Advanced Visual Basic

Course Designer and Acquisition Editor

Centre for Information Technology and Engineering

Manonmaniam Sundaranar University

Tirunelveli
 Client / Server

Lecture - 1

Client /Server

Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ About Client

™ About Server

™ About Client / Server computing

™ Client / Server Model

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Advanced Visual Basic

Lecture Unit - 1

1.1 Snap Shot

1.2 Client

1.3 Server

1.4 Client/ Server Computing

1.5 Client/Server Model

1.6 Short Summary

1.7 Brain Storm

Lab unit 1 - ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

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 Client / Server

1.1 Snap Shot

Any time two computers are involved in the mutual performance of executing an
application, with each performing a different function, you are undoubtedly looking
at a client/server application. Many definitions of client/server are used. A
definition of client/server application is an application that has a client interface and
that accesses data on a remote server. The work is distributed between the client
system and the remote server system, based on the capabilities of the client and the
system and the remote server system, based on the capabilities of the client and
server software applications. Client/server systems usually are efficient because
network traffic is minimized and each portion of the application is optimized for a
particular function.

1.2 Client

A client may be either a device or a user on a network that takes advantages of the
services offered by a server. Client is often used in a loose way to refer to a computer
on the network. It also refers to a user that is running the client slide of a
client/server application. The Client area of a window is where end users enter data.
Formally, the client is the region of a window that doesn’t include the title bar,
menus, toolbars, status bars or window borders. In Visual Basic, the width and
height to the client area can be determined by examining the value of a form’s Scale
width and Scale height properties, respectively.

1.3 Server

A server is a network-connected computer system that provides services to network

users. Servers may be a file server, application server, database server, e-mail
gateways and communication server. These systems run network operating systems
such as Novell Netware, Windows NT or a version of UNIX OS.

You can use VBScript to create Active Server Pages(ASP) in order to create logic that
enables IIS to respond to various input from client computers. Also, you can use
Visual Basic to create custom ActiveX components designed to work as extensions
and enhancements to the IIS environment. These components are called server –side
components.

1.4 Client / Server Computing

Client / Server computing defines an architecture for designing programs that

distribute their processing load between a client computer and a server computer

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Advanced Visual Basic

and sharing the processing load between two. The client requests services, and the
server provides the requested services.

In contrast to the file-sever environment, the server in this environment is

responsible for intelligent service to the client. The client does not request data at a
file level, but sends a request to the server to execute a query and return specific
records. This is a vast improvement over the file-server approach.

The following figure 1.1 shows typical Client-Server configuration.

Figure 1.1 A typical Client-Server configuration.

Client side versus server side

If you write a program that resides and executes on a client computer, that program
is called a client-side program. If you create a program that runs on a Internet server,
that program is called a server-side program. Microsoft Word is considered a client-
side program. Yahoo Search, a program that searches for articles on the Web, is a
sever-side program.

1.5 Client / Server Model

Architecture that splits an application into a front-end client component and a back-
end server component. The client component running on a workstation gathers data
from the user, prepares it for the server, and issues a request to the server. On the
back end, the server waits for requests from its clients. When it receives a request, the
server processes it and returns the requested information to the client. The client then
presents the data to the user through its own user interface.

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 Client / Server

1.5.1 Two – Tier Client/Server Model

The client communicates directly with the server with no intermediary. The
limitation of this model is not easily scalable. If the server becomes over taxed by
client traffic, the usual solution is to upgrade the server hardware to a fast processor
with more memory. However, there is an upper limit to how fast the processor can
be

1.5.2 Three – Tier Client /Server Model

Three – tier client/server design is frequently used in Internet applications. This

increases the scalability of the application. An example of this three-tiered can be
seen with a Web page that accesses a database on the server. Frequently, the
database is on a different server than the Web server. This allows the distribution of
the load over multiple systems. It also creates scalability. If the database activity
becomes a bottleneck for the application, the database activity can be distributed
over multiple servers. If the Web server becomes the bottleneck, the Web server can
be distributed over multiple servers.

There are other uses of the three-tiered client/server model, including the following
two very useful designs. The first design has a middle tier that provides an Online
Analysis Processing data warehouse that is extracted from the base layer of
operational databases. The second design makes use of a middle tier to enforce
business rules. This separate layer for business rules makes the maintenance of the
business rules much easier and less disruptive.

[Link] Three-Tiered Applications

To use Remote Data Service technology, you must understand the three-tiered
client/server model. This model separates the various components of a client/server
system into three "tiers":

• Client tier—a local computer on which either a Web browser displays a Web
page that can display and manipulate data from a remote data source, or (in non–
Web-based applications) a stand-alone compiled front-end application.

• Middle tier—a Microsoft Windows NT Server computer that hosts components

that encapsulate an organization's business rules. Middle-tier components can be
either Active Server Page scripts executed on Internet Information Server, or (in
non–Web-based applications) compiled executables.

• Data source tier—a computer hosting a database management system (DBMS),

such as a Microsoft SQL Server database. (In a two-tier application, the middle
tier and data source tier are combined.)

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Advanced Visual Basic

These tiers don't necessarily correspond to physical locations on the network. For
example, all three tiers may exist on only two computers. One computer could be a
Microsoft Windows 95 computer running Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 as its
browser. The second computer could be a Windows NT Server computer running
both Internet Information Server and Microsoft SQL Server. Designing applications
this way gives you greater flexibility when deploying processes and data on the
network for maximum performance and ease of maintenance.

1.6 Short Summary

) Client request a server for its service

) Server waits for a client to be connected and serves them as soon as they are
connect
) Distributes the processing load between the client and the server
) Network architecture can be two or three tier architecture

1.7 Brain Storm

1. With an example explain how a client / server application works ?
2. Differentiate Client Server Application over Stand alone application
3. With an example explain how a client / server works
4. How to process the Two tier & Three tier model?

Lab Unit - 1 (2 Real Time Hrs)

1. Open a new standard EXE project

2. Design your form as shown below
3. Result should be displayed depending upon the button pressed.

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 Get into Visual Basic 6.0

Lecture - 2

Get into Visual Basic 6.0

Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ About Features of Visual Basic6

™ New Object Oriented features

™ Under About Integrated Development Environment

™ How to develop a script in Visual Basic

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Advanced Visual Basic

Lecture unit - 2

2.1 Snap Shot

2.2 Features of Visual Basic 6

2.3 Integrated Development Environment

2.4 Basic Scripting in Visual Basic

2.5 Short Summary

2.6 Brain Storm

Lab unit 2 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

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 Get into Visual Basic 6.0

2.1 Snap Shot

Visual Basic is the fastest and easiest way to create applications for Microsoft
Windows. Visual Basic provides complete set of tools to simplify rapid
application development both for the experienced professional and new
Windows programmers.

In the name Visual Basic - the "Visual" part refers to the method used to create the
graphical user interface (GUI). Unlike many languages which requires numerous
lines of coding to describe the appearance and location of interface elements, Visual
Basic provides pre-built objects that can be used to form the Graphical User Interface
(GUI).

Note : The elements that can respond to the user actions such as mouse click, double
click, drag, drop etc. are called interface elements.

The "Basic" part refers to the BASIC language as its basic syntax of statements is
retained by Visual Basic. But Visual Basic now contains several hundred statements,
functions, and keywords, many of which relate directly to the Windows GUI.

The Visual Basic programming language is not unique to Visual Basic. The Visual
Basic programming system, Applications Edition included in Microsoft Excel,
Microsoft Access, and many other Windows applications uses the same language.
The Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript) is a widely used scripting language and
a subset of the Visual Basic language. So mastering Visual Basic also helps to master
these other areas.

The Visual Basic comes in three flavors:

™ The Visual Basic learning Edition

™ The Visual Basic Professional Edition
™ The Visual Basic Enterprise Edition

The Visual Basic Learning Edition is the introductory edition that lets to easily create
windows applications. It comes with all the tools needed to build main stream
windows applications.

The Visual Basic Professional Edition is for computer professionals and includes
advanced features such as tools to develop ActiveX and Internet controls.

The Visual Basic Enterprise Edition is the most advanced edition and is aimed at
programmers who build distributed applications in a team environment. It includes
all the features of the Professional Edition, plus tools such Visual SourceSafe.

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Advanced Visual Basic

VB6 has a long list of minor changes, ranging from new language features to a re-
vamping of the Setup Wizard (now called the Package and Deployment Wizard).

2.2 New Features of Visual Basic 6.0

Whenever a product's version number increases by one, it means that several

enhancements have been made over the previous version. Before looking at the
completely new additions to Visual Basic 6.0, this section presents general Visual
Basic features briefly.

General Features

The compiler in Visual Basic gives many different options for optimizing the
compiled code, such as Optimization for Fast Code, Optimization for Small Code
and Favor of Pentium Pro etc.

The Visual Basic is a very open environment that supports the Client/Server
architecture, ActiveX, Component Object Model (COM), Distributed Component
Object Model (DCOM). It also supports Open Database Connectivity (ODBC).

IntelliSense

A new feature that Microsoft calls IntelliSense enables the system to react in real time
during coding. There are five basic IntelliSense features:

™ QuickInfo
™ Complete Word
™ Data Tips
™ List members
™ List Constants

QuickInfo is a feature that presents the syntax of the procedure, which is being
typed, in a ToolTip like window. It even goes one step further in that it will bold the
specific parameter which is being coded in real time.

Complete Word is a feature that automatically completes the word which is typed in
real time, after enough characters that make the word distinct within the list of
available words, has been typed.

Datatips is a very useful feature that simply shows the value of the variable in a
yellow tooltip format at run time.

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 Get into Visual Basic 6.0

List Members is a feature that is used to simply list all of the properties or methods
available to a given object.

List Constants is a feature that works the same as the List Members feature, except
that with this feature available constant values for a given property are listed.

Other features
Multiple projects can be loaded into the IDE - Integrated Development Environment
(explained shortly) and treated as one. For example, a standard project and an
ActiveX project can be loaded at the same time. This saves tremendous amount of
time for coding and debugging. Here's a list of some other enhancements:

™ Break points can be toggled simply with a mouse click.

™ Bookmarks can be placed for quick location.
™ Properties in the property window can be manipulated alphabetically or
even by category.
™ A nice new feature is block comment and uncomment. With the click of a
mouse button, all highlighted code will be commented or uncommented.
™ Aligning and formatting can easily be applied to one or more controls.

Visual Basic 6.0 features

This section briefs what are newly added in Visual Basic 6.0 in various categories.

New in Data Access

ADO (ActiveX Data Objects)

It combines and supersedes the prior version's DAO and RDO technologies. ADO
can be used to connect to a database on a local desktop or to a remote database
server. Also, ADO allows to access more types of data - e-mail, for example.

Data Environment

The Data Environment designer provides an interactive, design-time environment

for creating ADO objects. These can be used as a data source for data-aware objects
on a form or report.

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Data Report

It allows to use drag and drop to quickly create reports from any recordset, including
hierarchical recordset.

Hierarchical FlexGrid Control

It is an updated version of the FlexGrid control that, in addition to supporting all the
functionality of the FlexGrid control, can display a hierarchy of ADO Recordsets.
Each Recordset returned is displayed as a separate band within the grid and can be
formatted independently.

DataList Control, DataCombo Controls

These controls are OLE DB versions of the DBList and DBCombo controls. They also
support the new ADO Data control.

New in Internet Features

IIS Applications

This feature enables to write server-side Internet applications that use Visual Basic
code to respond to user requests from a browser.

DHTML Applications

DHTML Applications allows to write Visual Basic code to respond to actions on an

HTML page, without transferring processing to the server.

New in Controls

ADO Data Control

A new OLEDB-aware data source control that functions much like the intrinsic Data
and Remote Data controls, in that it allows to create a database application with
minimum code.

Coolbar Control

A container control that can be used to create user-configurable toolbars similar to

those in Microsoft Internet Explorer.

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DataGrid Control

An OLEDB-aware version of DBGrid, the control allows to quickly build an

application to view and edit recordsets. It also supports the new ADO Data control.

DataList Control, DataCombo Controls

These controls are OLE DB versions of the DBList and DBCombo controls. They also
support the new ADO Data control.

DateTimePicker Control

Helps to quickly enter the dates and times.

Hierarchical FlexGrid Control

An updated version of the FlexGrid control that, in addition to supporting all the
functionality of the FlexGrid control, can display a hierarchy of ADO Recordsets.
Each Recordset returned is displayed as a separate band within the grid and can be
formatted independently.

ImageCombo Control

Behaves like the standard ComboBox control with one addition: each items in the list
can now have images.

MonthView Control

Allows the end user to pick dates and contiguous ranges of dates from a graphic
representation of a calendar.

New in Language Features

Visual Basic 6.0 provides number of new functions for working with strings. They
are:

Function Description

Filter Allows to filter a string function

Format currency Allows to format a string to currency
Format DateTime Allows to format a string to time or date
FormatPercent Allows to format a string as a percent

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Takes a string array and combines its elements into

one string
Replace Replaces substrings within a string
Round Return a rounded number as specified
StrReverse Reverses the order of a string
WeekdayByname Returns the day of the week

2.3 New Object Oriented Features

Visual Basic’s object –based programming is a benefit to Windows

developers. The built-in Visual Basic objects like forms and controls provide
properties that are easily manipulated at design time and as the application
runs on the user’s computer. Traditional Windows development systems such
as Visual C++ require extensive programming to modify even simple
properties such as form’s caption or back color.

The greatest advantages of using objects is encapsulation, which is the capability to

wrap all aspects of functionality and user interface into a single entity. A Visual Basic
object enables you abstract complex activities and tasks as a simple, compact object
you can use in any Visual Basic or VBA project. An encapsulated object can be much
easier to maintain than a traditional module or VBA procedure. Because an object
contains all its functionality and appearance as a single entity, there is a single thing
to modify or maintain as improvements are made to the program.

Most application include extensive data validation routines. Depending on the type
of data being entered by the user, data validation ranges form a single VBA
statement to extensive modules containing dozens or hundreds of lines of coed. By
using Visual Basic’s object oriented programming features, it’s possible to wrap all
data validation routines into a single object that can be used by setting its properties
and invoking its methods.

Custom objects, therefore , provide a simplified interface to complex operations.

When properly designed and implemented, custom objects can be used in virtually
any compatible VBA programming system, exposing the same properties and
methods you work with when incorporating the objects in your Visual Basic projects.

2.4 The Integrated Development Environment

Visual Basic is not just a language. It’s an Integrated Development Environment

(IDE), which enables to develop, run, test and debug applications. This IDE is

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capable of creating different project type to develop applications. In VB 5 IDE

was designed as a Single Document Interface. In single Document Interface each
window is a free- floating window that is contained within a main window and
can move anywhere on the screen as long as Visual Basic is the current
application. But in VB 6.0, IDE is in a Multiple Document Interface ( MDI )
format. In this format, the windows associated with the project will stay within a
single container known as parent. Code and form-based windows will stay
within the main container form. When Visual Basic is started, it will prompt to
select the project type as in Figure 2.1

To start Visual Basic

™ Click the Start button in Windows Taskbar, choose Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 group
and click the Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 item.
-- Or --
Simply double click the Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 icon on the Desktop.

Figure 2.1 Types of projects available in Visual Basic.

Standard EXE It is a typical project type and used to create standard executable files.

ActiveX EXE, ActiveX DLL These types of projects are used to created ActiveX code
components which are OLE automation servers. These two types are of projects are
identical in functionality, but are packaged differently (as executable files or
Dynamic Link Libraries).

ActiveX Control This type of project is used to create new ActiveX controls.

VB Application Wizard It generates a new, fully functional application from which

more complex application can be built.

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Data Project It creates a project that automatically includes Data Report and Data
Environment.

ActiveX Document EXE, ActiveX Document DLL These project types are used to
ActiveX documents, which are in essence Visual Basic applications that can run in
the Web browser such as Internet Explorer.

IIS Application, DHTML application These projects are used to create Internet
Applications for both Server-side and Client-side.

The New Project dialog box as in Figure 2.1 has three tabs:

• New
• Existing
• Recent

The New tab allows to select the type of a new project, as explained already.
Switching to the Existing tab will enable to select an existing project and open it.
Switching to the Recent will enable to select and open the most recently worked
projects during the last few days.

Select the Standard EXE icon in the New Project window, and click the OK button.
This will open the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) as in Figure 2.2

Figure 2.2 Integrated Development Environment.

The following sections briefly explain the parts of the IDE.

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 Get into Visual Basic 6.0

The Menu Bar

The menu bar contains the commands needed to work with the Visual Basic. The
basic menus are:

™ File Contains the commands for opening and saving projects and creating
executable files and list of recent projects.

™ Edit Contains editing commands (Undo, Copy, Paste, and so on) plus a
number of commands for formatting and editing code (Find, Replace).

™ View Contains commands for showing or hiding components of the IDE.

™ Project Contains commands that add components to the current projects

references to Windows objects, and new tools to the Toolbox.

™ Format Contains commands for aligning the controls on the Form.

™ Debug Contains usual debugging commands.

™ Run Contains the commands that start, break, and end execution of the
current
application.

™ Tools Contains tools needed in building ActiveX components and ActiveX

controls; contains the command to start the Menu Editor and the options
command, which lets to customize the environment.

™ Add-Ins Contains add-ins that can be added and removed as needed. By

default, only the Visual Data Manager Add-In is installed in this menu. Add-
In manager command can be used to add and remove add-ins.

™ Window Contains the commands to arrange windows on the screen: the

standard window menu of a windows application.

™ Help Contains information to help user as he works.

The Toolbars

Provide quick access to commonly used commands in the programming

environment. By default, the Standard toolbar is displayed when Visual Basic starts.
Additional toolbars for editing, form design, and debugging can be toggled on or off

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Advanced Visual Basic

from the Toolbars command on the View menu. For example, to view the Debug
Toolbar, choose View | Toolbar and check the Debug option. Likewise to hide the
Debug follow the same procedure, but this time uncheck the Debug option.

Toolbars can be docked beneath the menu bar or can "float" if the vertical bar on the
left edge is selected and dragged away from the menu bar. Each Toolbar and its brief
description are given below.

 Standard toolbar is just below the menu bar and is displayed by default.

 The Edit toolbar contains the commands of the Edit menu.

 The Debug toolbar contains the commands of the Debug menu.

 The Form Editor menu contains the commands of the Format menu.

The Project Explorer

Lists the forms and modules in current project. A project is the collection of files that
is used to build an application.

The project components are organized in folders, and the Project Window is called
Project Explorer because it resembles the look of the Windows Explorer.

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The Toolbox

The Toolbox contains the icons of the controls that can be placed on a form to create
the application's user interface. By default, the Toolbox contains the pointer icon and
the icons of 20 intrinsic controls.

To place a control, say command button, on the Form

™ Select the command button with the mouse.

™ Move the mouse over the form. When the mouse pointer is over the form it
will turn to cross.
™ Draw the control on the form, just as drawing a rectangle.

The Properties Window

The Properties Window contains the property settings for the selected control.
Properties are attributes of an object, such as its size, font, background color and so
on. By setting these properties the appearance of the selected control can be adjusted
easily. For example to change the caption and appearance of a command button
follow the steps given below:

¾ Select the command button icon on the Toolbar and draw the button on the
Form. The button will appear with its default name as its caption, as in

Figure 2.3 Command button with its default name as its caption.

¾ Make sure that the command button is selected and press F4 or click the
Properties window to make it as active.

¾ In the Properties Window (Figure 2.4) locate the Caption property and change its
value as Click &Me.

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Advanced Visual Basic

Figure 2.4 New Caption value for the Command button.

¾ Placing ampersand before the letter M will make the caption of the command
button to appear as Click Me. It meaning is that this button can be pressed by
using keyboard characters Alt and M (Alt+M).

Figure 2.5 Color selection box for the BackColor property.

¾ To change the background color of the command button, locate the Back color
property and click the down arrow button next to the current value of the color.
This will display the color selection box as in Figure 2.5

¾ Select the Inactive Title Bar color. Now the command button will appear as in
Figure 2.6

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Note: When the color selection box is displayed, its Palette tab might be
active by default. This tab will show the colors alone. To view each
color’s description switch to the System tab.

Figure 2.6 New appearance of the Command Button.

The Form Designer

The Form Designer enables to add controls, graphics, and pictures to a Form to
define the interfaces in the desired look. Each Form in an application has its own
Form designer. The Form Designer displays two windows for each Form.

™ The Form itself (the elements of the user interface)

™ A code window (the code behind the elements of the Form)

Double clicking on a Form will bring its code window front. Double clicking on a
Form name in the Project Explorer window will bring the Form to the front. Or to
switch between these window easily, the View Code and View Form at the top of the
Project Explorer window (Figure 2.7) can be used.

Figure 2.7 Icons at the top of the Project Explorer to switch between Code and Form
window.

The Form Layout

The Form Layout window helps to position the forms of an application using a small
graphical representation of the screen. This window is very useful in the application
that uses multiple forms, because each form's position can easily be specified with
respect to the main form. For example, assume that an application contains three
forms. The Form Layout window will show the layouts of the all the three forms.
Mouse can be used to drag these layouts to the desired location as in Figure 2.8

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When the application shows all the Forms, they will appear in the screen as in Figure
2.9

Figure 2.9 Forms – appearing on the Desktop as positioned in the Form Layout
window.

The Immediate Window

The Immediate Window is a debugging aid. While an application is running it can

be paused and the immediate window can be used to examine or change the values
of the application’s variable. It can be used to execute simple basic commands even
when the application is not running. For example, type Print 30 + 40 in the
Immediate window and hit enter. The result 70 will appear in the next line.

Context Menus

It contains shortcuts to frequently performed actions. When right mouse button is

clicked, context menus pops up with list of shortcuts specific to part of the

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environment where the mouse is right clicked. For example context menu displays
items namely Components..., Add Tab..., Dockable, and Hide, when the mouse is
right clicked on the Toolbox (Figure 2.10).

Figure 2.10 Context menu that appears when the right mouse Button is clicked on the
Toolbox.

2.4 Basic Scripting In Visual Basic

Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition, the newest member of the Visual Basic
family of programming languages, brings active scripting to a wide variety of
environments, including Web client scripting in Microsoft Internet Explorer and Web
server scripting in Microsoft Internet Information Server. No scripting language
including VBScript has disc-accessing features and so it is accepted to be a safe
language to deploy in the web.
Easy to Use and Learn

If you already know Visual Basic or Visual Basic for Applications, VBScript will be
very familiar. Even if you don't know Visual Basic, once you learn VBScript, you're
on your way to programming with the whole family of Visual Basic languages.

It is a free language and so it can be used anywhere. We can write our VBSCRIPT
program in notepad and execute it using Internet Explorer. You can use the SCRIPT
element to add VBScript code to an HTML page.

The <SCRIPT> Tag

Any scripting language can be enclosed within a script tag in an ordinary HTML file.
The script tag can be placed anywhere in the HTML page and it is better to place it in
the head tag. We should mention the language as an attribute. It is a container tag.

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<script language = vbscript>

</script>

2.5 Short Summary

) Visual Basic is an ideal programming language for developing sophisticated

professional application
) Visual Basic make use of Graphical User Interface for creating robust and
powerful application
) Encapsulation is the combination of data and characteristics in a single
package

) IDE describes the Interface and environment that we use to create our
application
) VBScript has disc-accessing features and so it is accepted to be a safe
language

2.6 Brain Storm

1. Is Visual Basic programming language unique to Visual Basic? If yes, in which

other application it is used?
2. Differentiate between the previous version and the new version of Visual Basic
3. What is Visual programming?
4. Give some new features of object Oriented Programming?
5. What is IDE? Discuss about the new features of IDE?
6. Why Visual Basic claim as a Free language?

Lab Unit – 2 (2 Real Time Hrs)

1. Create a new Standard EXE project

2. Enter the Code in the Form Load event procedure
3. During run time the caption, mouse pointer, Window State, Height and
Width properties should be changed.

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 Program Constructs

Lecture - 3

Program Constructs

Objectives

In this chapter you will learn the following

™ About Variable

™ About constant

™ Know about statements

™ Understand predefined dialog box’s

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Advanced Visual Basic

Lecture unit - 3

3.1 Snap Shot

3.2 Variables

3.3 Constants

3.4 Operators

3.5 User defined data types

3.6 Arrays

3.7 Rem statement

3.8 End statement

3.9 Functions

3.10 Input box

3.11 Msg box

3.12 Control statements

3.13 Short summary

3.14 Brain storm

3.15 Lab unit

Lab unit 3 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

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 Program Constructs

3.1 Snap Shot

Visual Basic is only a basic element of the application. The code for this interface
must be written to define the application’s behavior. As with any modern
programming language, Visual Basic supports a number of common programming
constructs and language elements. This chapter introduces the programming
fundamental of Visual Basic.

3.2 Variables

In Visual Basic, as in any other programming language, variables store values during
a program's execution. A variable is a named storage location that can contain a
value, which can be modified during the program execution or if the value of a
specified memory location changes at run time then it is defined to be a variable. The
name with which we assign or manipulate the memory location at runtime is called a
variable [Link] variable has a name (which uniquely identifies it), value and
type. For example, the variable Name can have the value "Ram", and the variable
Age can have the value 24. Here Name and Age are variable names and "Ram" and
24 are their values, and String and Integer are types of variables Name and Age
respectively.

Declaring Variables

In most programming languages, variables must be declared. In other words,

compiler must be told in advance, about the variables to be used. If the compiler
knows the variables and their types, it can produce optimized code. When the
compiler is informed that the variable Age will hold a number, then it will set
required bytes in memory to make ready to use it.

Note: The Compiler is a translator that translates the programming code into the
machine’s understandable form in order to make it ready for execution.

A variable name:

™ Must begin with a letter.

™ Can't contain an embedded period or embedded type-declaration character.
™ Must not exceed 255 characters.
™ Must be unique within the same scope.

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Explicit Declarations

To declare variables and to allocate storage space the Dim statement is used as in the
following:

Dim meters as Integer

Dim greetings as String

The first variable, meters will store an integer value such as 10 or 388, and the second
variable, greetings, will store a text such as "Happy BirthDay". When the compiler
finds a Dim statement, it creates placeholder by reserving some space in memory and
assigning a name to it. Each time this name is used in subsequent statements, Visual
basic uses this area in memory to read or set its value. For instance, when the
following statement is used:
meters = 143

Visual Basic places the value 143 in the placeholder reserved for the variable meters.
When the program asks for the value of this variable, Visual Basic reads it from the
same area of memory. The following statement:

[Link] meters

Causes Visual Basic to retrieve the value from the area of memory named meters and
prints it the immediate window Form.

Note: The Print method with Debug prefix sends output to the Immediate window.
Using the Print method in this way is helpful to examine the values of the
variables in much easier way.

A single statement can both read and set the value of a variable. The following
statement increases the value of the meters variable:

meters = meters + 1

Visual Basic reads the value (say 143), adds 1 to it, and then stores the new value
(144) in the same memory location.

Attempting to assign a value of the wrong type to a declared variable generates a

"TypeMismatch " run time error. For example, if an attempt is made to assign the
value "Welcome" to the variable meters which is of integer type, Visual Basic would
not execute the statement, as it violates the variable declaration.

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Implicit Declarations

Variables can also be used with out declaring them. When Visual Basic meets an
undeclared variable name, it creates a new variable on the spot and uses it. The new
variable's type is Variant, the generic data type that can accommodate all the data
types. Visual basic adjusts the undeclared variable’s type according the value
assigned to it. For example when an undeclared variable is used as follows:

var1 = 1000

Visual basic creates a variable named var1 of Variant type and adjusts its type to
Integer and an integer value (in this case 1000) is assigned to it.

Types of Variables

The type of a variable determines how to allocate storage space in the computer's
memory to their values. All variables have a type that determines what kind of data
they can store.

Visual Basic recognizes the following types of variables:

™ Numeric
™ String
™ Variant
™ Date
™ Object

The Numeric Data Types

Visual Basic supplies several numeric data types — Integer, Long (long integer),
Single (single-precision floating point), Double (double-precision floating point), and
Currency. Using a numeric data type generally uses less storage space than a variant.
If it is known that a variable will store whole numbers (such as 12,388,62, etc.) rather
than numbers with a fractional amount (such as 3.57, 0.7876, etc.) then it is better to
declare it as an Interger or Long type variable. Operations are faster with integers,
and these types consume less memory than other data types.

Different type of variables can be declared in a single Dim statement. For example,
the following declaration statements

Dim var1 as Single

Dim var2 as Double

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Dim var3 as Currency

Can be minimized as in the following:

Dim var1 as Single, var2 as Double, var3 as Currency.

Different types of numbers are represented internally in different formats. All

numeric values are truncated to a certain extent. The result of the operation 1/3 is
0.333333... (an infinite number of digits 3). It will fill the total capacity of RAM with
the digit 3, and the result will still be truncated. Here’s a simple but illuminating
example.

Dim a as Single, b as Double

Single and Double are two basic data types for storing floating-point numbers
(numbers that have a fractional part), and the Double type can represent these
numbers more accurately than the Single type. The following statements

a=1/3
[Link] a

Will produce the result in the immediate window:

0.3333333

And if the following statements are executed subsequently:

a = a * 100000

The output will be

33333.34

The above result is not accurate, as it is not rounded properly. If this result is divided by 100000, its result will be
0.3333334, which is different from the initial result (0.3333333). This is an important point in numeric calculations, and it is
called error propagation. In long sequences of numeric calculations, errors propagate. If the above same operation is
performed with the variable b, which is declared as Double as in the following;

b=1/3
[Link] b
B = b * 100000
[Link] b

The result will be

0.333333333333333

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33333.3333333333

which is more accurate.

The choice of data types for variables can make a difference in the results of
the calculations. The proper variable types are determined by the nature of the
values they present. The choice of data types is frequently a tradeoff between
precision and speed of execution (less precise data types are manipulated faster).
The following table shows range and storage space allocated for each type of
numeric variable.

Data type
Storage Range
size
Integer 2 bytes -32,768 to 32,767
Long
4 bytes -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647
(long integer)
Single -3.402823E38 to -1.401298E-45 for
(single-precision 4 bytes negative values; 1.401298E-45 to
floating-point) 3.402823E38 for positive values
-1.79769313486232E308 to
Double -4.94065645841247E-324 for negative
(double-precision 8 bytes values; 4.94065645841247E-324 to
floating-point) 1.79769313486232E308 for positive
values
Currency -922,337,203,685,477.5808 to
8 bytes
(scaled integer) 922,337,203,685,477.5807

Table 3.1 Numeric data types.

The Byte Data Type

The Byte type holds basically an integer in the range 0 to 225 and they are declared
with the following statement.

Dim varname as Byte

As the name implies bytes allocated in the memory for Byte data type is one. Bytes
variables are frequently used to access binary files, image and sound files, and so on.
All operators that work on integers work with the Byte data type except unary
minus. Since Byte is an unsigned type with the range 0-255, it cannot represent a
negative number.

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String Variables

The String data type stores only text, and string variables are declared with the
following statement:
Dim varname as string
By default, a string variable is a variable-length string; the string grows or shrinks as
new data is assigned to it. String variables can also be declared with fixed length as
in below:

Syntax

Dim String * size

For example, to declare a string that is always 50 characters long, the following
statement is used:

Dim EmpName As String * 50

If a string of fewer than 50 characters is assigned, the EmpName is padded with

enough trailing spaces to total 50 characters. If a string that is too long for the fixed-
length string is assigned, Visual Basic simply truncates the characters.

If a string variable's size will change drastically during the course of an application, it
is better to declare it as fixed-length to prevent Visual Basic from having to resize it
constantly, which slows down the execution speed.

The Boolean Data Type

The Boolean data type stores True/False values. Although a single bit would be
adequate, for efficiency reasons Visual Basic allocates two bytes to this data type.
Boolean variables are in essence integers that take the value -1(for True) and 0 (for
False). Boolean variables are declared as

Dim Running as Boolean

These variables are combined with the logical operators AND, OR and NOT. The
NOT operator toggles the value of a Boolean variable. The following statement:
Running = NOT Running

is a toggle. If the variable Running is True, it's reset to False, and vice versa. This
statement is a shorter way of coding the following:

If Running = True Then

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running = False
Else
Running = True
End If

The Date Variable

Date and time values are stored internally as in a special way. A variable declared as
Date:

Dim expiration as Date

Can store both date and time values. The following are all valid assignments:
expiration = "01/01/1999"
expiration = "01/23/1999"
expiration = "13:03:05 AM"
expiration = "02/23/1999 13:03:05 AM"

Two date variables can be subtracted know the difference as in the following:

Dim Date1 as date, Date2 as date;

Dim days as integer;
Date1 = "01/02/1999"
Date2 = "01/08/1999"
Days = Date2 - Date1
In the above example the integer variable Days will hold the value 6 which is the
difference between the dates Date1 and Date2. The value are stored in the date
variables in mm/dd/yyyy ( mm - Month, dd - Day, yyyy - Year ) format.

Integer values can be added to a Date variable to add days. For example, if Date1
holds the date "01/01/1999" the following line
[Link] Date1 + 10
Will print the value "01/11/1999"

Note: To add an hour to a Date variable, add 1/24 of a day; to add a minute add
1/(24*60) of a day.

Object Variables

Object variables are stored as 32-bit (4-byte) addresses that refer to objects within an
application or within some other application. A variable declared as Object is one
that can subsequently be assigned (using the Set statement) to refer to any actual
object recognized by the application.

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For example, it has been assumed that a Form in a Visual Basic application has two
command buttons namely Command1 and Command2. And two object variables
are declared as follows:

Dim a as CommandButton, b as CommandButton;

Each of these two Object variables can be set to one of the two command buttons
with the following Statements:

Set a = Command1
Set b = Command2
From now on the command buttons’ properties can be manipulated through the
variables a and b. To change the Caption property of the first command button, the
following statement is used:

[Link] = "Click Me"

To turn on the bold attribute of the second command button (so that it caption
appears in bold), the following statement is used:

[Link] = True
This section just briefed about object variables. Objects and Object variables are
explained in detail in the chapter “Object Programming in Visual Basic”

The Variant Variable

A Variant variable is capable of storing all system-defined types of data. Variant

variables are declared without specifying a type as follows:

Dim var

Or for cleaner code it can be declared as Dim var as Variant. Variant variable can be
used in both numeric and string calculations. There is no need to perform any type
conversions. Visual Basic automatically performs any necessary conversion. For

Example

Dim SomeValue ' Variant by default.

eValue = "17" ' SomeValue contains "17" (a

'two-character string)

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SomeValue = SomeValue–15 ' SomeValue now contains the

' numeric value 2.

SomeValue = "U" & SomeValue ' SomeValue now contains

' "U2" (a two- character
' string).

Converting Variable Types

In some situation variables has to be converted from one type to another. For
example, an automatically generated number may have to be concatenated with a
prefix to produce an another string say Employee Id (something like AAA1001).
Concatenation can take place only on strings. So, first the number has to be
converted into a string, and then it can be concatenated with the prefix. The CStr
function converts an expression into a sting. The following example explains this
process.
Dim EmployeeId as String
Dim AutoNum as Integer

AutoNum = (some expression that automatically generates a number)

EmployeeId = “AAA” + CStr(AutoNum)

The following are the list of type conversion functions.

Conversion Function Converts an expression to

CBool Boolean
CByte Byte
CCur Currency
CDate Date
CDbl Double
CInt Integer
CLng Long
CSng Single
CStr String
CVar Variant
Special Values

Generally variables have value. Before any value is assigned to them, numeric
variables are zero, and string variables are zero length (""). There are, however, two
special values: Empty and Null.

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The Empty Value

If a variant variable is declared but not initialized then its value is Empty. The
Empty value is different from a zero-length string. The IsEmpty() function can be
used to find out whether a variant variable, say someVariable, is initialized or not as
in the following:

If IsEmpty(someVariable) Then [Link] "Variable is not initialised"

The IsEmpty function will return a Boolean value. That is, it will return True, if the
variable is not initialized or False, if the variable is initialized.

The Null Value

Null is commonly used in database applications to indicate that a field doesn't

contain data or Object variable hasn't been assigned a value. Uninitialized variables
that refer to objects (databases, custom objects) are Null, not Empty as in the
following.

If Not IsNull(someVariable) then

(Process the variable someVariable)

End if

Examining the Type of a Variable

Besides setting the types of the various variables and converting between types, the
type of a variable can be examined by using the VarType and TypeName functions.
For example, a variable might be declared of variant type. But it will be converted to
a specific type automatically by Visual Basic according to its current value. In this
sense to know the new type either VarType or TypeName functions can be used.
Both functions accept as argument the name of a variable, and they return a number
(the VarType() function) or a string (the TypeName() function) indicating the type of
the variable.

The VarType Function

The VarType() function returns one of the numbers shown in Table3.2, depending on
the type of the argument.

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Constant Value Description

vbEmpty 0 Empty (uninitialized)
vbNull 1 Null (no valid data)
vbInteger 2 Integer
vbLong 3 Long integer
vbSingle 4 Single-precision floating-point number
vbDouble 5 Double-precision floating-point number
vbCurrency 6 Currency value
vbDate 7 Date value
vbString 8 String
vbObject 9 Object
vbError 10 Error value
vbBoolean 11 Boolean value
vbVariant 12 Variant (used only with arrays of variants)
vbDataObject 13 A data access object
vbDecimal 14 Decimal value
VbByte 17 Byte value
VbUserDefined
36 Variants that contain user-defined types
Type
VbArray 8192 Array

Table 3.2 The Numbers that the VarType() returns.

Example

This example uses the VarType function to determine the type of a variable.

Dim IntVar, StrVar, DateVar, MyCheck

' Initialize variables.

IntVar = 459: StrVar = "Hello World": DateVar = #2/12/69#

MyCheck = VarType(IntVar) ' Returns 2.

MyCheck = VarType(DateVar) ' Returns 7.
MyCheck = VarType(StrVar) ' Returns 8.

Note: The single quote (‘) in the above statements indicates the beginning of
comment, which will be ignored by Visual Basic.

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While checking the type of the variables, it is hard to remember the return value that
corresponds to a specific type. So instead of numeric values constants (listed in Table
3.2) can be used as in the following:

If VarType(IntVar) = vbInteger then

[Link] “Variable is of Integer Type”
End If

The TypeName function

This function returns the type of a variable as a string as the following example
shows:

' Declare variables.

Dim MyType, StrVar As String, IntVar As Integer
Dim CurVar As Currency
Dim ArrayVar (1 To 5) As Integer

MyType = TypeName(StrVar) ' Returns "String".

MyType = TypeName(IntVar) ' Returns "Integer".
MyType = TypeName(CurVar) ' Returns "Currency".
MyType = TypeName(ArrayVar) ' Returns "Integer()".

Is it a Number or an Array or a Date?

There is another set of functions that returns variables’ data types, but not the exact
type. They are:

™ IsNumeric() Returns True if its argument is a number (Integer, Long, Currency,

Single, or Double).
™ IsDate() Returns True if its argument is a valid date or time.
™ IsArray() Returns True if its argument is an array.

Forcing Variable Declarations

Visual Basic doesn't enforce variable declaration. However, declaring all variables
will help to write clean code and will simplify debugging. So, to enforce Visual Basic
for variable declarations, the following statement has to be placed in the declaration
section of a Form or Module.

Option Explicit

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This statement tells the compiler to check each variable and issue an error message if
it is used without declaration. If this statement is omitted, then Visual Basic creates
variables as needed.

Another reason for declaring variables in advance is to simplify debugging,

especially in large applications. Suppose the variable DM2USD appear in many
places in the application. If in one of these places the name is typed DM2UDS
instead of DM2USD and the program doesn’t enforce variable declaration, the
compiler creates a new variable, assigns it the value zero, and then uses it. If the
application enforces variable declaration, the compiler will complain (the DM2UDS
is not declared) and this enable to catch the error.

If the Require Variable Declaration check box is checked in the Options dialog box’s
Editor tab (Figure 3.1), which appears when Tools | Option is chosen, Visual Basic
automatically inserts the Option Explicit statement in any new modules, but not in
existing modules. To enforce the variable declaration in the existing module Option
Explicit statement must manually be typed.

Figure 3.1 Editor tab of Options dialog box in which Require Variable
Declaration checkbox is checked.

A variable's scope

If a variable is declared within a procedure, only the code in the specific procedure

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has access to that variable. This variable doesn't exit for the rest of the application.
This variable's scope is limited to a procedure, and it's called local.
Example

Sub Command1_Click()
Dim i as Integer, j as Integer

----------------------------
----------------------------
End Sub

The variables i and j are declared inside the Command1_Click() procedure and so,
they are local variables and accessible only within this procedure. If a variable has
to be accessed by all procedures then it has to be declared in the declaration section.

Finally, in some situations the entire application must access a certain variable. In
this case, the variable must be declared as Public. Public variables have a global
scope (they are visible to any part of variable). To declare a Public variable, Public
statement is used instead of Dim statement as follows:

Public a as Integer

Moreover, Public variables may not appear inside procedures. They must be
declared in a standard module.

The Lifetime of a Variable

In addition to type and scope, variables have a lifetime, the period during which they
retain their value. Variables declared as Public exist for the lifetime of the
application. Local variables, declared within procedures with the Dim or Private
statement, live for as long as the procedure in which they are declared. When the
procedure finishes, the local variables cease to exist, and the allocated memory is
returned to the system. The same procedure can be called again, of course. In this
case, the local variables are recreated and initialized again.

However, a local variable can be forced to preserve its value, with the Static
keyword. Static keyword is used to declare variables inside a procedure, exactly in
the same way as Dim statement as in the following:

Static Depth

For example, the following function calculates a running total by adding a new value

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to the total of previous values stored in the static variable ApplesSold:

Function RunningTotal(num)
Static ApplesSold
ApplesSold = ApplesSold + num
RunningTotal = ApplesSold
End Function

If ApplesSold was declared with Dim instead of Static, the previous accumulated
values would not be preserved across calls to the function, and the function would
simply return the same value with which it was called.

The same result can be produced by declaring ApplesSold in the Declarations section
of the module, making it a module-level variable. However, the procedure no longer
has exclusive access to it. Because other procedures can access and change the value
of the variable, the running totals might be unreliable and the code would be more
difficult to maintain.

3.3 Constants

Some variables don't change value during the execution of a program. These are
constants that appear many times in the program code. For example if a program
does math calculations, the value of pi ( 3.14159.... ) may appear many times in the
program code.

These values are best represented by constants. Instead of typing the value 3.14159
over and over again, a constant can be defined with a constant name, say pi , and it
can be used in the program code as follows:

Area = pi * Radius ^ 2

which is much easier to understand than the equivalent:

Area = 3.1415 Radiius ^ 2

Pi could be declared as a variable, but constants are preferred for two reasons:

1. Constants can't change value: This is a safety feature. Once a constant has been
declared, its value can not be changed in subsequent statements, it can be assured
that the value specified in the constant's declaration will take effect in the rest of

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the program.

