PROCEDURES

Procedure
This refers to a self-contained group of Visual Basic instructions/statements that is made to perform a
designated task i.e. each procedure’s functionality should be limited to the performance of a single, well-defined
task. Procedures facilitate code reuse because they can be called by event handlers and other procedures
The classes supplied by the .NET Framework class library all contain procedures and they can appear in a
Class or Module block

Modularity
Effective programs include modularity. Each “module” is composed of Subroutines (Methods, Procedures and
Functions). Using modularity in programs increases: clarity, organization, manageability and reusability

Procedures and Access Modifiers

Access modifiers control the visibility of procedures
 A Private procedure can only be called from the module containing the procedure declaration
 Procedures declared with the Public and Friend access modifiers can be called by other modules and
classes

Types of Procedures
There are two types of general procedures:
1. Sub procedures that perform actions, but are not associated with any specific event such as a click event
and don’t return a value to the calling procedure. The Exit Sub statement causes the sub procedure to exit
immediately

Syntax:
[Public|Private] Sub ProcedureName([arguments])
Declarations & statements
End Sub

– ProcedureName is the name of the procedure being created.

– Arguments is a list of optional arguments (separated by commas) to be used in the procedure.
– Declarations define variables and constants used within the procedure.
– Statements is the block of statements that accomplish the work of the procedure.

2. Function procedures (also called user-defined functions [UDFs] or simply functions) that perform
actions, which are not associated with any specific event and also return a value. You use functions to
calculate values that are returned to the calling procedure . The Exit Function statement causes the function
to exit immediately

Syntax:
[Public|Private]Function FunctionName([arguments]) [As Return Type]
function statements
[Return expression]
End Function

– FunctionName is the name of the function being created.

– arguments is a list of optional arguments (separated by commas) to be used in the function.
– As Type option that specifies the function’s return type
– Function statements is a block of statements that include the local declarations and accomplish the
work of the function

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Creating a Sub Procedure
To create a sub procedure, you need to type the following line and press the Enter key (give the sub procedure
some unique, meaningful name):
Private Sub ProcedureName

This causes VB to add parentheses and the End Sub statement. You can then add your code inside the
procedure.

Example of a Program with General Sub Procedure

Suppose the program below was divided between two or more computer programmers. One programmer might
be assigned to write the code to extract the first name from the fullname – this divides up the work load for a
large programming project. The FirstName procedure will be executed by calling it from the Determine
Button

FullNameTextBox

FirstNameTextBox

Public Class ExtractFirstNameForm

Private Sub DetermineButton_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal
e As EventArgs) Handles DetermineButton.Click
Dim name As String
name = FullNameTextBox.Text
Call FirstName(name)
End Sub

Private Sub FirstName(ByVal name As String)

Dim firstSpace As Integer
firstSpace = name.IndexOf(" ")
FirstNameTextBox.Text = name.Substring(0, firstSpace)
End Sub
End Class

Creating a Function Procedure

Create a function by typing:
Private Function FunctionName() As Datatype

You must specify the Datatype that the function returns – this is done with the As Datatype clause in the
function declaration.

Example
Write a complete Visual Basic program that accepts the radius of a sphere using a textbox control upon the click
of a button control. The program should then use a function procedure to calculate its volume, which is then
displayed in a textbox control. Use the formula shown below for volume calculation:

Design and implementation of Computer Applications ~ MO Page 2 of 7

 Public Class SpherForm
Private Function ComputeVolume(ByVal SRadius As Double) As Double
ComputeVolume = 4/3 * Math.PI * SRadius ^ 3
End Function

Private Sub VolumeButton_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As

System.EventArgs) Handles VolumeButton.Click
Dim Radius, Volume As Double
Radius = Double.Parse(RadiusTextBox.Text,
Globalization.NumberStyles.Number)
Volume = ComputeVolume(Radius)
VolumeTextBox.Text = Volume.ToString("N2")
End Sub
End Class

In the example above the function named ComputeVolume receives a double parameter that is passed to
the function. The value incoming to the function is stored in the parameter variable named SRadius.

