MICROSOFT

VISUAL
BASIC
A Brief Hist ory of
Basic
· Language developed in early 1960's at
Dartmouth College:
B (eginner's)
A (All-Purpose)
S (Symbolic)
I
(Instruction)
C (Code)
· Answer to complicated programming
languages (FORTRAN, Algol, Cobol ...).
First timeshare language.
A Brief History of Basic
. In the mid-1970's, two college students
write first Basic for a microcomputer
(Altair) - cost $350 on cassette tape.
You may have heard of them:
Bill Gates and Paul Allen!

· Every Basic since then essentially based

on that early version. Examples include:
GW-Basic, QBasic, QuickBasic.

· Visual Basic was introduced in 1991.

Visual Basic
versions
Visual Basic 6.0 versus Other Versions of Visual
Basic
· The original Visual Basic for DOS and Visual Basic
For Windows were
introduced in 1991.
· Visual Basic 3.0 (a vast improvement over previous
versions) was released in
1993.

· Visual Basic 4.0 released in late 1995 (added 32 bit

application support).
·
·
Visual Basic
versions
Visual Basic 5.0 released in late 1996. New
environment, supported creation of
ActiveX controls, deleted 16 bit application
support.

· And, now Visual Basic 6.0 - some identified new

features of Visual Basic 6.0:
Þ Faster compiler
Þ New ActiveX data control object
Þ Allows database integration with wide
variety of applications
Þ New data report designer
Þ New Package & Deployment
Wizard Þ Additional internet
What is Visual
Basic ?
• A high level programming language
• Created by Microsoft
• Uses a graphic environment called
Integrated Development
Environment (IDE)
• Capable of developing Windows-based
applications and games
• Event –driven language
• Made up of many subprograms , each
with its own codes that can run
independently, and at the same time
can be linked together
DEFINITION OF
TERMS
1.Application - collection of objects that
works together to accomplish a certain task/s
for its users
Examples: MS Word, Adobe Photoshop, Corel
Draw

2.Project - the term used in Visual Basic

pertaining to Application
Examples: Payroll System, Quiz Bee Scoring
Program
DEFINITION OF
TERMS
3. Object– a piece of software
that has properties and functions
that can be managed or
controlled
Examples: window, dialog box
DEFINITION OF
TERMS
4.Property – characteristic of an object
Examples: color, size, background

5.Method – functions of an object that can

be manipulated
Examples: opening, resizing, moving (of a
window)
DEFINITION OF
TERMS
6.Object-Oriented Environment – a place
wherein application is created using objects
and combining them to produce an output

7.Event – an action that happens

Examples: clicking of a button, clicking of
a menu, loading of form
DEFINITION OF
TERMSDriven – an operation is executed
8.Event-
as the result of some kind of event
9. Form – the first object you will see
on the screen when you open Visual
Basic
- it is where all the controls are placed
- it is also where you will enter data
and see the results
10.Controls –the object you put on a form
Examples: text box, label, command
DEFINITION OF
TERMS
11. Code -computer instructions written by the
programmer
indicates what the action or result will be when an
event occurs
Examples: getting the total of 2 numbers once
the button is clicked pop-up message appear
12.Script – other name for code

13.Design time - time when you visually design and

layout the forms and object in it

14. Run Time - time when the program is executed

Why is operation event –
driven?
The Main Window consists of the
title bar, menu bar, and toolbar.

Title bar indicates the project name,

the current Visual Basic operating
mode, and the current form.

Menu bar has drop-down menus from

which you control the operation of the
Visual Basic environment.
 Toolbar has buttons that provide
shortcuts to some of the menu
options.
 The Main window also shows the
location of the current form relative to
the upper left corner of the screen
(measured in twips) and the width
and length of the current form.
The Form Window is central to developing
Visual Basic applications.
It is where you draw your application.
The Toolbox is the selection menu for controls
used in your application.
The Properties Window is used
to establish initial property
values for
objects. The drop-down box at the
top of the window lists all objects in
the current form.
Two views are available: Alphabetic
and Categorized. Under this box
are the available properties for the
currently selected object.
The Form Layout Window shows where (upon
program execution) your form will be displayed
relative to your monitor’s screen:
The Project Window displays a list of
all forms and modules making up
your application. You can also obtain a view
of the Form or Code windows (window
containing the actual Basic coding) from
the Project window.
Project Window
Take note:
Properties
Window= how text aligns in the control
Alignment
Back Color = choose the color of the
background
Caption = the text that will appear in the
control
Font = choose the font type and size
Fore Color = choose the color of the text
(foreground)
Remember: Save the
project as often as
it should
be.
To switch between the Code window and the Form
window, use the buttons just over the Project Explorer
window (diagram on the left).
 Tips on Improving
your
application
-write the simplest program that you understand and make it
work - even if it doesn't have color or fancy fonts, test it and then
save it;

-make a copy of your previous working program and code one or

two improvements in the copy

- repeat for every improvement you make, using small steps so

that if something does go wrong its easier to identify the source
of the problem
Avoid repeating
code!
The way to correct the application is to take all
the code that repeats and put it into a separate
procedure.