2. Constants are processed faster than variables: When the program is running, the
values of constants don't have to be looked up. The compiler substitutes constant
names with their values, and the program executes faster.

Often you'll find that your code contains constant values that reappear over and
over. Or you may find that the code depends on certain numbers that are difficult to
remember — numbers that, in and of themselves, have no obvious meaning.

In these cases, you can greatly improve the readability of your code — and make it
easier to maintain — by using constants. A constant is a meaningful name that takes
the place of a number or string that does not change. Although a constant somewhat
resembles a variable, you can't modify a constant or assign a new value to it as you
can to a variable. There are two sources for constants:

• Intrinsic or system-defined constants are provided by applications and controls.

Visual Basic constants are listed in the Visual Basic (VB) and Visual Basic for
applications (VBA) object libraries in the Object Browser. Other applications that
provide object libraries, such as Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Project, also
provide a list of constants you can use with their objects, methods, and
properties. Constants are also defined in the object library for each ActiveX
control.

• Symbolic or user-defined constants are declared using the Const statement.

In Visual Basic, constant names are in a mixed-case format, with a prefix indicating
the object library that defines the constant. Constants from the Visual Basic and
Visual Basic for applications object libraries are prefaced with "vb" — for instance,
vbTileHorizontal.

The prefixes are intended to prevent accidental collisions in cases where constants
have identical names and represent different values. Even with prefixes, it's still
possible that two bject libraries may contain identical constants representing
different values. Which constant is referenced in this case depends on which object
library has the higher priority.

To be absolutely sure you avoid constant name collisions, you can qualify references
to constants with the following syntax:

[libname.][modulename.]constname

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Libname is usually the class name of the control or library. Modulename is the name
of the module that defines the constant. Constname is the name of the constant. Each
of these elements is defined in the object library, and can be viewed in the Object
Browser.

Creating Your Own Constants

The syntax for declaring a constant is:

[Public|Private] Const constantname[As type] = expression

The argument constantname is a valid symbolic name (the rules are the same as
those for creating variable names), and expression is composed of numeric or string
constants and operators; however, you can't use function calls in expression.

A Const statement can represent a mathematical or date/time quantity:

Const conPi = 3.14159265358979

Public Const conMaxPlanets As Integer = 9
Const conReleaseDate = #1/1/95#

The Const statement can also be used to define string constants:

Public Const conVersion = "07.10.A"

Const conCodeName = "Enigma"

You can place more than one constant declaration on a single line if you separate
them with commas:

Public Const conPi = 3.14, conMaxPlanets = 9, _

conWorldPop = 6E+09

The expression on the right side of the equal sign ( = ) is often a number or literal
string, but it can also be an expression that results in a number or string (although
that expression can't contain calls to functions). You can even define constants in
terms of previously defined constants:

Const conPi2 = conPi * 2

Once you define constants, you can place them in your code to make it more
readable. For example:

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Static SolarSystem(1 To conMaxPlanets)

If numPeople > conWorldPop Then Exit Sub
Scoping User-Defined Constants

A Const statement has scope like a variable declaration, and the same rules apply:

• To create a constant that exists only within a procedure, declare it within that
procedure.

• To create a constant available to all procedures within a module, but not to any
code outside that module, declare it in the Declarations section of the module.

• To create a constant available throughout the application, declare the constant in

the Declarations section of a standard module, and place the Public keyword
before Const. Public constants cannot be declared in a form or class module.

Avoiding Circular References

Because constants can be defined in terms of other constants, you must be careful not
to set up a cycle, or circular reference between two or more constants. A cycle occurs
when you have two or more public constants, each of which is defined in terms of
the other.

For example:

' In Module 1:
Public Const conA = conB * 2 ' Available throughout
' application.
' In Module 2:
Public Const conB = conA / 2 ' Available throughout
' application.

If a cycle occurs, Visual Basic generates an error when you attempt to run your
application. You cannot run your code until you resolve the circular reference. To
avoid creating a cycle, restrict all your public constants to a single module or, at
most, a small number of modules.

3.4 Operators

Operators can be classified into three main categories.

1. Arithmetic Operators

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2. Relational or Comparison Operators

3. Logical Operators

The table lists the operators available in vbscript and most of them are self-explanatory.

Arithmetic Comparison Logical

Description Symbol Description Symbol Description Symbol
Logical
Exponentiation ^ Equality = Not
Negation
Unary Logical
- Inequality <> And
Negation Conjunction
Logical
Multiplication * Less than < Or
Disjunction
Logical
Division / Greater than > Xor
Exclusion
Less than or Logical
Integer \ <= Eqv
equal to Equivalence
Modulus Greater than Logical
Mod >= Imp
Arithmetic or equal to Implication
Object
Addition + Is
Equivalence
Subtraction -
String
&
Concatenation

Arithmetic operators

<Script language = vbscript>

Dim x, y
X=10
Y=3
E = x ^ y ‘ find x to the power of y
I = x \ y ‘ performs integer division
M = x mod y ‘ returns remainder of the division performed by x/y
</script>

Output of the script

E=1000; I=3; M=1

The usage of relational operators and logical operators will be discussed in the next section.

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Logical Operators

Logical Operators follows a set of rules, which can be used with comparison
statements.

The rule followed by the operator is defined through truth table.

Truth Table for And Operator

A B Y
0 0 0
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 1

Truth Table for Or Operator

Y
0
1
1
1

Truth Table for Not Operator

Where A, B refers input

Y refers output
0 considered False
1 considered True

3.5 The User Defined Data Types

Most programs store sets of data of different types. For example, a program for
maintaining a company's system information must store several pieces of
information for each system; the system brand, its cost, and its purchase date etc. All
these information should be stored together. To achieve this user defined data types
are used. They are useful to create a single variable that records several related

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pieces of information.

User-defined data types are created with the Type statement, which must be placed
in the Declarations section of a module.
Syntax

Type varType
variable1 as varType
variable2 as varType
--------------------
--------------------
End Type

After this declaration, variables can be created of this type and manipulated as all
other variable (with a little extra typing).

Example

This example shows how to create a user defined data type SystemInfo that holds the
System Information.

Type SystemInfo
Brand as String
Cost as Currency
PurchaseDate as Date
End Type

From now onwards variables can be declared of the SystemInfo type in the same way
as regular variables are declared. To define variables of this type, the following
statement is used.

Dim system1 as SystemInfo, system2 as SystemInfo

To assign value to these variable, values to each one of its components (called as
fields) must separately be assigned, which can be accessed by combining the name of
the variable and the name of a field separated by a period, as in the following:

[Link] = "HCL system"

[Link] = 30000
[Link] = "01/01/1999"

3.6 Arrays

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A standard structure for storing data in any programming language is an array.

Whereas individual variables can hold single entities, such as a number, a date, or a
string, arrays can hold sets of related data. An array has a name, as does a variable,
and the values stored in it can be accessed by an index.

Suppose if salary for 10 employees is to be stored, then variables Salary1, Salary2,

...Salary10 could be created to hold all 10 employees’ salary. But if number of
employee’s goes to very large extent then it is impossible to create a variable for each
employee. This way is not elegant too. Arrays are useful here, as they allow to refer
to a series of variables by the same name and to use a number (an index) to tell them
apart. Arrays are declared as in the following:

Dim Salary(99) as Integer

This declaration creates an array named Salary with 100 elements, with index
numbers running from 0 to 99 and holds 100 values; the salaries of 100 employees.
Salary (0) is the first person's salary, Salary (1) the second person's salary, and so on.
Values are assigned to the elements of arrays as follows:

Salary(0) = 1000
All elements in an array have the same data type. Of course, when the data type is
Variant, the individual elements can contain different kinds of data. By default, the
first element of an array has index 0 (lower - bound) and the number that appears in
parentheses in the Dim statement is the array's upper limit (upper - bound).
However, the array's first element need not be zero. Lower limit (lower - bound) can
explicitly be specified as in the following:

Dim Salary(1 to 100) as Integer

The lower bound can have any other value, provided it is smaller than the upper
bound. The following declarations are valid:

Dim Greetings(10 to 20) as String

Dim Amounts (100 to 101) as Double

Suppose if the array Salary contains salaries of all the employees, one thing that is to
be remembered is which person corresponds to each salary. This can be avoided by
declaring an another array Names as in the following:

Dim Names(1 to 100) as String

Now values to the elements of both arrays can be assigned as in the following:

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Names(0) = “Ekambaram”
Salary(0) = 20000
Names(1) = “Prema”
Salary(1) = 15000
Names(2) = “Gayathri”
Salary(2) = 50000
----------------------
----------------------
Note: If the index value that is used to access a element of an array, is not between
the array’s lower limit and upper limit, Visual Basic will generate an error
“Subscript out of range” at run time.

Multi-Dimentional Arrays

Sometimes when storing values in an array, its related information has also to be
stored. For example, to keep track of each pixel on a computer screen, both X and Y
coordinates are to be referred. This can be done using a multidimensional array to
store the values.

Arrays of multiple dimentions can be declared as follows:

Dim Matrix(9,9) as Double

The above statement declares a two-dimensional 10-by-10 array. But arrays can be
extended for more dimensions as in the following:

Dim MultiD(3, 1 To 10, 1 To 15)

This declaration creates an array that has three dimensions with sizes 4 by 10 by 15.
The total number of elements is the product of these three dimensions, or 600.

The benefit of using multidimensional arrays is that they are conceptually easier to
manage. The following example demonstrates this.
Example

In a game board, positions of certain pieces are to be tracked. Each square on the
board is identified by two numbers, its horizontal and vertical coordinates. The
obvious structure for tracking the broad’s squares is a two-dimensional array, in
which first index corresponds to the row number and the second index corresponds
to the column number. The array could be declared as follows:

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Dim Board(1 to 10,1 to 10) as Integer

When a piece is moved from the square on the first row and first column to the
square on the third row and fifth column, 0 is assigned to the element that
corresponds to the initial position:

Board(1,1) = 0

And 1 is assigned to the square to which is moved:

Board(3,5) = 1

To find out whether a piece on the bottom right squae the following statements are
used:

If Board(10,10) = 1 then
{ Piece found }
Else
{ Empty Square }
End if

Dynamic Arrays

Sometimes when declaring arrays its required size may not be known. Instead of
making it large enough to hold the maximum number of data (which means the most
of the array may be empty), arrays can be declared dynamically.

A dynamic array can be resized at any time. Dynamic arrays are among the most
flexible and convenient features in Visual Basic, and they help to manage memory
efficiently. For example, a large array can be used for a short time and then can be --
freed up memory to the system when that array is no longer used.

Dynamic arrays are crearted in the same way as normal arrays, but without
specifying it dimensions as in the following:

Dim DynArray()

Later in the program, when the number of elements to be stored in the array is
known, the Redim statement is used to redimension the array with the required size
as follows:

ReDim DynArray(count) ' count is probably a user-

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' entered value.

The ReDim statement can appear only in a procedure. Unlike the Dim statement,
Redim is executable and so, can appear only inside a procedure. An array can be
redimensioned to multiple dimensions as follows:

Dim Matrix() as Double

ReDim Matrix(9,9,9)

Note: The ReDim statement can't change the type of the array. Moreover,
subsequent ReDim statements can change the bounds of a array and number
of its dimensions.

The Preserve Keyword

Whenever the ReDim statement is executed, all the values currently stored in the
array are lost. Visual Basic resets the values to the Empty value (for Variant arrays),
to zero (for numeric arrays), to a zero-length string (for string arrays), or to Nothing
(for arrays of objects). The Preserve Keyword is used to resize an array without
losing its contents. For example if an array is having 15 elements and have to be
resized to hold 25 elements, without losing its contents, then the preserve keyword is
used at redimension as in the following:

ReDim Preserve DynArray(14+10)

3.7 REM Statement

Rem comments

Used to include explanatory remarks in a program. Allows comments to be added to

a program. Everything on the line after the Rem statement is ignored by Visual Basic.
A apostrophe( ` ) can also be used in lieu of the Rem statement

Syntax

Rem comment
or
' comment

The comment argument is the text of any comment you want to include. After the
Rem keyword, a space is required before comment.

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Note : If you use line numbers or line labels, you can branch from a GoTo or
GoSub statement to a line containing a Rem statement. Execution
continues with the first executable statement following the Rem
statement. If the Rem keyword follows other statements on a line, it must
be separated from the statements by a colon (:).

You can use an apostrophe (') instead of the Rem keyword. When you use an
apostrophe, the colon is not required after other statements.

The following example illustrates the use of the Rem statement:

Dim MyStr1, MyStr2

MyStr1 = "Hello" : Rem Comment after a statement separated by a colon.
MyStr2 = "Goodbye" ' This is also a comment; no colon is needed.
Rem Comment on a line with no code; no colon is needed.

3.8 End Statement

Ends a procedure or block.

Syntax
End
End Function
End If
End Property
End Select
End Sub
End Type
End With
The End statement syntax has these forms:

Statement Description
End Terminates execution immediately. Never required by itself
but may be placed anywhere in a procedure to end code
execution, close files opened with the Open statement and to
clear variables.
End Function Required to end a Function statement.
End If Required to end a block If…Then…Else statement.

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End Property Required to end a Property Let, Property Get, or

Property Set procedure.
End Select Required to end a Select Case statement.
End Sub Required to end a Sub statement.
End Type Required to end a user-defined type definition (Type
statement).
End With Required to end a With statement.

When executed, the End statement resets all module-level variables and all
static local variables in all modules. To preserve the value of these variables,
use the Stop statement instead. You can then resume execution while
preserving the value of those variables.

Note The End statement stops code execution abruptly, without invoking the Unload,
QueryUnload, or Terminate event, or any other Visual Basic code. Code you have
placed in the Unload, QueryUnload, and Terminate events of forms and class
modules is not executed. Objects created from class modules are destroyed, files
opened using the Open statement are closed, and memory used by your program
is freed. Object references held by other programs are invalidated.

The End statement provides a way to force your program to halt. For normal
termination of a Visual Basic program, you should unload all forms. Your
program closes as soon as there are no other programs holding references to
objects created from your public class modules and no code executing.

3.9 Functions

A function is similar to a subroutine, but a function returns a result. Subroutines

perform a task and don't report anything to the calling program; functions
commonly carry out calculations and report the result. The statements making up a
function are placed in a pair of Function / End Function statements. Moreover,
because a function reports a result, it must have a type, as in the following:

Function NextDay() As Date

NextDay = Date() + 1
End Function

The NextDay() function returns tomorrow's date by adding 1 day to the current date.
Because it must report the result to the calling program, the NextDay() function has a
type, as do variables, and the result is assigned to its name (Which can’t be done with
subroutines).

The Exit Function statement causes an immediate exit from a Function procedure, as

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the Exit Sub statement does in the subroutine. Program execution continues with the
statement following the statement that called the function.

3.10 Input Box Function

Displays a prompt in a dialog box, waits for the user to input text or click a button,
and returns the content entered by the user.

Syntax

InputBox (prompt[, title] [, default] [, xpos] [, ypos])

The arguments are described in the following table 1.3.

Argument Description
Required. String expression displayed as the message in the dialog
Prompt
box.
Optional. String expression displayed in the title bar of the dialog
Title
box. If omitted, the application name is placed in the title bar.
Optional. String expression displayed in the text box as the default
Default response if no other input is provided. If omitted, the text box is
displayed empty.
Optional. Numeric expression that specifies, in twips, the horizontal
Xpos distance of the left edge of the dialog box from the left edge of the
screen. If omitted, the dialog box is horizontally centered.
Optional. Numeric expression that specifies, in twips, the vertical
distance of the upper edge of the dialog box from the top of the
Ypos
screen. If is omitted, the dialog box is vertically positioned
approximately one-third of the way down the screen.
Table 3.3 Arguments of InputBox function.
Example 1

Dim Name as String

‘ Specifying prompt alone

Name = InputBox(“Your name please..”)

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The above statement will display the Input box as in Figure 1.13
Figure 3.2 Inputbox with Project’s title and without default value.
When the user enters his name and clicks OK, the InputBox returns his name to the
variable Name.

Example 2

Dim Age as Integer

Name = InputBox(“Your age please..”, “CyberPro”, “25”)

The above statement will display the Input box as in Figure 1.14

Figure 3.4 Inputbox with specified title and default value.

If the user clicks OK without entering anything the default value 25 will be returned
by the InputBox to the variable Age.

Note: Though InputBox returns only strings, when they are assigned variables of
other types, Visual Basic makes necessary type conversions automatically.

3.11 MsgBox Funtion

Displays a message in a dialog box, waits for the user to click a button, and returns
an Integer indicating which button the user clicked.

Syntax

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MsgBox(prompt[, buttons] [, title] )

The prompt and title arguments are same as in InputBox function. The buttons
argument is a numeric expression that is the sum of values specifying the number
and type of buttons to display, the icon style to use, the identity of the default button,
and the modality of the message box. If omitted, the default value for buttons is 0. It
settings are given in the following table 1.4

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Constant Value Description

VbOKOnly 0 Display OK button only.
VbOKCancel 1 Display OK and Cancel buttons.
Display Abort, Retry, and Ignore
VbAbortRetryIgnore 2
buttons.
Display Yes, No, and Cancel
VbYesNoCancel 3
buttons.
VbYesNo 4 Display Yes and No buttons.
VbRetryCancel 5 Display Retry and Cancel buttons.
VbCritical 16 Display Critical Message icon.
VbQuestion 32 Display Warning Query icon.
VbExclamation 48 Display Warning Message icon.
VbInformation 64 Display Information Message icon.
VbDefaultButton1 0 First button is default.
VbDefaultButton2 256 Second button is default.
VbDefaultButton3 512 Third button is default.
VbDefaultButton4 768 Fourth button is default.

Table 3.4 Values for the buttons argument.

Example 1

Msgbox “You mistyped everything!!!. So Try Again”

This statement display a simple message box as in Figure 1.15

Figure 3.5 A simple message box.

Example 2
Dim Choice As Integer

Choice = MsgBox("Terrific error encountered. Proceed_

anyway?", vbYesNo, "CyberPro")

If Choice = vbYes Then

{some code}
Else
{some code}

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End If

The MsgBox function in this example, displays a message box with Yes and No
button as in Figure 1.16

Figure 3.6 - Msgbox with specific title and two buttons.

When the user clicks one the buttons, the MsgBox function returns either vbYes or
vbNo, which is subsequently checked in the code for further execution.

Example 3

More than one option can be specified in the buttons argument by using the plus (+)
operator as in the following:

MsgBox("Terrific error encountered. Proceed anyway?",_

vbYesNo + vbCritical + vbDefaultButton2, "CyberPro")

This statement displays the message box with critical icon and No button (2nd button)
as the default button, as in the Figure1.17.

Figure 3.7 Msgbox with critical icon and 2nd button as default.

3.12 Control Flow Statements

Programs are not monolithic sets of commands that carry out the same calculations
every time they are executed. Instead, they adjust their behavior depending on the
data supplied or based on the result of a test condition. Visual Basic provides three-
control flow, or decision, structures to take a course of action depending on the

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outcome of the test. They are:

™ If..Then
™ If...Then...Else
™ Select Case

If...Then...End If

The If structure test the condition specified and, if it it's True, executes the
statements(s) that follow. The If structure can have a single-line or multiple-line
syntax.

If condition Then Statement

In the above statement, Visual Basic evaluates the condition and, if it's True, executes
the statement that follows. If the condition is not True, it continues with the
statement following the If structure. Multiple statements can also be supplied,
provided they must be separated by colon as in the following:

If condition Then Statment1:Statement2:Statement3

Here is an example of single-line If statement:
If Salary > 3000 Then DAPercent = 100

This statement can be broken into Multiple lines, as it will be easier to read as
follows:

If Salary > 3000 Then

DAPercent = 100
End If

When a statements that is to be executed, are placed next to the If statement’s line, to
mark the end of If block End If statement is used as in the above example.
If...Then...Else...End If

A variation of the If...Then is the If...Then...Else statement, which executes one block
of statements if the condition is true and another if the condition is false.

Syntax
If condition Then
statementblock - 1
Else
statementblock - 2
End If

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Visual Basic evaluates the condition. If it's True, it executes the first block of
statements and then jumps to the statement following the End If statement. If the
condition is False, Visual Basic ignores the first block of statements and executes the
block following the Else keyword.

Example
If Salary > 5000 Then
DaPercent = 100
HraPercent = 80
Else
DaPercent = 80
HraPercent = 60
End If

Another variation of the If...Then...Else statement uses several conditions, with the
Elseif keyword:

Syntax
If condition1 Then
statementblock - 1
Elseif condition2 Then
statementblock - 2
Elseif condition3 Then
statementblock - 3
Else
statementblock - 4
End If
A If statement can have any number of Elseif clauses. The conditions are evaluated
from the top, and if one of them is True, the corresponding block of statements is
executed. The Else clause will be executed if none of the previous expressions is
True.

Example
If score > 90 Then
Result = "Excellent"
Elseif score > 75 Then
Result = "Very Good"
Elseif score > 50 Then
Result = "Good"
Else
Result = "Failed"

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End If

This statement is easier to read, but not as efficient in terms of execution time
because Visual Basic evaluates all conditions, even if the first one is True. This
inefficiency is overcome with Select Case statement.

Select Case

The select case structure compares the same expression to a different value. The
advantage of the select case statement over multiple [Link] statements is that it
makes the code easier to read and maintain.

Syntax

Select Case expression

Case Value1
statementbolck - 1
Case Value2
statementbolck - 2
---------------------------
---------------------------
Case Else
statementbolck - 3
End Select
Some Case statements can be followed by multiple values, separated by commas or
can have a range or a single condition as given in the example below:

Dim Number as Integer

Number = {some integer value}

Select Case Number ' Evaluate Number.

Case 1
Print "Number -- 1"
Case 2,3,4,5,6 ' Number between 2 and 6
Print "Number -- Between 2 and 6"
Case 7 To 10 ' Number between 7 and 10
Print "Number -- Between 7 and 10"
Case Is <= 20
Print "Number -- Between 11 and 20"
Case Else ' Other values.

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Print "Number Not between 1 and 20"

End Select

3.12 Loop Statements

Loop statements allow to execute one or more lines of code repetitively. Many tasks
consist of trivial operations that must be repeated over and over again, can be done
using loop statements. Visual Basic supports the following loop statements:

™ Do...Loop
™ For...Next
™ For Each...Next

Do...Loop

The Do...Loop statement is used to execute a block of statements for an indefinite

number of times. There are several variations of the Do...Loop statement, but each
evaluates a Boolean condition to determine whether to continue execution. As with
If...Then, the condition must be a value or expression that evaluates to False (zero) or
to True (nonzero).
The following Do...Loop executes the statements as long as the condition is True:

Do While condition
statements
Loop

When Visual Basic executes this Do loop, it first tests condition. If condition is False
(zero), it skips past all the statements. If it's True (nonzero), Visual Basic executes the
statements and then goes back to the Do While statement and tests the condition
again.

Consequently, the loop can execute any number of times, as long as condition is
nonzero or True. The statements never execute if condition is initially False.

Example

In this example the loop block is executed while the variable I is equal to 10.

Dim I as Integer
I = 10
Do While I=10
-------------
I = {someExpression} ‘ SomeExpression may return 10 or

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‘other value
Loop

When the condition I=10 is tested, the result will be True as I holds the value 10. So
the execution of the loop block will begin. If someExpression returns 10, the loop
block will be executed again. Otherwise the execution will jump to the next
statement of the loop block.

Another variation of the Do...Loop statement executes the statements first and then
tests condition after each execution. This variation guarantees at least one execution of
statements:

Do
Statements
Loop While condition

There are two more variations of Do..Loop statements, which uses Until instead of
While. They are analogous to the previous two except that they loop as long as
condition is False rather than True.

Loop zero or more times Loop at least once

Do Until condition Do
statements statements
Loop Loop Until condition

Example

This example prints the value of the variable I until it becomes equal 10.
Dim I as Integer
I=0

Do Until I = 10
[Link] I
I=I+1
End If
In this example when the condition I = 10 is tested, the result will be False and the
loop block will be executed. When the I becomes equal to 10 the condition will
return True, the execution will jump to the next statement of the loop block. So the
output of the above code will be 0 to 9.

For...Next

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Do...Loop is useful when a block of statements are to be executed for unknown

number of times. But if a block of statements are to be executed for specific number
of times then a For…Next loop is a better choice. Unlike a Do loop, a For loop uses a
variable called a counter that increases or decreases in value during each repetition
of the loop.

Syntax

For counter = start To end [Step increment]

statements
Next [counter]

The arguments counter, start, end, and increment are all numeric.

The increment argument can be either positive or negative. If increment is positive,

start must be less than or equal to end or the statements in the loop will not execute. If
increment is negative, start must be greater than or equal to end for the body of the
loop to execute. If Step isn't set, then increment defaults to 1.
In executing the For loop, Visual Basic:

1. Sets counter equal to start.

2. Tests to see if counter is greater than end. If so, Visual Basic exits the loop.
(If increment is negative, Visual Basic tests to see if counter is less than end.)
3. Executes the statements.
4. Increments counter by 1 or by increment, if it's specified.
5. Repeats steps 2 through 4.

The following code prints the names of all the available Screen fonts:

Dim I As Integer
For i = 0 To [Link]
Print [Link](i)
Next

For Each...Next

A For Each...Next loop is similar to a For...Next loop, but it repeats a group of

statements for each element in a collection of objects or in an array instead of
repeating the statements a specified number of times. This is especially helpful when
the number of elements of a collection is not known.

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Syntax

For Each element In group

statements

Next element

Example

This example prints the contents of array Names.

Dim Age(10) as integer

Dim Item ‘ Must be variant when used with arrays

----------------------------
----------------------------
For Each Item In Age()
Print Item
Next

With ... Endwith

WITH ... ENDWITH provides a convenient way to specify a number of properties for
a single object. Note that you can also execute methods from within a
WITH ... ENDWITH [Link] multiple properties for an object.

Syntax
WITH ObjectName
Statements
ENDWITH

ObjectName Specifies the name of the object. ObjectName can be the name
of the object or a reference to the object.

Statements Statements can consist of any number of Microsoft Visual Basic

commands used to specify properties for ObjectName. Place a
period before Statement to denote that it is a property of
ObjectName.
Examples

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The following example creates a custom class name Employee. After the
Employee class has been created with CREATEOBJECT( ),
WITH ... ENDWITH is used to set multiple properties for the class. The
properties values are then displayed.
moemployee = CREATEOBJECT('employee')

WITH moemployee
.First_Name = 'John'
.Last_Name = 'Smith'
.Address = '16 Maple Lane'
.HireDate = {^1998-02-16}
ENDWITH

CLEAR
? moemployee.First_Name + ' '
?? moemployee.Last_Name
? [Link]
? [Link]

DEFINE CLASS employee AS CUSTOM

First_Name = SPACE(20)
Last_Name = SPACE(20)
Address = SPACE(30)
HireDate = { - - }
ENDDEFINE

3.13 Short Summary

) Variables is an entity whose values will change during the program

execution.

) Constant is an entity whose value does not change during the program
execution.

) Arrays are nothing but user defined datatypes used to keep a set of values in it

) Control statements are used to control the program execution .

) Loops are used to execute a single (or) set of statements at ‘n’ time.

) Input box is used to get the data thru the keyboard

) Msg Box is used to display the messages.

3.14 Brain Storm

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1. Explain variable, constant.

2. What is control statement? Explain.
3. What is a loop? Explain.
4. Define Array. What are the advantages of Array?
5. Differentiate loops and control statement?

Lab units 3 ( 2 Real Time Hrs)

Exercise 1
1. (Declaring Variable)
2. Open a new standard EXE project
3. Add four text boxes and a command button to the form
4. Open the code window of the form
5. Place the code Option Explicit as the first line of the declarations section of
the form. This forces the variables to be declared before they are used.
6. Open the event procedure for the Click event of the command button.
You can do this by selecting the name of the command button from the
object list on the left of the code window.
7. Use the following statements to create the variables for calculating area
and perimeter. These statements should be place at the top of the event
procedure
8. Dim sngRoomLength As Single, sngRoomWidth As Single
9. Dim sngRoomArea As Single, sngRoomPerimeter As Single
10. Place the following code in the event procedure to perform the
calculation. (Note, on of the variable names is intentionally misspelled to
illustrate how forced declaration helps you.)

sngRoomLength = Val([Link])
sngRoomWidth = Val([Link])
sngRoomArea = sngRoomLength * sngRoomWidth
sngRoomPerimeter = 2 * ( sngRoomLength + sng RoomWidth)
[Link] = val(sngRoomArea)
[Link] = val(sngRoomPerimeter)

Run the program

Exercise 2
1. (Use If..Then..Else statement )
2. Open a new standard EXE project

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3. Place a text box and a command button in the form

4. Enter a number in the text box
5. On clicking the command button, a message box is to be displayed
6. The message box should display whether the number in the text box is a
Single, Two, Three digit numbers

Exercise 3
1. (Use Select ...Case statement )
2. Open a new standard EXE project
3. Place a text box , label and a command button in the form
4. Enter a number ( 0 or 1 or 2 )in the text box
5. On clicking the command button, the messages
6. God’s delays are not denials ( for 0)
7. A Single drop makes an Ocean ( for 1)
8. Hardwork and success go hand-in-hand ( for 2)

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Lecture – 4

Controls

Objectives

In this unit you will learn the following

™ Know how to handle the Controls

™ About Form object

™ Understand the Properties of the controls

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Lecture unit - 4

4.1 Snap Shot

4.2 Controls

4.3 Intrinsic Controls – introduction

4.4 Common properties & some importance

4.5 Form object

4.6 Intrinsic controls

4.7 Short summary

4.8 Brain storm

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4.1 Snap Shot

In the previous chapter we have discussed about Variables, constants, loops and
control statements. This chapter will give the ways of creating and implementing the
Controls. It also helps us to understand the concept of Control Arrays. Controls are
used to receive user input and display ourput and has its own set of properties,
methods and events. Let us discuss few of these controls in this chapter.

4.2 Controls

Custom controls are the building blocks of a Visual Basic application. Controls are
used to add significant functionality to your programs, and they are easy to work. in
Visual Basic, forms are the foundations and are generally used to build programs. A
form is where you put all the things that people interact with as they use your
program. Those things you put on the form are controls, which enable the people
who use your program to do things, such as enter text and click buttons. That is,
controls are also interfaces between the user and the application. Every control has
got its own properties, events and methods. You can set the properties and write the
code to make the control active.

For example if you build a house, you start with a foundation – think of this as the
form. On top of the foundation, you add all the things that allow you use the house:
a floor, walls and doors. These things are the controls.

The Toolbox is the containing window that holds the custom controls for your
applications (see Figure 4.1). There are also several advanced controls that come with
Visual Basic. Some controls work with multimedia, and others utilize the Internet.
Best of all, you can now create your own ActiveX custom controls and add them to
your Toolbox.

Figure 4.1 Visual Basic Toolbox.

Adding and removing Controls

You can add controls to a form in two ways: by double- clicking and by drawing.
Whenever you double-click an icon on the toolbar, the associated control appears on

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your form. When you do this, though, you can’t control where the control goes;
you’re at the mercy of Visual Basic. When you draw a control on your form, you can
put it wherever you want it.

Draw a control on a form

1. Click the control’s Toolbox icon.

2. Move the mouse pointer over your form. Notice that your pointer is now
shaped as a crosshair instead of an arrow
3. Click( and hold ) the mouse button where you want the control to go.
4. Drag the mouse down slightly and to the left. As you move the mouse, notice
that a box starts to appear.
5. When the box is the proper size, let go of the mouse button. The control you
selected now appears on the form.

Remove a control from a form

1. Select the control you want to delete by clicking it. The control you selected
will appear with a box at each corner and side
2. Press the Delete key.

You can also remove a control by right-clicking it. from the context menu that
appears and selecting Delete.

How to Size and Position a Control

When you’re drawing controls on a form, you don’t have to be exact. It’s very easy to
make them bigger or smaller, and to put them in a different spot on the form.

Size controls with the mouse

In the Toolbox, select the Pointer tool (if it isn’t already selected). On your form,
select the control you want to resize. Grab a sizing handle with the mouse by moving
the pointer over it and then holding down the left mouse button. You know when
you’re over the sizing handle because the mouse pointer turns into a double-sided
arrow. While holding down the mouse button, notice that a box appears. The box
shows you what the size of the control will be. When it’s the right size, release the
mouse button. Changing the position of a control is also easy. Just click it to select it,
and drag it to its new position.

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4.3 Intrinsic Controls

Intrinsic controls are automatically displayed in the tool box when a form is loaded.
When you program in Visual Program you’ll use a relatively small set of controls.
However, these controls are very powerful. With them, you can add buttons, check
boxes, labels and text boxes to your programs. You can use them to see files on your
hard drive right from your program. You can even read a database! These basic
controls are intrinsic controls.

4.4 Some Important And Common Properties

Visual Basic Forms and controls are the basic elements in the user interface of any
Windows application. They are called as objects and they have their own properties,
methods and they react to external events. Properties can be thought of as an object's
attributes methods as its actions, and events as its responses.

An everyday objects like a child's helium balloon also has properties, methods and
events. A balloon's properties include visible attributes such as its height, diameter
and color. Other properties describe its state (inflated or not inflated), or attributes
that aren't visible such as its age. By definition, all balloons have these properties; the
settings of these properties may differ from one balloon to another.

A balloon also has inherent methods or actions that it might perform. It has an inflate
method (the action of filling it with helium), a deflate method (expelling its contents)
and a rise method (if you were to let go of it). Again, all balloons are capable of these
methods.

Figure 4.1 Objects have properties, respond to events, and perform methods.

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Balloons also have predefined responses to certain external events. For instance, a
balloon would respond to the event of being punctured by deflating itself, or to the
event of being released by rising into the air.

If a balloon can be programmed, the Visual Basic code might look like the following.
To set the balloon's properties:

[Link] = Red
[Link] = 10
[Link] = True

In this code the object (Balloon) is followed by the property (.Color) followed by the
assignment
statement and substituting a different value. Properties can also be set in the
Properties window while the application is being designed.

A balloon's methods are invoked like this:

[Link]
[Link]
[Link] 5

The syntax is similar to the property — the object (a noun) is followed by the method
(a verb). In the third example, there is an additional item, called an argument, which
denotes the distance to rise. Some methods will have one or more arguments to
further describe the action to be performed.

The balloon might respond to an event as follows:

Sub Balloon_Puncture()
[Link]
[Link] "Bang"
[Link] = False
[Link] = 1
End Sub

In this case, the code describes the balloon's behavior when a puncture event occurs:
invoke the Deflate method, then invoke the MakeNoise method with an argument of
"Bang" (the type of noise to make). Since the balloon is no longer inflated, the Inflated
property is set to False and the Diameter property is set to a new value.

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While developing a Visual Basic application the programmer has to decide which
properties should be changed, methods invoked or events responded to, in order to
achieve his goal.

Common Properties

• Name It sets the object's name through which the

object can be manipulated.

• Appearance Its value can be either 0 for a flat look or 1 for a 3-D
look.

• BackColor It sets the background color of an object.

• BorderStyle It sets the Border style of an object.

• ForeColor Its sets the foreground color of an object.

• Font It is used to set the appearance of the text in an object.

• Width, Height They set object's dimensions.

• Left, Top They set the coordinates of the object's upper left
corner. Using these properties, the location of an
object can be changed both at design time and run time.

• Enable It contains a Boolean (True/False) value that

determines whether user can manipulate the object or
not.

• Visible It contains a Boolean (True/False) value that

determines whether user can see the object or not.

• MousePointer It sets the type of the mouse pointer displayed when

over part of an object.

4.5 Form Object

The most basic object you will be working with in Visual Basic is the form object,
which is the visual foundation for building an application. It is basically a window
that you can add different elements to in order to create a complete application.

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Every application you can see on the screen is based on some type of form. Before
going into the details of application development, let’s take a look at the most basic
form object that you will probably use the most often in your projects: the single
form.

As you learn Visual Basic, most of your applications will only have one interface,
which is the single form. When you become more experienced and start writing
letter, editor-styled applications, you may want to use multiple forms, called
documents.

The Appearance of Forms

The main characteristic of a form is the title bar, on which the form's caption is
displayed. On the left end of the title bar is the control menu icon. Clicking
on this icon opens the control menu. On the right side of the title bar are three
buttons-Minimize, Maximize, and Close. Clicking on these buttons
minimizes, maximizes and closes the Form. When a form is maximized, the
Maximize button is replaced by the Normal button, which restores the form to
its size and position before it was maximized.

Figure 4.2 The elements of the Form.

Control Menu

Control Menu is a simple menu that allows you to restore, move, resize, minimize,
maximize and close the form. To enable this button on your form, set the form’s
ControlBox property to True in the form’s properties window or determines whether

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the control-menu box is displayed on the form at run time. That is, if it is set to False
the control box won’t appear at left corner of the title bar of the Form.

The control menu contains the following commands:

™ Restore Restore a maximized Form to its size before it

was maximized. Enabled only if the Form is
maximized.
™ Move Lets the user move the form around with the
keyboard.
™ Size Lets the user resize the control with the
keyboard.
™ Minimize Minimizes the form.
™ Maximize Maximizes the form.
™ Close Closes the form.
The Border

The form’s border is what gives the form its elasticity. Depending on the type of form
you want to display, you can program the border to be fixed, sizable or even
nonexistent. These features can be set with the BorderStyle property.

The Caption

The form’s caption is the text you see in the form’s title bar. It can be used to identify
the name of the application, the current function of the form, or as a status bar. What
you put in the caption depends on what your program is trying to achieve. If you set
a form’s BorderStyle property to None, then caption (along with the whole title bar) is
hidden. You can modify the caption by setting the form’s caption property in the
Properties window to the text your want to display.

The Title Bar

The title bar is the colored bar on the top of most forms. If your desktop color scheme
is set to the Windows default scheme, this bar will be blue. You can use the title bar
to drag the window around the screen. In addition, double-clicking on it will
alternately maximize and restore the form.
Maximize/Restore Button (Boolean)

The Maximize button has two purposes. If the form is in its normal state, that is its
normal size, you can click the Maximize button to stretch the current form to the size
of the screen or container of the form. A form’s container is also know as multiple
document interface (MDI) form. If the form is maximized, you can click this button

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on your form, set the form’s MaxButton property to True in the Properties window.

MinButton (Boolean)

The Minimize button is used to minimize the current form, that is, move it out of the
way. To enable this button on your form, set the form’s Minbutton property to True
in the form’s Properties window.

The Close Button

The Close button’s sole purpose is to close the current window. In Visual Basic, you
can control whether the Close button is visible to the user with the ControlBox
property. The Close button will not be visible if the Control box, is not visible. If you
decide not to enable the Close button or the Control box, they you must use a menu
or a button to close the form.

Moveable (Boolean)

Determines whether the Form can be moved. That is, if it is set to False, the Form
will remain in it initial startup position. User can’t move it around screen. But it can
be resized.

StartUpPosition
Specifies the position of the Form when it first appears with one the values given in
the following table.

Value Description
0-Manual No initial is setting specified.
1-CenterOwner Center on the item to which the UserForm belongs.
2-CenterScreen Center on the whole screen.
3-WindowsDefault Position in upper-left corner of screen.

Table 4.1 Values for the StartUpPosition property.

WindowState

Set the visual state such as Maximized, Minimized or Normal of the Form at run time
with one the value given in the following table.
Value Description
0-Normal (Default) Normal.
1-Minimized Minimized (minimized to an icon)
2-Maximized Maximized (enlarged to maximum size)

Table 4.2 Values for WindowsState property.

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Form Properties

The following shows the properties for a form object.

ActiveControl DrawWidth HelpContextID NegotiateMenus

ActiveForm Enabled hWnd Picture
Appearance FillColor Icon ScaleHeight
AutoRedraw FillStyle Image Scaeleft
BackColor Font KeyPreview Scalemode
BordeStyle FontBold Left ScaleTop
Caption FontItalic LindMode ScaleWidth
ClipControls FontName LinkTopic ShowInTaskbar
ControlBox FontSize MaxButton Tag
Controls FontStrikethru MDIChild Top
Count FontTransparent MinButton Visible
CurrentX FontUnderline MouseIcon WhatThisButton
CurrentY ForeColor MousePointer WhatsThisHelp
DrawMode hDC Moveable Width
DrawStyle Height Name WindowState

Only few of the proprieties are used frequently, these are boldface in the above list-
the rest you’ll probably only use occasionally. You won’t see all these proprieties in
the Properties window. If you can’t see a certain property, it means it’s a run-time-
only property and can’t be set at design time.

Methods

Before listing the two important methods of the Form – Show, Hide, this section
briefs the possible states of a Form and two important statements – Load and
Unload.

A Form can be in one of the following states:

™ Not loaded – The Form lives on a disk file and doesn’t take up any resources.
™ Loaded but not shown – The Form is loaded into memory, takes up the
required resources, and is ready to be displayed.
™ Loaded and shown – The Form is shown, and the user can interact with it.

The Load and Unload to load and unload the Forms. The Load statement has the
following syntax:

Load formName
And the Unload statement has this syntax:

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Unload formName
The formName is the name of the Form to be loaded or unloaded. When Visual Basic
starts, it loads the default Form, say Form1, and displays it. To load other Forms, say
Form2, the load statement is to be issued as in below:

Load Form2
This statement will load the Form2 into the memory. But the Form2 will not be
visible immediately. To make it visible its Show method (explained shortly) must be
called. Once a Form is loaded, it takes over the required resources, so when the
Form is not needed it must be unloaded as in below:

Unload Form2
When a Form is unloaded, the resources it occupies are returned to the system and
can be used by other Forms and/or applications.

Show

This method is used to show a Form. If the Form is loaded but invisible, the Show
method brings the specified Form to the top. If the Form isn’t loaded, the Show
method loads it first, and then displays it.
Syntax
[Link] mode

The FormName is the Form’s name, and the optional argument mode determines
whether the Form will be modal or modeless. It can have one of the following
values:

• 0 - Modeless (Default)
• 1 - Modal

A modal Form takes total control of the application and won’t let the application
proceed unless the Form is closed. A modal Form, therefore, must have a Close
button or some means for the user to close it so that he can return to the Form from
which the Form was loaded.

Modeless Forms are the norm. They interact with the user, and they allow the user
to switch to any other Form of the application.

For example, in a text editor, say MS-Word, dialog box that appears when File |
Open is chosen is a Modal dialog. It won’t let user to go to the editing area unless
the dialog box is closed. On the other hand, the dialog box that appears for the Find
and Replace operation is a modeless dialog. It will let the user to go to the editing

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area, while it is still visible.

Hide

This method removes a Form from the screen, but doesn’t unload it.

[Link]
When a Form is hidden, the user can’t interact with it. But application’s code can
manipulate the Form like the one in the following:

[Link] = “New Caption”

This change in the Caption property will be visible when the Form is shown again by
using the Show method.

