Managing Data

Unit 4

Managing Data
Introduction
We come across many types of information and data in our daily life. For
example, we need to handle data such as name, address, money, date,
phone no and more every day. Similarly in Visual Basic 2008, we have to
deal with all sorts of data; some can be mathematically calculated while
some are in the form of text or other forms. VB2008 divides data into
different types so that it is easier to manage when we need to write the
code involving those data. In this unit, we‘ll explore the basic data types,
keywords of Visual Basic 2008.

Lesson 4.1
Data types
Upon completion of this unit you will be able to:

 Define data type.

 Use data types properly.

Outcomes

Data type
A data type in a programming language is a set of data with values having
predefined characteristics. Usually, a limited number of such data types
come built into a language. The language usually specifies the range of
values for a given data type, how the values are processed by the
computer, and how they are stored. When you develop a program, you
must need to work with different types of data such as numeric, floating
point, Boolean, String, character etc. With object-oriented programming,
a programmer can create new data types to meet application needs. Data
types define particular characteristics of data used in software programs
and inform the compilers about predefined attributes required by specific
variables or associated data objects.

Visual Basic 2008 Data types

Visual Basic classifies data into two major data types, they are
 Numeric data types and
 Non-numeric data types.

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Numeric Data Types

Numeric data types are types of data that comprise numbers, which we
can process them mathematically using various standard arithmetic
operators. Examples of numeric data types are the number of students in a
class, examination marks, prices of goods, monthly bills and more. Visual
Basic 2008 divides numeric data into seven types, depending on the range
of values they can store. Calculations that only involve round figures or
data that do not need precision can use Integer or Long integer in the
computation. Programs that require high precision calculation need to use
Single and Double decision data types, they are also called floating-point
numbers. For currency calculation, you can use the currency data types.
Lastly, if even more precision is required to perform calculations that
involve a many decimal points, we can use the decimal data types. These
data types summarized in Table 1
Table 1: Numeric Data Types

Data type Storage Range

Byte 1 byte 0 to 255

Integer 2 bytes -32,768 to 32,767

Long 4 bytes -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,648

Single 4 bytes -3.402823E+38 to -1.401298E-45 for negative

values
1.401298E-45 to 3.402823E+38 for positive
values.
Double 8 bytes -1.79769313486232e+308 to -
4.94065645841247E-324 for negative values
4.94065645841247E-324 to
1.79769313486232e+308 for positive values.

Currency 8 bytes -922,337,203,685,477.5808 to

922,337,203,685,477.5807
Decimal 12 bytes +/- 79,228,162,514,264,337,593,543,950,335 if
no decimal is use
+/- 7.9228162514264337593543950335 (28
decimal places).

Non-numeric Data Types

Non-numeric data types are data that cannot be manipulated
mathematically using standard arithmetic operators. The non-numeric
data comprises text or string data types, the Date data types, the Boolean
data types that store only two values (true or false), Object data type and
Variant data type .They are summarized in Table 2

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Table 2: Nonnumeric Data Types

Data Type Storage Range

String(fixed length) Length of string 1 to 65,400 characters

String(variable length) Length + 10 bytes 0 to 2 billion characters

Date 8 bytes January 1, 100 to December

31, 9999

Boolean 2 bytes True or False

Object 4 bytes Any embedded object

Variant(numeric) 16 bytes Any value as large as

Double

Variant(text) Length+22 bytes Same as variable-length

string

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Lesson 4.2

Variables
Upon completion of this unit you will be able to:

 Declare variables
 Assign values to the variables.

Outcomes

Variable
A variable is nothing but a name given to a storage area that our
programs can manipulate. Each variable in VB has a specific type, which
determines the size and layout of the variable's memory; the range of
values that can be stored within that memory; and the set of operations
that can be applied to the variable.

Variables are areas allocated by the computer memory to hold data.

Note it!

