Chapter 11: Classes and Objects

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic

.NET, Second Edition
 Classes and Objects
Lesson A Objectives
• Define a class
• Add properties to a class
• Instantiate an object from a class that you define

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 2

 Defining a Class

• Classes that you define must specify the

properties and methods of the objects they
create
– Properties describe the characteristics of the
objects
– Methods specify the tasks that the objects can
perform

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 3

 Defining a Class (continued)

• Use the Class statement to define a class in

Visual Basic .NET
• Enter the Class statement in a class file
• After defining a class, you can use it to create
objects

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 4

 Defining a Class (continued)

Figure 11-3: Syntax and an example of the Class statement

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 5
 Defining a Class (continued)

Figure 11-4: Procedure for adding a class file to a project

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 6
 Defining a Class (continued)

Figure 11-7: Syntax and examples of creating an object from a

class
Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 7
 Using a Class That Contains
Properties Only
• The sales manager at Sweets Unlimited wants
an application to allow him to save each
salesperson’s name, quarterly sales amount, and
quarterly bonus amount in a sequential access
file
• The bonus amount is calculated by multiplying
the sales amount by 5%

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 8

 Using a Class That Contains
Properties Only (continued)

Figure 11-8: Sample run of the Sweets Unlimited application

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 9
 Using a Class That Contains
Properties Only (continued)
• The Salesperson class contains three properties:
Name, Sales, and Bonus
• Rules for naming properties
– A name should be composed of one or more
words, with the first letter of each word being
capitalized
– Use nouns and adjectives to name a property

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 10

 More on Classes and Objects
Lesson B Objectives
• Add Property procedures to a class
• Create constructors
• Add methods to a class

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 11

 Using a Class That Contains
Properties and Methods
• You will learn how to create a class named
Square and use the class in the Area application
• Square class
– Contains one property and two methods
– Creates an object that calculates and returns the
area of a square, using the side measurement
provided by the application

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 12

 Using a Class That Contains
Properties and Methods (continued)

Figure 11-11: Sample run of the Area application

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 13
 Using a Class That Contains
Properties and Methods (continued)
• An application cannot directly refer to a Private
variable in a class; it must refer to the variable
indirectly, through the use of a Public property
• You create a Public property using a Property
procedure

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 14

 Using a Class That Contains
Properties and Methods (continued)

Figure 11-13: Syntax and an example of creating a Property

procedure
Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 15
 Using a Class That Contains
Properties and Methods (continued)

Figure 11-13: Syntax and an example of creating a Property

procedure (continued)
Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 16
 Using a Class That Contains
Properties and Methods (continued)
• Within the Property procedure you define a Get
block of code and a Set block of code
• Code in the Get block allows an application to
retrieve the contents of the Private variable
associated with the property
• Code in the Set block allows the application to
assign a value to the Private variable associated
with the property

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 17

 Using a Class That Contains
Properties and Methods (continued)
• The Get block uses the Get statement, which
begins with the keyword Get and ends with the
keywords End Get
• The Set block uses the Set statement, which
begins with the keyword Set and ends with the
keywords End Set

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 18

 Constructors

• A constructor is a method whose instructions the

computer processes, automatically, each time an
object is created (instantiated) from the class
• The purpose of a constructor is to initialize the
variables of the class

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 19

 Constructors (continued)

Figure 11-14: Syntax and an example of creating a constructor

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 20
 Constructors (continued)

• Every class should have at least one constructor

• A constructor that has no parameters is called
the default constructor
• Each constructor included in a class has the
same name, New, but its parameters (if any)
must be different from any other constructor in
the class

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 21

 Methods Other Than Constructors

• Methods, other than constructors, included in a

class can be either Sub procedures or Function
procedures
• Rules for naming methods
– Names should be composed of one or more
words, with the first letter of each word being
capitalized
– The first word in a name should be a verb;
subsequent words should be nouns and adjectives

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 22

 Methods Other Than Constructors
(continued)

Figure 11-15: Syntax and an example of creating a method that

is not a constructor
Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 23
 Coding the Cornwall Calendars
Application
Lesson C Objectives
• Create a class that contains more than one
constructor
• Include data validation in a class

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 24

 Using a Class That Contains Two
Constructors and Data
Validation
• MyDate class
– Contains more than one constructor
– Performs data validation
– Creates an object that returns a month number,
followed by a slash, and a day number
• MyDate class is used in the Personnel
application

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 25

 Using a Class That Contains Two
Constructors and Data
Validation (continued)

Figure 11-18: Sample run of the Personnel application

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 26
 Using a Class That Contains Two
Constructors and Data
Validation (continued)
• MyDate class contains:
– Two Private variables: monthNum and dayNum
– Two Property procedures: Month and Day
– Three methods: two named New and one named
GetNewDate

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 27

 Coding the Cornwall Calendars
Application
• Cornwall Calendars application
– Created for Jesse Washington, the manager of the
Accounts Payable department at Cornwall
Calendars
– Should allow Jesse to record (in a sequential
access file) the check number, date, payee, and
amount of each check written by his department

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 28

 Coding the Cornwall Calendars
Application (continued)

Figure 11-21: Interface for the Cornwall Calendars application

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 29
 Coding the Cornwall Calendars
Application (continued)

Figure 11-22: TOE chart for the Cornwall Calendars application

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 30
 Coding the Cornwall Calendars
Application (continued)

Figure 11-22: TOE chart for the Cornwall Calendars application

(continued)
Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 31
 Creating the Check Class

• The Check class will contain four properties and

two methods
• The Cornwall Calendars application will use the
Check class to create a Check object
– It will store the user input in the object’s properties
– It will use the object’s methods to initialize the
Private variables and save the check information
to a sequential access file

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 32

 Creating the Check Class
(continued)

Figure 11-23: Pseudocode for the Check class

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 33
 Coding the uiSaveButton Click Event
Procedure

Figure 11-31: Pseudocode for the uiSaveButton’s Click event

procedure
Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 34
Coding the uiSaveButton Click Event
Procedure (continued)
• The selection structure in the pseudocode
determines whether the user entered the check
information—in this case, the check number,
date, payee, and amount
• If the user neglected to enter one or more of the
items, the selection structure’s false path should
display an appropriate message

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 35

 Coding the uiSaveButton Click Event
Procedure (continued)

Figure 11-34: Message box that appears when the user does
not enter all of the check information
Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 36
 Summary

• Two versions of the syntax used to create

(instantiate) an object from a class:
– Version 1:
{Dim | Private} objectVariable As class
objectVariable = New class
– Version 2:
{Dim | Private} objectVariable As New class
• To access the properties of an object, use the
syntax: objectVariable.property
Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 37
 Summary (continued)

• To create a Public property, use a Property

procedure
– The Get block allows an application to retrieve the
contents of the Private variable associated with
the property
– The Set block allows an application to assign a
value to the Private variable associated with the
property

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 38

 Summary (continued)

• A constructor that has no parameters is called

the default constructor
• To include more than one constructor in a class,
each constructor’s parameters must be different
from any other constructor in the class
• To include data validation in a class, place the
data validation in the Set block of a Property
procedure

Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition 39