Function Return
There are two ways to return a value from a function:
1. Set the function name to the value to be returned inside the function.
2. Use the optional Return statement as is done below.

Private Function ComputeVolume(ByVal CRadius As Double) As Double

Dim SphereVolume As Double
SphereVolume = 4/3 * Math.PI * Radius ^ 3
Return SphereVolume
End Function

Notice that the Return statement terminates execution of the method and returns the value. It can occur
anywhere in method/procure

Calling a Function
Procedures are called by name and optionally a list of arguments follows this name.
 A function that returns a value must be used in on the right-hand side of an assignment statement.
 The value returned is stored to the variable in the assignment statement
 The parameter(s) must be passed to the function by the calling statement.
Both sub and function procedures can have zero, one, or more arguments in the parameter list. The calling and
called procedure must pass/receive the same type of data for each argument in the parameter list.

Types of Parameters
There are two types of parameters:
i). Actual Parameters: - This are substituted for the formal parameter at the time the procedure is called. Each
data type must be assignment compatible with the data type of its corresponding formal parameter.
ii). Formal Parameters: - This a list of “place marker” names used in the procedure’s declaration. It can
include the data type of the valued parameters.

Rules about Passing Arguments (Parameters)

• Arguments passed to a sub/function procedure must be the same type of data that the sub/function
procedure receives into a parameter.
• Argument values must be passed if the sub/function procedure has an argument list.
• In the procedure call, the number and type of arguments sent to the sub/function procedure must match the
number and type of arguments in the sub declaration.

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Example:
Consider the following sub procedure:
Private Sub PrintPay(hours As Short, wage As Double)
Dim GrossPay As Double
GrossPay = hours * wage
End Sub
The following will be the expected procedure call
PrintPay(40, 10.00)
Or
Call PrintPay(40, 10.00)

Argument Passing Mechanism

Parameters can receive an argument value using either ByVal or ByRef.
1). Call-by-Value (ByVal ) sends a copy of the argument's value to the procedure so the procedure does not
alter the original copy of the value. Parameters can also be defined as ByVal in the Call Statement by using
two sets of parentheses. Because Call-by-value makes a copy of the value within a variable, it could be
memory consuming if the value is large.
2). Call-by-Reference (ByRef) sends the memory location of the value to the procedure so that if the value is
modified, the original copy is modified.

Examples:
Private Function ComputeVolume(ByVal CRadius As Double) As Double

Private Function ComputeVolume(ByRef CRadius As Double) As Double

Using Regions to Organize Code

The #Region statement can be used to organize the code in a program as the size of the program grows.
 This #Region statement is used to create a region for the storage of sub and function procedures.
 The sub and function procedures can be cut/pasted into the region and the region can be collapsed.
 One approach for organizing code is to organize according to functionality.

#Region "Function Procedures"

#End Region

This figure shows the main program organized with regions.

E.g
'Project: VBUniversity (Solution)
Application Programming Notes ~ Wainaina Page 4 of 7
 'Author name
'Today's Date
Option Strict On
Public Class Payroll
#Region "Module level variable and constant declarations"
'Module level variable/constant declarations
Private RetirementRateDecimal As Decimal
#End Region

Optional Arguments
The caller has the option of passing a particular argument.
 Must specify a default value that is assigned to the parameter if the optional argument is not passed
 All optional parameters must be placed to the right of the method’s non-optional parameters
 Specified in the procedure header with the keyword Optional.

E.g.
Function Power (ByVal base As Integer, Optional exponent As Long = 2)
Function calls
Call Power() ‘Causes syntax error
Call Power(2)
Call Power(10,3)

DIALOG BOXES
1. MessageBox class and MsgBox function
Visual Studio provides both the MsgBox function and the MessageBox class for displaying text in a message
box/ dialog box (i.e. displaying output to the user). The results of the function call can be assigned to a
variable.
The MessageBox class is part of the System.Windows.Forms namespace; it takes arguments much like MsgBox,
and it is displayed by using the Show method. This dialogs are extremely handy for software-user
communication and for debugging purposes

The MessageBox Show Method

This is a method that generates a standard dialog box, which displays a message, a caption, an icon and one or
more standard button groups.