Declaring Variables
In Visual Basic 2008, you need to declare the variables before you can
use them by assigning names and data types. If you fail to do so, the
program will show an error. They are normally declared in the general
section of the codes' windows using the Dim statement. The syntax is as
follows:
Dim Variable Name As Data Type
Example
Dim total As Integer
Dim name As String
Dim doDate As Date
You may also combine them in one line, separating each variable with a
comma, as follows:
Dim total As Integer, name As String, doDate As Date.

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Rules naming Variable

The following are the rules when naming the variables in Visual Basic
2008
 It must be less than 255 characters
 No spacing is allowed
 It must not begin with a number
 Period is not permitted

Assigning Values to Variables

We can assign an initial value to a variable using the Dim keyword, the
syntax is as follows:
Dim VariableName as DataType =Expression
The following are some examples:
Dim name As String = "Rony"
Dim mark1 As integer = 100
Dim mark2 As integer = 80
Dim total As Single = Mark1 + Mark2
Dim average As Single = Total / 2

Constants
Constants are different from variables in the sense that their values do not
change during the execution of the program. The format to declare a
constant is
Const Constant Name As Data Type = Value

1. Which of the following are invalid variable names?

10years
55
"BOU"
Activity Abc99

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Lesson 4.3

Keywords
Upon completion of this unit you will be able to:

 Define Keyword.

 Use Keyword.

Outcomes

Keyword
Keyword is predefined, reserved identifier that has special meanings to
the compiler. Visual basic has several keywords. Keywords are used to
perform specific task. A keyword is an essential part of language
definition. They cannot be used as identifiers or variables in your
program.

Types of keywords
Visual basic 2008 provides the following two types of keywords:
 Reserved keywords
 Unreserved keywords

Reserved keywords
Reserved keywords are those words, these are not be used as
programming elements like variables and procedures. The following table
shows the available reserved keyword in visual basic 2008.
#Const #Else #Elseif #End #EIf
= & &= * *=
/ /= \ \= ^
^= + += = -=
AddHandler AddressOf Alias And AndAlso
As Boolean ByRef Byte ByVal
Call Case Catch CBool CByte
CChar CDate CDec CDbl Char
CInt Class CLng CObj Const
Continue CSbyte CShort CSng CStr

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Keywords

CType CUInt CULng CUShort Date

Decimal Declare Default Delegate Dim
DirectCast Do Double Each Else
ElseIf End EndIf Enum Erase
Error Event Exit False Finally
For Friend Function Get GetType
Global GoSub GoTo Handles If
Implements Imports In Inherits Integer
Interface Is IsNot Let Lib
Like Long Loop Me Mod
Module MustInherit MustOverride MyBase MyClass
Namespace Narrowing New Next Not
Nothing NotInheritable NotOverridable Object Of
On Operator Option Optimal Or
OrElse Overloads Overridable Overrides ParamArray
Partial Private Property Protected Public
RaiseEvent ReadOnly ReDim REM RemoveHandler
Resume Return SByte Select Set
Shadows Shared Short Single Static
Step Stop String Structure Sub
SyncLock Then Throw To True
Try TryCast TypeOf Variant Wend
UInteger ULong Ushort Using When
While Wibening With WithEvents WriteOnly
Write WriteLine XOR Year

Unreserved keywords
Unreserved keywords are those words; these are used as programming
elements like variables and procedures. The following table shows the
available reserved keyword in Visual Vasic 2008.

Aggregate Ansi Assembly Auto Binary

Compare Custom Distinct Equals Explicit
From Group By Group Join Into IsFalse
IsTrue Join Mid Off Order By
Preserve Skip Skip While Strict Take
Take While Text Unicode Until Where
#External #Region
source

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Lesson 4.4

Mathematical Operations
Upon completion of this unit you will be able to:

 Use mathematical operators.