Note : Instead of calling the Show or Hide methods to show or hide a Form its Visible

property can be set to True or False like this - [Link] = True

Events

Activate

This event occurs when the Form becomes the active window either by user’s action
such as Clicking it, or by using the Show or SetFocus methods in code.

Deactivate

This event occurs when the Form is no longer the active window. A Form will be
become inactive, when the user switches his focus to some other Form, or by the
Hide method in code.

Load

This event occurs when the Form is loaded. Typically, this event procedure includes
initialization code for a Form – for example, code that specifies default settings for
controls, indicates contents to be loaded into ComboBox or Listbox etc.

Unload

This event occurs when the Form is unloaded. Generally, code for resetting
properties to their original values or for clean up operation is placed here, if
required.

Modifying a Form’s Size

Every new form start using in Visual Basic will be the same size. However, this size probably
won’t be right for your program, so you’ll have to resize it ti better fit the controls you’re

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using. You resize a form just as you resize a control: Grab one of its sizing handles with the
mouse and drag it to the proper size.

Resize your forms to better fit the controls you’re using

9 Use the side sizing handles to make a control wider or narrower

9 Use the top and bottom sizing handles to make a control shorter or taller
9 Use a corner sizing handle to change height and width simultaneously.
Developing a Form application

This section shows how to develop a simple Form application that contains three
Forms. The first Form (Form1) has command buttons to show and hide the other
Forms. It also accepts Captions to change the caption of all the Forms.

To develop the Form application

™ Start a new Standard EXE project.

™ Choose Project | Add Form. This will display a dialog box to select the type
of the Form. Accept the default selection Form and click Open to add the
second Form to the Project.
™ Repeat the above step to add the third Form to the Project.
™ In the Project Explorer window double click the Form1 to bring its design
window front.
™ Create objects and set their properties as given below.

OBJECT PROPERTY VALUE

Label Caption “FORMS DEMO”

Command Button Name ShowFrm2

Caption “Show Form 2”

Command Button Name ShowFrm3

Caption “Show Form 3”

Command Button Name HideFrm2

Caption “Hide Form 2”

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Command Button Name HideFrm3

Caption “Hide Form 3”

Label Caption “New Caption for Me”

Label Caption “New Caption for Form2”

Label Caption “New Caption for Form3”

Text box Text “”

Text box Text “”

Text box Text “”

Command Button Name ChangeCaps

Caption “Change Forms’ Caption”

™ Arrange the controls so that the Form1 resemble the Figure 1.21

Figure 4.2 Designed Form1.

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™ Add the following code to the Form1.

Option Explicit

Private Sub ChangeCaps_Click()

' Changing the Captions of all Forms
[Link] = [Link]
[Link] = [Link]
[Link] = [Link]
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Load()

' Loading the other Forms
Load Form2
Load Form3
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Unload(Cancel As Integer)

' Unloading the other Forms
Unload Form2
Unload Form3
End Sub

Private Sub HideFrm2_Click()

' Hiding the Form2
[Link]
End Sub

Private Sub HideFrm3_Click()

' Hiding the Form3 using its Visible property
[Link] = False
End Sub

Private Sub ShowFrm2_Click()

' Showing the Form2
[Link]
End Sub

Private Sub ShowFrm3_Click()

' Showing the Form3 using its Visible property
[Link] = True
End Sub
™ Save and run the Project.

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™ Click the buttons to show and hide the Forms 2 and 3.

™ Enter new captions and click the “Change Forms’ caption” button to change
the captions of all the Forms.

4.6 Common Intrinsic Controls

Controls are elements that provide the User Interface. The User Interface is
what appears in the application's window when it runs. It enables the user to
work with the application such as entering text and clicking buttons. The
elements of the User Interface are common to all Windows applications and
they are called as Intrinsic Controls. They are all shown as icons in the Visual
Basic ToolBox.

The Text box control

It provides an area to enter or display text. It behaves like a mini text editor.

The Label Control

This control displays text on a form that the user can't edit. Labels
commonly identify other controls.

The Command button control

Carries out a command or action when a user chooses it.

The Check box control

Displays a True/False or Yes/No option. Any number of check boxes can be
checked on a form at one time.

The Option button control

Option buttons, or radio buttons, appear in a group, and the user can choose
only one of them

The List box control

It contains a list of options from which the user can chose one or more. It
can contain many lines, and the user can scroll the list to
locate an item.
The Combo box control
The combo box control is similar to the List box control, but it contains a text
edit field. The user can either choose an item from
the list or enter a new string in the edit filed.
The Picture box control
The picture box control is used to display bitmaps, icons or Windows
metafiles.

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The Image Control

The image control is similar to the Picturebox control and it can also display
images, but it supports only a few features of the Picture box control and requires
fewer resources.
The Shape control
The shape control is used to draw graphical elements, such as boxes and
circles on the surface of a Form.

The Line control

The line control is used to draw lines on the surface of a form.

The Frame control

This control is used to draw boxes on the form and to group other elements.

The Drive list box control

It displays the drives on the system in a drop-drown list from which the user
can select a valid drive.

The Directory list box control

It Displays a list of all folders in the current drive and lets the user move up
or down in the hierarchy of the folders.

The File list box control

It displays a list of all files in the current folder.

The Timer Control

It is used to perform tasks at regular intervals.

The Horizontal and Vertical scroll bars

These controls can be used as inputs devices or indicators of speed or

quantity - for example, to control the volume of a computer game or to
view the time elapsed in a timed process.

Developing an application with Intrinsic Controls

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This section shows how to create an simple application with intrinsic controls.
Functioning of this application is explained shortly.

To develop the application

™ Start a new Standard EXE project.

™ Name the Project as CtrlsDemo.
™ Create the objects and set their properties as given below:

Object Property Value

Form1 Caption “Controls’ Demo”
Label Caption “Intrinsic Controls”
Shape Shape 4- Rounded Rectangle
Frame Name fraView
Caption View
CheckBox Name chkExplorer
Caption Explorer
CheckBox Name chkAnimation
Caption Animation
Frame Name fraAnimation
Caption Animation
OptionButton Name optCombo
Caption Combo box
OptionButton Name optList
Caption List Box
Listbox Name lstVehicle
Visible False
ComboBox Name cmbVehicle
List Taxi
Tempo
Auto
Label Caption Speed
Line BorderStyle 3-Dot
Label Name lblSpeed
Caption 10
BorderStyle 1-Fixed Single
HScrollBar Name hsbSpeed
Max 500
Min 10
LargeChange 30
SmallChange 10

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Timer Name Timer

Interval 500
Tag Forward
Image Name imgVehicle
Picture “[Link]”
Frame Name fraExplorer
Caption Explorer
DriveListBox Name Drive
DirListBox Name Directory
FileListBox Name File
Label Caption “Full Path”
Label Name lblPath
Caption “”
BorderStyle 1-Fixed Single
Arrange the controls so that it resemble the Figure 1.22

Figure 4.3 Arranged Form with Intrinsic controls.

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The above Form contains three Frames namely View, Explorer and Animation.
The View Frame has two check boxes whose checking and unchecking makes the
respective Frames Visible and invisible at run time. The second Frame contains
Drive, Directory and File list boxes, which behave like a mini Windows Explorer.
The label (lblPath) displays the full path of the selected file in the File list box. The
third frame contains a combo box, a list box and two corresponding option buttons.
Either the combo box or the list box will be visible at the run time. Selecting one of
the option buttons will make its corresponding control (combo box or list box)
visible and another invisible (Note that both List box and combo box are placed at
a same location). Both List box and combo box contains three items namely Taxi,
Tempo, and Auto whose selection will replace its corresponding picture in the
image control (imgVehicle). This control will move in forward and reverse
direction by adjusting its Left property according to the value set by the Horizontal
scroll bar in the Animation frame.

™ Add the following code to the Form.

Option Explicit
Private Sub chkAnimation_Click()
' Displaying and Hiding Animation Frame and Image
' control
If [Link] = 1 Then
[Link] = True
[Link] = True
Else
[Link] = False
[Link] = False
End If
End Sub

Private Sub chkExplorer_Click()

' Displaying and Hiding Explorer Frame
If [Link] = 1 Then
[Link] = True
Else
[Link] = False
End If
End Sub

Private Sub cmbVehicle_Click()

' Loading a new image corresponding to the selected
' item
[Link] =_

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LoadPicture([Link] + ".gif")
End Sub

Private Sub Directory_Change()

' Assigning the newly selected directory to the file
' list box
[Link] = ""
[Link] = [Link]
End Sub
Private Sub Drive_Change()
' Assigning the newly selected directory to the
' directory list box
[Link] = ""
[Link] = [Link]
End Sub

Private Sub File_Click()

' Displaying the full path of the selected file
lblPath = [Link] + "\" + [Link] + "\" +_
[Link]
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Load()

' Adding items to list box at run time using AddItem
' method
[Link] "Taxi"
[Link] "Tempo"
[Link] "Auto"
End Sub

Private Sub hsbSpeed_Change()

' Setting HScroll bar's value to the label lblSpeed
[Link] = [Link]

' Changing the interval for the occurrence of the

' timer event.
' Note: Though higher value of the HScroll bar deems
' as increase the speed, only low value can make the
' timer event to occur more ' quickly. So subtracting
' from 510...
[Link] = 510 - [Link]
End Sub

Private Sub lstVehicle_Click()

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' Loading a new image corresponding to the selected

' item
[Link] = _
LoadPicture([Link] + ".gif")
End Sub
Private Sub optCombo_Click()
' Making combo box visible and list box invisible
[Link] = True
[Link] = False
End Sub

Private Sub optList_Click()

' Making combo box invisible and list box visible
[Link] = False
[Link] = True
End Sub

Private Sub Timer_Timer()

If [Link] = "Forward" Then
' Moving in forward direction (left)
' (Note: Image is facing the left side).
[Link] = [Link] – 100

‘ If image has reached Form’s left...

‘ Taking reverse
If [Link] <= [Link] Then
[Link] = “Reverse”
End If
Else
‘ Moving in reverse direction
[Link] = [Link] + 100

‘ No right property. So..

‘ Finding right position by adding Left and Width
‘ properties
If [Link] + [Link] >= [Link] Then
[Link] = “Forward”
End If
End If
End Sub

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™ Save, Run and Test the application.

The Naming Convention of Intrinsic Controls

It is an art to choose suitable names to controls. The name of a control should reveal
its purpose and also its type. The name of a control should be chosen, in such a way
that it should give appropriate meaning about the usage of that control and one of
the following abbreviations should be prefixed with its name according to its type.

Control Abbreviation Control Abbreviation

Label lbl PictureBox pic

Frame fra TextBox txt
Checkbox chk Command Button cmd
ComboBox cbo Option Button opt
HsrollBox hsb ListBox lst
Timer tmr VscrollBox vsb
DirListBox dir DriveListBox drv
Shape shp FileListBox fil
Image img Line lin
OLE Container ole Data dat

Common methods

™ Move Changes an object's position in response to a code

request.

™ Drag Handles the execution of a drag-and-drop operation by

the user.

™ SetFocus Gives focus to the object specified in the method call.

™ ZOrder Determines the order in which multiple objects appear

on screen.

™ Refresh Forces a complete repaint of a form or object.

™ TabIndex Determines the tab order of most objects within their parent
form.
Common Events

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Events determine the control’s reactions to external conditions. Events are

recognized by the various controls, but are handled by the application. A command
button will recognize that it is clicked upon, but it won’t react to the event unless
some code is provided in the application.

If a subroutine is specified for the control’s click event, this subroutine executes each
time the control is clicked. The subroutine that determines how a control reacts to an
event is called an event handler.

To write an event handler for a control, follow these steps:

™ Switch to the Code widow, or double click on the control, which requires the
event handler. The top of the Code window contains two drop down lists
(Figure 1.23). The first list contains the names of the all the controls on the
Form.
™ Select the control, which requires the event handler. The second list contains all
the events the selected control can recognize.
™ Select the event, which requires the event handler.

Figure 4.4 Drop lists – listing controls and event in the Code Window

The combination of the control’s name and the event’ s name is unique and is the
name of the event handler. For example, the event handler name for the
Command1’s click event will be Command1_Click. Each time an event’s takes place,
Visual Basic looks for the subroutine made up of name of the control and on which
the event took place and the name of the event. If such a handler exists, it’s executed.
If not, the application won’t react to the event.
The following is the list of common events:

™ Click The user clicks the primary (left) mouse button on an

object.

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™ DblClick The user double clicks the primary (left) mouse button
on an object.

™ Dragdrop The user drags an object to another location.

™ DragOver The user drags an object over another control.

™ GotFocus An object receives focus.

™ KeyDown The user presses and releases a keyboard key while an

object has focus.

™ KeyUp The user releases a keyboard key while an object has

focus.

™ LostFocus An object loses focus.

™ MouseDown The user presses any mouse button while the mouse
pointer is over an object.

™ MouseMove The user moves the mouse pointer over an object.

™ MouseUp The user releases any mouse button while the mouse
pointer is over an object.

™ Change Indicates that the contents of the control have changed.

4.6.1 The Command Buttons

A command button control is one of the most common controls found in Windows
applications. Visual Basic is no exception. You can use a command button to elicit
sample response form the user or to invoke special functions on forms. Surely you
have encountered command buttons before. Every time you click the OK button on a
dialog box you are clicking a command button.

Command Button Properties

Below is the list of the properties of a command button. The most commonly used
properties appear in boldface.

Appearance Enabled HelpContextID TabIndex

Backcolor Font hWnd TabStop
Cancel FontBold Index Tag

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Caption FontItalic Left ToolTipText

Container FontName MaskColor Top
Default FontSize MouseIcon UseMaskColor
DisabledPicture FontStrikethru Name Value
DownPicture FontUnderline Parent Visible
DragIcon Forecolor Picture WhatsThisHelp
Dragmode Height Style Width

Caption Determines the text that appears on the command button. Placing an
ampersand character (&) in the caption gives a keyboard access key alternative to a
mouse-click. You access these controls by holding the Alt key down while you press
the underlined letter of the control you wish to access. The user could also tab to the
command button and press the spacebar to simulate a mouse-click on the button.

Default (Boolean) Determines whether the command button is the default button or
not. That is, if a command button's Default property setting is True and its parent
Form is active, the user can choose the command button (invoking its Click event) by
pressing ENTER. Any other control with the focus doesn't receive a keyboard event
(KeyDown, KeyPress, or KeyUp) for the ENTER key unless the user has moved the
focus to another command button on the same form. In this case, pressing ENTER
chooses the command button that has the focus instead of the default command
button.

Cancel (Boolean) Determines whether the command button is the cancel button or
not. That is, if a command button's Cancel property setting is True and it parent
Form is active, the user can choose the CommandButton by clicking it, pressing the
ESC key, or pressing ENTER when the button has the focus.

Note:Only one Command Button control on a Form can be the Cancel button.
When the Cancel property is set to True for one Command Button, it's
automatically set to False for all other Command Button controls on the form.
Likewise only one Command button can be the Default button.

Name The Name property is used to give the control its own identity. This name is
used by your code and Visual Basic to distinguish it from the rest of the controls.

Style Indicates the display type of the control. It can have any one of the two values
as in the following table.

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Value Description
0-Standard Default. Displays the command button as a standard
button without any associated graphic.
1-Graphical Displays the standard button that can also have an
associated graphic.

Table 4.6 Values for Style property.

BackColor This property’s value of a command button will take effect, only when
the Style property is set to Graphical. More over, the command button can display a
picture by using the Picture property (explained next).

Enable This property can stop the user from accessing a command button. If either
is set to false, the command button will be unusable. Disabling a command button is
a handy technique if you want to force the end user to complete certain actions( such
as filling in text boxes) before clicking the next button in the process.

TabIndex A control with a TabIndex of 0(zero) is the first to receive the focus on a
form, provided it’s not disabled or [Link] you alter the TabIndex of the one
control, the other controls’ orders adjust to accommodate the new order.
TabStop Determines the user to prevent from tabbing to a control, set it to False,
though this does not prevent a mouse-click on the control – to stop that, use the
Enable or Visible properties described previously.

Picture Sets the picture to be displayed in a command button, provided the

command button’s Style property must be set to Graphical. The value part of the
Picture property in the Properties window has a button (...), which enables to choose
a bitmap, icon, metafile, GIF, or JPEG file. For example, if a command button has a
caption “Play Music” and Picture “..\[Link]”, it will appear as in Figure 1.24

Figure 4.5 Command Button with Caption and Picture.

Note: The Picture also available to Form, Check box, Option button, Picture Box
and Image control.

Command Button Events

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Without a doubt, the most frequently coded event procedure for a command button
corresponds to the Click event; the other events for a command button are listed
here:

Click GotFocus KeyUp MouseMove

DragDrop KeyDown LostFocus MouseUp
DragOver KeyPress MouseDown

In your first programs, the Clickevent is probably the only event in which you’d be
interested. It’s the most commonly used event on a command button. You won’t use
many of the other events until you become more proficient in Visual Basic. You can
also use the MouseUp event in place of the Clickevent. Many Windows applications
use this event so it gives the user a chance to back out without causing a Click event.

Command Button Methods

Listed below are the methods for the command button. The most commonly used
method is Setfocus.

Drag Refresh ZOrder Move SetFocus

The Setfocus method is sometimes used to place the focus on a particular button.
This comes in handy if you want the user to return to a default button after editing a
text box on a form. If that were so, the code for the focus button looks like this:

[Link]

and it might be placed in the Change event procedure for a text box.

4.6.2 Frame Control

The Frame Control is not particularly useful. The controls normally placed in a frame
are option buttons and check boxes. This has the effect of grouping them together so
when the frame is moved, the other controls move, too. For this to work you can’t
double-click a control (say, an option button) to add it to the form, and then drag it
into position within the frame. Instead, you must single-click the control in the
Toolbox and drag a location for it inside the frame. Then all the controls move
together.

In addition, the option buttons function as a group-that is, if you select one at run
time, the others become deselected. If you simply scatter option buttons randomly,
on a form, then they all function as one large group. To create separate groupings of
option buttons, you place them in frames. The button items within each frame act as

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a self-contained group and have no effect on the option buttons in other frame
groups.

Although a frame is often used as a container for check box groups too, each check
box is completely independent. Thus the setting for one check box has no effect on
the setting for the others in the same group. This is the behavior you would expect of
check boxes. Checkboxes are not mutually exclusive. This contrasts with option
buttons, where the buttons within a single group should be mutually exclusive. The
reason then for placing check boxes in a frame is to enable you to move the group as
a whole, when you reposition the frame at the design time. The frame also serves as a
visual grouping for the check boxes. For example, the check boxes relating to a
particular feature can be in one frame and those pertinent to another feature in
another frame.

A frame is usually given an fra prefix. You place the frame on the form before you
place the controls it’s going to contain.
Frame Properties

The frame control has several properties, listed below:

Appearance Font Height Parent
Backcolor FontBold HelpContextID TabIndex
Caption FontItalic hWnd Tag
Container FontName Index ToolTipText
ClipControls FontSize Left Top
DragIcon FontStrikethru MouseIcon Visible
Dragmode FontUnderline MousePointer WhatsThisHelp
Enabled Forecolor Name Width

After the Name property, perhaps the single most important property is the Caption.
You use this to give a meaningful title to the frame on the form. Then it’s clear to the
end user which feature the option buttons (or Check boxes) in the frame refer to. The
provide a clue as to how each option button affects the feature, you use the Caption
property of the buttons. For example, in order dispatch system you might have a
frame with the caption Delivery. And within that frame you might have two option
buttons, with the captions Normal and Express.

Frame Events

The frame control only supports a few events:

Click MouseDown
DblClick MouseMove
DragDrop MouseUp
DragOver

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The frame control events are only rarely used. In an application the uses drag-and-
drop, however, the DragDrop event is sometimes used to initiate actions when the
user drops an object into a frame area.

Frame Methods

A frame object supports only a few methods. None are verry helpful and they’re
hardly ever seen in Visual Basic projects:

Drag Refresh Zorder Move ShowWhatsThis

4.6.3 Option Button

Option button controls(shown here) are used to allow the user to select one ,and only
one, option from a group of options. Usually option buttons are grouped together
within a frame control , but they can also be grouped on a plain form, if there is to be
only one group of option buttons. Thus,if you had a frame specifying a delivery
method, you might have one button for UPS(United Parcel Service) and another for
Courier delivery. Products can only be shipped by one of these methods (not both-
and not none). In contrast, option buttons representing, say bold and italic settings
for text would not make sense. Text can be both bold and italic,or neither(none).

Option Button Properties

The option button supports many properties which are shown in the table below:

Alignment Enabled HelpContextID TabIndex

Appearance Font hWnd TabStop
Backcolor FontBold Index Tag
Caption FontItalic Left ToolTipText
Container FontName MaskColor Top
DisabledPicture FontSize MouseIcon UseMaskColor
DownPicture FontStrikethru Name Value
DragIcon FontUnderline Parent Visible
Dragmode Forecolor Picture WhatsThisHelp
Height Style Width

Once again the Name property is the one to set first; option buttons have an opt
prefix by convention. The Caption property helps the user determine the purpose of
an option button. The other popular property is Value. This is invaluable at both
design time and run time. At run time you test the Value property to see if the user
has turned on (or off) the option button. The property has two settings, True or False.
At design time you can set the Value property to True for one of the buttons if you

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wish – the default setting is False. This means that the option button ( and only that
option button in a group) is pre-selected when the form opens. If you try to make
Value for another button in the group True, then the previous one reverts to a False
setting.

Option Button Events

The option button control has a few events, but only the click event is really used:

Click DblClick DragDrop DragOver GotFocus

KeyDown KeyPress KeyUp LostFocus MouseDown
MouseMove MouseUp

The typical way of dealing with option buttons is to test the Value property at run
time to see if they’re selected. Your code then initiates actions accordingly. It’s
common to test for the Value property in the Click event procedure for a command
button that’s clicked after the user has select the option button of interest. This allows
you to check for a condition before the next procedure is called. You test the Value
property in an If…End If or Select Case…..End Select construct. But there may be
occasions when you want to initiate an action immediately after the user makes a
choice. Then you may want to trap the option button’s Click event.

Example

1. Run the Controls project by selecting Run Start

2. Click The Option Button on the Control Examples form
3. Click on any of the option buttons and watch the label at the top of the form. The
click event of each option button is used to change the Caption property of the
label.
4. When you are done watching the results, click the Close button to close the
dialog box
5. End the application by clicking the Exit button on the Control Examples form.

Option Button Methods

The methods for the option button are of little use in the Visual Basic environment.

Drag Move RefreshSetFocus ShowWhatsThis

Zorder

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Figure 4.6 The Option dialog box

4.6.4 Check Box Control

A Check Box control is rather similar to an option button. Both often partake in
groups, and the Value property is tested to see if a check box is on or off. But there
are two fundamental differences between check boxes and option buttons: Check
boxes are valid as single controls – a single option button is probably counter-
intuitive. Check boxes ( even when a group ) are not mutually exclusive. Finally ,
check boxes have three possible settings for the Value property.

Figure 4.6 Grayed or “dimmed” check boxes

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An option button is either on or it’s off. Therefore, Value can be either True or False.
Check boxes can be in one of three states – on, off, or grayed. Grayed(dimmed) does
not mean the same as disabled in this context- a grayed check box is neither on nor
off, though the user can change its setting. If the check box were disabled, the user
wouldn’t be able to turn it on or off. A grayed check box is used to signify that some,
but not all, option on another dialog box are selected. If you look at the dialog box in
Figure 1.26, you will notice two of the check boxes are grayed. The Accessories check
box is gray because it was installed.

Check Box Properties

The following table lists the properties for the check box control:
Alignment Enabled HelpContextID TabIndex
Appearance Font hWnd TabStop
Backcolor FontBold Index Tag
Caption FontItalic Left ToolTipText
Container FontName MousePointer Top
DisabledPicture FontSize Name UseMaskColor
DownPicture FontStrikethru Parent Value
DragIcon FontUnderline Picture WhatsThisHelp
Dragmode Forecolor Style Width
DataChanged Height
DataField

Value Indicates the state of the control. It can have any one of the values – 0-
Unckecked, 1-Checked, and 2-Grayed.

Style Indicates the appearance of the control, whether standard or graphical. If it has
the value Graphical then the check box will appear as a command button as in Figure
1.27

Figure 4.7 Check boxes whose Style property has the Graphical value.

DisabledPicture Sets the graphic to be displayed when the button is in the disabled,
if the Style is set to Graphical.

DownPicture Sets the graphic to be displayed when the button is in down position, if
the Style is set to Graphical.

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Note: The above four properties are same for the Option button also.

Check Box Events

The following table shows you that the check box has similar events to the option
button control:
Click DragDrop DragOver GotFocus
KeyDown KeyPress KeyUp LostFocus
MouseDown MouseMove MouseUp

To carry out further processing as soon as the user has clicked the check box, use the
click event. Normally, though, if you do not put code directly within the click event,
you will have another procedure that will ascertain the value of a check box by
retrieving its Value property.

Check Box Methods

Drag Refresh ShowWhatsThis

Move SetFocus Zorder

Like option buttons, the methods for the check box control are non-vital to the
operation of the control.

4.6.5. The Picture Box Control

As you might expect, picture boxes often graphics (for example, bitmaps, icons,
JPEGs and GIFs). In this role, picture boxes are similar to image controls. However,
picture boxes and images have slightly different properties and therefore behave
differently. If you just want to show a picture, then a image control is usually a better
choice tan a picture box. Images take up less memory and are a lightweight version
of picture boxes. However, if you wan to move the graphic around the form, a
picture box produces a smoother display. In addition, you can create text and use
graphics methods in a picture box at run time. The graphics methods enable you to
draw lines, circles and rectangles at run time. But most importantly for this
application, picture boxes can act as containers for other controls. Thus you can place
a command button within a picture box. In this respect, picture boxes function as
“forms within forms”

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Picture Box Properties

Picture Sets the graphic to be displayed in the control. At design time a graphic file
name can easily be specified through the Properties Window. But to assign a picture
at run time the LoadPicture statement is used as in the following:

[Link] = LoadPicture(“C:\Windows\[Link]”)

The LoadPicture statement loads the [Link] file from the disk to memory and
assigns it to the picture property of the Picture1 control.

AutoSize (Boolean) Determines whether a control is automatically resized to display

its entire contents.

Figure 4.8 Different appearance of a same picture due to different values of the
AutoSize property of the Picture box Control.

In the above Figure1.28 the first Picture box control has the value False in its
AutoSize property. So only portion of a picture that can fit into the current
coordinates of the first Picture box is displayed. The second Picture box has the
value True in its AutoSize property. So, it is automatically resized to accommodate
the entire picture.

Picture Box Method

The Picture box control supports more methods than its counterpart, the image box.
The most important once are listed in boldface in the following table:

Circle LinkPoke Point SetFocus

Cls LinkRequest Print ShowWhatsThis
Drag LinkSend PSet TextHeight
Line Move Refresh TextWidth

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LinkExecute PaintPicture Scale ZOrder

The Circle, Cls, Line, Print and Pset methods are all concerned with drawing
graphics or text in the picture box at run time – Cls(like the old DOS command for
“clear screen”) is actually used to erase entries. The Zorder method is the run-time
equivalent of Format Order Bring to Front or Format Order Send to Back. You
can use ZOrder to determine which controls overlap other controls. However, you
should be aware that there are three layers on a form- ZOrder only works within the
layer that contains the control. All the nongraphical controls except labels(foe
example, command buttons///0 belong to the top layer. Picture boxes and other
graphical controls (labels) belong to the middle layer. The bottom layer contains the
results of the graphics methods- for instance, a circle drawn with the circle method is
on the bottom layer. This contrasts with a circle drawn with the shape control, which
is in the middle layer. What all this means is that you can’t position a picture box
over a command button with ZOrder- the picture box is permanently relegated to the
layer behind. The ZOrder method is for rearranging objects within one layer.

PaintPicture Draws the contents of a Picture box control in the another picture box
control.

Syntax

[Link] picture, x1, y1, width1, height1, x2, y2, width2, height2 Each
argument is described in the following table.

Part Description
Required. The source of the graphic to be drawn onto object.
Picture
Must be the Picture property of a PictureBox.
Required. Single-precision values indicating the destination
X1, y1 coordinates (x-axis and y-axis) on object for picture to be
drawn.
Optional. Single-precision value indicating the destination
Width1
width of picture. If omitted, the source width is used.
Optional. Single-precision value indicating the destination
Height1
height of picture. If omitted, the source height is used.
Optional. Single-precision values indicating the coordinates
x2, y2 (x-axis and y-axis) of a clipping region within picture. If
omitted, 0 is assumed.
Optional. Single-precision value indicating the source
Width2 width of a clipping region within picture. If omitted, the
entire source width is used.

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Optional. Single-precision value indicating the source

Height2 height of a clipping region within picture. If omitted, the
entire source height is used.

Table 4.7 Arguments of the PaintPicture method.

Examples

The following line shows how to copy the contents of the Picture1 control to the
Picture2 control.

[Link] [Link], 0, 0
As optional arguments are omitted, their default values will be [Link] following
line shows how to display mirror images of the Picture1 control in the Picture2
control.

[Link] [Link], 0, 0,_

[Link],[Link], [Link], 0,_
-[Link], [Link]

Here, destination X’s origin is not 0, but the picture’s width and the destination with
are the negative of the actual width. So the contents of the Picture1 will be displayed
in the reverse order to produce the mirror image.

4.6.6 The Image Box Control

The image control(Prefix –img) is a lightweight equivalent of the picture box control.
But unlike the picture control, the image control can’t act as a container for other
objects. In some of its other properties it’s not as versatile, but it’s a good choice if
you simply want to display a picture on a form. Image controls consume far less
memory than picture controls.

The image control that comes with Visual Basic can now display
bitmap(.BMP),icon(.ICO),metafile(.WMF),JPEG(>JPG) and GIF(.GIF) files. This
makes it easier to display graphics from the WorldWideWeb, as well as graphics
from other popular graphics program.

Image Box Properties

Picture Same as in Picture Box control.

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Stretch (Boolean) Indicates whether the picture has to be resized to fit the size of the
control. This property is totally different from the Picture box control’s AutoSize.
When the AutoSize is set to False, only portion of the picture that fits into the current
coordinates of the Picture box is displayed. But when Stretch is set to False the
Image control is resized to the coordinates of the picture. That is, it behaves in the

similar manner of the Picture box control when its AutoSize is set to True. But when
the Stretch is set to True the picture will be enlarged or compressed to the current
coordinates of the Image Control.

Figure 4.8 Different appearance of a same picture due to different values of the
Stretch property of the Image Control.

Note: The Image control will not display border around its contents as like the
Picture box.

In the Figure 1.29 the first image control (left-top) has the value False in its Stretch
property. So this control is resized to accommodate the entire contents of the picture.
But the other two image controls are resized to difference coordinates- One less than
and another greater than the original size of the picture, and their Stretch property is
set to True. So the picture is shrunk and enlarged accordingly.

Note: When the Image control’s Stretch property is set to True, resizing the control
also resizes the picture it contains. But in contrast to this, resizing a Picture
box control will not resize its picture, even though its AutoSize property is set
to True.

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4.6.7. The Timer Control

The timer control is one of the few controls always hidden at run time. This means
you don’t have to find room for it on a form-it can go anywhere,even on top of
existing controls. The timer basically dows just one thing: It checks the system clock
and acts accordingly.

Timer Properties

Interval Sets the number of milliseconds between calls to the control's Timer event.
That is, if this property is set to the value 1000, the control’s Timer event will be
executed at every second (1000 milliseconds = 1 Second).

Tag Returns or sets an expression that stores any extra data needed for the
application. Unlike other properties, the value of the Tag property isn't used by
Visual Basic; the application use this property for its own purpose. For example,
when the timer Event finishes execution it may store a value in the Tag property,
which may be used at the next occurrence of the Timer event.

Timer Event

The timer control has only one event called, appropriately, a Timer event. As already
stated, this event takes place every time an interval elapses. The interval is
determined by Interval property. To stop the Timer event from occurring you can set
the timer’s Enabled property to False at run time. Timer occurs when a preset
interval (using Interval property) has elapsed.

Example

The following code shows how to change the shape of a Shape control at the interval
of one second. It is assumed that the Timer1control’s properties are set through
Properties window as in below:

• Interval = 1000
• Tag = 1

Private Sub Timer1_Timer()

‘ Changing to next Shape
[Link] = [Link]

‘ If current shape is the last shape then...

‘ Setting the first shape for the next display
If [Link] = 5 Then

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[Link] = 0
Else
‘ Increasing the Tag value to display the next shape
‘ at the next display
[Link] = [Link] + 1
End If
End Sub

Timer Methods

The timer control does not support any methods

4.6.8 The List Box Control

A list box is an ideal way of presenting users with al list of data. Users can browse
the data in the list box or select one or more items as the basis for further processing.
The user can’t edit the data in a list box directly- one way around that is to have a
combo box instead; combo boxes are discussed next. When the list of data is too long
for the list box then VB will add a vertical scroll bar.

List Box Properties

Many of the list box properties are shared by a combo box control, and some of them
are essential for getting the best from the control:

Appearance Enabled HelpContextID TabIndex

Backcolor Font hWnd TabStop
Columns FontBold Index Tag
Container FontItalic Left Text
DataField FontName List ToolTipText
DataSource FontSize ListCount Top
DisabledPicture FontStrikethru ListIndex TopIndex
DragIcon FontUnderline Parent Visible
Dragmode Forecolor SelCount WhatsThisHelp
MultiSelect Height Selected Width
Name MousePointer Sorted
NewIndex MouseIcon Style

List Sets the items for the list. To set the items click the down arrow in this
property’s value space in the Properties window. It will bring a drop list as in Figure
1.30. Type the items in it delimiting them by typing Ctrl+Enter.

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Figure 4.8 List property providing space to enter items.

This property can also be used to return a particular item. For example, to print the
third item of a list, say List1, the following statement is used.

Print [Link](2)

Note: List item’s index starts from 0.

ListCount Returns the number of items in the list portion of a control. (Not available
at design time).

ListIndex Returns the index of the currently selected item in the control. (Not
available at design time).

Sorted Indicates whether the elements of a control are automatically sorted

alphabetically.

Text Returns the selected item. (Not available at design time).

MultiSelect Indicates whether a user can make multiple selections. This can have one
of the values given in the following table.

Value Description
0-None (Default) Multiple selection isn't allowed.
1-Simple Simple multiple selection. A mouse click or pressing the
SPACEBAR selects or deselects an item in the list.
2-Extended Extended multiple selection. Pressing SHIFT and clicking
the mouse or pressing SHIFT and one of the arrow keys

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extends the selection from the previously selected item to

the current item. Pressing CTRL and clicking the mouse
selects or deselects an item in the list.

Table 4.6 Values for MultiSelect property.

SelCount Returns number of selected items in the List Box control. If the MultiSelect
property is set to value 0, this property will return either 0 (no selection) or 1 (only
one item can be selected). If the MultiSelect property is set to value 1 or 2, the user
may select more than one items in the List box control. In this case the SelCount
property will return the value greater than 1.

Selected Returns the selection status of an item in the ListBox control. This property
is an array of Boolean values with the same number of items as the List property.
(Not available at design time). For example to know whether the second item is
selected in a list, say List1, the following statements are used.
If [Link](1) = True then
----------------------
End if

To print the selected items of a List, say List1, loop (explained in detail in the next
Chapter) can be used as in below:

For i = 1 to [Link]
If [Link](i) = True Then
Print [Link](i)
End If
Next

The above loop will execute for the total number of items of the list List1. Each time
the current item is checked whether it is selected by using the Selected property. If
so, it is printed.

Style Determines whether checkboxes are displayed inside the List box control. It
can have the value either 0-Standard (default) or 1-Checkbox. If this property is set
to Checkbox the list will appear as in Figure 1.31

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Figure 4.9 Check box style List box.

When an item is selected in this style, the item’s check box will be checked.

Note: The Style property can have the value Checkbox, only when the MultiSelect
property has the value 0-None.

List Box Methods

AddItem Adds an item to a ListBox at run time. For example, if the text in a text box
entered by the user is to be added to a list box this method can be used to do the
same.

Syntax

[Link] item, index

The item argument specifies the text to be added to the List box. The index argument
(optional) specifies the position whether the new item is to be placed. For example, if
the new item is to be inserted at the top of the list the index argument will have the
value 0. If this argument is omitted, the new item will be placed at the bottom of the
list.

Example

The following line is used to add the text, entered in the text box Text1, at the top of
the list box List1.

[Link] [Link], 0

RemoveItem Removes an item from the List box control.

Syntax

[Link] index

The index argument specifies the item to be removed. For example, to remove the
third item from the list box List1 the following line is used:

[Link] 2

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Clear Clears the content of the list box. For example, to clear the List1 the following
line is used:

[Link]

Note: The properties List, ListCout, ListIndex, Sorted, and Text, and all the three
methods are also available for the Combo Box control also.

4.6.9 The Month View Control

The MonthView control makes it easy for users to view and set date information via
a calendar-like interface. Users can select a single date or a range of dates.

The control can be navigated using either the keyboard or mouse. Buttons at the top
of the control are used to scroll months in and out of view.

In addition, the control has the ability to display up to 12 months at a time.

This can be helpful to give users the ability to view date information around
the date of interest. The Figure 1.32 shows a typical Month View control.

Figure 4.10 Month View control.

MonthView Properties

Property Description
Day, Month, Week, and Year Specifies the current Day, Month, Week and Year
number.

DayofWeek Speechifies the current day of week.

ShowToday (Boolean) Determines whether the current date is

displayed at the bottom of the control.

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MultiSelect (Boolean) Determines whether multiple dates can

be selected at once.

MaxSelCount Determines the maximum number of contiguous

days that can be selected at once.

SelStart and SelEnd Return the start and end dates of a selection when
the MultiSelect property is set to True.

MonthRows and MonthColumns Specifies the number of months to be

displayed horizontally and vertically.
The total of the MonthRows and
MonthColumns properties must be less
than or equal to 12.

MonthBackColor, TitleBackColor Various color attributes to customize the

TitleForeColor, control’s appearance.
and TrailingForeColor.

MonthView Methods
The MonthView control has two unique methods that need to be noted,
ComputeControlSize and HitTest.

The Compute ControlSize method enables you determine the height and width of a
MonthView control,given its number of rows and columns. MonthView controls can
get pretty large when displaying multiple months. By using the ComputeControlSize
method before changing the MonthColumns and MonthRows properties,you can
ensure that the control will fit on your form. The syntax of the ComputeControlSize
method is:

ComputeControlSize (rows,columns,width,height )

You specify the rows and columns arguments before calling the method, then
examine the variables passed as the width and height arguments. The rows and
columns arguments are of type Integer, and width and height are of type Single.

The second unique method of the MonthView control is HitTest. HitTest is

used to determine the part of the MonthView control that the mouse pointer
is positioned on as well as the date that corresponds to the pointer’s
position(if any). The syntax for the HitTest method is:

ctrlpart = HitTest(x,y,date)

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The value returned by the HitTest method(ctrlpart) specifies the part of the control in
which the mouse cursor is positioned. This value corresponds to the
MonthViewHitTestAreas Enum (see the table). The x and y arguments are the mouse
pointer’s coordinates,and the Date variable specified by t0he date argument will
contain the date that is under the mouse pointer,if any.

The values of the month view hit test areas Enum

Enum Member Value

mvwCalendarBack 0
mvwCalendarDate 1
mvwCalendarDateNext 2
mvwCalendarDatePrev 3
mvwCalendarDay 4
mvwCalendarWeekNum 5
mvwNoWhere 6
mvwTitleBack 7
mvwTitleBtnNext 8
mvwTitleBtnPrev 9
mvwTitleMonth 10
mvwTitleYear 11
mvwTitleTodayLink 12

MonthView Events

Event Description

DateClick When a date on the control is clicked.

SelChange Occurs when the user selects a new date or range of

dates.

GetDayBold When the user want to change the appearance of

certain dates,such as making them bold.

Possible Uses

The possible uses of the MonthView control is given below:

™ To present date information where a calendar representation of a date is

easier to understand than that of a Label or Textbox control.

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™ To give users the ability to choose a date with the click of a mouse rather than
typing a date value.
™ To enable users to view multiple months as part of an advanced booking
system such as those used by hotels and airlines.

4.6.10 The date time picker control

The DateTimePicker control displays date and/or time information and acts
as the interface through which users can modify date and time information.
The control's display consists of fields that are defined by the control's format
string. When the DateTimePicker is dropped down, a MonthView calendar is
displayed.

The control has two different modes:

™ Dropdown Calendar mode (default) – enables the user to display a dropdown

calendar that can be used to select a date.
™ Time Format mode – enables the user to select a field in the date display (i.e.
the month, day, year, etc.) and press the up/down arrow to the right of the
control to set its value.

The Figure 1.33 shows these two different modes.

Figure 4.11 Different modes of Date time picker control.

Note : To display the Date time picker control in the Time Format Mode check the
Updown check box in the general tab of its property page.

DTPicker Properties

This control also has the properties Value, Year, Month, Week, Day, DayOfWeek
which are same as in the Monthview control. This control’s other important
properties are given below:

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The MinDate and MaxDate properties

It determines the first and last date allowed by the calendar.

DTPicker Formats

It determines the format type used to display text on the control. It can have one of
the values given in the following table.

Constant Value Description

Long Date Format (for example "Friday,
DtpLongDate 0
Nov 14, 1972").
Short Date Format (for example
DtpShortDate 1
"11/14/72").
DtpTime 2 Time Format (for example "5:31:47 PM").
DtpCustom 3 Custom format.

Table 4.5 Values for the Format property.

If the Format Property is set to dtpCustom the format set in the CustomFormat
property (explained next) is used.

DTPicker CustomFormat

It specifies the format used by the control when displaying date/time information.
The string fragment given in the following table can be used to specify the custom
format.

String Fragment Description

D The one- or two-digit day.
The two-digit day. Single digit day values are
Dd
preceded by a zero.
Ddd The three-character weekday abbreviation.
Dddd The full weekday name.
H The one- or two-digit hour in 12-hour format.
The two-digit hour in 12-hour format. Single digit
Hh
values are preceded by a zero.
H The one- or two-digit hour in 24-hour format.
The two-digit hour in 24-hour format. Single digit
HH
values are preceded by a zero.
M The one- or two-digit minute.

