04.

Programming Basics for

VB (Part 2)
Outline
 Assignment Operator – Short Form
 Option Explicit
 Variable Scope
 Type Conversion
 Rounding and Formatting
 Exception Handling
 Swapping

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Assignment Operators – Short
Form
 k = k + 2 can be written as k += 2
 The semantics of
variable = variable op (expression)
is equivalent to
variable op= expression

Some "short-form" assignment operators

+= -= *= /= \= ^= &=

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Assignment Operators – Short
Form

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Be Careful!

j *= k + 3

is equivalent to
j = j * (k + 3)

rather than
j = j * k + 3

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Option Explicit
 Option Explicit forces variables to be
declared before using.
◦ The default value is “On” (we better not to change
it)
Option Explicit Off
Has to be the same as the filename
Public Class HelloForm
Private Sub PushButton_Click(sender As Object,
e As EventArgs) Handles PushButton.Click
integer1 = 45
MessageLabel.Text = integer1
End Sub
End Class

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Scope of Variables
 Visibility of a variable is its scope.
◦ Determine where the variable can be used

 Scope may be (from the largest to the lowest)

1. Namespace (discuss later, not recommended)
 Available to all procedures of all modules/classes in the project
2. Module level
 Available to all procedures within that module/class (e.g.
HelloForm)
3. Local
 Available only to the procedure in which it is declared
4. Block level (discuss later)
 Available only in block of code inside a procedure where declared

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Module Level
 Declared inside a module/class (e.g. HelloForm) but outside any
procedures
 Available to all procedures within that module/class
Public Class HelloForm
Dim integer1 As Integer = 45 Declare a module level variable

Private Sub PushButton_Click(sender As Object,

e As EventArgs) Handles PushButton.Click
MessageLabel.Text = integer1 No compile error
End Sub

Private Sub ExitButton_Click(sender As Object,

e As EventArgs) Handles ExitButton.Click
MessageBox.show(integer1) No compile error
Me.Close()
End Sub
End Class 8
Local Variable
 Declared inside a procedure
 It can only be used within that procedure but not “visible”
by other procedures
Public Class HelloForm
Private Sub PushButton_Click(sender As Object,
e As EventArgs) Handles PushButton.Click
Dim integer1 As Integer = 45 Declare a local variable
MessageLabel.Text = integer1
End Sub

Private Sub ExitButton_Click(ByVal sender As Object,

e As EventArgs) Handles ExitButton.Click
MessageBox.show(integer1) Compile error as the compiler
Me.Close()
does not know what integer1 is
End Sub
End Class
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String vs. Number
 In VB, a string of digits and a number are
different

 A string is a sequence of characters

◦ E.g. “123.8”  5 characters
◦ We cannot directly perform arithmetic operations on
text strings

 Before calculation, the text string has to be

converted into the corresponding number
◦ “123.8”  123.8 (number)
◦ “-18.8”  -18.8 (number)

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Implicit Conversion
 Very often, VB performs the text-number
conversion automatically so that we can
still get the correct result
◦ Implicit conversion

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Implicit Conversion
Private Sub CalculateButton_Click(sender As Object,
e As EventArgs) Handles CalculateButton.Click
OutputTextBox.Text = InputTextBox.Text * 3
End Sub

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Explicit Conversion
 On the other hand, we can also write the
code perform the conversion explicitly
◦ Explicit conversion

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Explicit Conversion
Private Sub CalculateButton_Click(sender As Object,
e As EventArgs) Handles CalculateButton.Click
Dim num As Integer
num = Integer.Parse(InputTextBox.Text)
OutputTextBox.Text = num * 3
End Sub

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Explicit Conversion
 Use Parse() methods to convert the Text property to
its numeric form before it’s used in a calculation

 Each numeric data type class has a Parse() method.

For example
◦ Dim i As Integer = Integer.Parse("20")
◦ Dim d As Decimal = Decimal.Parse(InputTextBox.Text)

 Parse method returns a value that can be used in

calculations

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Handling Exceptions
 When we ask the users to input numbers for
calculations, things can go wrong
◦ For example, if the user enters nonnumeric data or simply
leaves the text box blank, the text-number conversion
(implicit or explicit) will cause run-time errors

 Use structured exception handling to catch

errors before run-time errors occur
◦ Catching exceptions is referred to as error trapping
◦ Coding to handle exception is called error handling

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Try/Catch Blocks
 Enclose statements that might cause an
error within Try/Catch block
◦ If an exception occurs while statements in the Try
block are executing, the program control will be
transferred to the Catch Block immediately

Try
Dim i As Integer = Integer.Parse(InputTextBox.Text)
' Or simply InputTextBox.Text
MessageBox.Show(i)
MessageBox.Show("Bye")
Catch
MessageBox.Show("Invalid input.")
End Try
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Try/Catch Blocks
 One usage of Integer.Parse() is to check
whether the user entered an integer or a
number with decimals
◦ In the previous example, when the user enters 1.5,
it will display “Invalid input.”
◦ But if implicit conversion is used instead (i.e., no
Integer.Parse()), even when the user enters 1.5, it
will display “2” instead of “Invalid input.”