Outcomes

Mathematical Operations
Computers can perform mathematical calculations much faster than
human beings do. However, computer itself is not able to do any
mathematical calculations without receiving instructions from the user. In
VB2008, we can write code to instruct the computer to perform
mathematical calculations like addition, subtraction, multiplication,
division and other kinds of arithmetic operations. VB2008 arithmetic
operators are very similar to the normal arithmetic operators, only with
slight variations. The plus and minus operators are the same while the
multiplication operator use the * symbol and the division operator use the
/ symbol. The list of VB2008 arithmetic operators are shown in below:
Table 1: Arithmetic Operators

Operator Mathematical Operation Example

+ Addition 1+2=3

- Subtraction 4-1=3

^ Exponential 2^4=16

* Multiplication 4*3=12

/ Division 12/4=3

Mod Modulus (return the remainder 15 Mod 4=3 255 mod

from an integer division) 10=5

\ Integer Division (discards the 19\4=4

decimal
places)

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Mathematical Operations

We will demonstrate arithmetic operations using an example. In this

example, you need to insert two Text boxes, ten labels and one button.
Click the button and enter the code as shown below. When you run the
program, it will perform the four basic arithmetic operations and display
the results on the four labels.

PrivateSub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As

System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
Dim sum, num1, num2, difference, product, quotient AsSingle
num1 = TextBox1.Text
num2 = TextBox2.Text
sum = num1 + num2
difference = num1 - num2
product = num1 * num2
quotient = num1 / num2
Label3.Text = sum
Label4.Text = difference
Label5.Text = product
Label6.Text = quotient
EndSub

Mathematical Order of Operations

The order in which operations are performed determines the result.
Consider the expression
3+4*2
What is the result?
If the addition is done first, the result is 14 or the multiplication is done
first, the result is 11.

The hierarchy of operations in arithmetic expressions from highest to low

is
1. Parentheses

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2. Exponentiation
3. Multiplication & Division
4. Integer Division
5. Modulus
6. Addition & Subtraction

In the previous example the multiplication is done before the addition so

the result is 11. To change the order of evaluation use parentheses (3+4)
*2

Comparison Operators
Comparison operators compare two expressions and return a Boolean
value that represents the relationship of their values. Visual Basic
compares numeric values using six numeric comparison operators.
Normally they are used to compare two values to see whether they are
equal or one value is greater or less than the other value. The comparison
will return a true or false result. These operators are shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Conditional Operators

Operator Condition tested Examples

= (Equality) Is the value of the first expression 12 = 22 ' False

equal to the value of the second?
12 = 12 ' True

<> Is the value of the first expression 22 <> 22 ' True

(Inequality) unequal to the value of the
second? 23 <> 23 ' False

< (Less than) Is the value of the first expression 15 < 25 ' True
less than the value of the second?
22 <22 ' False

> (Greater Is the value of the first expression 23 > 33 ' False
than) greater than the value of the
second? 23 > 12 ' True

<= (Less than Is the value of the first expression 23 <= 33 ' True
or equal to) less than or equal to the value of
the second? 23 <= 23 ' True

23 <= 12 ' False

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>= (Greater Is the value of the first expression 15 >= 25 ' False
than or equal greater than or equal to the value
to) of the second? 15 >= 15 ' True

15 >= 12 ' True

Logical Operators
Sometimes we might need to make more than one comparison before a
decision can be made and an action taken. In this case, using numerical
comparison operators alone is not sufficient, we need to use additional
operators, and they are the logical operators. These logical operators are
shown in Table 3.
Table 3: Conditional Operators

Operator Meaning
And Both sides must be true
or One side or other must be
true
Xor One side or other must be
true but not both
Not Negates truth

Unit summary
In this unit you have learned how to recognize and use Visual Basic data.
Visual Basic supports 14 data types, and you must know how to specify
literals and declare variables that take on those data types. Once you
Summary know the data types and variables, you can perform calculations that
assign the results of expressions to variables and controls.

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Assessment
Exercise

1. What is a data type?

Assessment
2. What is the difference between a String and a Boolean data type?

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