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The two-digit minute. Single digit values are preceded

Mm
by a zero.
M The one- or two-digit month number.
The two-digit month number. Single digit values are
MM
preceded by a zero.
MMM The three-character month abbreviation.
MMMM The full month name.
S The one- or two- digit seconds.
The two-digit seconds. Single digit values are
Ss
proceeded by a zero.
The one-letter AM/PM abbreviation (that is, "AM" is
T
displayed as "A").
The two-letter AM/PM abbreviation (that is, "AM" is
Tt
displayed as "AM").
A callback field. The control still uses the other valid
format characters, and queries the owner to fill in the
"X" portion. The owner must be ready to respond to
X
events that request information about how to fill in
these fields. Multiple 'X' characters can be used in
series to signify unique callback fields.
The one-digit year (that is, 1997 would be displayed as
Y
"7").
The last two digits of the year (that is, 1997 would be
Yy
displayed as "97").
The full year (that is, 1997 would be displayed as
Yyy
"1997").

Table 4.8 String fragments for CustomFormat property.

Examples

To display the date in the format 12-Nov-1976 the following format string
used.

“dd-MMM-yyyy”

Body text can also be added to the format string. For example, if string has to appear
as "Today is: 05:30:31 Friday Nov 14, 1997", then the required format string is

"'Today is: 'hh':'m':'s ddddMMMdd', 'yyy".

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Body text must be enclosed in single quotes.

4.7 Short Summary

) Controls have properties that define aspects of their appearance, such as

position, size, and colour, and aspects of their behaviour, such as their
response to user input.
) List box and ComboBox controls present a set of choices that are displayed
vertically in a single column.
) A combobox control combines the features of TextBox and a listBox. This
control enables the user to select either by typing text into the ComboBox or
by selecting an item from its list.
) A Control Array is a group of controls that share the same name and type.
They also share the same event procedures.

4.8 Brain Storm

1. Do all controls receive the focus? If not, specify those controls that don’t and
the reason(s)?
2. Do we Dbclick event for a command button?
3. How can you make difference choices using option buttons? Why?
4. Can we have more than one command button as cancel button on a single
form
5. How do you make a text box control a read – only control?
6. Specify few significant differences between an option button and a check
box?
7. Can the user stretch the image to the size of the picture box?
8. List out the difference between Timer Control and Date Time Picker Control?
9. How can you place a Month View Control on a form?
10. Specify few differences between the picture box and image box?

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Lab Unit - 4 ( 2 Real Time Hrs)

1
1. Open a new standard EXE project
2. Design your form as shown below

3. Current Time should be displayed on the Text1

4. Current Date should be displayed on the Text2

2
1. Open a new standard EXE project

2. Design your form as shown below

3. In the Text1 Box enter a date
4. In the Text3Box enter a text
5. If you click the Command Button1, Day of the Date should be displayed
in the Text2 Box
6. If you click the Command Button2, UpperCase of the text should be
displayed in the Text4 Box
3
1. Open a new Standard EXE project

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2. Design your form as shown below

3. Whenever the Textbox "TEXT1" gets the focus it must be cleared.

4. The Textbox "TEXT1" should accept only numbers.
5. The user must not be allowed to go out of the Text box "TEXT1" when it is
empty
6. The Textbox "TEXT2" must accept only alphabets (Upper case)
7. The Textbox "TEXT3" should accept only a maximum of 8 digits and only
numbers.
8. "TEXT4" is to input a special allowance to the female candidates. So the
user must be allowed to enter values in it only if the candidate is a female
candidate
9. If any of the allowances is applicable to the candidate it must be displayed
in the respective label boxes.
HRA – 2500.00
DA - 3000.00
10. When the user clicks the "OK" button a confirmation message must
be displayed in the label box "Label7"
11. When the user clicks the "Cancel" button a cancellation message
must be displayed in the above mentioned label control and all the
textboxes must be cleared.
12. When the user clicks the "Exit" button stop the execution of the
program.

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Lecture - 5

Control Arrays

Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ About Control arrays

™ Know how to create a control array at design time

™ Know how to create a control array at run time

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 Control Arrays

Lecture unit - 5

5.1 Snap Shot

5.2 Creating Control Arrays at Design Time

5.3 Creating Control Arrays at Run Time

5.4 Short Summary

5.5 Brain Storm

Lab unit 5 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

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5.1 Snap Shot

In the previous unit we have seen about the types of statements , controls and how
we can placed it in the form. This unit helps to understand the concept of control
arrays, why we are using Controls arrays and how the control arrays can be created
during at run and design time.

5.1.1 Control Arrays

A control array is an array of controls, in the same way that an integer is an array of
integers. A group of controls that share common names, types, and event
procedures. Each control has a unique index. When a control in the array recognizes
an event, it calls the event procedure for the group and passes the index as an
argument, allowing your code to determine which control recognized the event.
When you add a second control of the same type of the form, visual Basic presents
you a message asking ‘Do you want to create a control array’ .Choose Yes to create a
control array.

By grouping similar controls into an array(much like arrays that hold strings or
some other data type), you can down on the amount of code in your program.
Because all of the controls in the array share event handlers ( for example, there is
only one Click event for an array of Command Button controls no matter how many
controls are in the array), you do not have to duplicate event code for each individual
control.

Combining dynamic controls with control arrays offers the best of both worlds.
Dynamic controls enable your program to do a little jig in step with your end user’s
needs: the control array enables you to easily manage the pool of dynamically
created controls.

There are many benefits to using control arrays instead of several individual
controls. First, control arrays use fewer resources than individual controls. Second,
controls arrays share common events. For example, if you have an array of
command buttons, the same Click event procedure is called no matter which button
is pressed.

If you start with a text box named Text1 and elect to create a control array,
Visual Basic assignsText1 an index number of 0 and creates a new member of
the Text1 array, with an index number of 0 and creates a new member of the
Text1 array, with an index number of 1. If you make additional copies of
Text1 or Text2, their index properties are set to 3,4 and so on.

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Examples – Showing how to handle a click event for control arrays

Private Sub cmdButtonArray_Click (Index As Integer)

Select Case Index

Case 0: [Link] = 1
Case 1: [Link] = 2
Case 2: [Link] = 3
Case 3: [Link] = 4
Case 4: [Link] = 5
Case 5: [Link] = 6
End Select
End Sub

Notice in this code fragment that the Index property of the control array member that
received the event is passed as an argument to the event. However, instead of using
index numbers directly in the Select statement, it is more maintainable to assign
these to constants. That way, if for any reason control indexes change, you only need
to change the constant declaration to fix all the code referencing those indexes.

Working with Control Arrays

A control array is a group of controls that share the same name and type. They also
share the same event procedures. A control array has at least one element and can
grow to as many elements as your system resources and memory permit; its size also
depends on how much memory and Windows resources each control requires. The
maximum index you can use in a control array is 32767. Elements of the same control
array have their own property settings. Common uses for control arrays include
menu controls and option button groupings.

Note: Visual Basic includes the ability to dynamically add unreferenced

controls to the Controls collection at run time.
Why Use Control Arrays?

Adding controls with control arrays uses fewer resources than simply adding
multiple controls of the same type to a form at design time. Control arrays are also
useful if you want several controls to share code. For example, if three option buttons
are created as a control array, the same code is executed regardless of which button
was clicked.

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If you want to create a new instance of a control at run time, that control must be a
member of a control array. With a control array, each new element inherits the
common event procedures of the array.

Using the control array mechanism, each new control inherits the common event
procedures already written for the array. For example, if your form has several text
boxes that each receive a date value, a control array can be set up so that all of the
text boxes share the same validation code.

5.2 Creating a Control Array at Design Time

There are three ways to create a control array at design time:

• Assign the same name to more than one control.

• Copy an existing control and then paste it onto the form.

• Set the control's Index property to a value that is not Null.

Note - You must create menu control arrays in the Menu Editor.

To add a control array element by changing its name

1. Draw the controls you want to be in the control array. (The controls must all
be of the same type.) Decide which control will become the first element in
the array.

2. Select one of the controls and change its Name setting to the Name setting for
the first element in the array.

3. When you type an existing name for a control in the array, Visual Basic
displays a dialog box asking you to confirm that you want to create a control
array. Choose Yes to confirm the action.

For example, if the name of the first element in a control array is cmdCtlArr, you
would choose a command button to add to the array and then set its name to
cmdCtlArr. The message "You already have a control named 'cmdCtlArr.' Do you
want to create a control array?" is displayed. Choose Yes to confirm the operation.

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Controls added this way share only their Name property and control type; all other
properties remain the same as when the control was originally drawn.

To add a control array element by copying an existing control

1. Draw a control in the control array.

2. While the control has the focus, choose Copy from the Edit menu.

3. From the Edit menu, choose Paste. Visual Basic displays a dialog box asking you
to confirm that you want to create a control array. Choose Yes to confirm the
action.

This control is assigned an index value of 1. The first control you drew has a value of
0. The index value of each new array element corresponds to the order in which the
element was added to the control array. When controls are added this way, most of
the visual properties, such as height, width, and color, are copied from the first
control in the control array to the new controls.

5.3 Creating control array at Run Time

You can add and remove controls in a control array at run time using the Load and
Unload statements. However, the control to be added must be an element of an
existing control array. You must have created a control at design time with the Index
property set, in most cases, to 0. Then, at run time, use this syntax:

Load object(index%)
Unload object(index%)

Argument,Description,objectName of the control to add to or delete from the control

[Link]%The control's index value in the array.

When you load a new element of a control array, most of the property settings are
copied from the lowest existing element in the array — in this example, the element
with the 0 index value. The Visible, Index, and TabIndex property settings are not
automatically copied to new elements of a control array, so to make the newly added
control visible, you must set its Visible property to True.

Note Visual Basic generates an error if you attempt to use the Load
statement with an index number already in use in the array.

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You can use the Unload statement to remove any control created with Load.
However, you cannot use Unload to remove controls created at design time,
regardless of whether or not they are part of a control array.

Adding and Deleting Controls in a Control Array

The control array example demonstrates how controls — in this case, option buttons
— are added and deleted at run time. The example allows the user to add option
buttons that change the background color of a picture box.

Start with a form, and then draw a picture box, a label, two option buttons, and three
command buttons, as shown in Figure 5.1

Figure 5.1 – Adding controls at run time

The following table lists the property settings for the objects in the
application.

Object Property Setting

Form Caption Control Array Example

Picture box Name picDisplay

Label Caption Select an option button to

display a new color

Option1 Name Index optButton0

Option2 Name Index optButton1

First command button Name Caption cmdAdd &Add

Second command button NameCaption cmdDelete&Delete

Third command button Name Caption cmdClose&Close

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Events in the Control Array Application

Next, you need to add the event procedures for the option buttons and command
buttons. Start by adding the form declaration:

Dim MaxId As Integer

The Click event procedure is shared by all the option buttons:

Private Sub optButton_Click (Index As Integer)

[Link] = QBColor(Index + 1)
End Sub

New option buttons are added by the Click event procedure for the Add command
button. In this example, the code checks that no more than ten option buttons are
loaded before the Load statement is executed. Once a control is loaded, its Visible
property must be set to True.

Private Sub cmdAdd_Click ()

If MaxId = 0 Then MaxId = 1 ' Set total option
' buttons.
If MaxId > 8 Then Exit Sub ' Only ten buttons
' allowed.
MaxId = MaxId + 1 ' Increment button count.
Load optButton(MaxId) ' Create new button.
optButton(0).SetFocus ' Reset button selection.
' Set new button under previous button.
optButton(MaxId).Top = optButton(MaxId - 1)._Top + 400
optButton(MaxId).Visible = True ' Display new
' button.
optButton(MaxId).Caption = "Option" & MaxId + 1
End Sub

Option buttons are removed by the Click event procedure for the Delete command
button:

Private Sub cmdDelete_Click ()

If MaxId <= 1 Then Exit Sub ' Keep first two
' buttons.
Unload optButton(MaxId) ' Delete last button.
MaxId = MaxId - 1 ' Decrement button count.
optButton(0).SetFocus ' Reset button selection.

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End Sub
The Close button Click event ends the application:
Private Sub cmdClose_Click ()
Unload Me
End Sub

5.4 Short Summary

) Control arrays is a group of controls that share the same name and type.

) Control arrays share event procedures

) Control arrays can be created during design time by assigning the same name
in the name property for more than one control

) During Design time set the index property to a value is not null

) Control arrays can be create at run time using the statements [Load object
(index % ) and Unload object (index %) ]
5.5 Brain Storm
1. What are the salient features of the control arrays?
2. When a Control array can be used?
3. What is the need of control arrays
4. How a control arrays can be created at run time

Lab Unit - 5 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

1. Open a new Standard EXE project

2. Design your form as shown below ( 19 Command Button & A Text box) and
perform a Calculator Project , which can able to work as like as Windows
Calculator.

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 Procedures

Lecture - 6

Procedures
Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ About Procedures

™ Knowing about the features of General, Event procedures

™ Understand how to create a Function procedure that accepts

arguments and returns a value

™ Scope of the Procedures.

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Lecture Unit - 6

6.1 Snap Shot

6.2 General procedures

6.3 Event procedures

6.4 Creating and calling functions

6.5 Scope of procedure

6.6 Short Summary

6.7 Brain Storm

Lab unit 6 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

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 Procedures

6.1 Snap Shot

When we write a lengthy program some times we may have to write a set of
statements repeatedly. It will be a time consuming one. So, to avoid that we can
write the code and keep in a separate file and when ever we need to execute the
statements we can call it. The advantages of using procedures in programming are
(a) It is easier to debug a program with a procedures, which breaks a program into
discrete logical limits. (b) Procedures used in one program can act as building
blocks for other programs with slight modifications.

6.2 General Procedures

A general procedure tells the application how to perform a specific task. Once a
general procedure is defined, it must be specifically invoked by the application. By
contrast, an event procedure remains idle until called upon to respond to events
caused by the user or triggered by the system.

Why create general procedures? One reason is that several different event
procedures might need the same actions performed. A good programming strategy
is to put common statements in a separate procedure (a general procedure) and have
your event procedures call it. This eliminates the need to duplicate code and also
makes the application easier to maintain. For example, the VCR sample application
uses a general procedure called by the click events for several different scroll buttons.
Figure 2.3 illustrates the use of a general procedure. Code in the Click events calls the
ButtonManager Sub procedure, which runs its own code, and then returns control to
the Click event procedure.

Figure 2.3 General procedures are called by event procedures

6.3 Event Procedures

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When an object in Visual Basic recognizes that an event has occurred, it

automatically invokes the event procedure using the name corresponding to the
event. Because the name establishes an association between the object and the code,
event procedures are said to be attached to forms and controls.

• An event procedure for a control combines the control's actual name (specified in
the Name property), an underscore (_), and the event name. For instance, if you
want a command button named cmdPlay to invoke an event procedure when it is
clicked, use the procedure cmdPlay_Click.

• An event procedure for a form combines the word "Form," an underscore, and
the event name. If you want a form to invoke an event procedure when it is
clicked, use the procedure Form_Click. (Like controls, forms do have unique
names, but they are not used in the names of event procedures.) If you are using
the MDI form, the event procedure combines the word "MDIForm," an
underscore, and the event name, as in MDIForm_Load.

All event procedures use the same general syntax.

Syntax for a control event

Syntax for a form event

Private Sub controlname_eventname (arguments )

statements
End Sub

Private Sub Form_eventname (arguments)

statements
End Sub

Although you can write event procedures from scratch, it's easier to use the code
procedures provided by Visual Basic, which automatically include the correct
procedure names. You can select a template in the Code Editor window by selecting
an object from the Object box and then selecting a procedure from the Procedure box.

It's also a good idea to set the Name property of your controls before you start
writing event procedures for them. If you change the name of a control after
attaching a procedure to it, you must also change the name of the procedure to match
the new name of the control. Otherwise, Visual Basic won't be able to match the
control to the procedure. When a procedure name does not match a control name, it
becomes a general procedure.

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 Procedures

6.4 Creating and Calling Functions

You’ve now met two types of Sub procedures. The first type (Private by
default) is the event Sub procedure behind forms and controls. These event
procedures are already defined for you. The second type the ones you add
yourself are called general Sub procedures. There are also Function
procedures. These you must create yourself, and they can be Private or
Public. Function procedures return a value to the procedures that call them.
The best way to understand Function procedures is to try one out. Here’s one
that calculates the cube root of a number:

1. Open a form’s code window by double-clicking it in the Form Designer

2. Create the template by typing the following on a blank line in a form’s Code
window and pressing Enter:
Public Function CubeRoot
This Creates the Following code:
Public Function CubeRoot()
End Function
3. Now alter the template as follows
Public Function CubeRoot(x As Double) As Double
If x=0 Then
CubeRoot = 0
Exit Function
End If
CubeRoot = 10 ( (Log(Abs(x))/Log(10))/3)
If x<0 Then
CubeRoot = -CubeRoot
End If
End Function

The math involved here isn’t important. But a few other things are:

• The Function ends with an End Function rather than an End Sub
• You can jump out of a Function with Exit Function.
• The Function must return a value- the line Cube Root = 0 is one of the three
possible lines that do that.
• You can specify the type of value returned- here it’s a Double ( a numeric
variable that can handle very large and small values as well as decimals) by
adding the statements As followed by the date type of the returned value.

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4. To call this function, you must assign its return value to another variable.
Try the following code in a click event for a form

Dim Y As Double
Y= CubeRoot(27)
Print Y

5. Now run the application and click the command button.

This code prints the return value straight onto the form

Normally, you may want to assign the return value to a control on the form, such
as a text box control

[Link] = Y

The result is

Alternatively, you can have just the line

[Link] = CubeRoot(27)

Here the return value is being assigned directly to a control

Note: When you all a Function procedure, you must enclose the
parameter(s) in parentheses. This contrast with calling a Sub
procedure.

6.5 Scope of procedures

Usually the code in a procedure needs some information about the state of the
program to do its job. This information consists of variables passed to the procedure
when it is called. When a variable is passed to a procedure, it is called an argument.

Argument Data Types

The arguments for procedures you write have the Variant data type by default.
However, you can declare other data types for arguments. For example, the
following function accepts a string and an integer:

Function WhatsForLunch(WeekDay As String, Hour _

As Integer) As String

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' Returns a lunch menu based on the day and time.

If WeekDay = "Friday" then
WhatsForLunch = "Fish"
Else
WhatsForLunch = "Chicken"
End If
If Hour > 4 Then WhatsForLunch = "Too late"
End Function

6.5.1 Passing Arguments By Value

Only a copy of a variable is passed when an argument is passed by value. If the

procedure changes the value, the change affects only the copy and not the variable
itself. Use the ByVal keyword to indicate an argument passed by value.

For example:

Sub PostAccounts(ByVal intAcctNum as Integer)

.
. ' Place statements here.
.
End Sub
6.5.2 Passing Arguments By Reference

Passing arguments by reference gives the procedure access to the actual variable
contents in its memory address location. As a result, the variable's value can be
permanently changed by the procedure to which it is passed. Passing by reference is
the default in Visual Basic.

If you specify a data type for an argument passed by reference, you must pass a
value of that type for the argument. You can work around this by passing an
expression, rather than a data type, for an argument. Visual Basic evaluates an
expression and passes it as the required type if it can.

The simplest way to turn a variable into an expression is to enclose it in parentheses.

For example, to pass a variable declared as an integer to a procedure expecting a
string as an argument, you would do the following:

Sub CallingProcedure()
Dim intX As Integer
intX = 12 * 3

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Foo(intX)
End Sub

Sub Foo(Bar As String)

MsgBox Bar 'The value of Bar is the string "36".
End Sub

6.5.3 Using Optional Arguments

You can specify arguments to a procedure as optional by placing the Optional

keyword in the argument list. If you specify an optional argument, all subsequent
arguments in the argument list must also be optional and declared with the Optional
keyword. The two pieces of sample code below assume there is a form with a
command button and list box.

For example, this code provides all optional arguments:

Dim strName As String

Dim strAddress As String

Sub ListText(Optional x As String, Optional y _

As String)
[Link] x
[Link] y
End Sub

Private Sub Command1_Click()

strName = "yourname"
strAddress = 12345 ' Both arguments are provided.
Call ListText(strName, strAddress)
End Sub

This code, however, does not provide all optional arguments:

Dim strName As String

Dim varAddress As Variant

Sub ListText(x As String, Optional y As Variant)

[Link] x
If Not IsMissing(y) Then
[Link] y
End If

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End Sub

Private Sub Command1_Click()

strName = "yourname" ' Second argument is not
' provided.
Call ListText(strName)
End Sub

In the case where an optional argument is not provided, the argument is actually
assigned as a variant with the value of Empty. The example above shows how to test
for missing optional arguments using the IsMissing function.

Providing a Default for an Optional Argument

It's also possible to specify a default value for an optional argument. The following
example returns a default value if the optional argument isn't passed to the function
procedure:

Sub ListText(x As String, Optional y As _

Integer = 12345)
[Link] x
[Link] y
End Sub

Private Sub Command1_Click()

strName = "yourname" ' Second argument is not
' provided.
Call ListText(strName) ' Adds "yourname" and
' "12345".
End Sub

Using an Indefinite Number of Arguments

Generally, the number of arguments in the procedure call must be the same as in the
procedure specification. Using the ParamArray keyword allows you to specify that a
procedure will accept an arbitrary number of arguments. This allows you to write
functions like Sum:

Dim x As Integer
Dim y As Integer
Dim intSum As Integer

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Sub Sum(ParamArray intNums())

For Each x In intNums
y=y+x
Next x
intSum = y
End Sub

Private Sub Command1_Click()

Sum 1, 3, 5, 7, 8
[Link] intSum
End Sub

6.5.4 Using Variable Number of Arguments

The arguments for procedures you write have the Variant data type by default.
However, you can declare other data types for arguments. For example, the
following function accepts a string and an integer:

Function WhatsForLunch(WeekDay As String, Hour _

As Integer) As String
' Returns a lunch menu based on the day and time.
If WeekDay = "Friday" then
WhatsForLunch = "Fish"
Else
WhatsForLunch = "Chicken"
End If
If Hour > 4 Then WhatsForLunch = "Too late"
End Function

6.6 Short Summary

) Event procedures acquire the declaration as Private default

) A general procedure is declared when several event procedures perform the
same actions.
) Visual Basic uses building blocks such as Variables, Datatypes, Procedures,
Functions, and
) Control Structures in its programming environment.

6.7 Brain Storm

1. What is a Procedure?
2. What are the difference between General procedure and Event procedures.
3. What is a Function?
4. What are the difference between Functions and Procedures?

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Lab Unit - 6 ( 2 Real Time Hrs)

1. Write event procedures to convert a text from lowercase to uppercase.

2. Write an event procedure to find the sum of numbers from 1 to selected value.
Use a horizontal scroll bar to set the maximum value.
3. Write a function procedure to find Simple interest.
4. Write s function procedure to convert the temperature in Celsius into Fahrenheit.

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Lecture - 7

Debugging
Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ About Debugging

™ Handling Windows

™ Know to assign values to the variables

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Lecture unit 7

7.1 Snap Shot

7.2 Debugging Tools in Visual Basic

7.3 Using Debugging Windows

7.4 Assigning Values to variables and properties

7.5 Modules

7.6 Enum (Enumerated Constant)

7.7 Short Summary

7.8 Brain storm

Lab Unit 7 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

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7.1 Snap Shot

When errors occur in the application code, it is referred as bugs. Minor bugs — for
example, execution of some statements may never occur due the fault in the
conditional statements — can be frustrating or inconvenient. More severe bugs can
cause an application to stop responding to commands, possibly requiring the user to
restart the application, and losing whatever work hasn't been saved.

The process of locating and fixing bugs in the application is known as debugging.
Visual Basic provides several tools to help to analyze the operation of the
application. These debugging tools are particularly useful in locating the source of
the bugs.

The following sections show how to use the debugging tools included in Visual Basic
and explains how to handle run-time errors.

Design-Time, Run-Time, and Break Modes

Understanding the three modes of operations of the Visual Basic will ease the
debugging process. Applications are built in Design-time mode and run in run-time
mode. This chapter introduces break mode, which suspends the execution of the
program so that data can be examined and altered.

Identifying the Current Mode

The Visual Basic title bar always shows the current mode. The following Figures 7.1
show the title bar for design time, run time, and break mode.

Figure 7.1 Title bars of different modes.

While an application is running, a situation may occur to switch to the suspend
mode (break mode). For example, the execution of the application may be

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imprisoned in an indefinite loop. In this case the running application mighty be

switched to the break mode. This is done:

™ By choosing the Break from Run menu.

™ By clicking the Break button.
™ By pressing the CTRL+BREAK.

In the suspend mode, it is possible to view and edit code (choosing Code from the
View menu, or pressing F7), examine or modify data, restart the application, end
execution, or continue execution from the same point.

Using the Toolbar to Change Modes

The toolbar provides three buttons that lets to change quickly from one mode to
another. These buttons appear as in Figure 7.2.

Whether any of these buttons is available depends on whether Visual Basic is in run-
time mode, design-time mode, or break mode. The following table lists the buttons
available for different modes.

Mode Toolbar buttons available

Design time Start
Run time Break, End
Continue, End (in break mode, the Start button becomes the
Break
Continue button)

Using the Break Mode

As said earlier, the Break mode enables to modify the code and to continue
the execution of an application. For example, if a run time error occurs, while
an application is running, the Visual Basic displays a dialog box with error
message. Clicking the Debug button of that dialog box will cause the

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application to switch to the break mode. Here, the cursor will wait with
highlighted background at the statement that caused the error (Figure 7.3).
Now that statement can be corrected and the execution can be continued.

The Frequent run time errors include misspelled names and mismatched
properties or methods with objects — for example, trying to use the Clear
method on a text box, or assigning a Text to an integer variable. The
following example shows a typical situation.

Figure 7.3 Cursor with highlighted background at the statement that caused the error.

In this example the value of the txtRestRate text box, which is a string, is attempted
for the assignment to the integer variable intRestRate. So Visual Basic displays the
Error Dialog box, with the message Runtime error 13 – Type mismatch. When the
mode is switched to the break mode, by clicking the Debug button, the current line
that caused the error, can be corrected as

intRestRate = Cint([Link]), to convert the string value to the integer value

before the assignment and the execution can be continued by simply clicking the
continue button on the toolbar.

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Note: Though changes can be made in the Break Mode, some changes (most
commonly, changing variable declarations or adding new variables or
procedures) require to restart the application.

7.2 Debugging Toolbar In Visual Basic

Among its many debugging tools, Visual Basic provides several buttons on the optional Debug

toolbar that are very helpful. Figure 7.4 shows these tools. Right clicking on the Visual Basic

toolbar and selecting the Debug option will display the Debug toolbar.

Figure 7.4 The Debugging Toolbar.

This section discusses the components in the second block of the Debug tool
bar such as Toggle break point, Step into etc. Third block components are
discussed in the next section.

Toggle Break Point

The Toggle Breakpoint option simply toggles a break point on and off at the
current line. If a break point is set for a line, then that line will appear with
red background and a red circle in the code window’s left margin as in Figure
7.5

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Figure 7.5 Line with a break point.

If a breakpoint is set for a line, then the application will switch automatically to break
mode, when the execution reaches that line. This enables to trace the execution of the
code.

To set a break point

™ Place the cursor in the line where the break point is to be set.
™ Choose Break point option from Debug menu or Press F9
--- Or ---

Simply click its toolbar button.

Note: Breakpoints can’t be set on non-executable lines such comments, declaration

statements or blank lines.

Step Into executes the current line of code. However, If the statement is a call to a
procedure, the next statement displayed is the first statement in the procedure.

Keyboard shortcut: F8.

Step Over executes each line of code in the current procedure, but steps over any
subsequent procedure that is called. Even though the cursor does not stop anywhere
within subsequent procedures, they are actually executed.

Keyboard shortcut: SHIFT+F8.

StepOut executes all lines remaining in the current procedure and stops executing on
the line after the line that called the current procedure.

Keyboard shortcut: CTRL+SHIFT+F8.

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7.3 Using The Debugging Windows

Analyzing the values of variables and properties, while the application is running
will be useful for debugging. Because some times the problem may be due to the
assignment of incorrect values to the variables and properties. Monitoring the data
will enable to detect, why those incorrect values are assigned to the variables or
properties.

The debugging windows help to monitor the values of variables, properties and
expressions while the application is running. The debugging windows are the
Immediate window, the Watch window, the Locals window, the quick watch
window and the Call stack window. They can be activated either by choosing their
respective menu option from the view menu or icons from the debug toolbar.

Immediate Window

While experimenting with an application, it may be desirable to execute individual

procedures, evaluate expressions, or assign new values to variables or properties.
The immediate window helps to accomplish these tasks. Its usage is explained in
detail in the following sections.

Printing information in the immediate window

There are two ways to print to the immediate window

™ By including [Link] statements in the application code.

™ By Entering Print methods directly in the Immediate window.

These printing technique gives feedback about the application performance in a

separate window (Immediate window), without interfering with output that a user
sees.

Printing from Application Code

The print method with Debug object prefix sends output to the Immediate
window.

[Link] [items][;]

For example, the following statement prints the value of Salary to the Immediate
window every time it is executed:

[Link] "Salary = "; Salary

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Figure 7.6 Result of [Link] statement in the Immediate window.

This technique works best when there is a particular place in the application code at
which the variable (in this case, Salary) is known to change. For example, the
previous statement might be put in a loop that repeatedly alters Salary.

Note: When the application is compiled into an .exe file, [Link] statements are
not included in the .exe file.

Printing from Within the Immediate Window

In the break mode the print statements can directly be used in the Immediate
window to examine the data.

To use the Immediate window in such a way:

™ Click the Immediate window (if visible).

--or--
From the View menu, choose Immediate Window.
Once the Immediate window got focus, the print method can be used
without the debug object.

™ Type a print statement into the Immediate window, and then press ENTER.

The Immediate window responds by carrying out the statement, as shown as in the
Figure 7.7

Figure 7.7 Using the Print method to print to the Immediate window.

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A question mark (?) is useful shorthand for the Print method. The question
mark means the same as Print, and can be used in any context where Print is
used. For example, the statements in Figure 7.8 could be entered as shown in
the following figure.

Figure 7.8 Using a question mark instead of the Print method.

Printing Values of Properties and expressions

The value of any expression or properties can also be printed in the Immediate
window using the print (or a ?) statement.
Examples

Print 5*10/2
? [Link]

7.4 Assigning Values to Variables and Properties

Testing the application with different data will be much useful to find out the
behavior of the application in all possible cases. The immediate window allows to
assign new values to the variables and properties of objects in the break mode.

The values of variables and properties can be set with statements like these in the
Immediate window:

BackColor = 255
[Link] = 100
MaxRows = 50

The first statement alters a property of the currently active form, the second alters a
property of VScroll1, and the third assigns a value to a variable.

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After values are set to one or more variables and properties the execution can be
continued to test the its behavior with the new values.

Checking Error Numbers

The Immediate window can be used to display the error message associated with a
specific error number. For example to know about the error no 58, the following
statement can be used in the Immediate window.

error 58

This statement will cause the appearance of the appropriate error message,
corresponding to the mentioned number as in the Figure 7.9

The Watch Window

Figure 7.9 Checking error numbers using the Immediate window.

The watch window also helps to monitor the data (in the break mode), in more
detailed fashion than the immediate window.

Figure 7.10 The Watch Window.

Window Elements

Expressions

Lists the watch expression with the Watch icon, on the left.

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Value

List the value of the expression at the break mode. The value can be edited and then
pressing Enter key, the UP ARROW key, the DOWN ARROW key, TAB will cause
the validation of the change. If the value is illegal, the Edit field remains active and
the value is highlighted. A message box describing the error will also appear. The
change can be cancelled by pressing the ESC key.

Type- Lists the expression type.

Context -Lists the context of the watch expression. If the context of the expression
isn't in the current scope the current value isn't displayed.

For example in an application there are two procedures namely Proce1 and Proce2.
A variable Proce1Var of integer type is declared in Proce1. And Proce2Var of type
variant is declared in Proce2. Assuming the application enters into the Break mode
when Proce2 is executing, then the watch window will appear as Figure 7.11,
provided Proce1Var and Proce2Var should be added to the Watch Window(Adding
watches are explained in the next section):

Figure 7.11 The Watch window displaying the values of variables.

As the Proce1Var is not in the current scope, its value is not displayed.

Adding a Watch Expression

An expression can be added to the Watch Window either at Design-time mode or at

Break mode by using Add Watch dialog box.

Figure 7.12 The add watch dialog box.

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The following table describes the components of the Add Watch dialog box.

Component Description
Accepts expression which to be evaluated by the watch
Expression box expression. The expression is a variable, a property, a
function call, or any other valid expression.
Sets the scope of variables watched in the expression. It is
Context option
used if the application has variables of the same name with
group
different scope.
Sets how Visual Basic responds to the watch expression.
Visual Basic can watch the expression and display its value
in the Watch window when the application enters break
Watch Type option
mode. Or the application can be made to enter into break
group
mode automatically when the expression evaluates to a true
(nonzero) statement or each time the value of the expression
changes.

Table7.1 Components of the Add Watch dialog box.

To add a watch expression

™ From the Debug menu, choose Add Watch.

™ The current expression (if any) in the Code Editor will appear in the
Expression box on the Add Watch dialog box. If this isn't the expression to
watch, enter the expression to evaluate in the Expression box.

™ If necessary, set the scope of the variables to watch.

™ If necessary, select an option button in the Watch Type group to determine

how you want Visual Basic to respond to the watch expression.

™ Choose OK.

Note:An expression can be added by dragging it from the Code Editor and
dropping at the Watch window.

Editing or Deleting a Watch Expression

Any watch listed in watch window can either be Edited or Deleted. The Edit Dialog
box is shown in the Figure 7.13

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Figure 7.13 The Edit Watch window.

To edit a watch expression

™ In the Watch window, double click the watch expression, which is to be edited.
--or--
Select the watch expression which is to be edited and choose Edit Watch from the
Debug menu.

™ The Edit Watch dialog box is displayed and is identical to the Add Watch dialog
box except for the title bar and the addition of a Delete button.

™ Make any changes to the expression, the scope for evaluating variables, or the
watch type.

™ Choose OK.

To delete a watch expression

In the Watch window, select the watch expression, which is to be deleted,

then press the Delete button.

Identifying Watch Types

At the left edge of each watch expression in the Watch window is an icon identifying
the watch type of that expression. Figure 7.14 defines the icon for each of the three
watch types.

Figure 7.14 Watch type icons.

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The Quick Watch Window

This window helps to check the value of a property, variable, or expression for which
the watch expression is not defined. The following figure 7.15 shows a typical quick
watch window.

Figure 7.15 Quick Watch window.

The Quick Watch window shows the value of the expression that is selected from the
Code window. The displayed expression can be added to the watch window by
simply clicking the Add button. If the current expression is invalid, then the Visual
Basic will flash the error message “Invalid Expression”.

To display the Quick Watch dialog box

™ Select a watch expression in the Code window.

™ Click the Quick Watch button on the Debug toolbar.
--or--
Press SHIFT+F9.
--or--
From the Debug menu, choose Quick Watch.

™ If the expression in the Quick Watch dialog box is to be added to the

Watch window, choose the Add button.

The Locals Window

This window shows the value of any variables within the scope of the current
procedure. As the execution switches from procedure to procedure, the contents of
the Locals window change to reflect only the variables applicable to the current
procedure. Figure 7.16 shows the Locals window.

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Figure 7.16 The Locals window.

Monitoring the Call Stack Using Call Stack Window

The Call Stack window shows a list of all active procedure calls. Active procedure calls
are the procedures in the application that were started but not completed.

The Call Stack dialog box helps to trace the operation of an application as it executes
a series of nested procedures. For example, an event procedure can call a second
procedure, which can call a third procedure and so on — all before the event
procedure that started this chain is completed. Such nested procedure calls can be
difficult to follow and can complicate the debugging process. Figure 7.17 shows the
Call Stack dialog box.

Figure 7.17 The Call Stack window.

This window can also be displayed only in the break mode.

To display the Call Stack dialog box

™ From the View menu, choose Call Stack.

--or--
Click the Call Stack button on the Debug toolbar.

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-or-
Press CTRL+L.
-or-
Click the button next to the Procedure box in the Locals
window.

Tracing Nested Procedures

The Call Stack window lists all the active procedure calls in a series of nested calls. It
places the earliest active procedure call at the bottom of the list and adds subsequent
procedure calls to the top of the list. The information given for each procedure begins
with the project name, followed by module or form name, followed by the name of
the called procedure.

This window can be used to display the statement in a procedure that passes control
of the application to the next procedure in the list.

To display the statement that calls another procedure in the Calls Stack dialog
box

™ In the Call Stack dialog box, select the procedure call that is to be display.
™ Choose the Show button.
The dialog box is closed and the procedure appears in the Code window. The cursor
location in the Code window indicates the statement that calls the next procedure in
the Call Stack window. For example if the ProcedureB is chosen and the Show button
is clicked in the Call stack Window (Figure 7.17 ) code window will appear
indication the line that that calls the next procedure as in Figure 7.18

Figure 7.18 Statement indicator in a procedure that calls the next procedure.

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Note:If the current procedure (top most procedure) in the Call stack window is
chosen, the cursor will appear at the current statement.

7.5 Modules

Code in Visual Basic is stored in modules. There are three kinds of modules: form,
standard, and class.

Simple applications can consist of just a single form, and all of the code in the
application resides in that form module. As your applications get larger and more
sophisticated, you add additional forms. Eventually you might find that there is
common code you want to execute in several forms. You don't want to duplicate the
code in both forms, so you create a separate module containing a procedure that
implements the common code. This separate module should be a standard module.
Over time, you can build up a library of modules containing shared procedures.

Each standard, class, and form module can contain:

• Declarations. You can place constant, type, variable, and dynamic-link library
(DLL) procedure declarations at the module level of form, class or standard
modules.

• Procedures. A Sub, Function, or Property procedure contains pieces of code

that can be executed as a unit.

Form Modules

Form modules (.FRM file name extension) are the foundation of most Visual Basic
applications. They can contain procedures that handle events, general procedures,
and form-level declarations of variables, constants, types, and external procedures. If
you were to look at a form module in a text editor, you would also see descriptions
of the form and its controls, including their property settings. The code that you
write in a form module is specific to the particular application to which the form
belongs; it might also reference other forms or objects within that application.

Standard Modules

Standard modules (.BAS file name extension) are containers for procedures and
declarations commonly accessed by other modules within the application. They can
contain global (available to the whole application) or module-level declarations of
variables, constants, types, external procedures, and global procedures. The code that
you write in a standard module isn't necessarily tied to a particular application; if

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you're careful not to reference forms or controls by name, a standard module can be
reused in many different applications.

Class Modules

Class modules (.CLS file name extension) are the foundation of object-oriented
programming in Visual Basic. You can write code in class modules to create new
objects. These new objects can include your own customized properties and
methods. Actually, forms are just class modules that can have controls placed on
them and can display form windows.

7.6 Enum (Enumerated Constant)

Enumeration provide a convenient way to work with sets of related constants and to
associate constant values with names. For example, you can declare an enumeration
for a set of integer constants associated with the days of the week, then use the
names of the days in code rather than their integer values.

You create an enumeration by declaring an enumeration type with the Enum

statement in the Declarations section of a standard module or a public class module.
Enumeration types can be declared as Private or Public with the appropriate
keyword. For example:

Private Enum MyEnum

-or-
Public Enum MyEnum

By default, the first constant in an enumeration is initialized to the value 0, and

subsequent constants are initialized to the value of one more that the previous
constant. For example the following enumeration, Days, contains a constant named
Sunday with the value 0, a constant named Monday with the value 1, a constant
named Tuesday with the value of 2, and so on.

Public Enum Days

Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday

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End Enum

You can explicitly assign values to constants in an enumeration by using an

assignment statement. You can assign any long integer value, including negative
numbers. For example you may want constants with values less than 0 to represent
error conditions.

In the following enumeration, the constant Invalid is explicitly assigned the value –1,
and the constant Sunday is assigned the value 0. Because it is the first constant in the
enumeration, Saturday is also initialized to the value 0. Monday's value is 1 (one
more than the value of Sunday), Tuesday's value is 2, and so on.

Public Enum WorkDays

Saturday
Sunday = 0
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Invalid = -1
End Enum

By organizing sets of related constants in enumerations, you can use the same
constant names in different contexts. For example, you can use the same names for
the weekday constants in the Days and WorkDays enumerations.

To avoid ambiguous references when you refer to an individual constant, qualify the
constant name with its enumeration. The following code refers to the Saturday
constants in the Days and WorkDays enumerations, displaying their different values
in the Immediate window.
[Link] "[Link] = " & [Link]
[Link] "[Link] = " & [Link]

You can also use the value of a constant in one enumeration when you assign the
value of a constant in a second enumeration. For example, the following declaration
for the WorkDays enumeration is equivalent to the previous declaration.

Public Enum WorkDays

Sunday = 0
Monday
Tuesday

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Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday = [Link] - 6
Invalid = -1
End Enum

After you declare an enumeration type, you can declare a variable of that type, then
use the variable to store the values of enumeration's constants. The following code
uses a variable of the WorkDays type to store integer values associated with the
constants in the WorkDays enumeration.

Dim MyDay As WorkDays

MyDay = Saturday ' Saturday evaluates to 0.

If MyDay < Monday Then ' Monday evaluates to 1,
' so Visual Basic displays
' a message box.
MsgBox "It's the weekend. Invalid work day!"
End If

Figure 7.19 Visual Basic automatically displays an enumeration's constants

Because the constant Sunday also evaluates to 0, Visual Basic also displays the
message box if your place "Saturday" with "Sunday" in the second line of the
example:

MyDay = Sunday ' Sunday also evaluates to 0.

7.7 Short Summary

) Debugging is process by which errors are identified and resolved in the code.
Typically, debugging occurs at serveral levels.

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) In visual Basic errors could occur anywhere during the entire development
cycle such as Design time, Compile Time, Run time.
) Errors that occur in the IDE and before the program is compiled are called
design-time bugs.
) Compile time bugs are those that occur when we attempt to create the
program executable file (EXE) or run the project.
) The Debug Window has two parts – the Watch Window and Immediate
Window
) Visual Basic treats constant values in an enumeration as long integers. If you
assign a floating-point value to a constant in an enumeration, Visual Basic
rounds the value to the nearest long integer.
) Visual Basic provides a built-in enumeration, vbDayOfWeek, containing
constants for the days of the week. To view the enumeration's predefined
constants, type vbDayOfWeek in the code window, followed by a period.
Visual Basic automatically displays a list of the enumeration's constants
) When you type the second line of code in the example in the code window,
Visual Basic automatically displays the WorkDays enumeration's constants in
the Auto List Members list.
) Although you normally assign only enumeration constant values to a variable
declared as an enumeration type, you can assign any long integer value to the
variable. Visual Basic will not generate an error if you assign a value to the
variable that isn't associated with one of the enumeration's

7.8 Brain Storm

1. Explain the term debugging.

2. What are the different levels of debugging seen in Visual Basic 6.0?
3. What is the key stroke used to invoke a debug window
4. Define Design time debug
5. Differentiate an array over ENUM

Lab Unit - 7 ( 2 Real Time Hrs

1. Write a suitable program that displays a run time error on type mismatch
with user giving a date input and validating the data input.

