1

T U T O R I A L

Enhancing the
6
Inventory
Application
Introducing Variables, Memory
Concepts and Arithmetic

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 2

Outline

6.1 Test-Driving the Enhanced Inventory

Application
6.2 Variables
6.3 Handling the TextChanged Event
6.4 Memory Concepts
6.5 Arithmetic
6.6 Using the Debugger: Breakpoints

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 3

Objectives

In this tutorial you will learn:

■ Create variables.
■ Handle the TextChanged event.
■ Apply basic memory concepts using variables.
■ Understand the precedence rules of arithmetic
operators.
■ Set breakpoints to debug applications.

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6.1 Test-Driving the Enhanced Inventory Application

Application Requirements

The inventory manager notices a flaw in your Inventory

application. Although the application calculates the correct
result, that result continues to display even after new data is
entered. The only time the output changes is when the
inventory manager clicks the Calculate Total Button
again. You need to alter the Inventory application to clear
the result as soon as the user enters new information into
either of the TextBoxes, to avoid any confusion over the
accuracy of your calculated result.

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Test-Driving the Enhanced Inventory Application

■ Open Inventory3.sln to test-drive the

application (Fig. 6.1).

Figure 6.1 | Inventory application GUI displayed when the application runs.

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Test-Driving the Enhanced
Inventory Application (Cont.)

■ Enter a value into each TextBox and click

Calculate Total (Fig. 6.2).

Figure 6.2 | Running the Inventory application.

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Test-Driving the Enhanced
Inventory Application (Cont.)

■ The result displayed in the Total: Label will be

removed (Fig. 6.3) when the user enters a new
quantity in either TextBox.

Cleared output Label

Figure 6.3 | Enhanced Inventory application clears output Label after new input.

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6.2 Variables

■ A variable holds data for your application.

– Unlike the Text property of a Label, variable values are
not shown to the user by default.
– Using variables in an application allows you to store and
manipulate data.
– Variables store data such as numbers, the date, the time
and so on.
– However, each variable used in Visual Basic corresponds
to exactly one type of information.
■ All variables must be declared by using program
code.
– Declarations that you’ll make within event handlers begin
with the keyword Dim.
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Using Variables in the Inventory Application

■ Open the Inventory application’s template file.

■ Enter Code view by selecting View > Code (Fig. 6.4).
■ Lines 8–10 declare that variables cartons, items and
result store data of type Integer, using the As
keyword.

Click event handler

Variable declarations

Figure 6.4 | Declaring variables in event handler calculateButton_Click.

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Good Programming Practice

Use only letters and digits as characters for your
variable names.

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Good Programming Practice

Typically, variable-name identifiers begin with a
lowercase letter. Every word in the name after the first
word should begin with a capital letter—for example,
firstNumber. This is often called camel case.

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Using Variables in the
Inventory Application (Cont.)

■ Once the user enters numbers and clicks Calculate

Total, the values found in the Text property of each
TextBox control are converted to numerical values by the
Val function.
■ Line 13 (Fig. 6.5) is read as “cartons gets the result of
the Val function applied to cartonsTextBox.Text.”

Assigning user input to variables

Figure 6.5 | Retrieving numerical input from TextBoxes.

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6.2 Variables (Cont.)

■ The Val function returns a numerical value as

data type Double when converting a value
retrieved from a TextBox’s Text property.
– Data type Double is used to store both whole and
fractional numbers.
– Normally, Doubles store floating-point numbers, which are
numbers with decimal points such as 2.3456
and –845.4680.

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6.2 Variables (Cont.)

■ Lines 13–14 implicitly convert the Doubles to

Integer values. This process is called implicit
conversion because the conversion is performed
by Visual Basic without any additional code.
– Implicit conversions from Double to Integer are
generally considered poor programming practice due to
the potential loss of information.

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6.2 Variables (Cont.)

■ Visual Basic defines 15 primitive data types

(listed in Fig. 6.6), such as Integer.
■ Primitive data type names are also keywords.
■ Visual Basic also defines the type Object.
■ Together, the primitive data types and type
Object are known as built-in data types.
Built in (primitive) data types
Boolean Date Integer Long Short
Byte Decimal Single Char Double
SByte String UInteger ULong UShort

Figure 6.6 | Visual Basic built-in data types.

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Using Variables in a Calculation

■ The statement in line 17 (Fig. 6.7) multiplies the Integer

variable cartons by items and assigns the result to
variable result, using the assignment operator =.
■ The statement is read as, “result gets the value of
cartons * items.”

Calculating and
displaying the result

Figure 6.7 | Multiplication, using variables in calculateButton_Click.

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Using Variables in a Calculation (Cont.)

■ Line 20 assigns the calculation’s result to

totalResultLabel’s Text property. The Label
then displays the result (Fig. 6.8).

Result of
calculation

Figure 6.8 | Displaying the multiplication result using variables.

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Handling the TextChanged Event

■ Double click the Cartons per shipment: TextBox to

generate an event handler for the TextChanged­event
(Fig. 6.9).
■ The notation "" in line 28 is called an empty string, which
is a value that does not contain
any characters.