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Try/Catch Blocks
 Optionally, we can add ex As Exception
after Catch and then use ex.Message to
display the error message
Try
Dim i As Integer = Integer.Parse("Hello")
MessageBox.Show("This message will not appear")
Catch ex As Exception
' Display the error message
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message)
End Try

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Conversion from Numbers to
Strings
Dim inputNumber As Integer
inputNumber = InputTextBox.Text

MessageLabel.Text = inputNumber number-to-text

 Values assigned to string variables or Text properties must

be strings

 In some cases, such a conversion is performed by VB

automatically (implicit conversion)

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Conversion from Numbers to
Strings
 To explicitly convert any numeric data type to
string, we can use the ToString() method
◦ MessageLabel.Text = inputNumber.ToString()
◦ ResultTextBox.Text = resultDecimal.ToString()
◦ IDString = IDInteger.ToString()

 The ToString() method is implicitly called to

convert the number to a string

 We can use the ToString() method for formatting

output (see later for details)

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Option Strict
 Option Strict (default is Off)
◦ If we set it to On
 The following implicit conversions are not
allowed
1. From wider data types to narrower data types
 E.g., Integer  Short, or Double  Integer
 It may not be safe as the number can be too large
2. Between String and numeric data types (both directions)
 It may not be safe to convert from a String to a numeric
data type
 But implicit conversions from narrower data types to
wider data types are still allowed
 Makes VB a strongly typed language like C++, Java, and
C#
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23
Conversion between Numeric Data
Types
 In VB, we can convert data from one numeric data
type to another

 Some conversions can be performed implicitly

(automatically) and some we must specify explicitly

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Conversion between Numeric Data
Types
 Implicit conversion
◦ Automatically converts the value from a narrower data
type to a wider data type where no danger of losing
precision exists

 Example:
◦ bigNumberDouble = smallNumberInteger
◦ This will not generate any error message, assuming
that both variables are properly declared

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Conversion between Numeric Data
Types
 However, to convert in the opposite direction
◦ smallNumberInteger = bigNumberDouble
◦ Rounding may occur (rounding towards even, more details
later)
◦ But if the integer variable is not large enough to hold the
double value, run-time errors will occur
◦ If the option strict is On
 Compile errors will occur due to the implicit conversion from
a wider data type to a narrower data type
 We need to use explicit conversion if we really want to do the
conversion (see next slide)
 May result in run-time errors (similar to implicit conversion)

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Conversion between Numeric Data
Types
 Explicit conversion (casting)
◦ Uses methods of Convert class to convert between
data types
◦ Convert Class has methods that begin with “To” for
each of the data types

 Examples
◦ Dim i as Integer = Convert.ToInt32(3.5)
 Rounding may occur (rounding towards even)
◦ Dim d As Decimal = Convert.ToDecimal(integer1)

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Conversion between Numeric Data
Types
 Performing calculations with unlike data types
◦ resultValue = integerValue + doubleValue
◦ VB performs the calculations using the wider data type
◦ integerValue is converted by VB automatically to a
double type value before adding to doubleValue
◦ resultValue will store a double type value
◦ Example:
5 + 6.7
 5.0 + 6.7
 11.7

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Rounding in VB
 Rounding half up in mathematics
 1.5 <= n < 2.5  2
 2.5 <= n < 3.5  3
 3.5 <= n < 4.5  4

 VB: rounding to the nearest even (Banker’s rounding)

 1.5 <= n <= 2.5  2
 2.5 < n < 3.5  3
 3.5 <= n <= 4.5  4

 We have different results for rounding 2.5 (2 vs. 3) and

4.5 (4 vs. 5)

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Rounding in VB
 Decimal.Round() method returns a decimal result rounded to a specified number
of decimal positions
 resultDecimal = Decimal.Round(decimalToRound, 2)
 Round decimalToRound to 2 decimal places and store the result into
resultDecimal
Decimal Value to Number of Decimal Results
Round Positions
1.455 2 1.46
1.445 2 1.44
1.5 0 2
2.5 0 2