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Lecture - 8

Error Handling

Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ Create error handler

™ Understand how to handle the errors during run-time

™ Know how to handle errors in an error-handling routine

™ Knowing some common error-handling styles

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Lecture unit - 8

8.1 Snap Shot

8.2 Designing an error handler

8.3 Setting the error trap

8.4 Writing an Error Handling Routine

8.5 Exiting an Error Handling Routine

8.6 Testing Error handling by generating errors

8.7 Short Summary

8.8 Brain Storm

Lab unit 5 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

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8.1 SNAP SHOT

Though an application is thoroughly checked and debugged, still errors can

occur. For example, accidental deletion of files, disk drives run out of space,
or network drives disconnect unexpectedly will give run-time errors. So the
application must be well armed to meet these circumstances. The Error
Handling routines of an application will guard that application from abrupt
termination and will meet the critical situations.

8.2 Designing an Error Handler

An error handler is a routine for trapping and responding to errors in an application.

Error Handlers can be placed in any procedure where there is a possibility for errors.
The process of designing an error handler involves three steps:

1. Setting, or enabling, an error trap by telling the application where to branch to

(which error-handling routine to execute) when an error occurs.

The On Error statement enables the trap and directs the application to the label,
marking the beginning of the error-handling routine.

Example
On Error Goto ErrHandler

2. Writing an error-handling routine that responds to all the anticipated errors. If

control actually branches into the trap at some point, the trap is then said to be
active.

Example

On Error Goto ErrHandler

Some statements

Branching if error
occurs
ErrHandler: occurs

Statements to handle the errors

3. Exit the error-handling routine. When the error handling routine corrects the
encountered error it must exit itself to resume the execution of the temporarily
halted application. The exit from the error-handler is done using one of the
Resume statements (Explained shortly).

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4. Example

On Error Goto ErrHandler

Branching to
Statement that causes error ErrHandler

ErrHandler:
Resuming the
disturbed Statements to correct the errors
work Resume

All the above steps are explained in detail in the following sections.

8.3 Setting the Error Trap

An error trap is enabled when Visual Basic executes the On Error statement, which
specifies an error handler. The error trap remains enabled while the procedure
containing it, is active — that is, until an Exit Sub, Exit Function, End Sub, or End
Function statement is executed for that procedure.

The On Error GoTo line statement sets an error trap that jump to an error-handling
routine. The line in that statement indicates the label identifying the error-handling
code. In a procedure only one error trap can be enabled at a time. But the procedure can
have more than one-error traps and different ones can be enabled at different times.

Example

Sub ProcedureA()

If Some-condition then
On Error Goto ErrHandler_One
Else
On Error Goto ErrHandler_Two
End if
-----------------------------------
-----------------------------------
ErrorHandler_One:
-----------------------
-----------------------
ErrorHandler_Two:
-----------------------
-----------------------

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8.4 Writing an Error-Handling Routine

The first step in writing an error-handling routine is adding a line label to mark the
beginning of the error handling routine. The line label should have a descriptive
name and must be followed by a colon. A common convention is to place the error-
handling code at the end of the procedure with an Exit Sub, or Exit Function
statement immediately before the line label. This allows the procedure to avoid
executing the error-handling code if no error occurs.

Example

Sub SomeProcedure( )

On Error Goto ErrHandler

--------------------------------
--------------------------------
[Link] “Execution of Procedure Completed_
Successfully Exiting...”

Exit Sub ‘If not provided Err-Handler will be_

‘executed.

ErrHandler:

[Link] “Error Occured – Handling Begins”

--------------------------------
--------------------------------
End Sub
As the code is executed in the top-down approach (i.e. each statement is executed
sequentially from the first line to last line), after the execution of the line [Link]
“Execution of Procedure Completed successfully – Exiting...”, Visual basic will start
to execute the statements in the Err-Handler unless Exit Sub function is placed
immediately before the label Err-Handler.

The body of the error handling routine contains the code that actually handles the
error, usually in the form of a Case or If…Then…Else statement. These statements
determines which error has occurred and provide course action for each error, for
example, prompting the user to insert a disk in the case of a "Disk not ready" error.
An option should always be provided to handle any unanticipated errors by using
the Else or Case Else clause. For example a typical error handler may be as follow:

Err_Hanlder:

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If [Link] =6 ‘ Over flow

-----------------
Elseif [Link] = 7 ‘ Out of Memory
-----------------
Elseif [Link] = 11 ‘ Division by zero
Else ‘ Known error
-----------------
End if
--- Or ---
Select Case [Link]
Case 6
-----------------------
Case 7
-----------------------
Case 11
-----------------------
Case Else
-----------------------
End Select

8.5 Exiting an Error-Handling Routine

There are three kinds of Resume statements and one of them can be used to exit from
an Error –Handling routine, based on the circumstances. They are explained in the
following table 2.1.

Statement Description
Program execution resumes with the statement that
Resume caused the error. It is used, to repeat an operation after
correcting the condition that caused the error.
Resumes program execution at the statement
immediately following the one that caused the error. It
Resume Next
is used when the error handler is not able to correct the
error.
Resumes program execution at the label specified by line,
Resume line where line is a label that must be in the same procedure
as the error handler.

Table 8.1 Resume Statements.

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The Figure 2.1 shows the execution flow when the Resume or Resume Next
statement is used.

Figure 8.1 The program flow with Resume and Resume Next statements.

The Resume Statement Example

Sub SomeProcedure( )

‘ Enabling the error trap

On Error Goto ErrHandler

-----------------------------
‘ If denominator is equals to 0 -- branching to
‘ ErrHandler
‘ After error-correction execution resumes here
divide = number / denominator
-----------------------------
Exit Sub
ErrHandler:
If [Link] = 11 then ‘ Division by zero
‘ Changing the denominator to its default value,
‘ say 10
denominator = 10
Resume
Else
‘ Some unknown error
[Link] “Unknown error – Exiting”
Exit Sub

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End if
End Sub

The Resume Next Statement Example

Sub SomeProcedure( )

Dim intVar as Integer

‘ Enabling the error trap

On Error Goto ErrHandler

-----------------------------
‘ If inVar gets value greater than its max
‘ range(32767) – error occurs – branching to ErrHandler
intVar = some expression

‘ After error-correction execution resumes here

-----------------------------
Exit Sub
ErrHandler:

If [Link] = 6 then ‘ Overflow

‘ Setting intVar to its max range
intVar = 32767
Resume Next
Else
‘ Some unknown error
[Link] “Unknown error – Exiting”
Exit Sub
End if
End Sub

Resuming Execution at a Specified Line

Some times, after correcting the error, it may be desirable to resume the execution at
some specific point. The Resume line statement is handy for it. The line specifies a
label name, which should be written in the same procedure as the error handler.
Here is an example for Resume line statement.

Sub SomeProcedure( )

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‘ Enabling the error trap

On Error Goto ErrHandler

-----------------------------
‘ assuming error occurs here and resumption of
‘ execution is desirable at the place marked with
‘ label ResumeHere.
-----------------------------
Exit Sub

‘ After error correction execution resumes here

ResumeHere:
-----------------------------
Exit Sub

ErrHandler:

‘ Assuming the error is corrected – exiting the error

‘ handler
Resume ResumeHere

End Sub

8.6 Testing Error Handling by Generating errors

To see the error handling routines work well, the expected errors can be generated in
the code. The Raise method of Err object is used to generated errors.

Syntax

[Link] errnumber

The Err object is Visual Basic's globally defined error object. Programmers need not
to declare them. The errnumber specifies the error that is to be simulated. For
example the number 71 is associated with the error “Disk Not Ready”. To simulate
this error the following statement is used.

[Link] 71

When this statement is executed, Visual Basic will generate the error 71 and the error
handler (if provided) will catch the error and will handle it. After it is assured that
error handler, handles the error well, the statements that raises errors must be
removed, before the application is compiled.

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Error Object

As soon as an error occurs in Visual Basic code, the special built-in Err Object
becomes active.

The Err Object includes properties that report the number of error,the error’s
description , as well as other useful information.

Using the [Link] Property

The [Link] property return the default description of the error that has
occurred.

Using the [Link] Property

The most important property of the Err object is the number associated with the error
that occurred.

8.7 Short summary

) The Err object contains information about run – time errors. Its number
property returns a numeric value specifying the occurred error

) [Link] contains the value of the last error that occurred

) On Error statement enables error trapping and specifies where execution

jumps when an error occurs

) On Error statement included in you error – handling code does not take effect
until the end of the error – handling code

) If a run- time error occurs within an error-handling routine, the error is

passed up to the calling procedures

8.8 Brain Strom

1. How do you disable a user defined error handler?

2. Do you explicitly need to declare an error object? Why?
3. What are the types of argument?
4. How do you arrive at the specific error message using and immediate
window?
5. How do you disable the error message(s) shown to you by Visual Basic?
6. What is the difference between a compile time error and a runtime error?

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Lab Unit 8 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

1. Place an On Error GoTo procedure statement as the first line of your program
and write an error procedure
2. Have the error handling code in each procedure call a function that identifies the
error and indicates the appropriate action
3. Create a project using On Error Resume Next Statement , get a number and
divide that number by zero so that an error message should be displayed
(Division by zero).

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Lecture - 9

Handling Data Base

Objectives

In this chapter you will learn the following

™ About Visual Data manager

™ Know to create Data Base table

™ Know to add, delete records

™ Manipulating records using Visual Data Manager

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Lecture Unit - 9

9.1 Snap Shot

9.2 Visual Data Manager

9.3 Creating a Data base using Visual Data Manager

9.4 Manipulating Records using Visual Data Manager

9.5 Introduction to Data Control

9.6 Data Control Property

9.7 Data Form Wizard

9.8 Short Summary

9.9 Brain Storm

Lab Unit - 9 (2 Real Time Hrs)

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9.1 Snap Shot

Computers are mainly used for keep track of information. In this unit the will
go on creating files by using Visual Data Manager and adding, deleting the
records and so on…

9.2 Visual Data manager

VisData is an application that was created using Visual Basic itself. A built
version of VisData is used as an add-in, accessible from the Add-Ins menu in
the Visual Basic Figure 2.4.

Figure 9.1 Visual Data Manager option in Visual Basic Add-Ins menu, which is used
to activate the Visual Data Manager.

It is used to create databases, tables, queries, and indexes and to modify them.
When an existing database is opened the Visual Data manager displays the
contents and properties of that database in “Database Window”. The
following figure 2.5 shows the visual data manager window with the BIBLIO
database open in design mode.

Figure 9.2 VisData Manager

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9.3 Creating a Database using a Visual Data Manager

To create a new database, choose File | New | Microsoft Access | Version 7.0
MDB. A dialog box will appear asking path and filename to store the database
being created. Give a filename and choose desired location to save the
database.

There is one more option in the Microsoft Access submenu, Version 2.0 MDB,
which is used to create databases in version 2.0 format. Still many concerns
use applications, which are built using earlier versions of Visual Basic. They
may require databases in older format. In this case alone, the required
database can be created using Version 2.0 MDB option. Otherwise databases
can be created in latest version format (why to look back the Stone Age
world).

Note: To open an already existing access database choose File | Open Database |
Microsoft Access. And select the database name in the Open Microsoft
Access database dialog box.

Creating a Simple database

This section shows how to create a simple database Students with a table
StudentsDtl (Students’ Details), which contains fields StudentId,
StudentName and TotalMarks. It will be useful for rest of this chapter.

Choose File | New | Microsoft Access | Version 7.0 MDB.

Type Students in the file name text box and click OK.
Right Click on the database window and choose New Table.
In the Table Structure box type StudentDtls in the Table Name text
box.
Click Add Field button in the Table Structure box to add fields.
Type the values as given below in the corresponding text boxes.

Text Box Value

Name StudentId
Type Text
Size 10
Validation Text Student Id is not specified.
Validation Rule <> “”

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 Handling Database

™ Click OK to add the field Name. The Field Dialog box will still remain to
accept another field. Proceed for the field StudentName with the values
given below:

Text Box Value

Name StydentName
Type Text
Size 30
Validation Text Student Name is not specified.
Validation Rule <> “”

Now click OK and proceed for the field TotalMarks with the values given in
the following:

Text Box Value

Name TotalMarks
Type Integer
Validation Text TotalMarks is not specified or negative.
Validation Rule >= 0

Click OK and the Close to close the Add Field Dialog box.

Click Build Table button in the Table Structure dialog box to complete the creation of
table Students.

Creating a Table

Once a database is created, it is ready to give birth to tables. To create a table,

Right click in the database window and choose New Table from the context
menu Figure 9.3.

Figure 9.3 Context menu used to create a new table.

Choosing the above option will bring a dialog box called Table Structure
dialog box. Enter the name of the table being created in the table name text
box. And to add fields to the table follow the steps given in the next section.

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Adding Fields

In the table structure dialog box click the Add Field button to display the Add
Field dialog box. It appears as in Figure 9.4

Figure 9.4 VisData manager with Add Field Dialog box.

Add Field Dialog Box Options

The options of the Add Field dialog box are given below.

Name
Allows to type the name of the field being added.

Ordinalposition
Allows to determine the relative position of the field.

Type
Lets to determine the operational or data type of the field such integer, text
etc.
Validationtext

Lets to add a text of the message that the application displays if a user tries to
enter an invalid value for a field.

Size
Lets to determine the maximum size, in bytes, of the field.

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• FixedField — If selected, creates a field with a fixed size.

• VariableField — If selected, allows the user to modify the size of the field
by dragging its borders.
Validation rule

Lets to determine what data is valid in a field as it is added. It is a String that

describes a comparison in the form of an SQL WHERE clause, but without the
WHERE reserved word. For example, if the value of the CustomerAge must
be positive, then its ValidationRule string will be “ > 0 ”.

Default value

Lets to determine the default value for the field.

Autoincrfield

Automatically gets value that is incremented by one from the last record
when a new record is added.

Allowzerolength

Allows having a zero-length string as a valid setting.

Required
Indicates if the field requires a non-NULL value.

Ok
Appends the current Field definition to the current table.

Close
Closes the form when you are finished adding fields.

Opening the tables

To open a table select the table in the database window, right click on it , and choose
open.
-- or --
Simply double click the table name.

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This will open the table in a separate form (can be termed as table form) as
shown in the following figure 9.5.

Figure 9.5 Opened Publishers table in VisData.

In this form records can be added, deleted and updated. The following steps
show how to add, delete and Edit the records to the StudentDtls table.

9.4 Manupulating records using Visual Data Manager

Double click on the table name StudentDtls in the database window to open it.

As no record is added to the table, the StudentDtl table form will appear in ready
state to accept values for new record as given below Figure 9.6.

Figure 9.6 StudentDtls table form in ready state to accept data.

Enter the following values in the corresponding text boxes:

Field Name Value

StudentId 1005
StudentName Malarvizhi
TotalMarks 450

Click Update button to commit new record addition.

Now the Cancel button will be replaced by Add button.

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From now onwards to add records, Add button is to be clicked first, values to be
entered next and finally Update button is to be clicked. By following these steps
enter the data given below to add five more records.

StudentId StudentName TotalMarks

1001 Kumar 475
1003 Raju 480
1002 Shanmugam 466
1004 VaniSaraswathy 450
1000 SelvaSudari 455

Note: While entering records instead of clicking update button, cancel button can be
clicked to cancel the record addition process.

At the bottom of the StudentDtls, there is a control called Data Control. It

contains four buttons that enables to navigate the records such as moving to
first record, moving to previous record, moving to next record and moving to
last record. The following figure 9.10 shows the data control with its buttons’
description.

Figure 9.10 Data control.

To delete a record, use the data control to move to the record, which is to be
deleted and click delete button. When VisData manager asks confirmation, click
yes for deletion. Clicking No will abort the deletion.

To edit a record, use data control to move to the required record, modify the record
and either click Update or any one of navigation button. VisData will ask whether
to commit changes as shown below Figure 9.11

Figure 9.11 VisData asking confirmation to commit changes.

Click yes to commit changes or No to cancel the changes.

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9.5 Introduction to Data Control

Many modern applications are concerned with the storage, organization and
retrieval of data. To address the needs of the software developers creating
these products, Visual Basic provides a rich set of data access [Link]
provides many standard controls, such as text boxes and labels, that can be
bound to the Data control, in addition to the DBCombo, DBGrid and
[Link] controls are provided specifically for binding to a data control.

A data control binds data aware controls to Microsoft Access or to other

ODBC data sources, enabling to move from record to record and to display
and manipulate data from the records in bound controls. A bound control is a
control that is assigned to a field in a database.

Most data-access operations can be performed with a data control without

writing any code. If a database and a record source – a table, a view, a SQL
statement is set to a data control, then it is automatically populated with data
from that database when the form that has the data control, is activated.

The following figure 9.12 shows the data control and DAO with bound
controls.

Figure 9.12 The data control, DAO, and bound controls

The intrinsic Data control on the Visual Basic Toolbox, implements data
access by using the Microsoft Jet Database engine –the same database engine
that powers Microsoft Access. This technology gives seamless access to many
standard database formats and allows to create data-aware applications
without writing any code. The intrinsic Data control is best suited to smaller
(desktop) databases, such as Access and ISAM databases.

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Data control’s Icon

The intrinsic Data control can be used to create applications that display, edit,
and update information from many types of existing databases, including
Microsoft Access, Btrieve, dBase, Microsoft FoxPro, and Paradox.

9.6 Data Control Properties

Align Set or return a value that determines how the control is

placed on the form

Appearance which determines whether or not to use 3D appearance

BackColor a numeric value that determines the control’s

background color.

BOFAction Which determines how the data control reacts to EOF

and BOF conditions.

Caption set or return a string representing the object’s caption

Connect set or return the type of database being used

DataBase which is a read-only property that exposes the data

controls underlying Database object

DatabaseName which specifies the database to be used.

DataField Which sets or return a value that binds the control to a

field in the current record.

DragIcon set or return the icon to be used for drag operation

DragMode set or return the type of drag mode available

EditMode which specifies the editing state of the current record

in the Data Control’s Recordset.

EOFAction Which determines action when the recordset’s EOF is

reached

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Exclusive This reads or sets whether a database is opened for

single-user or multiuser access. Read and write at both
design time and runtime.

Options set or return one or more characteristics of the

Recordset object

Recordset The data (set of records) available to the Data control

RecordsetType sets or return the type of Recordset object of the data

control

RecordSource which specifies the part of the database seen by the

control.

9.7 Data form wizard

The Data form Wizard is designed to automatically generate that contain individual
bound controls and procedures used to mange the data obtained from the database.
You can use the Data form Wizard to create single-query forms to access data from a
single table or query, master/detail-type forms to manage more complex one –to-
many data relationships, or grid forms to manage data from a data control.

As It takes you through several steps, the Wizard will prompt you for the
information it needs to build the data forms properly. However, because the forms
the Wizard builds are fairly generic, you will probably modify them to more closely
resemble the remaining forms in your application. To see how this Wizard works,
start anew project, and open the Data Form Wizard form the Add-Ins menu.

The first dialog to be displayed is the Introduction dialog, which allows you to select
a data form profile you have previously [Link] this demo, click Next to choose
the database type with which you are working. At this time, there are only two
database types to choose from: Microsoft Access and open database connectivity
(ODBC). Choose Access and click Next to continue. After you’ve selected your
database type, you must specify the actual database location or connection
information. For Access, you are prompted for the database location as shown in
Figure 9.13, however, if you are using ODBC, you will be prompted for the
appropriate connection information as shown in Figure 9.14

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Figure – 9.13 Specifying the location of the [Link] file

Figure 9.14 – Setting the information required to connect to an ODBC database

Locate and select the North Wind database ([Link]) in the Visual Basic
directory and then click Next to continue. As you move to the next dialog, the
Wizard actually connects to and opens the specified database. The form dialog
(Figure 9.15)asks you for the name of the new form, the form layout you want t o
create, and the type of data access connection to use.

Figure 9. 15 – Specifying the Form layout and data access type

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Because each of the form layouts requires slightly different information, the
remaining steps will vary depending on the form layout you have chosen. For this
example choose the Master/Detail form layout and leave the default Binding type of
ADO Data Control. Finally, name the new form “CH16Demo” and click the Next
Button. Because you selected the Master/Details layout, you will now be prompted
for the record source and fields for both the master and detail queries. The first
dialog, Master Record Source ( see Figure 9.16) requests the master query source.

Figure 9. 16– Selecting the master record source for the Wizard to use

From the record source drop-down, select the Customers table; then select the fields
shown in fig. Finally, set the sort column to City and click the next button to define
the detail query information. As you see form figure 9.17, the Detail Record Source
dialog looks exactly like the Master dialog.

Figure 9.17 – Defining the join relationship between the two queries

On this form, select the Orders table from the Record Source drop-down, and then
select the fields shown in figure. Again, set the sort column to OrderDate and click

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Next to continue. The Record Source Relation dialog( see figure 9.18) requires you to
set the relationship or “join” between the Master and Detail queries.

Figure 9.18 – Defining the join relationship between the two queries

Set the CustomerID as the fields that links the two sources and click Next. The
Control Selection dialog (see fig 9.19) lets you choose the data navigation and
manipulation controls you want to appear on the form and enables the Wizard to
create the associated code for each selected control. The available controls to choose
from are the following :

• Add – Places an Add button on the form with the associated code to add new
records to the database

• Update – Adds the Update button and its associated code to update the database
from the form. This button is available only if you are using the Data Control
Binding Type.

• Delete – Provides the ability to delete records from the database.

• Refresh – Will add the code and command button to allow the user to request a
database refresh.
• Close – Includes the code and command button to close the data form
• Show Data Control – If this checkbox is clicked, the Data Control will be
displayed on the form.

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Figure 9.19 Choosing the data command buttons to place on the form

For this example, leave the defaults and click Next. You can now save all of the
settings you have selected as part of a profile. Then click the Finish button to allow
the Wizard to perform its magic. The form shown in figure 9.20 is the end result of all
of the options you selected.

Try running this program to see how the Master/Detail form works. Basically, you
will see one customer at a time with all of the customer’s orders listed in the grid, as
shown in figure 9.21

Figure 9. 20 – The finished data form crated by the Data Form Wizard

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Figure 9.21– Using the Finished form to display information from the database

Using the data Control, switch to a new customer and you will see the order
information change as well. By using the Data form Wizard, you can create data-
aware applications with very little effort. However, after the Wizard has created the
forms, you must maintain the form layout and its associated code. Finally,
remember that each of the different layouts will require slightly different information
to create its associated form.

9.8 Short Summary

) Visual Data Manager is used to create databases tables, queries and indexes and
to modify them.
) Intrinsic Data control can be used to create applications that display, edit, and
update information from many types of existing databases, including Microsoft
Access, Btrieve, dBase, Microsoft FoxPro, and Paradox.
) To open already existing access database choose File/Open Database/Microsoft
Access. And Select the database name in the Open Microsoft Access database
dialog box

9.9 Brain Strom

1. What are the advantages of Visual Data Manager?

2. Explain briefly Visual Data Control

Lab Unit 9.0 (2 Real Hours)

1. Create a Data base with the following given fields using Data Visual Manager
Student number, name, tamil, english, maths, physics, chemistry marks.

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Lecture - 10

Data Access Object

Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ About Data Access Object

™ Understanding the object model of DAO

™ Knowing about Microsoft Jet database engine locking

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Lecture Unit - 10

10.1 Snap Shot

10.2 DAO Object Model

10.3 Accessing a database using DAO

10.4 Microsoft Jet Database Engine Locking

10.5 Short Summary

10.6 Brain Storm

Lab Unit 10 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

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10.1 Snap Shot

10.1.1 Data Access Objects

Data Access Objects (DAO) communicate with Microsoft Access and other
ODBC- complaint data sources through the JET engine. They provide
properties and methods that allow to perform all the operations necessary to
manage such a system, including the ability to do the following figure 10.1

™ Create databases
™ Define tables, fields, and indexes.
™ Establish relations between tables.
™ Navigate and query the database, and so on.

Figure 10.1 A typical remote data access using DAO and the JET engine.

The Data Access Objects (DAO) model is a collection of object classes that
provide properties and methods for database programming. This model
furnishes facilities for creating databases, defining tables, fields and indexes,
establishing relations between tables, navigating and querying the database,
and so on.

The Microsoft Jet database engine translates operations on data access objects
into physical operations on the database files, handling all the mechanics of
interfacing with the different supported databases. This approach simplifies
access to the database and insulates from the underlying mechanics of
retrieving and updating data. It affords great flexibility because the same
objects, properties and methods can be used with a wide variety of supported
database formats.

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 Data Access Object

Through DAO and the JET engine, Visual Basic recognizes three categories of
databases, and these are summarized below:

Category Description

Visual Basic Databases Also called native databases, these database files use
the
(Native MS Jet Databases) same format as Microsoft Access. These databases are
created and manipulated directly by the Jet engine and
provide maximum flexibility and speed.

External Databases These are Indexed Sequential Access Method (ISAM)

databases in several formats, including Btrieve, dBase
III, dBase IV, Microsoft FoxPro version 2 and 2.5, and
paradox versions 3.x and 4.

ODBC Databases These include client/server databases that conform to the ODBC standard,
such as Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle.

The DAO programming model provides the following features:

™ Advanced resultset management.

™ A universal programming model that can access any ODBC database
regardless of the ODBC compliance level.
™ Keyset, static, and forward-only scrolling snapshot cursor implementation.
™ The ability to create updateable cursors against complex resultsets created as a
join product.
™ Universal error management.

When to use DAO

™ DAO is the only data access technology that supports 16-bit operations. If an
application must run within a 16-bit environment, then DAO is the only choice.

™ If the application must access both native Microsoft Jet and ODBC resources,
DAO provides a consistent programming model.

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DAO Library

Visual basic includes DAO version 3.51. To access any of these objects, a reference to the
DAO object library must be included. To include this reference choose Project | References.
This will display References dialog box that resembles Figure 10.2

Figure 10.2 References dialog box.

™ Select Microsoft DAO 3.51 object library and click OK. This will
include a reference to DAO library to the current project.

10.2 The DAO Object Model

In DAO object model, Microsoft Jet database engine translates operations on

data access objects into physical operations on the database files, handling all
the mechanics of interfacing with the different supported databases.

Note : The Database engine is what actually reads, writes, and modifies the
database, and handles all the housekeeping chores like indexing, and
security etc.
The Figure 10.3 shows the DAO object model.

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 Data Access Object

Figure 10.3 DAO Object model.

The DAO objects and their important method(s) are briefed below:

™ DBEngine object This base DAO object holds all other objects and maintains
engine options.

Method Description

CreateWorkspace Creates a new Workspace object.

™ Workspace object Defines and manages the current user session. This object
contains information on open databases and provides mechanisms for
simultaneous transactions.

Method Description

CreateDatabase Creates a new Database object, saves the database

to disk, and returns an opened Database object.

OpenDatabase Opens a specified database in a Workspace object

and returns a reference to the Database object that
represents it.

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BeginTrans Begins a new transaction.

CommitTrans Saves any changes and ends the current

transaction.

Rollback Cancels any changes made during the current

transaction and ends the transaction.

™ Database object Represents a database with at least one open connection. This
can be a Microsoft Jet database or an external data source.

Method Description

OpenRecordSet Opens a recordset.

CreateTableDef Creates a new TableDef object (Microsoft Jet

workspaces only).

CreateQueryDef Creates a new QueryDef object in a specified

Connection or Database object.

CreateRelation Creates a new Relation object (Microsoft Jet

workspaces only).

™ TableDef object Contains both Field and Index objects to describe the database
tables.

Method Description
CreateIndex Creates a new Index object (Microsoft Jet
workspaces only).

CreateField Creates a new Field object

™ QueryDef object Represents a stored SQL query statement, with zero or more
parameters, maintained in a Microsoft Jet database.

Method Description

Execute Runs an action query or executes an SQL

statement.

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OpenRecordSet Creates a new Recordset object

™ Recordset object Represents a query result set with a cursor. DAO has five types
of Recordset objects: table, dynaset, snapshot, forward-only, and dynamic.

Manipulation Method Description

AddNew Creates a new record for an updatable

Recordset object.

Edit Copies the current record’s contents to the

buffer for editing.

Update Saves any changes made to the current

Record.

CancelUpdate Cancels any changes made to the current

record or to a new record prior to calling
the Update method.

Delete Deletes the current record

Navigation Method Description

MoveFirst Moves to the first record.

MoveNext Moves to the next record.

MovePrevious Moves to the previous record.

MoveLast Moves to the last record.

Move Moves the position of the current record

based on its argument.

Search Method Description

FindFirst Moves to the first record that satisfies
specified criteria.

FindNext Moves to the next record that satisfies

specified criteria.

Find Previous Moves to the previous record that

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satisfies specified criteria.

FindLast Moves to the last record that satisfies

Specified criteria.

Miscellaneous Method Description

Clone Creates a duplicate Recordset

™ Relation object Represents a relationship between fields in tables and

queries.

Method Description
CreateField Creates a new Field object

™ Field object Represents a field in a table, query, index, relation, or recordset. A

Field object contains data, and it can be used to read data from a record or write
data to a record.
™ Index object Represents an index on a table in the database.

Method Description
CreateField Creates a new Field object

™ Parameter object Represents a value associated with a QueryDef object. Query

parameters can be input, output, or both.

™ Error object Contains information about an error that occurred during a DAO
operation. When more than one error occurs during a single DAO operation,
each individual error is represented by a separate Error object.

10.3 Accessing a database USING DAO

A DAO-based application generally follows the logic given below while

accessing a data source:

™ Create the workspace Defines the user session, including user identification,
password, and database type (such as Microsoft Jet or ODBC).

™ Open the database Specifies a connection string for a particular Workspace

object, with information such as data source name and database table.

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™ Open the recordset Runs an SQL query (with or without parameters) and
populates the recordset.

™ Use the recordset The query result set is now available to the application.
Depending on the cursor type, the row data can be browsed and changed.

™ Close the recordset Drops the query results and closes the recordset.

™ Close the database Closes the database and releases the connection.

The following code shows how to open the database Students and to close it.

Dim ws as Workspace
Dim db as database

‘ Setting ws to default workspace

Set ws = [Link](0)

‘ Setting db to Students database using workspace’s opendatabase ‘ method

Set db = [Link](“[Link]”)

‘ Some work with students database

‘ Closing students database

[Link]

‘ Closing workspace
[Link]

The Database object

The example in the previous section showed that a Database object represents
an open database. This object helps to:

™ Use the CreateTableDef and CreateRelation methods to create tables and

relations, respectively.
™ Use the CreateQueryDef method to create a temporary query definition.
™ Use the OpenRecordset method to open a table or to execute a select query
and create a Recordset object.

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Syntax :

Set rs = [Link] (source, type)

Here rs is Recordset object. The source argument in the OpenRecordSet

method is a string that specifies the source of records for the new recordset.
The source can be a table name, a query name, or a query that returns records.

The argument type is a constant that indicates the type of Recordset to open,
which can have any one of the following values.

Constant Description
Opens a table-type Recordset object (Microsoft
DbOpenTable
Jet workspaces only).
Opens a dynaset-type Recordset object. I.e, it
DbOpenDynaset specifies recordset type that can contain fields
from more than one table.
Opens a snapshot-type Recordset object. It
DbOpenSnapshot similar to dynaset-type, except that it gives
read-only records.
Opens a forward-only-type Recordset object. It
DbOpenForwardOnly specifies recordset in which navigation can take
place in forward direction only.

Table 10.1 Type argument’s options.

The following example shows how to open StudentDtls table of Students

database in two ways.

Dim db as Database
Dim rs a Recordset

‘ Setting database in short cut method

Set db = [Link](0).OpenDatabase(“[Link]”)

‘ Opening the StudentDtls table

Set rs = [Link](“StudentDtls”,dbOpenTable)

--- or ----
‘ Opening the StudentsDtls table with selected records
Set rs = [Link](“Select * from StudendDtls where_

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TotalMarks > 450”, dbOpenDynaset)

-- Some work with recordset rs

‘ Close RecordSet and Database

[Link]
[Link]

10.4 Microsoft Jet Database Engine Locking

All data base management systems provide some sort of locking mechanism to
prevent two users from updating data at the same time.

The Microsoft jet database engine provides page level locking. Pages are blocks of
records that are 2048 bytes (2k) in size. Visual basic stores as many records as will fit
on each page. When Visual Basic locks the page containing a record you’re editing,
all the other records on that page will also be locked .

Pessimistic Vs Optimistic Locking

The value of the LockEdits peoperty of the Recordset object determines when a lock
isplaced on the records in a recordset.

Pessimistic locking

If the LockEdits property is True, pessimistic locking is in effect. The page

containing the current record ils locked as soon as you use the edit method. The
page is unlocked when you use the update method.

The default locking strategy locks records for a longer period of time, but ensures
that once the Edit method has been executed another user cannot change the data.

Optimistic locking:

If the lockEdit property is False, optimist locking is in effect. The page containing
the record is locked only while the record is being updated.

Locks are in place for a shorter period of time, and multiple users can use the Edit
method without locking the page. However when you use optimistic locking, you’ll
need to handle possible errors when the user executes the update method.

If you do not expect users to attempt to modify the same record very often, consider
setting LockEdits to False.

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Unlocking

The Microsoft jet database engine marks a page to be unlocked as soon as the update.
Completes. However, Locks are not removed until other actions are complete.

You can use the Idle method of the DBengine object with the dbFreelocks options
to suspend processing and allow the Microsoft jet database engine to release locks
and catch up on other background tasks, as shown in the following code.

DBengine. Idle dbFreeLocks

Handling Locking Errors.

When multiple users are updating a database, you’ll need to add code that traps for
the following errors.

3260 – Couldn’t update; currently locked

Occurs on the Edit method when the record is locked. Your code should wait for a
short interval, and then call Edit again, or inform the user of the error.

3186 - Couldn’t save; currently locked

Occurs on the Update method when the record is locked. Your code should wait for
a short interval, and then call Update again or inform the user of the error.

3197 - Data has changed; operation stopped

Occurs on the Edit or Update method if another user has changed data since you last
accessed it. Your code should refresh the form with the latest data or inform the user
of the error.

For a complete list of errors available I Visual Basic, see Trappable Errors in Visual
Basic.

10.5 Short Summary

) A DAO is a collection of object classes that model the structure of a relational
database system

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) When you access databases through ODBC, the locking mechanism is handled by
the database management

) DAO is the only data access technology that supports 16-bit operations

10.6 Brain Storm

1. What is the difference between connecting a database through DAO and data
control
2. When DAO concept is introduced and state the features
3. Through DAO can we connect non database objects

Lab Unit 10 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

1. Open a new project and add a form to it

2. Select ÆProjectÆReferencesÆ Microsoft Data Access Objects 3.5 library

3. Create a menu with the following items and sub items:

• File
Open database
Open recordset
Open qryrecset

• Manipulation
Addnew
Edit
Update
Delete

Design your form as shown below:

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4. Write code for each of the above mentioned sub menus to perform its
corresponding task accordingly with the below given details:

• Create a database by name “[Link]” in Visual Data Manager in

your Folder
• Create a table under “[Link]” as “Emp” with the following fields of
mention datatypes:

Field Name Data type

Eno Integer
Ename Text (30)
Deptno Integer
Doj Date

• Index on “Deptno” (Primary) field

• Open recordset for “emp” table with dynaset as its type
• After completing the above said task, try entering records, deleting
records, editing records to the emp table
• Use the Find methods to find the records for a given employee name
• Use Move methods to navigate through the records

5. In the Command Button named “View”, Open a record set to fetch only
the “Eno” and add it on to “Combo 1”. Once when an “Eno” is selected
from the Combo1, the corresponding Eno’s information should be shown
in the text boxes.

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Lecture - 11

Remote Data Control

Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ Understand the concept of RDC

™ Difference between MSRDC and Data control

™ Know how to use the RDC in an application

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Lecture unit - 11

11.1 Snap Shot

11.2 About Remote Data Control (RDC)

11.3 Remote Data Control vs Data Control

11.4 Short summary

11.5 Brain storm

Lab unit 11 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

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11.1 Snap Shot

The Remote Data Control is another way for accessing remote data in visual
basic application. the user can interact data through the user interface controls
like browsing the data, performing updates and adding records remote data
control binds data-aware controls to an ODBC remote database, and the
remote data object.

11.2 About Remote Data Control (RDC)

The Remote Data Control (RDC) binds controls to an ODBC remote database.
The Remote Data Control is similar to the data control, except that it creates
and manipulates RDO objects. RDO and RDC helps to access ODBC data
sources through data –aware, or bound controls without going through the
JET engine, resulting in significantly higher performance and greater
flexibility when accessing remote data sources.

Figure 11.1 The Remote Data control, RDO and bound controls.

The Remote Data control performs all operations on the current row. The
Remote Data Control automatically handles a number of contingencies,
including empty resultsets, adding new rows, editing and updating existing
rows, converting and displaying complex data types, and handling some
types of errors.

The RemoteData control provides an interface between Remote Data Objects

(RDO) and data-aware bound controls. With the RemoteData it is possible to:

• Establish a connection to a data source based on its properties.

• Pass the current row's data to corresponding bound controls.
• Permit the user to position the current row pointer.
• Pass any changes made to the bound controls back to the data source.

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Using the Remote Data Control (RDC)

To use a Remote Data Control

¾ In Visual Basic, select Components item from Project menu

¾ From the list of Components, select Microsoft Remote Data Control
2.0. Also add a reference to the Microsofr Data Bound Grid Control
¾ Click OK. The Remote Data and Data bound Grid controls appear in
the Visual Basic Toolbox
¾ Click the Remote Data Control from the tool box and add it to the
form
¾ Also add a Data bound Grid Control to the form
¾ Change the Remote Data Control’s User name & Password
property to the user’s choice
¾ Set the Remote Data Control’s SQL property to Select * from emp
¾ In the Data source name property of the remote data control, select
the DSN namely XYZ company for the SQL server database
¾ Set the DBGrid control’s Datasource property to MSRDC1 which is
the name of the Remote Data Control
¾ Execute the application

11.3 The Remote Data Control Vs Data Control

The RemoteData control is similar to the Visual Basic Data control in most respects.
Both the Data control and the RemoteData control are designed to connect data-
aware bound controls to a data source. The primary difference is that the
RemoteData control uses RDO to connect to the ODBC driver manager, while the
Data control uses DAO to connect to the Jet database engine, which can connect to
native Jet databases or IISAM data sources. The Data control can also connect
indirectly to RDO by using the ODBCDirect interface. Even though both controls use
the same ODBC driver manager and data source entries, RDO, ODBCDirect, and
DAO cannot share data source connections, data objects, or other resources.

Without a RemoteData control, a Data control, or its equivalent, data-aware (bound)

controls can’t automatically access data. You can perform many simple remote data
access operations using the RemoteData control without writing any code at all.

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However, most applications rely on additional RDO code to perform most data
access operations, as RDO provides more flexibility and additional options not
exposed by the RemoteData Control alone. In most respects, the RemoteData Control
behaves very much like the Data control.

Data-aware controls bound to a RemoteData control automatically display data from

one or more columns for the current row or, in some cases, for a set of rows on either
side of the current row. The RemoteData control performs all operations on the
current row.

If the RemoteData control is instructed to move to a different row, all bound controls
automatically pass any changes to the RemoteData control to be saved by the ODBC
data source. The RemoteData control then moves to the requested row and passes
data back from the current row to the bound controls, where it is displayed.

11.4 Short Summary

) The Data control supports the ability to use the RDO DLLs via the ODBCDirect
option. In this case, your code uses Data Access Objects (DAO) instead of RDO to
manage the Data control and its result sets.
) RDC property can be set as an alternative to the Connect property
) The remote data control behaves like the Jet-driven data control and RDC is
efficient than DC when dealing with the Remote Databases
) The Remote Data control's SQL property is like the Data control's Record Source
property except that it cannot accept the name of a table

11.5 Brain Storm

1. What is the default property in Remote Data Control ?

2. Difference between connecting a Back end through Remote Data Control and
remote data object ( coding)

Lab Unit 11 ( 2 Real Time Hrs)

Lab Unit – 11.1

1. Open a New standard EXE project

2. Design your form as shown below
3. Create a Data Source named Trading Company

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4. Link the data source( Trading Company) to this form. The data source can be got
from the file [Link] in your VB folder

Lab Unit – 11.2

1. Open a New standard EXE project

2. Design your form as shown below

3. Create a Data Source named Authors

4. Link the data source( Authors ) to this form. The data source can be got from
the file [Link] in your VB folder
"SELECT * FROM AUTHORS"

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Lecture - 12

Remote Data Objects

Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ Understanding the concept of Remote Database objects

™ Know how to Connect the remote database

™ Manipulating the Database (inserting, deleting, updating)

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Lecture Unit - 12

12.1 Snap Shot

12.2 Remote Data Object

12.3 RDO hierarchy

12.4 Short Summary

12.5 Brain Storm

Lab Unit 12 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

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12.1 Snap Shot

Remote Data Objects (RDO) and collections provide a framework for using
code to create and manipulate components of a remote ODBC database
system. RDO is Visual Basic’s flagship interface to relational ODBC data
sources.

Figure 12.1 A typical remote data access using RDO.

RDO is specifically designed to deal with remote intelligent data sources such
as SQL server and Oracle. RDO can execute ordinary table-based queries, but
it is especially good at building and executing queries against stored
procedures.

The following advantages are associated with the RDO programming model:

• It is an universal programming model that can access any 32-bit level

ODBC data source.

• All remote databases such as SQL Server and Oracle can virtually be
accessed.

• Keyset, static, dynamic and forward only cursors are implemented on

the server side.

• It gives the ability to create standalone rdoQuery and rdoConnection

objects and to associate queries with connections at design time.

• It provides advanced resultset management, including the ability to

limit the number of returned rows, and to handle the input, output and
return value arguments of stored procedures.

• It provides universal error management that exposes not only ODBC

error messages but also native errors and messages.

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12.2 Remote Data Objects

RDO is a very thin(less than 250K) object layer on the top of the ODBC API.
This makes it very fast but still easy to use. RDO does not have its own query
processor, so all work is done by the ODBC datasource. This means no
heterogeneous operations. RDO cannot connect to ISAM datasources; the
Access ODBC driver must be used to connect to an Access or ISAM database.
This approach is slower and does not have access to all the functionality
provided by using DAO to access these types of datasources.

RDO does not have its own version of the data control called the remote data
control, with abilities similar to the data control based on DAO. The remote
date control can be used to generate applications fast without a lot of code.

RDO does require that its datasources have 32-bit Level II- complaint driver.
Since RDO is a layer on top of the ODBC API, you can often use RDO in
conjunction with the ODBC API for even more flexibility and power. Mixing
and matching data access methods this way is considered risky, and Microsoft
warns that general protection faults and data loss may result.