TextChanged event handler

Figure 6.9 | TextChanged event handler for Cartons per shipment: TextBox.

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Handling the TextChanged Event (Cont.)

■ You want the result cleared regardless of which

TextBox changes value first.
■ Double click the Items per carton: TextBox, and
add these lines (Fig. 6.10) to perform the same task
as Line 28.

Figure 6.10 | TextChanged event handler for Items per carton: TextBox.

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Outline

■ Figure 6.11 presents the source code for the

Inventory application. (1 of 2 )

1 Public Class InventoryForm

2 ' handles Click event
3 Private Sub calculateButton_Click(ByVal sender As _
4 System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
5 Handles calculateButtton.Click
6
7 ' declare variables Use keyword Dim to declare
8 Dim cartons As Integer variables inside
9 Dim items As Integer an event handler
10 Dim result As Integer
11
12 ' retrieve numbers from TextBoxes
Assigning a property’s value to a
13 cartons = Val(cartonsTextBox.Text)
variable
14 items = Val(itemsTextBox.Text)
15
16 ' multiply two numbers
17 result = cartons * items
18

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Outline

(2 of 2 )
19 ' display result in Label Assigning a
20 totalResultLabel.Text = result variable’s value
21 End Sub ' calculateButton_Click to a property
22
23 ' handles TextChanged event for cartonsTextBox
24 Private Sub cartonsTextBox_TextChanged(ByVal sender As _
25 System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
26 Handles cartonsTextBox.TextChanged
27
Setting a Label’s Text
28 totalResultLabel.Text = "" ' clear output Label
property to an empty string
29 End Sub ' cartonsTextBox_TextChanged
30
31 ' handles TextChanged event for itemsTextBox
32 Private Sub itemsTextBox_TextChanged(ByVal sender As _
33 System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
34 Handles itemsTextBox.TextChanged
35
36 totalResultLabel.Text = "" ' clear output Label
37 End Sub ' itemsTextBox_TextChanged
38 End Class ' InventoryForm

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 22

Good Programming Practice

If a statement is wider than the code editor window,
use the line-continuation character to continue it on
the next line.

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6.4 Memory Concepts

■ Variable names—such as cartons, items and

result—correspond to actual locations in the
computer’s memory.
■ Every variable has a name, type, size and value.
cartons = Val(cartonsTextBox.Text)
■ Suppose that the user enters the characters 12 in the
Cartons per shipment: TextBox. When the user
clicks Calculate Total, the user input is converted
to a Double using Val, then the Double value is
implicitly converted to an Integer.

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6.4 Memory Concepts (Cont.)

■ The assignment then places the Integer value 12 in

the location for variable cartons, as shown in
Figure 6.12.

Figure 6.12 | Memory location showing name and value of variable cartons.

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6.4 Memory Concepts (Cont.)

■ Whenever a value is placed in a memory location,

this value replaces the value previously stored in
that location.
■ The previous value is overwritten (lost).

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6.4 Memory Concepts (Cont.)

■ Suppose that the user then enters the characters

10 in the Items per carton: TextBox and clicks
Calculate Total (Fig. 6.13).
items = Val(itemsTextBox.Text)

Figure 6.13 | Memory locations after values for variables

cartons and items have been input.

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6.4 Memory Concepts (Cont.)

■ Once the Calculate Total Button is clicked, line

17 multiplies these values and places their total into
variable result.
result = cartons * items
■ This performs the multiplication and replaces
result’s previous value.

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6.4 Memory Concepts (Cont.)

■ The values of cartons and items appear exactly as

they did before they were used in the calculation of
result (Fig. 6.14).
■ This illustrates that when a value is read from a
memory location, the process is non­destructive.

Figure 6.14 | Memory locations after a multiplication operation.

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6.5 Arithmetic

■ The arithmetic operators are summarized in Figure 6.15.

■ Note the use of various special symbols not used in
algebra.
Visual Basic .NET Arithmetic Algebraic expression Visual Basic 2008
operation operator expression
Addition + f+7 f + 7

Subtraction – p–c p - c

Multiplication * bm b * m
Division (float) / x x / y
x y or or x ÷ y
y
Division (integer) \ none v \ u

Modulus Mod r mod s r Mod s

Exponentiation ^ qp q ^ p

Unary Negative - –e –e

Unary Positive + +g +g

Figure 6.15 | Arithmetic operators.

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6.5 Arithmetic (Cont.)

■ Visual Basic has separate operators for integer

division (the backslash, \) and floating-point
division (the forward slash, /).
– Floating-point division divides two numbers and returns a
floating-point number.
– The operator for integer division treats its operands as
integers and returns an integer result.

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6.5 Arithmetic (Cont.)

■ When floating-point numbers (numbers with

decimal points) are used with the integer-division
operator, the numbers are first rounded as follows:
– numbers ending in .5 are rounded to the nearest even integer—
for example, 6.5 rounds down to 6 and 7.5 rounds up to 8
– all other floating-point numbers are rounded to the nearest
integer—for example, 7.1 rounds down to 7 and 7.7 rounds
up to 8.

