure

4.2 The If...Then Statement

TUTORIAL 4-1: Examining an application that uses the If...Then statement

4.3 The If...Then...Else Statement

TUTORIAL 4-2: Completing an application that uses the If...Then...Else statement

4.4 The If...Then...ElseIf Statement

TUTORIAL 4-3: Completing an application that uses the If...Then...ElseIf statement

TUTORIAL 4-4: Comparing an If...Then...ElseIf statement to a series of If...Then statements

4.5 Nested If Statements

TUTORIAL 4-5: Completing an application with a nested If statement

4.6 Logical Operators

4.7 Comparing, Testing, and Working with Strings

TUTORIAL 4-6: Examining an application that performs string comparisons

TUTORIAL 4-7: Completing a string searching application

4.8 Focus on GUI Design: The Message Box

4.9 The Select Case Statement

TUTORIAL 4-8: Examining Crazy Al’s Sales Commission Calculator application

4.10 Introduction to Input Validation

4.11 Focus on GUI Design: Radio Buttons and Check Boxes

TUTORIAL 4-9: Completing an application with radio buttons and check boxes

4.12 Class-Level Variables

4.13 Focus on Program Design and Problem Solving: Building the Health Club Membership Fee Calculator Application

TUTORIAL 4-10: Building the Health Club Membership Fee Calculator application

 

Chapter 5 Lists, Loops, Validation, and More

5.1 Input Boxes

5.2 List Boxes

TUTORIAL 5-1: Creating list boxes

5.3 Introduction to Loops: The Do While Loop

TUTORIAL 5-2: Completing an application that uses the Do While loop

TUTORIAL 5-3: Modifying the Do While Demo application to use a posttest loop

TUTORIAL 5-4: Using a loop to keep a running total

TUTORIAL 5-5: Examining an application that uses a user-controlled loop

5.4 The Do Until and For...Next Loops

TUTORIAL 5-6: Examining an application that uses the Do Until loop

TUTORIAL 5-7: Examining an application that uses the For...Next loop

TUTORIAL 5-8: Completing an application that uses the For...Next loop

5.5 Nested Loops

5.6 Multicolumn List Boxes, Checked List Boxes, and Combo Boxes

TUTORIAL 5-9: Creating combo boxes

5.7 Input Validation

TUTORIAL 5-10: Completing an application that demonstrates input validation

TUTORIAL 5-11: An example of inconvenient data input correction

TUTORIAL 5-12: Modifying the Validation Demo project to use the SelectAll method

5.8 ToolTips

TUTORIAL 5-13: Adding ToolTips to an application

5.9 Focus on Program Design and Problem Solving: Building the Vehicle Loan Calculator Application

TUTORIAL 5-14: Building the Vehicle Loan Calculator application

 

Chapter 6 Procedures and Functions

6.1 Procedures

TUTORIAL 6-1: Examining an application with a procedure

TUTORIAL 6-2: Creating a procedure

6.2 Passing Arguments to Procedures

TUTORIAL 6-3: Examining an application that demonstrates passing an argument to a procedure

TUTORIAL 6-4: Working with ByVal and ByRef

6.3 Functions

TUTORIAL 6-5: Examining the GPA Calculator application

6.4 More about Debugging: Stepping Into, Over, and Out of Procedures and Functions

TUTORIAL 6-6: Practicing the Step Into, Step Over, and Step Out commands

6.5 Focus on Program Design and Problem Solving: Building the Bagel and Coffee Price Calculator Application

TUTORIAL 6-7: Building the Bagel House application

 

Chapter 7 Multiple Forms, Standard Modules, and Menus

7.1 Multiple Forms

TUTORIAL 7-1: Completing an application that displays modal and modeless forms

TUTORIAL 7-2: Completing an application with multiple forms

7.2 Standard Modules

TUTORIAL 7-3: Examining an application that uses a standard module

7.3 Menus

TUTORIAL 7-4: Building a menu

7.4 Focus on Problem Solving: Building the High Adventure Travel Agency Price Quote Application

TUTORIAL 7-5: Building the High Adventure Travel Agency Price Quote application

 

Chapter 8 Arrays, Timers, and More

8.1 Arrays

TUTORIAL 8-1: Completing an application that uses an array

8.2 More about Array Processing

TUTORIAL 8-2: Examining an application that uses parallel arrays

8.3 Procedures and Functions That Work with Arrays

TUTORIAL 8-3: Examining an application with functions and with arrays

8.4 Multidimensional Arrays

TUTORIAL 8-4: Completing an application that sums the rows of a two-dimensional array

8.5 Focus on GUI Design: The Enabled Property, Timer Control, and Splash Screens

TUTORIAL 8-5: The Timer Demo

TUTORIAL 8-6: Creating a splash screen

8.6 Focus on GUI Design: Anchoring and Docking Controls

8.7 Random Numbers

TUTORIAL 8-7: Examining the CatchMe application

8.8 Focus on Problem Solving: Building the DemetrisLeadership CenterApplication

TUTORIAL 8-8: Building the Demetris Leadership Center Sales Reporting application

 

Chapter 9 Files, Printing, and Structures

9.1 Using Files

TUTORIAL 9-1: Completing an application that writes data to a file

TUTORIAL 9-2: Completing an application that reads a file

TUTORIAL 9-3: Examining an application that detects the end of a file

9.2 The OpenFileDialog, SaveFileDialog, FontDialog, and ColorDialog Controls

TUTORIAL 9-4: Creating a simple text editor application

9.3 The PrintDocument Control

TUTORIAL 9-5: Adding printing capabilities to the Simple Text Editor application

9.4 Structures

TUTORIAL 9-6: Examining an application with a structure

9.5 Focus on Problem Solving: Modifying the DemetrisLeadership CenterApplication

TUTORIAL 9-7: Modifying the Demetris Leadership Center Sales Reporting application

 

Chapter 10 Working with Databases

10.1 Database Management Systems

10.2 Database Concepts

10.3 DataGridView Control

TUTORIAL 10-1: Showing a database table in a DataGridView control

TUTORIAL 10-2: Sorting and updating the SalesStaff table