Though Remote Data Objects (RDO) are designed to work with ODBC, they
can be used in similarly as DAO. Using the RDO

Queries can be submitted.

Result sets can be created.
Forms containing the same bound controls recognized by the Data control
can be created.
And result set can be processed with little or no code.

Using RDO is very much like using DAO. However, there are some
differences. These differences and similarities are given in below.

Remote Data Objects refer to table rows instead of records and columns instead
of fields — the generally accepted terminology for relational databases. The
data returned from a query is in the form of result sets, which can contain
zero or more data rows composed of one or more columns.

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DAO supports the creation and modification of the database schema,

referential integrity (RI) by creating relations through DAO methods and
properties. RDO does not support any type of RI or schema modification
because they are fully supported in the tools and utilities provided with the
server systems. However RDO methods are more useful while executing
stored procedures.

The following table lists RDO 2.0 objects and their equivalent DAO/Jet
objects.

RDO object Equivalent DAO/Jet object

RdoEngine DBEngine
RdoError Error
RdoEnvironment Workspace
RdoConnection Database
RdoTable TableDef
Not Implemented Index
RdoResultset Recordset
Not implemented Table-type
Keyset-type Dynaset-type
Static-type (r/w) Snapshot-type (r/o)
Dynamic-type (none)
Forward-only – type Forward-only-type
(cursorless) (none)
RdoColumn Field
RdoQuery QueryDef
RdoParameter Parameter
Not Implemented Relation

12.3 The RDO Hierarchy

Remote Data Objects (RDO) is a thin layer over the ODBC application-programming
interface (API). RDO depends on the ODBC driver and the database engine for much
of its functionality. Data access using RDO is intended for only ODBC relational
databases.

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The following Figure shows the RDO hierarchy

Figure 12.2 RDO hierarchy

The RDO objects and their important method(s) are briefed below:

rdoEngine object The base RDO object. This object is created automatically.

Method Description

rdoCreateEnvironment Creates a new rdoEnvironment object.

rdoError object Handles all ODBC errors and messages generated by RDO. This
object is created automatically.

rdoEnvironment object Defines a logical set of connections and transaction scope for
a particular user name. This object contains both open and allocated (but unopened)
connections. This object is created automatically.

Method Description
OpenConnection Opens a connection to an ODBC data source and
returns a reference to the rdoConnection object that
represents a specific database.

rdoConnection object Represents either an open connection to a remote data source,

or an allocated, but as yet unopened, connection.

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Method Description

OpenResultSet Creates a new rdoResultset object.

Execute Runs an action query or executes an SQL

statement that does not return rows.

rdoQuery object An SQL query statement with zero or more parameters.

Method Description

OpenResultSet Creates a new rdoResultset object.

Execute Runs an action query or executes an SQL

statement that does not return rows.

rdoColumn object Represents a column of data, including data type and common
properties.

rdoParameter object Represents a parameter associated with an rdoQuery object.

Query parameters can be input, output, or both.

rdoResultset object A set of rows returned from a query.

Method Description

Requery Updates the data in an rdoResultset object

by re-executing the query on which the
object is based.

Other methods such as AddNew, Update, and Move etc. are same as their
counterparts in DAO.

rdoTable object Represents the stored database definition of a table or view.

12.4 Using RDO to insert, update and delete

Records

Examples

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CREATE A NEW PROJECT CALLED EMPLOYEE DETAILS . DESIGN YOUR

FORM AS SHOWN BELOW

ADD THE FOLLOWING CODE IN THE DECLARATION SECTION OF THE

FORM
DIM ENV AS RDOENVIRONMENT
DIM CN AS RDOCONNECTION
DIM RS AS RDORESULTSET
Enter the following code in the form_load event procedure
Set env = rdoenvironments(0)
[Link] = rdUseOdbc
Set cn = [Link] ( dsname:=””,prompt:=rdodriverprompt,
Readonly:=false,connect:=””)

Dim s as string
s = “select * from emp1”
set rs = [Link] (Name:=s, Type:=rdOpenDynamic,_LockType:=
rdConcrRowVer)
If [Link] <> True Then
Call Displayrecord
Else
MsgBox “ No record found”
End If
End sub

When the user click the Add commandbutton, it clears the form and allows
the entry of new information by the user.

Private Sub Add_Click()

[Link]
[Link]
End sub

The Update routine is used to save the changes that are made to the current
record
Private Sub Update_Click ()
[Link]
rs(“dept_no”) = [Link]

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rs(“dept_name”) = [Link]
[Link]
end sub

When the user click the Delete command Button, the current record must be
deleted from the table.

Private sub Del_click()

[Link]
Call Displayrecord
End sub

Private sub Displayrecord()

[Link] = rs( dept_no)
[Link] = rs(dept_name)
End sub

Private sub ClearRecord()

[Link] = “”
[Link] = “”
End sub

12.5 Short Summary

RDO is an object-oriented way of accessing client/server data sources

The rdoQuery object provided and method for creating and executing defined
queries or views on the remote data source.
While handling more than one resultsets,RDO provides a method calles
“MoreResults”.

It can be used with rdoResultset object..

12.6 Brain Storm

1. Discuss various types of rdoObjects.

2. How do you insert the records using RDO?
3. State the features and advantages of RDO?.
4. How to connect a back-end table(Access) with vb form using RDO?.

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Lab Unit - 12 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

1. Create a new form and name it as RDO form.

2. Design the form as given below:

3. Refer the Microsoft Remote Data Objects 2.0 from Project/References.

4. Declare the variables RDO Environment, RDOConnection, RDO Resultset,

RDO query.

5. Register a Data Source Name (DSN).

6. To Register the DSN follow the steps as mentioned below :

Start/Settings/ControlPanel/32bitODBC & select the Microsoft ODBC Driver

for Oracle.

7. Using the Create Environment, Open Connection methods create the

environment & open the connection respectively.

8. Use the Open Resultset method to display the records from the
respective table in the textboxes.

9. Perform the manipulations such as addnew, edit & update with the respective
coding addnew, update & edit methods.

10. Using the Create RDOQuery method try to insert a value.

11. Find a record based on the Empno using the RDO Query.

12. Write a code segment to call a procedure (Remote Procedure) that returns the
summation of two numbers.

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Lecture - 13

ActiveX Data Objects

Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ About ActiveX Data Objects

™ Working with ADO Data control

™ Knowing about the ADO control events

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Lecture Unit -13

13.1 Snap Shot

13.2 ActiveX Data Objects

13.3 Working with ActiveX Data Objects

13.4 ADO Object Model

13.5 ADO Data Control

13.6 ADO Data Bound Control

13.7 ADO Control Events

13.8 Short Summary

13.9 Brain Storm

Lab Unit 13 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

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 ActiveX Data Objects

13.1 Snap Shot

In the Cyber world new and new things are being invented to replace the already
existing one. The Active X Data Objects provides very easy access to any data source
with high speed via the OLE DB. And the ADO Data control allows to quickly
create a connection to a database using ActiveX Data Object (ADO).By using a DAO
–like approach, developers can now access an even border variety of data sources
using both OLE DB service providers and existing ODBC drivers through its OLE DB
for ODBC intermediate interface.

13.2 Active X Data Objects (ADO)

It is emerging as another data access alternative, which may replace the need
for other interfaces. ADO enables to write a client application to access and
manipulate data in a database server through a provider. ADO’s primary
benefits are ease of use, high speed, low memory overhead, and a small disk
footprint.

Figure 13.1 An ADO connection to a remote data source.

In ADO, the object hierarchy is de-emphasized. Unlike Data Access Objects

(DAO) and Remote Data Objects (RDO), ADO allows creating objects
independently; no longer having to navigate through a hierarchy to create
objects. The ADO model also results in fewer objects, which allows for a
smaller working set.

ADO is designed to eventually negate the need for all other interfaces. ADO
is not specifically designed for ISAM or relational database access, but as an
object interface to any data source. ADO is built around a set of core
functions that all data sources are expected to implement.

The ADO programming model provides the following features:

Advanced recordset cache management.
Different cursor types, including the potential for support of back-end
specific cursors.
Independently created objects.

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Support for stored procedures with in/out parameters and return values.
Support for limits on the number of returned rows and other query goals.

Visual basic also includes ADO Data Control (ADODC), which works in the
similar manner to the Remote Data control, except that it uses OLE DB
provider instead of ODBC Driver.

Advantages of ActiveX Data Objects

Flat objects Model: ADO does not impose hierarchical object creation. That is to
create a Recordset object in DAO, a Workspace object and a Database object are to be
created first. Then alone Recordset object can be created. In ADO either this kind of
hierarchical creation can be followed or its objects can be created independently.

Less number of objects: ADO does not have large amount of objects like DAO and
RDO, which leads difficulty in coding. ADO objects set is lesser than DAO and
RDO, but more powerful.

Direct assignment to Data bound controls: To fill data bound controls its data
source property can be set to a Recordset object instead of setting to a data control
(explained later in this chapter).

Enhanced performance by Recordset Object: Indexed fields greatly enhance the

performance of the Recordset object using Find method, and Sort and Filter
properties.

Recordset persistence: Recordset data can be saved in a file. Later this persisted file
can be used to recreate the RecordSet object.

13.3 Working with ActiveX Data Objects

The ADO works with OLE DB data providers to provide a mechanism for
manipulating the data they contain. The ADO can be thought of as a
specialized OLE DB data consumer. The relationship between the ADO and
OLE DB is just like the relationship between RDO and ODBC. The ADO
accesses OLE DB data sources, and when using the OLE DB ODBC data
provider, the ADO can access ODBC data sources also.

Visual Basic 6.0, includes ADO version 2.0. To access any of these objects, a
reference to the ADO object library must be included. To include this
reference, Choose Project | References to display References dialog box.

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Select Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects 2.0 Library in the Available References list and
click OK.

Figure 13.3 References dialog box.

13.4 The Ado Object Model

The ADO object model’s hierarchy is given below.

Figure 13.3 An ADO object model.

Each of the Connection, Command, Recordset, and Field objects also has a
Properties collection.

Figure 13.4 All ADO objects contains Properties collection

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The Connection Object

It represents an open connection to a data source. A Connection object
represents a unique session with a data source. In the case of a client/server
database system, it may be equivalent to an actual network connection to the
server. Depending on the functionality supported by the provider, some
collections, methods, or properties of a Connection object may not be
available.

The collections, methods, and properties of a Connection object help to:

• Configure the connection before opening it with the ConnectionString, and

Mode properties.
• Set the default database for the connection with the DefaultDatabase property.
• Specify an OLE DB provider (explained later in this chapter) with the Provider
property.
• Establish, and later break, the physical connection to the data source with the
Open and Close methods.
• Set the location of the cursor using CursorLocation property which can have any
one of the following value:

• adUseClient - Uses client-side cursors supplied by a local cursor

library.
• AdUserServer - Default. Uses data-provider or driver-
supplied cursors.
These cursors are sometimes very flexible and allow for
additional sensitivity to changes others make to the
data source.
The Command Object

It is used to query a database and return records in a Recordset object, to

execute a bulk operation, or to manipulate the structure of a database.
Depending on the functionality of the provider, some Command collections,
methods, or properties may generate an error when referenced.

The collections, methods, and properties of a Command object help to:

á Define the executable text of the command (for example, an SQL statement)
with the CommandText property.
á Execute a command and return a Recordset object if appropriate with the
Execute method.

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 ActiveX Data Objects

á Specify the type of command with the CommandType property prior to

execution to optimize performance, such as adCmdText,
adCmdTable(explained later in this chapter).
á Manage transactions on the open connection, with the BeginTrans,
CommitTrans, and RollbackTrans methods. These methods are briefed
below and used in the example code listing at end of this chapter.

• BeginTrans begins a new transaction.

• CommitTrans saves any changes and ends the current transaction.
• RollbackTrans cancels any changes made during the current
transaction.

The Error Object

Any operation involving ADO objects can generate one or more provider
errors. As each error occurs, one or more Error objects are placed in the Errors
collection of the Connection object. When another ADO operation generates
an error, the Errors collection is cleared, and the new set of Error objects is
placed in the Errors collection.

The properties, which give details about each error, are:

The Description property, which contains the text of the error.

The Number property, which contains the Long integer value of the error constant.
The Source property, which identifies the object that raised the error. This is
particularly useful when there are several Error objects in the Errors collection.

Each error object in the Errors collection can be accessed separately. The
following example shows how to display the description of all created error
objects.

Example:
Dim errobj As [Link]
Dim con As [Link]

For Each errobj In [Link]

[Link] [Link]
Next

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The Field Object

A Recordset object has a Fields collection made up of Field objects. Each Field
object corresponds to a column in the Recordset. The Value property can be
used to set or return data depending on the functionality the provider
exposes, some collections, methods, or properties of a Field object may not be
available.

The collections, methods, and properties of a Field object help to:

Get the name of a field with the Name property.

View or change the data in the field with the Value property.
Get the basic characteristics of a field with the Type, Precision, and
NumericScale properties.
Get the declared size of a field with the DefinedSize property.
Get the actual size of the data in a given field with the ActualSize property.

The Parameter Object

It represents a parameter or argument associated with a Command object

based on a parameterized query or stored procedure. Using this, a desired
action can be defined once, and variables (or parameters) are used to alter
some details of the command. For example, an SQL SELECT statement could
use a parameter to define the matching criteria of a WHERE clause, and
another to define the column name for a SORT BY clause.

The collections, methods, and properties of a Parameter object help to:

Set or return the name of a parameter with the Name property.

Set or return the value of a parameter with the Value property.
Set or return parameter characteristics with the Attributes and Direction,
Precision, NumericScale, Size, and Type properties.

The Property Object

It represents a dynamic characteristic of an ADO object that is defined by the

provider.

ADO objects have two types of properties: built-in and dynamic.

Built-in properties are those properties implemented in ADO and

immediately available to any new object, using the [Link] syntax.

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 ActiveX Data Objects

They do not appear as Property objects in an object’s Properties collection. For

example, the connection object has a built-in property ConnectionString and it
can’t be accessed in the hierarchy [Link](0).ConnectionString.

Dynamic properties are defined by the underlying data provider, and appear
in the Properties collection for the appropriate ADO object. For example, a
property specific to the provider may indicate, if a Recordset object supports
transactions or updating. These additional properties will appear as Property
objects in that Recordset object’s Properties collection. Dynamic properties
can be referenced only through the collection, using like [Link](0)
or [Link](name) syntax.

A dynamic Property object has four built-in properties of its own:

á The Name property is a string that identifies the property.

á The Type property is an integer that specifies the property data type.

á The Value property is a variant that contains the property setting.

á The Attributes property is a long value that indicates characteristics of the

property specific to the provider.

The Recordset Object

A Recordset object represents the entire set of records from a base table or the
results of an executed command. At any time, the Recordset object refers to
only a single record within the set as the current record.

The collections, methods, and properties of a Parameter object help to:

á Get number of rows in the current recordset object using RecordCount

property.
á Limit the number of records, the provider returns from the data source using
MaxRecords property.
á Get the editing status of the current record using EditMode property. This
property may have one of the following values:

1. adEditNone - Indicates that no editing operation is in

process

2. adEditInProcess - Indicates that current record is modified

but not yet saved.

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3. adEditAdd - Indicates that Addnew method is called

but the new record is not yet saved.

4. adEditDelete - Indicates that the current record is

deleted.

To Save changes to the current record Update method is used. In the ADO
model to change the data of the current, there is no need to call Edit method
(actually the Edit Method is not the Method of Record Set object of ADO) as
in DAO and RDO.

Sort and Filter the rows of a RecordSet object using Sort and Filter properties.
These properties are briefed below and used in the example.

Sort - This property determines the order in which rows of a Recordset

are traversed.

Filter-This property determines which rows are accessible when traversing

rows.
Example:

‘Assuming rs is a object of Recordset..

‘ rs contains a field StudentName

‘ Sorting on StudentName field

[Link] = “StudentName”

‘ rs contains a field TotalMarks

‘ Filtering records whose TotalMarks field value is

‘ gerter than 450

[Link] = “ Totalmarks > 400 ”

™ Find a particular record by specifying criteria using Find method.

™ Refresh the entire contents of a Recordset object from the data source using
Requery method.

Example:

Dim rs as [Link]

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 ActiveX Data Objects

----------------------------------
[Link]
----------------------------------
[Link]

' Retrieving the current data by requerying the recordset.

[Link]

ADO Methods

This section explains important ADO methods.

The Open Method (adoConnection)

Opens a connection to a data source.

Syntax:
[Link] ConnectionString, UserID, Password ,options

Parameters Description

ConnectionString Optional. A String that contains the arguments used to

establish a connection to a data source such as DSN,
SERVER etc., which are same as used in RDO.

UserID Optional. A String containing a user name to use when

establishing the connection.

Password Optional. A String containing a password to use when

establishing the connection.
Example:

Dim con1 as New [Link]

Dim con2 as New [Link]
Dim con3 as New [Link]
Dim con4 as New [Link]

' Opening a connection without using a Data Source Name

' (DSN).
[Link] “Driver={Microsoft ODBC for Oracle};_

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server=Or8;uid=sa;pwd=pwd”

' Openning a connection using a DSN and ODBC tags.

[Link] "DSN=MyDSN;UID=sa;PWD=pwd;"

' Openning a connection using a DSN and OLE DB tags.

[Link] "Data Source=MyDSN;User ID=sa;Password=pwd;"

' Openning a connection using a DSN and individual

' arguments instead of a connection string.
[Link] “MyDSN”,”sa”,”pwd”

Here the connection object is declared with the keyword New in the
declaration. All the ADO objects must be declared in similar manner.
Because the ADO is based on Component Object Model technology (COM).
So they can’t simply be declared. They must be created using new keyword.

If ADO objects are declared without the New keyword then before using
them, they must be set as new objects. The following code shows how the
connection object is set as new connection object after it is declared without
new keyword.

Dim cnn As [Link]

Set cnn1 = New [Link]

[Link] = "DSN=MyDSN;UID=sa;PWD=pwd;"
[Link]

In all the above examples the Provider argument is not specified. So, while
opening the connection the default provider parameters are used. The
following section explains about providers and their classifications.

13.5 ADO Data Control

The ADO Data control uses Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) to quickly
create connections between data-bound controls and data providers (any
controls that feature a DataSource property). Data providers can be any
source written to the OLE DB specification.

Figure 13.5 The Ado Data Control

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 ActiveX Data Objects

Creating a sample data base application with ADO data control

This section describes steps involved in creating a sample data base

application with ADO data control. The behavior of this application will be
similar to those applications, which are created using data control, and RDC
in the previous chapters. But the different lies in the design process. The
following steps explain to design a simple application with the ADO data
control.
To create a simple database application that uses ADO Data Control

Draw an ADO Data Control on a form. (The icon's ToolTip is "ADODC.")

If the control is not available in the Toolbox, press CTRL+T to display the
Components dialog box. In the Components dialog, click Microsoft ADO Data
Control.

On the Toolbox, click the ADO Data Control to select it. Then press F4 to
display the Properties window.

In the Properties window, click ConnectionString to display the

7ConnectionString dialog box.

Figure13.6 Property pages of ADO data control.

The connection string can be specified in any one of the following ways:

• If a Microsoft Data link file (.UDL) is available for the require database,
select Use OLE DB File and click Browse to find the file ([Link])
on the computer.

• If using DSN is desired, then Use ODBC Data Source Name and select a
DSN from the combo box.

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• Or, to create a connection string, select Use ConnectionString, and then

click Build, and use the Data Link Properties dialog box to create a
connection string (in the same way as used in creating Data link file). After
creating the connection string, click OK. The ConnectionString property
will be filled with a string like:

Provider=MSDAORA.1;User Id= Ragu;Data Source=Or8;_

Persist Security Info=False

To set the RecordSource property click the button with the caption “...”

A dialog box will appear as in the following Figure:

Figure 13.7 Record Source’s Property page.

™ Select adCmdTable in CommandType box and Customers in Table or Stored

Procedure name box.
--Or--
Select adCmdText in CommandType box and type “Select * from Customers”
in Command Text (SQL) box.

™ Draw a TextBox control on the form to display the database information.

™ In the Properties window, set the DataSource property for Text1 to the name
of the ADO Data control (ADODC1). This binds the text box to the ADO Data
control.

™ In the Properties window, click DataField and a list of available fields will
drop down. Click the name of the field, which is desired for display.

™ Repeat last three steps for each additional field.

™ Run and examine the application.

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13.6 ADO Data bound controls

Microsoft supplied new data bound controls with Visual Basic 6.0 namely
DataGrid, DataList, and DataCombo. They are ADO versions of DBGrid,
DBList and DBCombo respectively, and can be used in the same way of later.
But the ADO version of data bound controls have one advantage. So far data
bound controls are filled up using a data control. Now instead of data
controls, recordset objects can behave as data supplier to the data bound
controls. The following example shows how a recordset object can supply
data to a Data bound grid control.

Example – binding controls using Recordset :

Dim rs as New [Link]

‘ The data source name AccessDSN contains the Nwind
‘ database
‘ Opening the recordset

[Link] “Select * from Products”, “DSN=AccessDSN”,_

adOpenKeyset

‘ Assuming the form contains Data Grid control with the

‘ name DataGrid1...
‘ Setting rs to DataGrid’s Datasource property
Set [Link] = rs

The above statement will cause the DataGrid1 be filled up by the products
table of Nwind database.

There is one more data bound control, the Hierarchical Grid control, which
has more flexibility to display the data.

13.7 ADO Control Events

ADO Data Control includes a number of events that are user programmable. The
events listed in Table lists the events and when they occur.

ADO Data Control’s Programmable Events

Events Occurs
WillMove On [Link],

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[Link] [Link]
[Link] [Link],
[Link] [Link],
[Link] RecordsetDelete,[Link]
[Link]
MoveComplete After WillMove
WilllChangeField Before the Value property changes
FieldChangeComplete AfterWillChangeField
WillChangeRecord On [Link],[Link],
[Link],[Link]
[Link]
RecordChangeComplete After WillChangeRecord
WillChangeRecordset On
[Link],[Link],[Link]
[Link],[Link]
RecordsetChangeComplete After WillChangeRecordset
InfoMessage When the data provider returns a result.

13.8 Short Summary

) Active X Data Object is the object based interface to OLEDB.

) ADO uses a new database connection framework called OLDB,which allows us
faster,more flexible access to multiple data [Link] wraps it all into one
ease-to-use interface.
) If requery method is called in the middle of editing or adding new record, i.e
before calling Update method, an error occurs. After issuing the Update method,
the Requery method must be called to reflect the changes.
) If user and password information are specified both in the ConnectionString
argument and in the optional UserID and Password arguments, the UserID and
Password arguments will override the values specified in ConnectionString.
13.9 Brain Storm

1. What are the features of ADO?.

2. In which version onwards, ADO Concept is available ?
3. Can We connect a text file with a front end using RDO? If yes, explain.
4. How many types of result sets are available in ADO?
5. What is the mode we use in ADO?
6. What are data consumers, which support ADO?

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 ActiveX Data Objects

Lab Unit – 13 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

1. Add a New Project

2. Design the Form as shown below

3. Invoke ActiveX Data Object Library File

Project Æ References Æ MS ActiveX Data Object 2.0

Establish Connection

4. Open Recordset and display records in the Text boxes Perform Data
Manipulations like Addition, Deletion, Modification Perform Navigation
methods
5. Try using Action Queries with the help of Command Object Using Command
Object, try executing a Remote Procedure that gives the sum of two numbers
6. Add a Form
7. Choose Microsoft ADO Data Control
Project Æ Components Æ Microsoft ADO Data Control 6.0 (OLE DB)

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8. Design your Form as shown below

9. Set the following properties of ADODC1

Connect String
User Name
Password
Record Source
10. Set the following properties for your Text boxes to display the fields
Data Source
Data field

Invoke MS DataGrid Control 6.0 (OLEDB)

11. Set the following property of MS Data Grid Record Source

12. Now try data manipulations through the MS Data Grid, by setting the Design
time properties.

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 Connecting to a ADO Database

Lecture - 14

Connecting to a
ADO Database
Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ Establishing ADO Database connection

™ Knowing about BOF & EOF properties

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Lecture Unit - 14

14.1 Snap Shot

14.2 Creating an ADO Database with a Front End

14.3 BOF & EOF properties

14.4 Short Summary

14.5 Brain Storm

Lab unit 14 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

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 Connecting to a ADO Database

14.1 Snap Shot

14.1.1 Creating an ADO Database with a Front End

Using the ADO Data control in your applications is no more difficult than
using the standard DAO Data control. In the following example, you will
create a sample front end for an ADO database. Although this application is
very simplistic, it does illustrate how easy it is to create an application using
ADO. To create the front end for the Database, perform the following steps:

1. Confirm that you have a valid .MDL file if you will be using an OLE DB Data
source.

2. Start a new project. On the form, place an ADO control. If the ADO control. If the
ADO control is not available in your toolbox, you can add it from the
Components dialog box and select the Microsoft ADO Data Control option
shown in Figure 14.1

Figure 14.1 – The ADO Data control is added to the toolbox after the Components
dialog box is closed

3. In the Properties window of the ADO control, click the ellipsis button on the
ConnectionString property to display the ConnectionString dialog box. This is
shown in Figure 14.2

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Figure 14.2 : Property pages allow you to enter the ODBC source and connecting
string information

4. Select the General tab. If you have created a Data Link file (.MDL), select the Use
Data Link File check box and click the Browse button to locate the .MDL file.
Alternatively, you coluld select either the Use ODBC Data Source Name or Use
Connection String check boxes to create a connection to your database.

5. In the properties window of the ADO control, click the ellipsis button to display
the Record Source dialog box. In the Command Text(SQL) text box, enter the
following SQL statement:
SELECT * FROM Authors WHERE Au_ID = 72

This sets the RecordSource property to a SQL statement. This is shown in

Figure 14.3– SQL statements can also be enter via the RecordSource tab on the
Property Pages dialog box

6. Place two labels and two text boxes on the form. The captions of the text boxes
should be Author and Author ID

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 Connecting to a ADO Database

7. Set the DataSource property for Text1 and Text2 to the name of the ADO control
on the form.

8. In the properties window of Text1, set the DataField property to Author

9. Set the DataField property of Text2 to Au_ID

10. Press F5 to run the application. The Completed form should resemble the one in
Figure 14.4

Figure 14.4: The Complete ADO Sample

The ADO Data Control can be major resource hog. The ADO control will
automatically use at least two connections for the first ADO control on a form.
Additional ADO controls on the same form require one connection each.

An alternative to using the ADO data control is to set the properties

programmatically. The sample code segment is listed below.

Example

Private Sub Form_Load()

With ADODC1
.ConnectionString = “driver={SQL Server};”& _
“server=orion;uid=sa;pwd=pwd;database=pubs”
.RecordSource = “Select * From Authors Where Au_ID = 72”
End With
Set [Link] = ADODC1
[Link] = “Author”
End Sub

14.1.2 Connecting to a Database

ADO can be used to connect with a OLE DB datasource and non data base types also

A sample code is given to connect with SQL Server database

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Dim con as [Link]

Dim cmd as string
Cmd = “Provider = SQLOLEDB.1;”

14.2 BOF and EOF properties

™ BOF (Beginning Of File): This property returns a Boolean value that indicates
whether the current record position is before the first record in a Recordset
object.

™ EOF (End Of File): This property returns a Boolean value that indicates
whether the current record position is after the last record in a Recordset
object.

™ The BOF property returns True if the current record position is before the
first record, and False if the current record position is on or after the first
record.

™ The EOF property returns True if the current record position is after the last
record, and False if the current record position is on or before the last record.

The BOF and EOF properties can be used to determine whether a Recordset
object contains records or whether the cursor has gone beyond the limits of a
RecordSet object when one of a Move method is used to move the record
pointer from record to record.

If both the BOF or EOF property is True, it means there is no current record.
If an attempt is made to move beyond the limits of a RecordSet object then an
error will occur. So these properties can be used in conjunction with the move
methods. For example, to prevent the move operation beyond the last record
the following code may be used.

[Link]
If [Link] Then
MsgBox "End of the file! , Pointer being moved to last_ record."
[Link]
/End If

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At the end of the RecordSet rs, its EOF property is set to True. So, as the if
condition satisfies the MoveNext method will be roll backed. Similarly the
BOF property can be used with the MovePrevious method.

14.3 Short summary

) OLE DB is a low-level object base programming interface designed to access a

wide variety of data source

) ADI can be implemented using three tools

ADO Connection object
ADO Data control
ADO Recordset object

14.4 Brain storm

1. State the properties of BOF?

2. What is the main technology behind ADO?
3. Why ADO is beneficial than RDO?
4. Why we go for less cursor drives in ADO?

Lab Unit – 14 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

1. Consider a Railway database in SQL Server with three tables namely

Passenger_details,Train_Details and Train_Pass_Details with fields given below

Passenger Details
Passenger Id, Passenger Name,Age,Sex,Train name, Class booked
Train Details
Train name, Train no, I class fare, II class fare, Unreserved fare, I seats, II seats
Traiin Pass Details
Passenger id, Coach No, seat no, Date of journey

2. Create a project to list the passenger ids in the combobox and to list the details of
the passenger ( Train number, seat number and ticket fare)

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3. Design your form as shown below

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Lecture - 15

Multiple Document
Interface
Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ About Multiple Document Interface

™ Introduction to MDI form

™ About MDI child form property

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Lecture Unit - 15

15.1 Snap Shot

15.2 Multiple Document Interface

15.3 Introduction to MDI form

15.4 MDI child forms property

15.5 Short Summary

15.6 Brain Storm

Lab unit 15 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

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15.1 Snap Shot

A Multiple Document Interface is used for opening many windows at the same
[Link] the document windows are contained in a parent window, which provides a
workspace in the application. Visual Basic applications can have only one MDI form,
which contains all the child forms. A chile form is an ordinary Form that has its
Child property set to Trus. Child forms are displayed within the internal area of a
MDI Form at run time.

15.2 Multiple Document Interface

Mainly there are two styles of interfaces in the windows based applications: the
single-document interface (SDI) and the multiple-document interface (MDI). An example
of the SDI interface is the WordPad application included with Microsoft Windows. In
WordPad, only a single document may be open and in order to open another, the
currently opened document must be closed. The Figure 5.12 shows the Wordpad
application, which is a SDI application.

Figure 5.1 WordPad, a single-document interface (SDI) application.

Applications such as Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word for Windows are MDI
interfaces; they allow displaying multiple documents at the same time, with each
document displayed in its own window. A MDI application can be recognized by the
inclusion of a Window menu item with submenus for switching between windows
or documents. The Figure 5.2 shows the Excel, which is a MDI application.

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Figure 5.2 Microsoft Excel, a multiple-document interface (MDI) application.

In Multiple Document Interfaces, documents or child windows are contained in a

parent window, which provides a workspace for all the child windows in the
application. For example, Microsoft Excel allows to create and display multiple-
document windows of different types. Each individual window is confined to the
area of the Excel parent window. When the Excel is minimized, all of the document
windows are minimized as well; only the parent window's icon appears in the task
bar.

Menu

Any program with more than a few simple functions or features can benefit from the
addition of a well-built menu. When designing a program, the main goal is to make
its features as easy as possible. A well-designed menu will accomplish this goal.
With the help of good menu, programs will seem natural and familiar, as they offer a
convenient and consistent way to group commands and an easy way for users to
access them. The Figure 5.3 illustrates the elements of a menu interface on a Form.

Figure 5.3 The elements of a menu interface on a Form.

The menu bar appears immediately below the title bar on the Form and contains one
or more menu titles. When a menu title is clicked (such as File), a menu containing a
list of menu items drops down. Menu items can include commands (such as New
and Exit), separator bars, and submenu titles. To make application easier to use,

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menu items must be grouped according to their function. In the above, for example,
the file related commands New, Open, and Save As are all found on the File Menu.

Dynamic Data Exchange

DDE is the basic foundation for interprocess communication among Microsoft

Windows applications. In a DDE conversation, the application creates the link is
known as the destination application, and the application that responds is known as
a source application. ( These used to be referred to as client and server respectively ).
Any application that supports DDE can serve as either a source or a destination. One
application can serve as both destination and a source with several other applications
at the same time. Only one active DDE link should be established between a Visual
Basic control or form and another application. For example, a link between a
Microsoft Excel spreadsheet cell and a text control is acceptable as long as the parent
form does not already have a link with the same cell. You might cause an infinite
loop of updates if there were more than one link between the same two applications.

Object Linking And Embedding

Figure 5.3 Topology of OLE DB applications.

The primary focus of the ODBC is to provide a consistent interface to

database data sources. OLE DB is designed with an even broader goal in
mind; to provide a methodology to access data regardless of the data source.
As shown in Figure 5.3, OLE DB becomes the data access bridge for
documents, e-mail systems, file systems, spreadsheets, and database sources
using ODBC drivers.

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15.3 Introduction to MDI Form

In Visual Basic a child form is an ordinary Form that has its MDIChild property set
to True. An application can include many MDI child forms of similar or different
types. At run time, child forms are displayed within the workspace of the MDI parent
form (the area inside the form's borders and below the title and menu bars). When a
child form is minimized, its icon appears within the workspace of the MDI form
instead of on the taskbar, as in Figure 5.4.

Figure 5.4 Child forms displayed within the workspace of the MDI form.

An MDI application can also include standard, non-MDI forms that are not
contained in the MDI form. A typical use of a standard form in an MDI application is
to display a modal dialog box.

An MDI form is similar to an ordinary form with one restriction. Intrinsic controls
can't be placed on a MDI form unless they have the Align property (such as a picture
box control) or invisible interface (such as a timer control). More over an application
can have only one MDI form. The MDI Form’s main property and method are given
below:

Property Description
ActiveForm It specifies the active MDI child form.

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Method Description
Arrange Arranges the windows or icons within a MDIForm
object

Syntax

[Link] arrangement

A value or constant that specifies how to arrange windows or icons on a MDIForm

object, as described in Table 5.1.

Constant Value Description

Cascades all nonminimized MDI child
VbCascade 0
forms
Tiles all nonminimized MDI child forms
VbTileHorizontal 1
horizontally
Tiles all nonminimized MDI child forms
VbTileVertical 2
vertically
Arranges icons for minimized MDI child
VbArrangeIcons 3
forms

Table 5.1 Values of arrangement argument.

Example

To cascade the child Forms of the MDIForm1 the following statement is used.

[Link] vbCascade

15.4 MDI Child Forms Properties

MDI form and all of its child forms take on special characteristics:

™ All child forms are displayed within the MDI form's workspace. The user can
move and size child forms like any other form; however, they are restricted to
this workspace.

™ When a child form is minimized, its icon appears on the MDI form instead of the
taskbar. When the MDI form is minimized, the MDI form and all of its child
forms are represented by a single icon. When the MDI form is restored, the MDI

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form and all the child forms are displayed in the same state they were in before
being minimized.

™ When a child form is maximized, its caption is combined with the caption of the
MDI form and is displayed in the MDI form's title bar (see Figure 5.5).

™ The active child form's menus (if any) are displayed on the MDI form's menu bar,
not on the child form.

Figure 5.5 A child form caption combined with the caption of an MDI form.

15.6 Short Summary

) MDI stands for Multiple Document Interface, Which is used for opening
several windows at the same time.
) In Word pad application only a single document may be open and in order to
open another, the currently opened document must be closed.
) MicroSoft is a multiple document Interface.

15.7 Brain Storm

1. Differentiate SDI and MDI.

2. What are the properties of MDI form.
3. What are the advantages of MDI form,

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Lab Unit – 15 ( 2 Real Time Hrs)

1. Open a New standard EXE project

2. Design your form as shown below

3. On clicking the Picture & Application button another form should be loaded.

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Lecture - 16

Menus
Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ About Menu

™ About Menu Editor

™ Understanding to create Menu

™ About Menu Control Arrays.

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Lecture Unit - 16

16.1 Menus - Snap Shot

16.2 Menu Editor

16.3 Menu Control Arrays

16.4 Pop–up menu

16.5 Short Summary

16.6 Brain Storm

Lab unit 16 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

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16.1 Snap Shot-Menus

Menus are one of the most common and characteristic elements of the
Windows user interface. Even in the old days of character-based displays,
menus were used to display methodically organized choices and guide the
user through an application. Despite the visually rich interfaces of Window
applications and the many alternatives, menus are still the most popular
means of organizing a large number of options. Many applications duplicate
some or all of their menus in the form of icons on a toolbar, but the menu is a
standard fixture of a Form. You can turn the toolbars on and off, but not the
menus.

16.2 Menu Editor

Visual Basic provides Menu Editor, which helps to create new menus, add new
commands to existing menus, and change and delete existing menus. Menus can be
attached only to forms, and you design them with the Menu Editor. To see how the
Menu Editor works, start a new Standard EXE project, and when form1 appears in
the design window, choose Tools>Menu Editor to open the Menu Editor.
Alternatively you can click the Menu Editor button on the toolbar

Generally the following conventions are considered while creating menus.

Feature Convention

Caption One or two short specific words such as Save As.

Organization Menu items should be grouped logically by function and allow

for a minimal number of levels to access each feature.

Access Keys Each menu item should be assigned a access key (the
underlined letter in a menu or menu selection) to allow for
keyboard access to the menu choices. The key should be
unique in each section of the menu and is normally the first
letter of the caption.

Shortcut Keys Any menu features that are frequently used or need to be
available from any part of the program should be assigned a
shortcut key. For example, the Ctrl+N is the shortcut key for
the New item of the File menu in the most of the windows
applications. Each shortcut key can be assigned to only one
menu item.

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Check Box Menu items that simply set or clear a single program option
should contain a checked feature directly in the menu.

Ellipsis Each menu item that opens a dialog should be followed by an

ellipsis (...).

To display the Menu Editor

™ From the Tools menu, choose Menu Editor.

– Or –

Click the Menu Editor icon on the toolbar.

This will open the Menu Editor as in Figure 16.1.

Figure 16.1 The Menu Editor.

While most menu control properties can be set using the Menu Editor, all menu
properties are available in the Properties window. The two most important
properties for menu controls are:

• Name This is the name used to refer the menu control from code.
• Caption This is the text that appears on the control.
• Index This is to create an array of menu commands
• Checked Checked to indicate that they are on or unchecked to
indicate that they are off.

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• Enabled This is to set the initial status of a command by checking or

clearing the enable box.
• Visible This is to make a command invisible.
• Window This is used to maintain a list of all open windows.

To create menu controls in the Menu Editor

™ Select the Form, which requires the menu.

™ From the Tools menu, choose Menu Editor.

–Or–
Click the Menu Editor button on the toolbar.

™ In the Caption text box, type the text for the first menu title that has to appear on
the menu bar. Also, place an ampersand (&) before the letter to assign the access
key for that menu item. This letter will automatically be underlined in the menu.
The menu title text is displayed in the menu control list box.

™ In the Name text box, type the name that will be used to refer to the menu control
in code.

™ Click the left arrow or right arrow buttons to change the indentation level of the
control.

™ Choose Next to create another menu control.

–Or–
Click Insert to add a menu control between existing controls. Up arrow and
down arrow buttons can be used to move the control among the existing menu
controls.
™ Choose OK to close the Menu Editor when all the menu controls for that form
have been created. The menu created is embedded in the form, which is
something like in the Figure 16.2.

Figure 16.2 Embedded menu in a Form.

™ Dropdown the menu and click on one of its item. The code window for its click
event procedure will appear, which is something like in the following:

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Private Sub itmNew_Click()

End Sub
™ Type the code required to execute when that item is clicked at run time. Follow
these steps for all items in the menu.

16.3 Menu Control arrays

In the Menu Editor window add a menu option and set its Index property to 0. You
can then add commands with the same name and consecutive Index values. At
design time, you don’t have to add more than one option. One command with its
Index property set to 0 is adequate to create the menu control array. You can use this
array’s name and an Index value to add new options at runtime.

Figure shows the RTMenu application, which demonstrates how to add to and
remove items from a menu at runtime.

Figure 16.3 The RT Menu Application

Initially, the form’s menu contains the following items:
File
Open
Save
Exit
Edit
Copy
Cut
Paste

Run Time Menu

Commands grouped in submenus are indented form the left. The last command’s
name is RunTimeOptions and its index is 0. Once a command option is specified as a
control array, you can easily add commands to the RunTimeOptions array with the
Load method. After all, menu commands are very similar to controls.

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The two buttons at the bottom of the Form add commands to and remove commands
from the Run Time Menu. Each new command is appended at the end of the menu,
and the commands are removed from the bottom of the menu( the most recently
added commands).

16.4 POP Up Menu

A pop-up menu is a floating menu that is displayed over a form, independent of the
menu bar. The items displayed on the pop-up menu depend on where the pointer is
located when the right mouse button is pressed; therefore, pop-up menus are also
called context menus. Pop-up menus provide an efficient method for accessing
common, contextual commands. For example, if the right mouse button is clicked in
a text box, a contextual menu would appear, as in Figure 16.4.

Figure 16.4 Popup menu.

Any menu that has at least one menu item can be displayed at run time as a pop-up
menu. Popupmenu method is used to display pop-up menus, and its syntax is as
follows:

PopupMenu menuname [, flags [,x [, y [, boldcommand ]]]]

Only the first argument is required, and it is the menu’s name, as specified in the
Menu Editor window. The other arguments are optional. The x and y arguments are
the coordinates of a point on the Form (or control) where the menu will be displayed.
The flags argument defines the location behavior of a Pop-up menu and can have one
of the values shown in Table 16.1.

Location constants Description

Default. The specified x location defines the left
VbPopupMenuLeftAlign
edge of the pop-up menu.
The pop-up menu is centered around the specified
VbPopupMenuCenterAlign
x location.
The specified x location defines the right edge
VbPopupMenuRightAlign
of the pop-up menu.
Table 16.1 flags argument’s options.

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The following code displays a popup menu named mnuFile with its top border
centered on the form when the user clicks the form with the right mouse button.

Private Sub Form_MouseUp (Button As Integer, Shift As_

Integer, X As Single, Y As Single)
If Button = 2 Then ' Check if right mouse button was
' clicked
PopupMenu mnuEdit, vbPopupMenuCenterAlign, X, Y
End If

End Sub
Note : To create a menu that will not display on the menu bar, its top-level menu item’s
Visible property is to be unchecked at design time. When Visual Basic displays it
as a pop-up menu, its Visible property is ignored.

The Bold command Argument

The boldcommand argument is used to specify the name of a menu control in the
displayed pop-up menu, to appear in bold to emphasize the most frequently used
menu item. For example, assume that there is a menu named as mnuMenu and one
of its items is Explore named as itmExplore. The following PopupMenu statement.
Popupmenu mnuMenu , , , , itmExplore

Will display the popup menu as in Figure 16.5.

Figure 16.5 A Popup menu with a bold item

16.5 Short summary

) Visual Basic applications can be enhanced by adding menus. A menu interface

consists of menu title, menu item, separator bar, menu bar and title bar.