A procedure is identified by the Private Sub ...

End Sub lines.

Call the procedure simply by writing its name.

 Writing
code
Code Editor
Cut, Copy, Paste, Find,
Replace
GOOD HABITS:
1.Use comments
2.Use indents
3.Use standard capitalization
4.Write extra-long statements on
2 lines using the continuation
character _(space underscore)
V ARI ABLES
AND
CON STAN TS
Variables and Constants
V ARI ABLE
 are used by Visual Basic to hold information
needed by your application
 sign or a name that stands for a particular
value in a program
 may store a data while the program is
running
 Naming Conventions
These are the rules to follow when naming
elements in VB - variables, constants, controls,
procedures, and so on:

A name must begin with a letter.

May be as much as 255 characters

Naming
Conventions
 Must not contain a space or an embedded
period or type-declaration characters used to
specify a data type ; these are ! # % $ & @
 Must not be a reserved word (that is part of the
code, like Option, for example).
 The dash, although legal, should be avoided
because it may be confused with the minus sign.
Instead of Family-name use Familyname or
FamilyName.
Declaring
Variables
Explicit Declaration – variable is declared at the
beginning of the procedure in the
Declaration Section

Dim Num_1 as Integer

Dim Age as String
Dim Reg_DOB as
Date
Implicit Variables – variables is not formally
declared
- it is a result from other variable
declarations

Dim Total1 As Integer 'Explicit declaration

Dim Total2 As Integer 'Explicit
Total3 = Total1 + Total2 declaration
'Implicit
declaration
Scope of Variables
The term Scope refers to whether the
variable is available outside the procedure
in which it appears. The scope is
procedure-level or module-level.

A variable declared with Dim at the

beginning of a procedure is only available
in that procedure.
Public Statement
- variable can be used in several forms of the
project

Private Statement
- variable can only be used in the form it is
declared
 Module-level – variables declared in
the declarations section of the module
- available only for the control in the form

 Procedure-level - variables is declared

inside a procedure is called
- the original value will go back to its default
value once it is called
Constant
– stores a value that does not change the
value during the execution of the
procedure

Types of Constants

Intrinsic Constants – defined by Visual Basic

vbTrue
vbBlack
User-Defined Constants –
defined by programmers that write the
code

Const Pi = 3.1416
Const Max_Num = 100

Object Browser - displays all the

intrinsic constants that are related to the
properties of the controls being created,
including the procedures and modules
define for the object
Operators
Mathematical and Text operators

Operator Definition Example Result

^ Exponent (power of) 4^2 16
* Multiply 5*4 20
/ Divide 20 / 4 5
+ Add 3+4 7
- Subtract 7–3 4
Mod Remainder of division 20 Mod 6 2
\ Integer division 20 \ 6 3
& String concatenation "Joan" & " " & "Smith" "Joan Smith"

Note that the order of operators is determined by the usual rules in programming.
When a statement includes multiple operations the order of operations is:
Parentheses ( ), ^, *, /, \, Mod, +, -
Logical operators
Operator Definition Example Result
= Equal to 9 = 11 False
> Greater than 11 > 9 True
< Less than 11 < 9 False
>= Greater or equal 15 >= 15 True
<= Less or equal 9 <= 15 True
<> Not equal 9 <> 9 False
AND Logical AND (9 = 9) AND (7 = 6) False
OR Logical OR (9 = 9) OR (7 = 6) True
Select Case
Can be used as an alternative to the If...Then...Else structure, especially
when many comparisons are involved.

Select Case ShirtSize

Case 1
SizeName.Caption = "Small"
Case 2
SizeName.Caption = "Medium"
Case 3
SizeName.Caption = "Large"
Case 4
SizeName.Caption = "Extra Large"
Case Else
SizeName.Caption = "Unknown size"
End Select
Do...Loop

Used to execute a block of statements an unspecified number of times.

Do While condition
statements
Loop

First, the condition is tested; if condition is True, then the statements are
executed. When it gets to the Loop it goes back to the Do and tests
condition again. If condition is False on the first pass, the statements are
never executed.
For...Next

When the number of iterations of the loop is known, it is better to

use the For...Next rather than the Do...Loop.

For counter = start To end

statements
Next

1) The counter is set to

the value of start.
2)Counter is checked to see if it is greater than end; if yes, control
passes to the statement after the Next; if not the statements are
executed.
3)At Next, counter is incremented and goes back to step 2).
THANK YOU..