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Common Programming Error

Attempting to divide by zero is a runtime error (that
is, an error that has its effect while the application
executes). Dividing by zero terminates an application.

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6.5 Arithmetic (Cont.)

■ The modulus operator, Mod, yields the remainder

after division.
– Thus, 7 Mod 4 yields 3, and 17 Mod 5 yields 2.
– This operator is used most commonly with Integer
operands.
– The modulus operator can be used to discover whether
one number is a multiple of another.

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6.5 Arithmetic (Cont.)

■ Arithmetic expressions in Visual Basic must be written

in straight-line form so that you can type them into a
computer.
– For example, the division of 7.1 by 4.3 must be
written as 7.1 / 4.3.
– Also, raising 3 to the second power cannot be written
as 32 but is written in straight-line form as 3 ^ 2.
■ Parentheses are used in Visual Basic expressions to
group operations in the same manner as in algebraic
expressions. To multiply a times the quantity b + c, you
write
a * ( b + c )

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6.5 Arithmetic (Cont.)

■ Visual Basic applies the operators in arithmetic

expressions in a precise sequence, determined by
the rules of operator precedence.
■ Operators of the same type are applied from left to
right.

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Rules of Operator Precedence

■ Operators in expressions contained within a

pair of parentheses are evaluated first.
– With nested (or embedded) parentheses, the operators
contained in the innermost pair of parentheses are
applied first.
■ Exponentiation is applied next.
■ Unary positive and negative, + and -, are
applied next.

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Rules of Operator Precedence (Cont.)

■ Multiplication and floating-point division

operations are applied next.
■ Integer division is applied next.
■ Modulus operations are applied next.
■ Addition and subtraction operations are
applied last.

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6.5 Arithmetic (Cont.)

■ Let’s consider several expressions in light of the

rules of operator precedence.
– The following calculates the average of three numbers:
Algebra: m=(a+b+c)
3
Visual Basic: m = ( a + b + c ) / 3
– The parentheses are required because floating-point division has
higher precedence than addition.
– The following is the equation of a straight line:
Algebra: y = mx + b
Visual Basic: y = m * x + b
– No parentheses are required due to operator precedence.

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6.5 Arithmetic (Cont.)

■ To develop a better understanding of the rules of

operator precedence, consider how the expression
y = ax2 + bx + c is evaluated:

■ The circled numbers under the statement indicate

the order in which Visual Basic applies the operators.
■ It is acceptable to place redundant parentheses in an
expression to make the expression easier to read.
y = ( a * ( x ^ 2 ) ) + ( b * x ) + c

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Good Programming Practice

Using redundant parentheses in complex arithmetic
expressions can make the expressions easier to read.

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6.6 Using the Debugger: Breakpoints

■ A breakpoint is a marker that can be set at any

executable line of code.
■ When application execution reaches a breakpoint,
execution pauses, allowing you to peek inside
your application and ensure that there are no logic
errors.

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Using the Debugger: Breakpoints

■ To insert a breakpoint in the IDE, either click inside the margin

indicator bar next to a line of code, or right click that line of
code and select Breakpoint > Insert Breakpoint
Fig. 6.16).
■ The application is said to be in break mode when the debugger
pauses the application’s execution.

Margin indicator bar

Breakpoints

Figure 6.16 | Setting two breakpoints.

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Using the Debugger: Breakpoints (Cont.)

■ After setting breakpoints in the code editor, select

Debug > Start Debugging to begin the
debugging process (Fig. 6.17, Fig. 6.18).

Figure 6.17 | Inventory application running.

Title bar displays (Debugging)

Figure 6.18 | Title bar of the IDE displaying (Debugging).

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Using the Debugger: Breakpoints (Cont.)

■ Application execution suspends at the first breakpoint,

and the IDE becomes the active window (Fig. 6.19).
The yellow arrow to the left of line 17 indicates that
this line contains the next statement to execute.

Yellow arrow Next executable statement

Breakpoints

Figure 6.19 | Application execution suspended at the first breakpoint.

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Using the Debugger: Breakpoints (Cont.)

■ To resume execution, select Debug > Continue

(or press F5).
■ Note that when you place your mouse pointer over the
variable name result, the value that the variable
stores is displayed in a Quick Info box (Fig. 6.20).

Quick Info box

displays variable
result’s value

Figure 6.20 | Displaying a variable value by placing the mouse pointer over a variable name.

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Using the Debugger: Breakpoints (Cont.)

■ Use the Debug > Continue command to complete

the application execution. When there are no more
breakpoints at which to suspend execution, the
application executes to completion (Fig. 6.21).

Figure 6.21 | Application output.

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Using the Debugger: Breakpoints (Cont.)

■ To disable a breakpoint, right click a line of code

in which a breakpoint has been set, and select
Breakpoint > Disable Breakpoint
(Fig. 6.22).

Disabled breakpoint

Figure 6.22 | Disabled breakpoint.

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Using the Debugger: Breakpoints (Cont.)

■ To fully remove a breakpoint, right click a line of

code in which a breakpoint has been set and
select Breakpoint > Delete Breakpoint.
■ To remove all breakpoints, select Debug >
Delete All Breakpoints from the menu bar.

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