) A menu control array is a set of menu items that share the same name and event
procedure.

) Separator bar is displayed as a horizontal line between items on a menu bar.

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16.7 Brain Storm

1. Define Menu

2. What is a Menu Control Array? What is the usage of it?

Lab Unit – 16 ( 2 Real Time Hrs)

1
1. Open a new standard EXE project

2. Design your form as shown below

3. On clicking the ADD button Item should be added on the file menu

4. On clicking the Item button Msgbox should be displayed

1. Open a New standard EXE project

2. Create the pop-up menu with the following menu items

Bold, Italic, Underline, Blue, Green, Red, Black, Exit

3. Place a text box in the form

4. On selecting an item in the pop-up menu the corresponding effect should be

displayed.

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Lecture - 17

DDE & ActiveX Controls

Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ About Dynamic Data Exchange and Object Linking

™ About Object Embedding

™ About Object Linking

™ How to create an ActiveX control?

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Lecture Unit - 17

17.1 Snap Shot

17.2 Dynamic Data Exchange and Object Linking

17.3 Object Embedding

17.4 Object Linking

17.5 Inserting a OLE Object

17.6 Creating an ActiveX control

17.7 Short Summary

17.8 Brain Storm

Lab unit 17 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

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17.1 Snap Shot

AN Important features of Microsoft Windows Operating System is its ability

for applications to share information. OLE is a means of communication,
which gives applications the power to directly use and manipulate other
windows applications. OLE is an important Windows topic available in
Visual Basic. Any Object that supports OLE can be linked. OLE specification
permits the user to link and embed objects, and also edit the object with in
the container application.

17.2 Dynamic Data Exchange and Object Linking and Embedding

Programmers are not historians. They don’t like to read lengthy histories
about a specific technology; they just want to learn how to use it. But when
talking about a specific technology As all-encompassing as Active X,
knowing a little about its previous history is a must. Before you can
understand where Active X is going , you first need to know where it came
from.

ActiveX can trace its roots all the way back to Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE), a way
of passing data and commands between applications. Though DDE is still supported
by Visual Basic to maintain backward compatibility, it is seldom used.

Out of DDE evolved OLE1.0, Object Linking Embedding. True to its name, OLE
brought the ability to link Objects to one another or to embed one object inside
another. The classic example of using OLE is the word processor/spreadsheet
combination. A reference to a spreadsheet file can be added to a word processing
document. If the user was to click on the reference , the spreadsheet program that is
used to edit the spreadsheet would be automatically loaded and changes could be
made. In this way , the spreadsheet is linked to the word processing document. With
OLE, the spreadsheet can also be embedded into the word processing document. A
window that shows the contents of the spreadsheet would be contained within the
document. Changes to the spreadsheet can then be made inside that window. The
spreadsheet program is still used to make the changes, but this is transparent to the
user. He or She never has to leave the word processor to make changes to the
spreadsheet.

DDE and OLE1.0 are technologies that were designed to change the way we use
computers. They bridged the gab between application-centric use and data-centric
use. In application-centric Computing, to work on a certain kind of file(such as word
processing document , a graphic image, or a spreadsheet), you would call up

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whichever program was used to edit that kind of [Link] work on a word processing
document, you need only click on the document itself. The operating system then
determines which application is associated with that file type and loads it, along with
the document .

Although the concept of data-centric computing sounds like it does nothing more
than make things easier for the user, it goes far beyond that. It also facilitates the
embedding of different object types within other objects. A web browser , for
example , can display an HTML document that contains many different object types:
images , sounds, videos, animation, and others. If the web browser does not natively
support the object type , the external program (typically, a “plug-in” for Netscape
browsers or an ActiveX control in Internet Explorer) that is associated with the
object type can be used to display the object within the page. Again , this is
transparent to the user.

After that OLE2.0 and COM and DCOM came to the world of computer era.

17.3 Object Embedding

With this technique, you can insert an object from one application (the server
application) into Another application (the container application). The inserted object
is a copy of the original and can be manipulated and stored separately and apart
from the original object. For example, you can embed a range of cells from an Excel
worksheet in a Word document. To edit the cells , you switch to Excel by double-
clicking the embedded Excel object. If the container application supports in-place
editing, you’ll see the menus of the server application right in the container
application.

17.4 Object Linking

This technique is similar to embedding, except that the embedded data are also
linked to the document form which they come. Changes to the object in the server
application are reflected automatically in the container application. Linking doesn’t
store the object, it makes a reference to the object exposed by the server application.
Each time you open the document that contains the linked object exposed, the
container application contacts the server application, which actually opens the most
up-to-date version of the linked object. Linked objects are not copies. They are the
originals, viewed form within different containers.

17.5 Inserting a OLE Object

An OLE object is an item that is exposed, or made available, by an OLE server

application. OLE server applications expose different types (or Classes) of objects.

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OLE objects are used in container applications. As Figure-17.1 illustrates, Excel ( the
OLE server) can expose a worksheet (the OLE object) that can be inserted as is in a
Word document ( the container application).

Figure 17.1 In word the Excel sheet is inserted

OLE Automation

The method allows you to programmatically manipulate objects exposed by another

application from within your Visual Basic applications. It’s also a standard that
defines how code is shared between applications and how applications can be
controlled form within other applications. For example, when you copy a range of
cells from an Excel spreadsheet onto a Word document, you embed the range of cells.
With OLE Automation, your application can request that Excel perform some
calculations and return the result to Word. For example, you can pass a table to Excel
and request that Excel manipulate the numeric data in ways that are not possible
with Word’s tools and then return the processed data to Word.

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17.6 Creating An Activex Control

The simplest way to create the user interface of an ActiveX control is to use controls
that already exist. This is known as creating from constituent [Link] illustrate
the techniques for creating a control, we are going to create a simple Security
control that allows the user to enter a userID and password. If you handle logins for
your applications, or have to pass user information to a database, you at some time
have had to ask for a userID and password. Typically, you place a couple of labels
and text boxes on a form and do a little bit of text processing. This is a simple enough
task, but wouldn’t it be nice if all you had to do was draw a single control on the
form, then access its properties to get all the needed information? This is what the
Security control does

1. Choose File New Project to open the New Project window

2. Click the ActiveX Control icon. Visual Basic creates a new project that contains a
UserControl, named UserControl1 as shown in Fig-17.2 . This is the control’s
Form on which the visible interface will be built.(Once the project is created, you
will need to set the Name property of the control otherwise your control will go
through life with the generic name User Control1( or 2 and so on).

3. Click the control from the toolbox and place it on the UserControl1.

4. Set the basic properties of the control ( name or the caption property for a label or
command button

Figure 17.2 UserControl1

Using The Activex Control

After you have finished developing and resting your control, you can use the control
in many programs. You can easily use the control in any other VB program that you
write. You can also use the control in any application that supports ActiveX controls.

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These applications include Microsoft Office, other development tools such as FoxPro,
and even Internet applications or web pages that support ActiveX. With this type of
usage available, you can see why the capability to create ActiveX control is such a
powerful feature in VB.

Compiling the control

The first step to being able to use your control in other application is to complete it.
When you compile a control, you are creating an OCX file that can be accessed by
other programs. Compiling your control involves the following steps:

1. Select the project in your project group that contains the control.

2. Select the Make OCX item from Visual Basic’s File menu.

3. From the Make Project dialog box, click the Options button to set any necessary
compilation options.

4. In the Make Project dialog box set the name and path for the OCX file.

5. Click the OK button to start the compilation.

6. When the process is finished, your will have an OCX file that others can use to
access your control.

Working with the Control in Visual Basic

To use your ActiveX control in other Visual Basic programs, you have two options:

• You can use the OCX that contains the control.

• You can add the CTL control definition file to the project.

Using the OCX for the control is the preferred method of accessing the control
unless you are going to modify the control. Even then, you are better off modifying
the original control project and recompiling the control than making modifications
in anew project. To add your OCX control to your Visual Basic toolbox, open the
Components dialog box by pressing Ctrl+T. Then click the Browse button in the
dialog to bring up the Open dialog that allows you to specify the name and path of
the control. When you select the control, it will appear in the Components dialog
and will be marked to be added to your toolbox. After closing the Components
dialog, your control will appear in the Toolbox and will be accessible to the current
project, like any other control.

Using the Control in a Web page

Internet Explorer 3.0 and 4.0, as well as some other Internet programs, are capable of
displaying and using Active X controls. The key to using the control is the use of the

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<object> tag in the HTML code for the web page. The <object> tag specifies the
following information about the control:

• The controls’s ID
• A name for the instance of the control
• The ClassID of the control

This information identifies the control to your web browser and allows the control to
be displayed if the browser supports ActiveX. The Following code shows one
instance of the HTML code needed to embed an ActiveX control in a page:

<object id = “Test1” name = “Test1”

classid = “clsid:21F43727-A8FD-11D1-BCCD-0000C051F6F9”
border = “0”
width= “188” height= “54></object>

Web page designers make it easy to add ActiveX controls to your pages. These
designers handle all the object information for you so you don’t have to remember all
the details about ClassIDs and the other information.

Testing the Active X control

Once you have created the Active X control, you need to test it to make sure that all
the procedures work as you think thy should. You can use all the standard
debugging techniques that are available in VB to debug your control. There are only
a few different steps involved in setting up a test for your ActiveX control.

1. Add a standard project to your development environment to crate a project

group, which is the mechanism used for testing ActiveX controls and servers

2. Close the User Control window of your control project. If the User – Control
(form) window is open, Visual Basic assumes that you are still working on the
design of the control and will not allow you to create an instance of the control
in another form

3. Create an instance of the control on your test form. Then you can test the
properties of the control and write code to test its methods

17.7 short summary

) Object linking and embedding is a technology that enables a Windows

programmer to create an applicatin that can display data from many different

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applications and enables the user to edit that data from within the application
in which it was created.

) The OLE control allows adding objects from other applications and it can have
only one object at a time.

) OLE automation is an industry standard technology that applications use to

expose their OLE objects to development tools, macro languages, and other
applications that support OLE Automation.

17.8 Brain Storm

1. What is OLE automation?

2. Is it possible to create an OLE control using Visual Basic ? State reasons.
3. What is the difference between DDE and OLE.

Lab Unit – 17 ( 2 Real Time Hrs)

1. MDI Form

Open a new project. Add a MDI form along with two forms. Set the child
Property of forms and provide a way (MENU) to access the two forms from the
MDI form.

2. OLE Drag Drop Property

Define two controls that support OLEdragdrop. Set OLEdrag/drop mode to

automatic, drag and drop data from one textbox to another.

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3. Drag and drop Property

Define two containers (picture box, frame) and three controls (command button,
Checkbox, picture box). Set the drag drop mode to automatic. Drag and drop the
controls to different containers. Provide drag icons. Set the Dragover Effect when
a control is dragged over a container.
4. Image List:
Place a Image List on the form and insert some pictures to the Image List Control. Give
appropriate key value from the pictures.

5. Status Bar
Place a status bar control in the MDI FORM. Add panels to the status bar. The status bar
should display the time, date in separate panels. Also display the message in any of the
panels whenever a text is dragged from one text box and Dropped into another text box.
When a new form is opened display its name in any one of the panels of the status bar.

6. Tool Bar:

• Place a toolbar control on the form2. Add buttons to the toolbar as shown below.
Set the Image index for each and every button.

• When the first button is pressed the text in the “Text1” must be displayed in Bold
format

• When the second button is pressed the text in the “Text1” must be displayed in
“Italic” format

• When the third button is pressed the text in the “Text1” must be Underlined

• When a number is selected from the combo1 the font size of the text box must
changed according to the value selected

• When the last button is selected, the form “Form1” must be closed.

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Lecture - 18

ActiveX Controls

Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ About ActiveX Controls

™ Designing ActiveX Controls

™ Compiling ActiveX Controls

™ ActiveX document Migration wizards

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Lecture Unit - 18

18.1 Snap Shot – ActiveX Documents

18.2 Designing and Compiling the ActiveX Controls

18.3 ActiveX Document Migration Wizards

18.4 Short Summary

18.5 Brain Storm

Lab Unit 1 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

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18.1 Snap Shot - ActiveX Documents

ActiveX documents are designed the same way as the Visual Basic Forms are
designed. That is, they can have intrinsic controls and ActiveX controls as the
normal Visual Basic Forms have. They can also show message boxes and secondary
Forms. But, in contrast to the independent appearance of the Visual Basic Forms,
ActiveX documents appear in containers, i.e Internet Browser windows such as
Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, etc. With Internet Explorer 3.0 or later,
ActiveX document can be saved and read by writing to and reading from the
document's data file.

The base object of an ActiveX document is the UserDocument object that resembles a
Standard Visual Basic Form object with some exceptions.

The UserDocument object has most, but not all, of the events that are found on a
Form object. The events present on a Form that are not found on the UserDocument
include:

™ Activate
™ Deactivate
™ Load
™ QueryUnload
™ Unload

Events present on the UserDocument, but not found on a Form object include:

™ EnterFocus
™ ExitFocus
™ Hide
™ InitProperties
™ ReadProperties
™ Scroll
™ Show
™ WriteProperties

Note : ActiveX documents can be packaged in either in-process or out-of-

process components.

Hyperlink Objects

Hyperlink object behaves as a property of UserDocuments. Using the properties and

methods of the Hyperlink object, the ActiveX document can request a hyperlink-

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aware container, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, to jump to an another ActiveX

Document.

This object has three methods:

™ NavigateTo
™ GoBack
™ GoForward

The Navigate to method

This method makes a hyperlink jump to the specified target. For example, the
following code presumes an ActiveX document named "axdMyDoc" exists:

[Link] "c:\mydocs\[Link]"

The above code will cause the appearance of the axdmydoc in the web browser.

Note : Actually ActiveX documents are stored with the extension .dob. But time
being, assume that they are stored with the extension .vbd. Explanation
about this is given shortly.

The GoBack and GoForward methods

When the ActiveX documents are viewed in a Web browser, the browser maintains
the list of viewed documents i.e history of documents. The GoBack and GoForward
methods enable to go backwards or forwards through the list. For example, an
ActiveX document ActXDoc1 is viewed first and an another ActiveX Document
ActXDoc2 is currently being viewed. Issuing GoBack method here will enable to
revisit to the ActXDoc1. Once GoBack method is called, the document from which
the GoBack method is called will be added in the Forward list. Issuing GoFoward
method will enable to revisit to that document - in this case ActXDoc2. However, if
there is no documents in the Backward and Forward list, then issuing either GoBack
or GoForward will cause errors. So error-trapping can be enabled as given in the
following example:

Example:

Private Sub cmdGoForward_Click()

On Error GoTo noDocInHistory

[Link]
--- or ---
[Link]

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Exit Sub

noDocInHistory:
Resume Next
End Sub

18.2 Designing And Compiling ActiveX Document

This section creates an ActiveX Document project called ActXDoc by demonstrating

how to:

™ Add User Documents

™ Add Forms
™ Use hyperlink object
™ Add menus to the User Document

To create ActXDoc project

™ Choose File | New Project to open the New Project dialog box.

™ Double-click the ActiveX Document Dll icon. This will create an

ActiveX Document with default User Document named
UserDocument1.

ActiveX Document Dll Icon

Note : The ActiveX Document Dll project type will package the ActiveX
documents as in-process component. To package it as out-of-process
component use ActiveX Document EXE project type.

™ Choose Project | Add User Document to add a second User Document.

™ Repeat the above step to add third User Document.
™ Name them ActXDoc1, ActXDoc2 and ActXDoc3 respectively.
™ Choose Project | Add Form to add a Form and name it as frmAddress.
™ Create objects and set their properties in the User Document ActXDoc1 as
given below:

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Object Property Value

Label Caption “ActiveX Document 1
(ActXDoc1)”
Command Button Name cmdNavigateTo
Caption “Navigate To”
Text Box Name txtAddress
Text “”
Command Button Name cmdShowForm
Caption “Show Form”

The designed ActXDoc1 should resemble the Figure 18.1.

Figure 18.1 Designed ActXDoc1 User Document.

The text box in the ActXDoc1 will accept a name of a User Document with full path
such as ..\ActXDoc\[Link]. Clicking Navigate To button will cause a jump
to the document specified in the text box. Clicking the Show Form will display the
frmAddress Form, which will also accept address to Jump To. When the Form is
closed, the address in the txtAddress text box will be replaced by the address entered
in the text box of the Form frmAddress.

Of course the Form frmAddress is not necessary. For demonstration purpose

it is included. The Show Form button contains the following line to active the
Form frmAddress.

[Link] vbModal

It is necessary to activate the Form in modal mode. Because some web browsers
such as Internet Explorer, don't support the showing of modeless forms called from
within a DLL. However, if the documents are compiled as out-of-process component,
Internet Explorer is capable of showing both modal and modeless forms.

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Note: A project started as ActiveX DLL can be converted to ActiveX EXE and
can be packaged as out-of-process component by simply changing the
Project type from ActiveX DLL to ActiveX EXE in the Project Properties
window.

™ Create objects and set their properties in the Form frmAddress as given
below:

Object Property Value

Form Caption “Address Form”
Border Style Fixed Single
Control Box False
Label Caption “Comfortable Text
box to enter the
address to Navigate To”
Textbox Name txtcomAddress
Command Button Name cmdClose
Caption Close
The designed Form should resemble the Figure 18.2.

Figure 18.2 Designed frmAddress Form.

The reason to change the Control Box property of the frmAddress Form is
that the Form can be closed only by clicking the Close button. The Close
button’s click event procedure has the following line:

[Link]
That is, the Close button simply hides the Form from the vision. It doesn’t
unload it from the memory so that the ActXDoc1 can replace the text of the
txtAddress text box with the newly entered text in the text box of the Form
using the following line.

[Link] = [Link]

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If the Form is closed through the control box, then it will be removed from the
memory and the ActXDoc1 can’t access the text entered in the txtcomAddress
text box. So only, the Control Box property is set to False.

™ Create objects and set their properties in the User Document ActXDoc2 as
given below:

Object Property Value

Label Caption “ActiveX Document 2
(ActXDoc2)”
Command Button Name cmdGoBack
Caption “Go Back”
Command Button Name cmdGoForward
Caption “Go Forward”
Command Button Name cmdGoNext
Caption “Go Next”
The designed ActXDoc2 should resemble the Figure 18.3.

Figure 18.3 Designed ActXDoc2 User Document.

Clicking Go Back button will enable to revisit to the previously visited Document,
say ActXDoc1. Clicking the Go Next button will display the next document i.e.,
ActXDoc3. If the ActXDoc2 is visited using Go Back from another document, then
alone clicking Go Forward will display that document. Otherwise it won’t work.

™ Create objects and set their properties in the User Document ActXDoc3 as given
in the following:

Object Property Value

Label Caption “ActiveX
Document 3 (ActXDoc3)”
Label Caption “Your Name Please”
Textbox Name txtName
Text “”

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Command Button Name cmdGoBack

Caption “Go Back”
The designed ActXDoc3 should resemble the Figure 18.4.

Figure 18.4 Designed ActXDoc3 User Document.

If user enters his name in the Name text box when this document appears in the Web
browser, visits to some other document and again revisits to this document, the
value entered by him won’t appear. There should be some mechanism to store the
values entered by him. For that, this document declares a private variable m_Name
and defines Property Get/Let procedures as in the following:

‘ Declaring local copy to store the value entered in the

‘ Name text box

Private m_Name As String

‘ Returning the value of the local copy

Public Property Get Name() As String
Name = m_Name
End Property

‘ Setting new value for the local copy

Public Property Let Name(ByVal NewValue As String)
m_Name = NewValue
End Property

The Name text box change event procedure has the PropertyChanged statement as in
below:

Private Sub txtName_Change()

PropertyChanged
End Sub

This causes the Web Browser to prompt the user to save changes. If the user
responds positively, the code writes the property value to the PropertyBag using
WriteProperties event, whose code is given below.

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Private Sub UserDocument_WriteProperties(PropBag As_ PropertyBag)

[Link] "Name", [Link], ""
End Sub

The WriteProperties behaves in the same manner as it behaved in ActiveX

Controls. The only difference is that it writes values in the .frm files when it is
used for ActiveX controls, and here it will write the values in the .vbd file.
When this document is revisited the ReadProperties event will occur to read
from property bag and to display them. Here is the code of ReadProperties
event for this User Document.

Private Sub UserDocument_ReadProperties(PropBag As_ PropertyBag)

[Link] = [Link]("Name", "")
End Sub

™ Add the following code to the frmAddress form.

Private Sub cmdClose_Click()

[Link]
End Sub

™ Add the following code to the ActXDoc1 User Document.

Option Explicit
Private Sub cmdNavigate_Click()

On Error GoTo InvalidAddress ' Enabling Error Handler

' Navigating to the sepcified document
[Link] [Link]
Exit Sub

InvalidAddress:

MsgBox "Invalid Address - Try again with a valid_

address"
Resume Next
End Sub

Private Sub cmdShowFrm_Click()

' Assigning the text of txtAddress to the text

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' box of the Form frmAddress

[Link] = [Link]

' Displaying the Form in Modal type

[Link] vbModal
' Replacing the text of txtAddress with the newly
' entered Address in the text box of the Form
[Link] = [Link]

End Sub
™ Add the following code to the ActXDoc2 User Document.

Option Explicit
Private Sub cmdGoBack_Click()
On Error GoTo noDocInHistory

' Going Backward

[Link]
Exit Sub

noDocInHistory:

MsgBox "No document in History - Can't go back"

Resume Next

End Sub

Private Sub cmdGoForward_Click()

On Error GoTo noDocInHistory
' Going Forward
[Link]
Exit Sub

noDocInHistory:
MsgBox "No document in History - Can't go Forward"
Resume Next

End Sub
Private Sub cmdGoNext_Click()
'Jumping to the ActXDoc3
Hyperlink.NavigateTo_
"C:\Raguram\VBasic\ActXDoc\[Link]"

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End Sub

™ Add the following code to the ActXDoc3 User Document

Option Explicit

' Declaring local for the Name property

Private m_Name As String

Private Sub cmdGoBack_Click()

On Error GoTo noDocInHistory

' Going Backward

[Link]
Exit Sub

noDocInHistory:

MsgBox "No document in History - Can't go Back"

Resume Next

End Sub

Private Sub txtName_Change()

' Indicating that property value is changed

PropertyChanged
End Sub

Private Sub UserDocument_ReadProperties(PropBag As_

PropertyBag)

' Reading the Name property from the PropertyBag

' And assigning it to the txtName text box
[Link] = [Link]("Name", "")
End Sub

Private Sub UserDocument_WriteProperties(PropBag As_

PropertyBag)
' Writing the value of the txtName text box for the

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' Name property throgh proeprty bag

[Link] "Name", [Link], ""
End Sub

' Property Get / Let Procedures for Name Property

Public Property Get Name() As String

Name = m_Name
End Property

Public Property Let Name(ByVal NewValue As String)

m_Name = NewValue
End Property

™ Choose File | Save Project to save the project files. Name them as given
below. Visual Basic will provide the indicated extensions automatically. (Save
them in a separate folder, say ActXDoc).

File File Name Extension

ActXDoc1 ActXDoc1 .dob

ActXDoc2 ActXDoc2 .dob
ActXDoc3 ActXDoc3 .dob
frmAddress frmAddress .frm
Project ActXDoc .prj

™ Choose File | Make [Link] to build the ActiveX Document as in-

process component.

Compiling your Documents

After you have finished testing and debugging your document, you are ready to
compile the document for distribution. To start the compilation process, select the
Make [Link] menu option form the File menu of VB. This will then open the
Make project dialog box, prompting you to supply a name and location for the EXE
or DLL file. The name of the .vbd file is based on the Name property of the
UserDocument object. This file is placed in the same folder that you specified for the
EXE file. After you have compiled the ActiveX Document, you can view it in any
container program that handles ActiveX documents. Internet Explorer and Office
Binder are two such programs. At the time this book is being written, Netscape
Navigator 4.0 does not support ActiveX documents. It is already mentioned that
ActiveX Documents can be built as either in-process or out-of-process component. In

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both cases, when the project is compiled, in addition to creating an .exe. or a .dll file,
Visual Basic creates a Visual Basic Document file (Figure 18.5), which has the
extension .vbd and it is placed in the same directory as the compiled component (.exe
or .dll).

The .vbd file is actually an OLE structured storage — this basically means that data
in the file can be accessed and manipulated via standard OLE interfaces. The Internet
Explorer uses this interface. So only instead of specifying .dob files .vbd files are
mentioned while calling the NavigateTo method of hyperlink object to open another
document.

Figure 18.5 Compiling User Documents produces .exe (or .dll) and .vbd files.

18.3 ActiveX Document Migration Wizard

The ActiveX Document Migration Wizard must be available to the Visual

Basic IDE. If you have not already done so, you can make the Wizard
available by selecting it from the Add-In Manager dialog box, which is
accessible by choosing the Add-In Manager Item from the Add-In menu.
After you have added the Wizard to your desktop, you can run it by choosing
the ActiveX Document Migration Wizard item from the add-Ins menu.

To begin the conversion process, the project whose forms you want to convert must
be open. After you have opened the project, launch the ActiveX Document Migration
Wizard. At this point you will be presented with a series of screens that will guide
you through the conversion process. The first of these screens is introductory only, so
click the Next button to continue.

The second screen of the Wizard, shown in Fig 18.6 includes a list box from which
you can select the forms that you would like to convert. Any forms that have been

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defined for this project will be displayed in this list box. To select forms, simply click
in the check box next to the name of the form. When you have made all your
selections, click the Next button to continue.

Figure 18.6 - You can select multiple forms in the list box

The Options page of the ActiveX Document Migration Wizard, shown in Figure 18.7
, lets you control how the Wizard will process the forms your have selected. The
three options enable you to do the

following:

Figure 18.7– Select the options that are appropriate to your needs

• Choose to comment out invalid code. This option will comment out statements
such as Load,Unload,or End that are not supported by ActiveX documents.
• Remove original forms after conversion. This option will remove the forms from
the current project after the conversion is made. Typically, you will not want to
check this option because you will want your original project intact.
• Choose whether to convert your project to an ActiveX EXE or ActiveX DLL
project. The option defaults to ActiveX EXE. (ActiveX DLL are used for creating
shared components rather than applications)

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After making your choices, click the Next button to continue. The last page of the
Wizard allows you to view a summary report that describes the Wizard’s actions.
After making your selection, click the Finish button to begin the conversion. The
summary report is a valuable development tool because it provides you with
information regarding the steps you need to complete. Figure 18.8 shows the
summary report.

Figure 18.8 – The ActiveX Document Migratipn Wizard uses a summary

report
Viewing the Wizard’s work

When the Active X Document Migration Wizard has finished its work, it places the
newly created UserDocument objects in the same project as the original forms. The
document source files are stored in the same folder as the original form files and are
given similar names, with the appropriate extension. For example, a form stored in
the file [Link] creates a UserDocument stored in the file [Link]. As
previously stated, the controls of the form are copied to the UserDocument and their
relative positions are preserved.

Also, as stated previously, most of the code from your original form is copied over to
the UserDocument. Invalid code is commented out and identified by the ActiveX
Document Migration Wizard.(This assumes that you choose to comment out invalid
code on the Option page of the Wizard.)

18.4 Short Summary

) Visual Basic can be used to compile class based projects as ActiveX

components.
) The servers can be implemented as ActiveX DLL or ActiveX EXE
components. The difference between the two is how the server is executed.
) ActiveX components are Objects Servers, designed to be used with other
application.
) There are three major steps involved in developing an ActiveXExe.

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To create the ActiveX EXE component.

To compile this component and register.
To test the component with our client test application.

18.5 Brain Storm

1. What are the uses of ActiveX components. Explain the areas in which it is
using.

Lab Units - 18 (2 Real Time Hrs)

1. Open a new project in Visual Basic and select the ActiveX documentEXE
2. Click the UserDocument1 in the Project window and name it as travreq

3. Design the form as shown below

4. On Clicking the Print button this form must be printed.

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Lecture - 19

Data Project

Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ About Data project environment

™ About Creating Data Report

™ About registry

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Lecture Unit - 19

19.1 Data Project Environment – snap shot

19.2 Creating a Data Project

19.3 Dragging and Dropping

19.4 Registry

19.5 API Registry

19.6 Short Summary

19.7 Brain Storm

Lab Unit 18 ( 2 Real Time Hours)

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19.1 Data Project Environment – snap shot

In Microsoft Visual Basic, database projects are not used. You can use the Data
Project template to create a new project, which adds default controls and objects,
including the data environment. To use the Visual Database Tools in Visual Basic,
you can either add a data connection to the data environment, or make a data
connection directly from the Data View window. Also, in Visual Basic, all data
connections are made through OLE DB, although you can still use ODBC data source
names (DSNs) to define your connections.

In Microsoft Visual Basic you can either add a data connection to the data
environment, or make a data connection directly from the Data View window. In
Visual Basic, all data connections are made through OLE DB, although you can still
use ODBC data source names (DSNs) to define your connections.

19.2 Creating a Data Project

To see the new visual database tools in action, start a new project, and in the Project
type dialog box, select Data Project.A Data project is not a special project type. It’s
basically a Standard EXE project, but Visual Basic loads all the database tools into the
project’s Toolbox.

In the Project Explorer window, Visual Basic display a new form, as usual, and two
ActiveX Designers. A Designer is a special add –in that simplifies the design of
components. Database applications rely on two basic components:

• One or more Data Environment components(s)

• One or more DataRepot component(s)

The DataEnvironment components lets you design a connection to a database and

retrieve the desired records. The DataReport component lets you design reports and
use them from within your applications. Both components are based on visual
database tools, and they don’t require programming. Of course, you can’t go far
without programming, but the programming model

The Data project’s Toolbox also contains a number of ActiveX controls:

• The ADODC (ADO Data control), which is equivalent to the Data control
• The DataList and DataCombo controls, which are data-bound versions of the
ListBox and ComboBox contorls; they work with the ADO Data control (but
not with the Data control)

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• The MSHFlexGrid control, which is a hierarchical Grid control that also

works with the ADO Data control. The MSHFlexGrid is very similar to the
MSFlex Grid Control, but it’s meant be populated automatically by the
DataEnvironment Designer.

To access a database with ADO ( or any other data tool), you need two types of
objects:

• One or more Connection objects

• One or more Command objects

The Connection object connects your application to a database, and the

Command object retrieves records from the database. The command object
can also update the database, but I won’t discuss this topic in much detail
here. As you will see, the Command Object accepts a SQL statement and
executes it against the database. If it’s a query statement, the Command object
returns a RecordSet with the matching records. If it’s an action query, the
Command object executes it against the database, where one or more records
will be updated( optionally, the Command object can return the records that
were affected by the query).

Another just as common and just as important operation in database application

design is the generation of reports. Retrieving the required data from the database is
not difficult, but printing the report over multiple pages with running totals is quite
a task. Most developers use third-party tools to generate reports, especially since
printing them on different printers is a real challenge. The DataReport Designer
allows your to create the outline a report with point-and-click operations. You first
specify the data to be included in the report with the DataEnvironment object, which
works in tandem with the DataReport ActiveX Designer to allow you to implement
advanced database operations (queries and reports) without any programming.

19.3 Dragging and Dropping

A combination of features that allows the user to drag an item and drop it into
another item using the mouse. An item can be a source (the item the user drags) or a
target (the item on which the user drops a source).

A feature that enables you to drag one object onto another to perform an action. To
drag an object, click the object and, while holding down the mouse button, move it to
the new location. When you are satisfied with the location, release the mouse button
to drop the object.

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When you design Visual Basic applications, you often drag controls around on the
form. The drag-and-drop features in Visual Basic allow you to extend this ability to
the user at run time. The action of holding a mouse button down and moving a
control is called dragging, and the action of releasing the button is called dropping.

Note Dragging a control at run time doesn't automatically change its location
— you must program the relocation yourself, as described in "Changing
the Position of a Control." Often, dragging is used only to indicate that
some action should be performed; the control retains its original position
after the user releases the mouse button.

Using the following drag-and-drop properties, events, and method, you can specify
both the meaning of a drag operation and how dragging can be initiated (if at all) for
a given control.

CategoryItemDescriptionPropertiesDragModeEnables automatic or manual

dragging of a [Link] what icon is displayed when the control is
[Link] when a control is dropped onto the
[Link] when a control is dragged over the
[Link] or stops manual dragging.

All controls except menus, timers, lines, and shapes support the DragMode and
DragIcon properties and the Drag method. Forms recognize the DragDrop and
DragOver events, but they don't support the DragMode and DragIcon properties or
the Drag method.

Note : Controls can only be dragged when they do not have the focus. To prevent
a control from getting the focus, set its TabStop property to False.
19.4 Registry

A central hierarchical database used to store information necessary to configure the

system for applications and hardware devices. The registry contains information —
such as the applications installed on the computer and the types of documents each
can create, property sheet settings for folders and application icons, what hardware
exists on the system, and which ports are being used — which the operating system
continually references during operation.

A database maintained by Windows that stores configuration information about the

operating system, all Windows applications, ActiveX, OLE, and optional components
such as ODBC. For example, the registry is where Windows stores the associations
between file name extensions and applications, and where Visual FoxPro stores its
application-specific configuration information.

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Registry Properties

Registry Object Properties Collections

PropertyDescription
Application
Application
Write: NoThe Application [Link]
Boolean
Write: YesDetermines if license logging is started automatically when SQL Server
starts. If True, licensing is started automatically when SQL Server starts. If False,
licensing must be started [Link]
Boolean
Write: YesDetermines if Mail is started when SQL Server starts. If True, Mail is
started automatically when SQL Server starts. If False, Mail must be started
[Link]
Boolean
Write: YesDetermines if SQL Server is started when Windows NT starts. If True, SQL
Server is started automatically when Windows NT starts. If False, SQL Server must
be started [Link]
Boolean
Write: NoIndicates if SQL Server is case-sensitive. If True, SQL Server is using a case-
sensitive sort order. If False, SQL Server is using a case-insensitive sort
[Link]
String
Write: NoDescription of the character set and code page used by SQL
[Link]
String
Write: YesThe full path and file name of the SQL Server error [Link]
String
Write: YesThe Mail account [Link]
String
Write: YesThe password for the Mail account specified by the MailAccountName
[Link]
String
Write: YesThe full path and file name of the database device that contains the
MASTER [Link]
Boolean
Write: NoIndicates if Windows NT event logging is enabled. If True, SQL Server
sends all events to the Windows NT event log as well as the SQL Server error log. If
False, SQL Server sends events only to the SQL Server error
[Link]
Long

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Write: NoThe number of processors on the SQL Server [Link]

SQLServer
Write: NoThe SQLServer [Link]
SQLOLE_PERFMON_TYPE
Write: YesThe mode of the performance [Link]
Long
Write: NoThe total physical memory in megabytes on the SQL Server
[Link]
String
Write: NoThe name of the organization provided when SQL Server was installed.
RegisteredOwner
String
Write: NoThe name of the owner provided when SQL Server was [Link]
String
Write: NoDescription of the sort order used by SQL [Link]
String
Write: YesThe full path where SQL Server was [Link]
Long
Write: YesThe number of minutes SQL Server will wait when trying to read a tape
that has not been loaded in the drive. A value of -1 means no wait timeout; SQL
Server will not sop waiting. A value of 0 means SQL Server will only try once to
access a tape in the drive.. TypeOf
SQLOLE_OBJECT_TYPE
Write: NoThe type of [Link]
Long
Write: YesTemporary storage space contained in this object for private use by the
application. SQL-DMO does not use this property.

19.5 API Registry

Before diving into using API procedures this section discusses the fundamental
elements of API procedures.

API procedures are contained in DLLs. So applications can link and use them at run
time rather than to link statically at compile time. This means that the libraries can be
updated independently of the application, and many applications can share a single
DLL. Microsoft Windows itself is comprised of DLLs, and other applications call the
procedures within these libraries to display windows and graphics, manage
memory, or perform other tasks.

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The four functional categories of the Windows API procedures (as these procedures
are used in Windows 32 bit environment, they can be abbreviated as Win32 API) are
as follows:

™ Windows Management (User)

™ Graphics Device Interface (GDI)
™ System Services
™ Multimedia

Windows Management provides essential procedures to build and manage

applications. All the basic input and output of the system goes through this layer of
the Win32 API, including mouse and keyboard input and all processing of message
sent to the application.

Graphics Device Interface provides procedures to manage graphical devices such as

monitor and printer etc. This interface also provides the procedures to define fonts,
pens, and brushes, and for line and circle operations.

System Services provides procedures to access the resources of the computer such as
disk, and the operating system.

Multimedia provides procedures to play waveform audio, MIDI music, and digital video.

Accessing the Microsoft Windows API

You can gain access to the Windows API (or other outside DLLs) by declaring the
external procedures within your Visual Basic application. After you declare a
procedure, you can use it like any other language feature in the product.

The most commonly used set of external procedures are those that make up
Microsoft Windows itself. The Windows API contains thousands of functions, subs,
types, and constants that you can declare and use in your projects. These procedures
are written in the C language, however, so they must be declared before you can use
them with Visual Basic. The declarations for DLL procedures can become fairly
complex. While you can translate these yourself, the easiest way to access the
Windows API is by using the predefined declares included with Visual Basic.

The file [Link], located in the \Winapi subdirectory of the main Visual Basic
directory, contains declarations for many of the Windows API procedures commonly
used in Visual Basic. To use a function, type, or other feature from this file, simply
copy it to your Visual Basic module. You can view and copy procedures from

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[Link] by using the API Viewer application, or by loading the file in any text
editor.

Note The Windows API contains a vast amount of code. To find reference
information on the procedures and other details included in this API set, refer to the
Win32 SDK, included on the Microsoft Developer Network Library CD.

Using the API Viewer Application

The API Viewer application enables you to browse through the declares, constants,
and types included in any text file or Microsoft Jet database. After you find the
procedure you want, you can copy the code to the Clipboard and paste it into your
Visual Basic application. You can add as many procedures as you want to your
application.
The API Viewer application
To view an API file

1. From the Add-Ins menu, open the Add-In Manager and load API Viewer.
2. Click API Viewer from the Add-Ins menu.
3. Open the text or database file you want to view.

• To load a text file into the viewer, click File \ Load Text File and choose the
file you want to view.
• To load a database file, click File \ Load Database File.

4. Select the type of item you want to view from the API Types list.

Note You can have the API Viewer automatically display the last file you viewed in
it, when it is opened, by selecting View \ Load Last File.

To add procedures to your Visual Basic code

1. Click the procedure you want to copy in the Available Items list.
2. Click Add. The item appears in the Selected Items list.
3. Indicate the scope of the item by clicking Public or Private in the Declare Scope
group.
4. To remove an entry from the Selected Items list box, click the item and click
Remove.
5. To remove all entries from the Selected Items list box, click Clear.

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To copy the selected items to the clipboard

1. Click Copy. All of the items in the Selected Items list will be copied.
2. Open your Visual Basic project and go to the module in which you want to place
the API information.
3. Position the insertion point where you want to paste the declarations, constants,
and/or types, and then choose Edit \ Paste.

Converting Text Files to Jet Database Files

To optimize speed, you can convert the [Link] file into a Jet database file,
because it is much faster to display the list when opening a database than when
opening a text file.
To convert a text file to a jet database file
1. Start the API Viewer application.
2. Click File \ Load Text File and open the .txt file you want to convert.
3. Click File \ Convert Text to Database.
4. Choose the file name and location for your database file, then click OK.

Loading an API File Automatically from the Command Line

You can specify a text or database file on the command line for [Link] so that
the file is automatically loaded when you start API Viewer. Use the following syntax
to load the file you choose when you start the API Viewer application:

[Link] {/T|/D} filename

ArgumentDescription/TAPI Viewer will load the file as a text file. /T must be

uppercase./DAPI Viewer will load the file as a database file. /D must be
[Link] path of the file you want to open.

There must be a space between /T or /D and the filename argument. An error

message will be displayed if the file is not found. If you specify a file that is not a
database or text file, an error message will be displayed when you try to load the file.

Tip You can view a prompt that shows the parameters of the command line syntax
by using a DOS window to navigate to the directory in which the API viewer
application is installed, then typing apiload /?.

Viewing the [Link] file with a Text Editor

You can also load the [Link] file in a text editor, such as Microsoft Word or
WordPad, to locate the procedures you want to use. Again, you just copy the
procedures from the file to a Visual Basic module to use them in your application.

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Tip Don't load the [Link] file into a module. This is a large file, and it will
consume a lot of memory in your application. You will generally use only a handful
of declarations in your code, so selectively copying the declarations you need is
much more efficient.

Using Procedures from Other Sources

If you are attempting to call a procedure in a DLL that is not part of the operating
system, you must determine the proper declaration for it. The topic "Declaring a DLL
Procedure" explains the syntax of the Declare statement in detail.

Note If you use Visual C++ (or a similar tool) to create DLLs that will be called by
Visual Basic, use the __stdcall calling convention. Do not use the default calling
convention (_cdecl).

19.5 Short Summary

) In Visual Basic, all data connections are made through OLE DB, although you
can still use ODBC data source names (DSNs) to define your connections
) Dragging a control at run time doesn’t automatically change its location –--
you must program the relocation yourself, as described in “Changing the
position of a control”. Often,
) Dragging is used only to indicate that some action should be performed; the
control retains its original position after the user releases the mouse button.
) Note You can have the API Viewer automatically display the last file you
viewed in it, when it is opened, by selecting View \ Load Last File.
) Controls can only be dragged when they do not have the focus. To prevent a
control from getting the focus, set its TabStop property to False.
) By specifying a text or database file on the command line for [Link] so
that the file is automatically loaded when you start API Viewer.

19.6 Brain Storm

1. What is a data report? What are the advantages of Data Report?
2. What is a Registry?
3. What are the advantages of API Registry?

Lab Unit - 19 ( 2 Real Time Hrs)

Create a Data Project using NWIND ( which is in the VB98 folder) database

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Lecture - 20

Dynamic Link Library

Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ About Dynamic link library

™ About Calling Convention

™ About Microsoft Transaction Server

™ Registering VB DLL with MTS

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Lecture Unit - 20

20.1 Snap Shot - DLL

20.2 DLL calling convention

20.3 Understanding DLL Calling Convention

20.4 MicroSoft Transaction Server

20.5 Introduction to MTS

20.6 Three Tired Computing

20.7 Registring VB DLL with Transaction Server.

20.8 Short Summary

20.9 Brain Storm

Lab unit 20 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

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20.1 Snap Shot - DLL

Dynamic-link libraries (DLL) are modules that contain functions and data. A DLL is
loaded at runtime by its calling modules (.EXE or DLL). When a DLL is loaded, it is
mapped into the address space of the calling process. (DLL) A file with the file name
extension .dll that contains one or more functions compiled, linked, and stored
separately from the computing processes that use them.