Syntax
Public Shared Function Show( ByVal caption As String, ByVal title As String, ByVal buttons As
MessageBoxButtons, ByVal icon As MessageBoxIcon) As DialogResult

 caption contains the message

 title appears in the title bar
 buttons defines the button(s)
 icon defines the icon

The following are enumerations that work with the MessageBox class
Enumeration Members
MessageBoxButtons OK, OKCancel, YesNo, YesNoCancel, AbortRetryIgnore
MessageBoxIcon None, Information, Error, Warning, Exclamation, Question,
Asterisk, Hand, Stop
MessageBoxDefaultButton Button1, Button2, Button3
DialogResult OK, Cancel, Yes, No, Abort, Retry, Ignore

Application Programming Notes ~ Wainaina Page 5 of 7

Example 1
The following is a procedure that prompts the user by displaying a message box with Yes and No buttons on
whether to exit application or not

Private Sub ExitButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As

System.EventArgs) Handles ExitButton.Click
'Close the form if the system user responds Yes
Dim MessageString As String = "Do you want to close the form?"
Dim ButtonDialogResult As DialogResult =
MessageBox.Show(MessageString, "Quit?", MessageBoxButtons.YesNo,
MessageBoxIcon.Question, MessageBoxDefaultButton.Button2)
If ButtonDialogResult = Windows.Forms.DialogResult.Yes Then
Me.Close()
End If
End Sub

MsgBox Function
This is a function used to display a dialog box, wait for the user to click a button and returns an integer value
indicating which button the user clicked.
Syntax: MsgBox (Prompt, Button, Title, HelpFile, Context)

Buttons: This is a number expression that is the sum of values specifying the number and type of buttons to
display, the icon style to use, the identity of the default button and the modality of the message box. If omitted,
the default value is 0. This argument is optional.

Example 2
The following is a procedure that prompts the user by displaying a message box with Yes and No buttons on
whether to exit application or not

Private Sub ExitButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)

Handles ExitButton.Click
'Close the form if the system user responds Yes
Dim MessageString As String = "Do you want to close the form?"
Dim response As Integer =
MsgBox(MessageString, vbYesNo + vbQuestion + vbDefaultButton2, "Quit?")
If response = vbYes Then
Me.Close()
End If
End Sub

2. InputBox Dialog
This is a named Visual Basic function that displays a standard dialog box on the screen and prompts the user for
input. The input is returned as a text string to the program. In addition to a prompt string, the InputBox function
supports other arguments that you might want to use occasionally.

Syntax
Public Shared Function InputBox (ByVal prompt As String, Optional ByVal title As String,
Optional ByVal defaultResponse As String, Optional ByVal xPos As Integer, Optional ByVal yPos As Integer)
As String

 prompt contains a descriptive prompt

 title appears on the title bar
 defaultResponse contains the default value
 xPos and YPos contain the coordinate values where the input box will appear

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Example
Write a Visual Basic program that inputs two integer numbers using Inputbox dialogs and computes the sum
and average of the numbers after a click of a button control. The program should display the sum and average
using a message box dialog. Design your GUI

Appropriate GUI

ComputeNumbersForm

SumandAverageButton

ExitButton

Program Code
Public Class ComputeNumbersForm

Private Sub SumandAverageButton_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)

Handles SumandAverageButton.Click
Dim Number1Integer, Number2Integer As Integer
Dim SumInteger As Integer, AverageSingle As Single
Number1Integer = Integer.Parse(InputBox("Enter the first number", "Inputs"))
Number2Integer = Integer.Parse(InputBox("Enter the second number", "Inputs"))
SumInteger = Number1Integer + Number2Integer
AverageSingle = Convert.ToSingle(SumInteger) / 2
MessageBox.Show("Sum is " & SumInteger.ToString() & ControlChars.NewLine &
"Average is " & AverageSingle.ToString(), "Results", MessageBoxButtons.OK,
MessageBoxIcon.Information)
End Sub

End Class

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