 Implicit conversion, Convert methods, and Decimal.Round(), round a number to

the nearest even
◦ However, there is an exception for ToString() (see next page)

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Formatting Data for Display
 Recall that we can use ToString() method to explicitly
convert a numeric data to a string
DisplayTextBox.Text = numberInteger.ToString()

 Format the data using formatting codes

◦ Specifies the use of dollar sign, percent sign, and
commas
◦ Specifies the number of digits that appear to right
of decimal point
Put formatting code
◦ Rounding half up is used here

DisplayTextBox.Text = numberInteger.ToString("N0")
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Using Format Specifier
Codes
 "N" code
◦ Number — String formatted with commas separating each
group of 3 digits, with 2 digits to the right of decimal point

 "C" code
◦ Currency — String formatted with dollar sign, commas
separating each group of 3 digits, with 2 digits to the right
of decimal point

 Can specify number of decimal positions

◦ Example: "C0" zero digits

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Format Specifier Codes

Format Specifier Codes Name

C or c Currency
F or f Fixed-point
N or n Number
D or d Digits
P or p Percent

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Format Specifier Code
Examples
Type Value Code Output
Decimal 1125.6744 "C" $1,125.67
Decimal 1125.6744 “N" 1,125.67
Decimal 1125.6744 "N0" 1,126
Decimal 1125.6744 “N3" 1,125.674
Decimal 1125.6744 “F3" 1125.674
Decimal 0.075 "P" 7.50%
Decimal 0.075 "P3" 7.500%
Decimal 0.075 “P0" 8%

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Format Specifier Code
Examples

Type Value Code Output

Integer 123 "D6" 000123
Integer 123 "D2" 123
Integer -10 "C" ($10.00)
Integer -10 “N" -10.00
Integer -10 “D3" -010

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 Swapping Two Values
Private Sub SwapButton_Click(sender As Object,
e As EventArgs) Handles SwapButton.Click

InputTextBox1.Text = InputTextBox2.Text
InputTextBox2.Text = InputTextBox1.Text

End Sub

InputTextBox1: A

InputTextBox2: B

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 Swapping Two Values
Private Sub SwapButton_Click(sender As Object,
e As EventArgs) Handles SwapButton.Click

InputTextBox1.Text = InputTextBox2.Text
InputTextBox2.Text = InputTextBox1.Text

End Sub

InputTextBox1: A B

InputTextBox2: B B

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 Swapping Two Values
Private Sub SwapButton_Click(sender As Object,
e As EventArgs) Handles SwapButton.Click

InputTextBox1.Text = InputTextBox2.Text
InputTextBox2.Text = InputTextBox1.Text

End Sub

InputTextBox1: A B B

InputTextBox2: B B B

Fail
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 Swapping Two Values
Private Sub SwapButton_Click (sender As Object,
e As EventArgs) Handles SwapButton.Click

Dim tempStr As String

tempStr = InputTextBox1.Text
InputTextBox1.Text = InputTextBox2.Text
InputTextBox2.Text = tempStr

End Sub

InputTextBox1: A
InputTextBox2: B
tempStr: ""

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 Swapping Two Values
Private Sub SwapButton_Click (sender As Object,
e As EventArgs) Handles SwapButton.Click

Dim tempStr As String

tempStr = InputTextBox1.Text
InputTextBox1.Text = InputTextBox2.Text
InputTextBox2.Text = tempStr

End Sub

InputTextBox1: A A
InputTextBox2: B B
tempStr: "" A

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 Swapping Two Values
Private Sub SwapButton_Click (sender As Object,
e As EventArgs) Handles SwapButton.Click

Dim tempStr As String

tempStr = InputTextBox1.Text
InputTextBox1.Text = InputTextBox2.Text
InputTextBox2.Text = tempStr

End Sub

InputTextBox1: A A B
InputTextBox2: B B B
tempStr: "" A A

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 Swapping Two Values
Private Sub SwapButton_Click (sender As Object,
e As EventArgs) Handles SwapButton.Click

Dim tempStr As String

tempStr = InputTextBox1.Text
InputTextBox1.Text = InputTextBox2.Text
InputTextBox2.Text = tempStr

End Sub

InputTextBox1: A A B B
InputTextBox2: B B B A
tempStr: "" A A A

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References and Readings
 Visual Basic 2012 How to Program (6th
Edition)
◦ Paul Deitel, Harvery Deitel, and Abbey Deitel,
Pearson
◦ Chapter 3. Introduction to Visual Basic Programming
 Programming in Visual Basic 2010
◦ Bradley and Millspaugh, McGraw-Hill
◦ Chapter 3. Variables, Constants, and Calculations

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