DLLs can define two kinds of functions: exported and internal. The exported
functions can be called by other modules. Internal functions can only be called from
within the DLL where they are defined. Although DLLs can export data, its data is
usually only used by its functions.

DLLs provide a way to modularize applications so that functionality can be updated

and reused more easily. They also help reduce memory overhead when several
applications use the same functionality at the same time, because although each
application gets its own copy of the data, they can share the code.

The Microsoft® Win32® application programming interface (API) is implemented as

a set of dynamic-link libraries, so any process that uses the Win32 API uses dynamic
linking.

A Windows term for a set of routines that can be called from procedures and are
loaded and linked into your application at run time. DLLs include utility routines or
specific functions not intrinsic to Microsoft Windows. _DLLDefined when /MD or
/MDd (Multithread DLL) is specified. /MD, /ML, /MT, /LD (Use Run-Time
Library)

With these options, you can select either single-threaded or multithreaded run-time
routines, indicate that a multithreaded module is a dynamic-link library (DLL), and
select the retail or debug version of the library.

Note : Having more than one copy of the run-time libraries in a process can cause
problems, because static data in one copy is not shared with the other copy. To
ensure that your process contains only one copy, avoid mixing static and dynamic
versions of the run-time libraries. The linker will prevent you from linking with
both static and dynamic versions within one .EXE file, but you can still end up
with two (or more) copies of the run-time libraries. For example, a dynamic-link
library linked with the static (non-DLL) versions of the run-time libraries can cause
problems when used with an .EXE file that was linked with the dynamic (DLL)
version of the run-time libraries. (You should also avoid mixing the debug and
non-debug versions of the libraries in one process.)

Command LineProject SettingsDescription/MDMultithreaded DLLDefines _MT and

_DLL so that both multithread- and DLL-specific versions of the run-time routines

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are selected from the standard .H files. This option also causes the compiler to place
the library name [Link] into the .OBJ file.

Applications compiled with this option are statically linked to [Link]. This
library provides a layer of code that allows the linker to resolve external references.
The actual working code is contained in [Link], which must be available at
run time to applications linked

with [Link]./MDdDebug Multithreaded DLL Defines _DEBUG, _MT, and

_DLL so that debug multithread- and DLL-specific versions of the run-time routines
are selected from the standard .H files. It also causes the compiler to place the library
name [Link] into the .OBJ file. /MLSingle-Threaded Causes the compiler to
place the library name [Link] into the .OBJ file so that the linker will use [Link]
to resolve external symbols. This is the compiler’s default action. [Link] does not
provide multithread support. /MLdDebug Single-Threaded Defines _DEBUG and
causes the compiler to place the library name [Link] into the .OBJ file so that the
linker will use [Link] to resolve external symbols. [Link] does not provide
multithread support. /MTMultithreaded Defines _MT so that multithread-specific
versions of the run-time routines are selected from the standard header (.H) files.
This option also causes the compiler to place the library name [Link] into the
.OBJ file so that the linker will use [Link] to resolve external symbols. Either
/MT or /MD (or their debug equivalents /MTd or /MDd) is required to create
multithreaded programs. /MTdDebug Multithreaded Defines _DEBUG and _MT.
Defining _MT causes multithread-specific versions of the run-time routines to be
selected from the standard .H files. This option also causes the compiler to place the
library name [Link] into the .OBJ file so that the linker will use
[Link] to resolve external symbols. Either /MTd or /MDd (or their non-
debug equivalents /MT or MD) is required to create multithreaded programs.
/LDNot applicableCreates a [Link] the /DLL option to the linker. The linker
looks for, but does not require, a DllMain function. If you do not write a DllMain
function, the linker inserts a DllMain function that returns TRUE.

Links the DLL startup code.

Creates an import library (.LIB), if an export (.EXP) file is not specified on the
command line; you link the import library to applications that call your DLL.
Interprets /Fe as naming a DLL rather than an .EXE file; the default program name
becomes [Link] instead of [Link].

Changes default run-time library support to /MT if you have not explicitly specified
one of the /M options/LDdNot applicableCreates a debug DLL. Defines _DEBUG.

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The debug options select the debug versions of the library or DLL and define
_DEBUG. For more information on using the debug versions, see C Run-Time Debug
Libraries.

The Advantages of Using DLLs

Dynamic linking has the following advantages:

• Saves memory and reduces swapping. Many processes can use a single DLL
simultaneously, sharing a single copy of the DLL in memory. In contrast,
Windows must load a copy of the library code into memory for each application
that is built with a static link library.

• Saves disk space. Many applications can share a single copy of the DLL on disk.
In contrast, each application built with a static link library has the library code
linked into its executable image as a separate copy.

• Upgrades to the DLL are easier. When the functions in a DLL change, the
applications that use them do not need to be recompiled or relinked as long as
the functions' arguments and return values do not change. In contrast, statically
linked object code requires that the application be relinked when the functions
change.

• Provides after-market support. For example, a display driver DLL can be

modified to support a display that was not available when the application was
shipped.

• Supports multi-language programs. Programs written in different programming

languages can call the same DLL function as long as the programs follow the
function's calling convention The programs and the DLL function must be
compatible in the following ways: the order in which the function expects its
arguments to be pushed onto the stack, whether the function or the application is
responsible for cleaning up the stack, and whether any arguments are passed in
registers.

• Provides a mechanism to extend the MFC library classes. You can derive classes
from the existing MFC classes and place them in an MFC extension DLL for use
by MFC applications.

• Eases the creation of international versions. By placing resources in a DLL, it is

much easier to create international versions of an application. You can place the

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strings for each language version of your application in a separate resource DLL,
and have the different language versions load the appropriate resources.

A potential disadvantage to using DLLs is that the application is not self-contained; it

depends on the existence of a separate DLL module.

20.2 DLL Calling Convention

After the function is declared, it can be called just as a standard Visual Basic
function. Here, the statement to call SetWindowText is attached the Form
Load event:

Private Sub Form_Load()

SetWindowText [Link], "Extending Visual Basic"
End Sub

When this code is run, the function first uses the hWnd property to identify
the window whose caption is to be changed ([Link]), then changes the
text of that caption to "Extending Visual Basic "

Note : Visual Basic can’t verify the arguments that are passed to a DLL procedure.
If incorrect values are passed, the procedure may fail, which may cause
Visual Basic application to stop. So, care should be taken while
experimenting with DLL procedures.

20.3 Understanding DLL Calling Convention

The only difference between Visual Basic procedures and the Win32 API procedures
is that API procedures must be declared before they can be used. Because the Win32
API procedures (DLL procedures) reside in files that are external to Visual Basic
application they can’t be used without specifying their locations (DLL file name) and
their required arguments. The Win32 API procedures are contained mainly in three
Windows DLLs. They are:

Library Description
™ [Link] Library for user interface routines.

™ [Link] Library for system services.

™ [Link] Library for graphics device interfaces.

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Once the Win32 API procedures are declared they can be used just like a native
Visual Basic procedure.

Declaring a DLL Procedure

Declare statement is used to declare a Win32 API function or procedure.

Syntax

If a procedure returns a value

Declare Function publicname Lib "libname" [Alias "alias"] [([[ByVal] variable [As type]
[,[ByVal] variable [As type]]...])] As Type

If a procedure does not return a value

Declare Sub publicname Lib "libname" [Alias "alias"] [([[ByVal] variable [As type]
[,[ByVal] variable [As type]]...])]

Note : DLL procedures declared in standard modules are public by default

and can be called from anywhere in application. DLL procedures
declared in any other type of module are private to that module and
when they are declared they must be proceeded with Private keyword.

Example

The following declare statement shows how to declare SetWindowText

function in a form module.

Private Declare Function SetWindowText Lib "user32" Alias_ "SetWindowTextA"

(ByVal hwnd As Long, _ByVal lpString As String) As Long

The function SetWindowText, changes the caption on a form. Of course the

form’s caption can simply be changed using its caption property. No need to
declare and then to call the function SetWindowText to change the form’s
caption. But the purpose of using SetWindowText funciton is to demonstrate
how to declare and call an API function.

The Lib clause in the declaration statement specifies the name of the .dll file
that contains the function (In the above statement the .dll file name is USER32

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that contains the SetWindowText function). And the function SetWindowText

expects two arguments hwnd and lpString. The hwnd argument denotes the
handle of a window (here window is a Form) and lpString specifies the text
that to be set as caption of the window.

The function SetWindoText is declared with an alias SetWidowTextA. The

alias is the function that actually resides in the [Link]. The function call
SetWindowText is the function call inside Visual Basic.

You can extend the native capabilities of Visual Basic by taking advantage of the
facilities of ActiveX controls (.ocx files), ActiveX objects, and dynamic-link libraries
(DLLs). External libraries allow you to access not only the capabilities of other
programs, but of Windows itself.

For example, you can use an ActiveX control to read and update the Windows
registry directly, or it can call system-level functions by linking to one of the DLLs in
Windows.

If the functionality you need isn't already available in an external library, you can
create your own ActiveX control with the Microsoft Visual Basic® Control Creation
Edition version 5.0.

If the functionality you require is available in a DLL, you can link to the library and
call its functions. Before calling a DLL function, you must determine its calling
protocol, including the name of the function, the number and data types of its
parameters, and the data type of its return value.

20.4 Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS)

A component-based transaction processing system for developing, deploying,

and managing server applications. MTS defines a programming model for
developing distributed, component-based applications. It also provides a run-
time infrastructure and a graphical tool for deploying and managing these
applications. There has been an evolution of the way multiuser transaction-
based applications are developed. First came mainframes : Users with dumb
terminals posted transactions directly to the database. Figure show s the
history of multiuser transaction applications.

Next came client/server. Client/server allowed users to work with intelligent

machines (PCs). Work was broken down into two parts. The client PC handled the
GUI, and the server handled the database. When the client needed data it requested

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only the data it needed, instead of directly talking to the whole [Link] type of
application was sometimes referred to as two-tier architecture, because there were
two levels to the application: the GUI and the database. Cutting edge applications
are written as three-tired or n-tire applications.

The ability to build n-tier components — ActiveX EXEs and DLLs — is not new to
Visual Basic. What's new to Version 6.0 is the ability to tailor your components to run
in conjunction with Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS). Until Microsoft Transaction
Server, this typically meant writing server applications or using remote procedure
calls. There were no Microsoft Foundation Class Wizards to quickly whip up a
framework, and to get reasonable performance the server application developer had
to worry about thread and connection pooling.

Microsoft Transaction Server is a component-based transaction processing system for

developing, deploying, and managing high performance, scalable, and robust server
applications. MTS defines a programming model and provides a run-time
environment and graphical administration tool for managing enterprise applications.

Using the new MTSTransactionMode property of the class module, you can create
components that ignore MTS, or support transactions by setting a property. When
the component is not running in an MTS environment, the property is ignored.

Mainframe Server Server

COM objects
Business logic

Dumb Terminals
Client PCs Client PCs
Or Browser

Pre-History The Dark Ages Modern Times

Dumb Terminal Client-Server n- Tier

Figure 20.1 History of multiuser transaction applications

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20.5 Introduction To Microsoft Transaction Server

Microsoft’s Transaction Server is somewhat of a cross between a Transaction

Monitor and an ORB, although it tends to lean more towards the ORB set of
functionality. If you are running an application on a Windows NT system that has
Transaction Server installed and you are using ODBC to access a database,
Transaction Server transparently inserts itself between your application and the
database to manage that connection ( as well as all of the other open connections to
the same database). Transaction Server also allows application functionality to be
built as a series of ActiveX DLLs and distributed across a network. The following
might pique your desire to read the online documentation that comes with MTS.
• Integration with IIS

• Support for Transaction Active Server Pages – Scripts in Active Server Pages
can now executed within an MTS-managed transaction.

• Crash Protection for IIS Applications – IIS Web applications can now execute
with in their own MTS package, providing process isolation and crash
protection for Web application.

• Transactional Events – Developers can embed commands into scripts on

Active Server Pages, enabling customization of Web application response
based on transaction outcome.

• Microsoft Cluster Server Supports – MTS 2.0 supports Microsoft Cluster

Server (MSCS), which enables automatic failover of MTS packages in a cluster

• Support for the XA transaction protocol, including native support for Oracle

20.6 Three – Tiered Computing

A logical application model in which the business application's features are

expressed in terms of three categories of services: user services, business
services, and data services. This is a conceptual architecture describing the
functionality the application is designed to deliver, rather than its
implementation in a physical package.

To use Remote Data Service technology, you must understand the three-tiered
client/server model. This model separates the various components of a client/server
system into three "tiers":

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• Client tier—a local computer on which either a Web browser displays a Web
page that can display and manipulate data from a remote data source, or (in non–
Web-based applications) a stand-alone compiled front-end application.

• Middle tier—a Microsoft® Windows NT® Server computer that hosts

components that encapsulate an organization's business rules. Middle-tier
components can be either Active Server Page scripts executed on Internet
Information Server, or (in non–Web-based applications) compiled executables.

• Data source tier—a computer hosting a database management system (DBMS),

such as a Microsoft® SQL Server™ database. (In a two-tier application, the
middle tier and data source tier are combined.)

These tiers don't necessarily correspond to physical locations on the network.

For example, all three tiers may exist on only two computers. One computer
could be a Microsoft® Windows® 95 computer running Microsoft® Internet
Explorer 4.0 as its browser. The second computer could be a Windows NT
Server computer running both Internet Information Server and Microsoft SQL
Server. Designing applications this way gives you greater flexibility when
deploying processes and data on the network for maximum performance and
ease of maintenance.

20.7 Registering Visual Basic Dlls With Transaction Server

After you create your ActiveX DLL project, you need to register it with Transaction
Server before it can be used. You do this through the Transaction Server Explorer.
After you have started up the Transaction Server Explorer, you need to make sure
that the DTC is running. If the DTC is not running, click the Computer icon for your
computer and then choose Tools /MS DTC/Start

• Creating Packages
• Installing Components
• Calling Transaction Server Objects from Visual Basic

20.8 Short Summary

) DLLs can define two kinds of functions: exported and internal. The exported
functions can be called by other modules. Internal functions can only be called
from within the DLL where they are defined. Although DLLs can export data,
its data is usually only used by its functions.

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) The difference between VB procedures and the Win32 API procedures is that
API procedures must be declared before they can be used.

) Visual Basic can’t vaerify the arguments that are passed to a DLL procedure. If
incorrect values are passed the procedure may fail, which may cause Visual
Basic application to stop. So, care should be taken while experimenting with
DLL procedures.

) Microsoft Transaction Server is a component-based transaction processing

system for developing, deploying, and managing high performance, scalable,
and robust server applications.

) We can use an ActiveX control to read and update the Windows registry
directly, or it can call system-level functions by linking to one of the DLLs in
Windows.

20.9 Brain Storm

1. Define DLL – Explain its advantages.

2. What are the Advantages of ActiveX Controls in Visual Basic?

Lab Unit - 20 ( 2 Real Time Hrs)

Create a DLL which have to reverse a string

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Lecture - 21

Packages and Internet

Information Server

Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ About Creating Packages

™ About DLL calling Convention

™ About Internet Information Server

™ Introduction about IIS & ASP

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Lecture Unit - 21

21.1 Snap Shot

21.2 Creating Packages

21.3 Installing Components

21.4 Calling Transaction Server Object from VB

21.5 Internet Information Server

21.6 Introduction to IIS Vs ASP

21.7 Short Summary

21.8 Brain Storm

Lab Unit – 21 (2 Real Time Hrs)

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21.1 Snap Shot

Before you can start registering components in Transaction Server, you must
know the concept package into which you are going to install the
components. Packages are logical groupings of objects that are generally used
as a unit. As a general rule, you will want to crate one package for each set of
applications that makes use of Transaction Server.

21.2 Creating Packages

Before you can start registering components in Transaction Server,

You can create a package by following these steps:

1. Select the Packages Installed folder

2. Choose File /New from the main menu

3. On the first screen of the Packages Wizard, choose an Empty Package, as

seen in Figure.

4. Type in a name for the package, as shown in Figure. For your catalog sales
company package, call it Inventory. Then click the Next button

5. If the objects in the package need to run under a specific login account,
select the This User radio button and provide the username and password.
Otherwise, leave the default radio button selected as in Figu, which runs
all of the objects in the package under the account of the user using the
applications that use the objects in this package. ( This can affect the
availability of resources for the process components, depending on how
the access privileges are configured in the system security.)

6. Click the Finish button to complete the process

21.3 Installing Components

After you have a package, you can begin installing components into it. This is where
you register the ActiveX DLLs that you have and will be creating with Visual Basic
6. You can install your components by following these steps:

1. Select the Components folder in the package into which you want to install the
components, as seen in Fig

2. Click the Install New Components(s) button. As seen in Figure

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3. Click the Add Files button and select the [Link] that you want to install, as
seen in Figure

4. When you return to the Install Components dialog box, the upper list box should
show the DLL that you are installing, and the lower list box should show all of
the visible classes within the DLL, as in Figure

5. Click the Finish button and the components are installed in Transaction server,
as seen in Figure.

6. Select the components you just installed, one at a time, and right-click the mouse.
Select Properties from the pop-up menu. On the component Properties Editor,
select the Transaction tab, and select the transaction attribute desired for the
currently selected component, as in Fig

Whenever you recompile any ActiveX DLL built in VB6, you need to refresh the
component information in Transaction Server. This can be easily done by deleting the
component from the Transaction Server Explorer and reinstalling the component by
following the same steps as were followed to install the component originally.
Another way of refreshing the component information in Transaction Server is
choosing Tools/Refresh All Components.

21.4 Calling Transaction Server Objects From Visual Basic

Now that you have a component built and registered with Transaction Server, how
do you call the method in this object form a Visual Basic application? First, the Visual
Basic application has to get a reference to the Transaction Server Object. After the
reference has been acquired, the object’s methods can be called. There are three ways
that a references to a Transaction Server Object can be acquired:

• Using the CreateObject function

• Using the GetObject function
• Using the New Keyword

Note: There is a fourth method for acquiring a reference to a Transaction Server

object by another Transaction Server object; that is through the use of the Context
Object’s CreateInstance method, which creates the object reference in the same
transaction context of the current object ( depending on the new object’s transaction
attribute).

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From a Visual Basic application, you can create your reference to your Inventory
Maintenance object with the following code:

Dim obj As Object

Set obj = CreateObject(“[Link]”)

From here, you can call the object methods by referencing them via the object you
have just created as so:

[Link](iiProductID,CLng([Link]),iBackOrder,iCurInventory)

If you build a simple little applet using the Remote Data Control and the Data Bound
Combo Box, you can call your object and see how Transaction Server works. The first
thing you need to do is to add the Remote Data Control and the Data Bound List
Controls to your Toolbox. You do this choosing Project/Components, as seen in Fig
21.1

Figure 21.1 - Include Remote Data Control & Data Bound List Controls in VB
project

With these controls, you can build a simple form that provides a drop-down list box,
containing the product descriptions from the Products table in the database. You
accomplish this binding the Remote Data Control to the ODBC configuration you

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have set up for your database, providing the username and password that you have
configured, and using the following SQL to populate the Remote Data Control:

SELECT * FROM Products

Next, specify the Remote Data Control as the row source for the Data Bound Combo
Box and specify the Prd_Desc column as the ListField, and BoundColumn. Add a
text box in which the user can enter the number to add or remove from the inventory
and you have the form seen in Figure 21.2

Figure 21.2 – Form to call the method in the object you registered with
Transaction Server

Setting the Product ID

When the user selects a product, you need to have a variable into which to place the
selected product ID, so declare a variable in the form declarations using the code in
the List

Declaring A Variable For Holding The Selected Product ID

Option Explicit

‘We always return the same error number

Private Const ERROR_NUMBER = vbObjectError + 0

‘The currently selected product ID

Dim iiProductID As Long

You set the product ID into this variable whenever the user selects a product from
the list by navigating in the Remote Data Control to the currently selected row, and
then getting the Prd_ID column from that row, as in the List

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[Link] – grabbing the product id from the remote data control when
the user selects a product

Private Sub dbcProduct_Click(Area As Integer)

Dim varCurRecord As Variant

‘ What is the currently selected item?

VarCurRecord = dbcProduct,SelectedItem

‘ Move to the selected record in the result set

MSRDC1. [Link] 0, varCurRecord

‘ Grab the product ID

iiProductID = [Link]!Prd_ID.Value

End Sub

Calling the Transaction Server Object

When the user clicks the Received button, you can create a reference to the
Transaction Server Object that you created by using the earlier code snippets, and
you can display for the user the resulting stock and back-order amounts with the
code in the list

Creating a reference to your transaction server object and calling the

method that you created in the object

Private Sub cmdReceived_Click()

`Dim iBackOrder As Integer

Dim iCurInventory As Integer

Dim ProgID As String

Dim obj As Object

‘ Set up the error handling

On Error GoTo ErrorHandler

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‘ Decide which component to use

ProgID = “ [Link]”

‘Create the appropriate object

Set obj = CreateObject(ProgID)

‘Were we able to create the object?

If obj Is Nothing Then

MsgBox “Create object” + progID + “failed.”

Exit Sub

End If

‘ Call the object method

If [Link](iiProductID, Clng([Link]), iBackOrder,_

iCurInventory) = -1 Then

[Link] ERROR_NUMBER

End If

‘ Release the object

Set obj = Nothing

‘ Display for the user what the current inventory is

MsgBox “New Inventory received, current backorder count =” _

+ Str$(iBackOrder) + “ and current inventory = “ _

+ Str$(iCurInventory)

Exit Sub

ErrorHandler:

‘ Show the user the error message

MsgBox “Error” + Str$([Link]) + “ :” + [Link]

Exit Sub

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End Sub

Before you run your form, let’s change the view in the Transaction Server Explorer to
show the status of your object. You do this by selecting the Components folder in the
package you have created. Next choose View/Status. The right side of the Explorer
now shows the activity status of your object. If you run the form with the Transaction
Server Explorer where it can be seen, you can watch as the object that you crated
earlier is instantiated and executed

21.5 Internet Information Server

Microsoft Internet Information Server is a network file and application server and is
included with Windows NT server. IIS supports Hypertext Transfer
Protocol(HTTP),File Transfer Protocol(FTP) and gopher information protocols.

An IIS (Internet Information Server) application is a Visual Basic application that

lives on a Web server and responds to requests from the browser. An IIS application
uses HTML to present its user interface and uses compiled Visual Basic code to
process requests and respond to events in the browser.

To the user, an IIS application appears to be made up of a series of HTML pages. To

the developer, an IIS application is made up of a special type of object called a
webclass, that in turn contains a series of resources called webitems. The webclass
acts as the central functional unit of the application, processing data from the
browser and sending information to the users. You define a series of procedures that
determine how the webclass responds to these requests. The webitems are the HTML
pages and other data the webclass can send to the browser in response to a request.

21.6 Introduction to IIS & ASP

As developing DHTML documents are eased in Visual Basic through DHTML

application project type, developing ASP documents are also eased in Visual Basic
through IIS application project type. This section explains about IIS Application
project type and shows how to use it.

Web Classes

A Web Class is a Visual Basic component that resides on a Web server and responds
to input from the browser. When an IIS Application project type is opened, Visual

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Basic opens a Web designer that creates the Web Class. Webclasses typically contain
WebItems (HTML files) and code that delivers those Webitems to a client.

A webclass in an IIS application has an associated .asp (Active Server Pages) file that
Visual Basic generates automatically during the compile process. The .asp file hosts
the webclass on the Web server and launches its scripts for execution.

Figure 21.3 Relationship between Webclass and ASP file.

As shown in this figure 21.3, each webclass has its own ASP. In turn, a webclass can
have many webitems (HTML files) associated with it.

Advantages of IIS application

™ Reduced cost of deployment per user. End users of an IIS application can run
the application using only a browser; no special software needs to be installed
on their computers for the application to work.

™ A familiar development environment and model for Visual Basic programmer.

™ Access to a broad audience. IIS applications work with a wide variety of

browsers and operating systems, so it can easily reach a wide audience.

™ It can send HTML pages either from Templates or from code to the browser.

Note : Templates are nothing but Webitems that holds designed HTML pages.
A Template can have only one HTML page.

21.7 Short Summary

) Packages are logical groupings of objects that are generally used as a unit.

) Visual Basic makes it easy to integrate Web browsing into the application by
way of the Web browser control, which is used to add Web-browsing
functionality to the Visual Basic application.

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) Templates are nothing but Web items that holds designed HTML pages. A
Template can have only one HTML page

21.8 Brain Storm

1. What are the Internet tools available in Visual Basic?

2. Explain Internet Information Server.3.

3. What are the advantages of IIS application?

4. What are the difference between IIS Vs ASP applications?

Lab Unit – 21 ( 2 Real Time Hrs)

Create a IIS Application and accept user name and password and check whether the
password is “Radiant” or not ?.Raise an appropriate Error Message if Password is
wrong.

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Lecture - 22

IIS, ASP and DHTML

Application Comparison

Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ Applications of IIS,ASP, and DHTML

™ About IIS application development process

™ Debugging IIS application

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Lecture Unit - 22

22.1 Snap Shot

22.2 IIS Vs ASP applications

22.3 IIS Vs DHTML Applications

22.4 IIS Development process

22.5 Debugging IIS Applications

22.6 Short Summary

22.7 Brain Storm

Lab unit 22 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

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22.1 Snap Shot

In this chapter the discussion will go on application of IIS , ASP and DHTML then
Debugging the IIS application and development process.

22.2 IIS Applications VS. ASP Applications

IIS applications bear a superficial resemblance to Active Server Pages applications.

Both types of applications present dynamic Web sites and perform their processing
on the server rather than the client. However, each has its unique advantages. Active
Server Pages are for script developers interested in authoring Web pages, and offer
the unique capability of intermingling script with HTML. IIS applications are for
Visual Basic developers building Web-based applications, rather than Web pages. IIS
applications allow for complicated business processing and easy access from almost
any browser or platform.

22.3 IIS Applications VS. DHTML Applications

IIS applications are similar to DHTML applications in one way. Both arrange the
contents of Web documents dynamically. However, there are some key differences
between the two types of applications:

™ Dependency — DHTML applications are dependent on Internet Explorer 4.0 or

later. But end users of an IIS application do not need a specific operating
system or browser.

™ Location of processing — IIS applications are designed to perform most of

their processing on the Web server, but DHTML applications perform most of
their processing on the browser machine.

Webclass designer

When a project of type IIS Application is opened, Visual Basic presents WebClass
designer as in Figure 22.1.

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Figure 22.1 Webclass designer.

The Treeview panel displays each webitem and connected event in the webclass.
There are two kinds of webitems:

™ HTML Template WebItems — HTML files that can be sent to the browser in
response to a request

™ Custom WebItems — programmatic resources that creates HTML files on the

fly.

The Detail panel displays information about the currently selected item in the
Treeview panel.

22.4 IIS Application Development Process

The process of creating an IIS application is similar to creating any other project in
Visual Basic. The overall process is presented below.

The overall process for creating IIS applications is:

1. Start a new project and select IIS Application as the project type.

2. Save the project.

Note : Unlike forms-based Visual Basic applications, you must save an IIS application
before you add HTML template webitems to it.

3. Add as many HTML template webitems and custom webitems to the webclass
as needed.

4. Add any custom events to the project.

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5. Write code for all standard, template, and custom events in the project.

Note : Make sure you write code for the Start event, or your application will not run
unless the user specifies a webitem in the base URL. For more information see
"Setting the Start Event".

6. [Link] other code modules or webclass objects to the project.

7. Test and debug the application by running the project and viewing the
application in the browser. It is recommended that you test all browsers you
plan to support before releasing the application to end-users.

8. Compile the project.

9. Deploy the application.

Example

This section shows how to create an ASP file using Visual Basic’s IIS Application
project type. Before creating the IIS Application create an HTML file [Link]
whose code listing is given below.

<HTML>
<BODY>
<CENTER>
<H2><U>Now You are in the Secret Site</U><H2>
</CENTER>
</H2>
</BODY>
</HTML>
This file will be used as a webitem in the IIS Application project.

Creating a new IIS project

™ Choose File | New Project to open the New Project dialog box.

™ Double-click the IIS Application icon to create an IIS Application project.

IIS Application Icon

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™ Name the project as IISPro.

™ In the Project Widow double click the Webclass1 to bring its designer front.

™ Set the properties of the Webclass1 as given below:

Property Value Description

Name wclsSecret Specifies the name of the web class.

NameInURL keySecret Speficies the name of the web class as it appears

in the address that invokes the webclass. That is, its

corresponding ASP page will be created as [Link]

(key to Secret) which is used in the address string.

™ Save the project with the default names. (It is very important to store the
project in a specific folder. Then alone the HTML files that are added as
webitems can be stored in the Project folder).

™ Right click on the HTML Template Webitems in the Treeview panel and
choose Add HTML template from the popup menu that appears.

™ In the dialog box that appears browse and select [Link] and click open.
This will add a template under the HTML Template Webitems in the
Treeview panel as Template1. Rename it as SecretHtm.

™ Open the code window of the Web class designer.

™ Replace the code of the Web class start event procedure {WebClass_ Start()}
with the following code.

Private Sub WebClass_Start()

Dim Param
Set Param = [Link]

If Param("Name") = "Indian" Then

'Rendering the Secret Site
[Link]
Else
'Writing a reply to the user
With Response
.Write "<html>"

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.Write "<body>"
.Write "You are not an authorised user to go to_
the Secret Site"
.Write "</body>"
.Write "</html>"
End With
End If
End Sub

This event will occur when the [Link] invokes this web class. This procedure
checks whether visitor is an authorized user or not. If he is an authorized user, it
sends the contents of the template file to the browser using the WriteTemplate
method. Otherwise it creates an HTML page, which indicates that he is not an
authorized user, and sends it to the browser.

™ Choose File | Make [Link] to compile the project. Visual Basic will create
[Link] file.

™ Create an HTML [Link] file whose code listing is given below. This file
will call the [Link] file.

<HTML>
<BODY>
Type your name and click Submit<BR>
to go to the Secret Site.
<BR><BR>
<FORM Method="Get"
Action = "[Link]
<INPUT Type=Text Name="Name"><BR><BR>
<INPUT Type=Submit Name="Submit" Value=Submit>
</FROM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

The string /ASPs specifies the virtual directory which is mapped to the
project directory in which the [Link] file is stored.

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™ Open the [Link] in the Internet Explorer, which will resemble the Figure
22.2

Figure 22.2 [Link] file in the Internet Explorer.

™ Type Indian in the texfield and click the submit button. This will call the
[Link] file, which invokes the web class. The web class verifies the
entered name. As it is Indian (the valid name), it will supply the [Link] file,
which is stored in the SecretHtm template. The browser receives this file and
renders it as in Figure 22.3.

Figure 22.3 HTML page sent by the ASP file when the user is an authorized
person.

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If some other name is typed and the Submit button is clicked, the web class creates
HTML page on the fly indicating that the user is not an authorised user and sends it
to the browser. The browser renders it as in Figure 22.4.

Figure 22.4 - HTML created and page sent by the ASP file when the user is not
an authorised person.

22.5 Debugging Your IIS Application

You debug an IIS application in the same way you do any other Visual Basic
application — by entering run mode from Visual Basic. Visual Basic loads the
webclass run time, creates the virtual root from which to run the .asp file for the
application, if necessary, and launches the system's default browser with an HTTP
reference to the .asp file. The .asp file, in turn, launches the webclass.

Note Although you can view the .htm files associated with your application in the
browser by opening them from the browser's File menu, this is not debugging your
application. You must use the Start option from Visual Basic to enter debugging
mode.

When you debug, you have the full Visual Basic development environment at your
disposal. You can use all the tools available in Visual Basic — breakpoints, watch
variables, debug statements, and so on — to debug your project.

Visual Basic prompts you when you debug that it is going to create a virtual
directory for your project. A virtual directory is a directory outside your Web
server's home directory that appears to browsers as a subdirectory of the home
directory. It allows you to publish contents to the Web from directories outside the
home directory structure. You cannot change the location of the virtual directory
Visual Basic creates for the webclass.

The Project Properties dialog box's Debugging panel settings determine whether the
system waits for you to tell it what to do when you go into run mode or
automatically starts the webclass you specify. When you choose to automatically

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start the webclass, Visual Basic launches Internet Explorer, navigates to the URL for
your application, and fires the webclass's BeginRequest event.

Visual Basic deletes all temporary files when it comes out of run mode. In addition, it
destroys the instance of the Webclass Designer and restarts the designer in design
mode.

Errors in Webclasses

You can use Visual Basic's error-handling features in your IIS applications to trap
errors and take corrective action. When an error occurs, Visual Basic sets the various
properties of the error object, Err, such as an error number or a description. You can
use the Err object and its properties in an error-handling routine so that your
application can respond intelligently to an error situation.

In addition to standard error handling, IIS applications allow you to use two special
features to handle errors:

• You can use the Trace method to debug your application on the production
computer.

• You can use the FatalErrorResponse event to respond to serious run-time errors.
Using the Trace Method

You can use the Trace method to help identify errors during the debug process and
to track performance and statistical data. The Trace method sends a specified string
to the Win32 OutputDebugString API. The string can then be captured to a suitable
debugging tool such as DBMON.

Using the Trace method can allow you to debug on your production server computer
and record useful information such as information about the execution of the
application, error messages that occur, and any other information you need.

Handling Fatal Errors

A fatal error on a webclass is one from which the application cannot recover or
restore the appropriate webitem. For example, a fatal error might be an unhandled
error within a webclass event, a structural error, or an unexpected error within the
run-time DLL. Following such an error, the webclass run time fires the
FatalErrorResponse event. The application is terminated and the instance of the
webclass is destroyed.

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When a fatal error occurs, the application can write a message to the Response object
in the handler for the FatalErrorResponse event. This message can be one that you
write, or it can be the default message for the .asp file associated with the webclass.
To write your own message, use the Response object, then set the senddefault
argument of the FatalErrorResponse event to False. To use the default error message,
leave the senddefault argument set to True.

Note :- The webclass run time provides an Error property that is only available
from within the FatalErrorResponse event. This property returns an
object that describes the error that caused the webclass to terminate.

The webclass run time also logs fatal errors to the NT event log. On Windows 95
systems, the run-time DLL creates a log file in the Windows directory and logs the
error there.

22.6 Short Summary

) A fatal error on a webclass is one from which the application cannot

recover or restore the appropriate web item

) Visual Basic deletes all temporary files when it comes out of run mode. In
addition, it destroys the instance of the Webclass Designer and restarts the
designer in design mode.

) DHTML applications are dependent on Internet Explorer 4.0 or later. But end
users of an IIS application do not need a specific operating system or browser.

) IIS applications are for Visual Basic developers building Web-based

applications, rather than Web pages.

26.7 Brain Storm

1. What are all the IIS application development process?

2. How an IIS application development can be debugged

Lab Unit – 22 (2 Real Time Hrs)

<<<< Test to be Conducted >>>>

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 Internet Concepts

Lecture - 23

Internet concepts

Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ About Internet

™ About Intranet

™ About world wide web

™ About Internet Explorer

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Lecture Unit - 23

23.1 Snap Shot

23.2 Internet concept

23.3 Intranet

23.4 World wide web

23.5 Internet explorer

23.6 Working in the Internet

23.7 Short Summary

23.8 Brain Storm

Lab Unit - 23 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

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 Internet Concepts

23.1 Snap Shot

If there is one technology that caught up literally overnight and has affected more
users than any others, it is the Web. The World Wide Web (WWW) is the set of all
Web sites and the documents they can provide to clients (users). Visual Basic 6 has
evolved to help the programmers to build Web applications. There are two different
types of Web applications — Dynamic HTML (DHTML) applications and Microsoft
Internet Information Server (IIS) applications.

23.2 Internet Concepts

This section briefs essential Internet concepts as follows.

Internet

The Internet is a global network of computers that communicate using a common

language. It is similar to the international telephone system – no one owns or
controls the whole thing, but it is connected in a way that makes it work like one big
network. The Internet use a common protocol to communicate – TCP/IP
(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). TCP/IP is a simple protocol
because it had to be implemented consistently on all computers and operating
systems. Indeed, TCP/IP is a truly universal protocol, it’s there when you need it
and allows your computer to connect to any other computer on the Internet.

Each computer on the Internet has a unique address, for example, [Link]. Each
number is a value in the range 0 through 255, which means the Internet have more
than 256*256*256*256, or approximately 4,000,000,000 computers. To accommodate a
large number of users, Internet service provider use a pool of addresses( since not all
users connect at once, 256 addresses may accommodate 100 users or more. It would
be nice it we all had a unique IP address, like an e-mail address, but this is not
possible. If we did, we could build wide area networks that span the globe easily.
However, every time you connect to your Internet service provider you get a
different IP address

23.3 Intranet

Unlike Internet, which is a global network, it is a private network. But it uses the
Internet communication standards and tools to provide information to the restricted
users. For example, a company may setup a Web site that is accessible only to its
employees who are geographically separated. On an intranet, you can exploit the
web model to simply operations, without the security issues you face on the Internet
or the limitations imposed by connecting computers with modems.

An intranet is also a network of computers operating on the TCP/IP protocol, but it

is not global. Intranet are restricted to the users of a corporation, a university, or

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some other organization, and they are not accessible by the outside world. Unlike the
World Wide Web, intranets don’t have more than one server. This machine supplies
all the documents requested by the clients. Many corporations use intranets to
provide information to their employees, and they run another Web site for external
users. The reason for building corporate intranets is to exploit the technology that
made the Web so popular. So the main characteristic of a corporate intranet is not
that it uses TCP/IP, as much as HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)

23.4 World Wide Web

The World Wide Web (WWW or simply the Web) gives a graphical, easy-to-navigate
interface for looking at documents on the Internet. These documents, as well as the
links between them, comprise a “Web” of information.

Files or pages on the Web are interconnected. This connection is made by means of
special text or graphics called hyperlinks.

Pages can contain text, images, movies, and sounds – just about anything. These
pages can be located on computers anywhere in the World. When a connection to
the Internet is made, it means equal access is available to information worldwide.

The computers that host Web sites are called servers; their service is to provide the
documents that the clients request. Clients are the seemingly endless numbers of
personal computers connected to the Internet. Web browser, such as Internet
Explorer (explained in the next section), helps to exploit the Web.

23.5 Internet Explorer

Microsoft Internet Explorer is a Web browser. Just as Microsoft Word is a tool to

create and format documents, or Microsoft Excel is a tool to create spreadsheets and
perform calculations, Internet Explorer is a tool to navigate and access, or “browse,”
information on the Web.

The Internet Explorer toolbar provides a range of detailed functions and commands
for managing the browser. The addressbar below the toolbar displays the address of
the current Web page. Typing an address and hitting Enter in it will enable to visit to
the specified page. Clicking a hyperlink will also enable to jump to the new page.
With Netscape dominating the Web browser and server market, Microsoft, in the
early 1996 introduced a new Web browser and server to the Internet community.
Microsoft Internet Explorer is destined to be one of the most popular Web browser
for several reasons. Not only is the browser easy to use and is supported by the
world’s largest software company, it also supports several other specific HTML
extensions. These include the following

♦ Background sounds played automatically when the Web page is loaded

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♦ Inline animations of AVI files instead of graphic images

♦ Marquees that scroll across the browser window

23.6 Working of the Internet

For a computer to be a server on the Internet, it must have two things: an address by
which other computers can locate it and the capability to understand and process the
various protocols. A server is assigned a unique numeric ID called an IP (Internet
Protocol) address. As the numeric address is very difficult to remember their
corresponding domain name is used, which are in friendlier format such as
http:/[Link].

The software used on the physical computer to make it a server that can speak the
protocols of the Internet and respond accordingly is called Internet Server Software or
Web Server such as Microsoft Internet Information Server.

For a client computer to be able to communicate with a server on the Internet, it must
have a connection to the Internet. Then, when connected, it must have a way to
contact and receive data from Internet servers through the various protocols. The
connection is accomplished via an Internet Service Provider (ISP), such as VSNL,
Satyam Online, etc. The tool to communicate to the server and receive the data
returned by the Internet Server is handled by the Internet browser, such as Internet
Explorer. The Figure 5.1 depicts the working of the Internet.

Figure 23.1 Working of Internet.

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23.6 Short Summary

) The Internet is a global network of computers that communicate using a common

language. It is similar to the international telephone system.

) An Intranet is also a network of computers operating on the TCP/IP protocol, but

it is not global.

) The World Wide Web (WWW or simply the Web) gives a graphical, easy-to-
navigate interface for looking at documents on the Internet. These documents, as
well as the links between them, comprise a “Web” of information.

) The Internet Explorer toolbar provides a range of detailed functions and

commands for managing the browser. The address bar below the toolbar
displays the address of the current Web page.

23.7 Brain Storm

1. Discuss briefly Internet concepts, working of Internet, Intranet and Internet
Explorer.

Lab Unit – 23 (2 Real Time Hrs)

Create an Internet Explore project and make it online

Design your form as shown below

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Lecture - 24

DHTML

Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ About DHTML

™ About Server

™ About Client / Server computing

™ Client / Server Model

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Lecture Unit - 24

24.1 Snap Shot

24.2 Developing a DHTML application

24.3 DHTML application in VB

24.4 Structure of DHTML application

24.5 Advantages of DHTML application

24.6 Short Summary

24.7 Brain storm

Lab Unit - 24 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

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24.1 Snap Shot

This chapter is discuss on HTML developing , its structure and its applications.

24.2 Developing an Dynamic HTML Document

This section develops a simple DHTML document, which has 5 major segments
(designed using DIV tags). The first segment has one password box and a command
button. This segment alone is visible when the document is loaded in browser and
all other segments are invisible. When a user enters a password and clicks the
command button, the script written for the command button’s click event, verifies
the validity of the entered password. If it is valid the first segment disappears and
second segment appears, which has three option (radio) buttons. The other three
segments are designed for each option button and they are positioned at a same
location. Because only one option button can be selected, the segment corresponding
to that option alone is made visible and other two segments are made invisible. This
DHTML document is named as [Link], as it describes about Indian Monuments
and its listing is given below.

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>
Indian Monuments
</TITLE>

<SCRIPT Language = "VBScript">

Sub Opt1_Onclick()
[Link] = "Visible"
[Link] = "Hidden"
[Link] = "Hidden"
End Sub

Sub Opt2_Onclick()
[Link] = "Visible"
[Link] = "Hidden"
[Link] = "Hidden"
End Sub

Sub Opt3_Onclick()
[Link] = "Visible"
[Link] = "Hidden"

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[Link] = "Hidden"
End Sub

Sub cmdLogin_onClick()

If [Link] = "Indian" then

Msgbox "You are logged In"
[Link] = "Hidden"
[Link] = "Visible"
[Link] = "Visible"
Else
Msgbox "Password Incorrect"
End If

End Sub

</SCRIPT>
</HEAD>

<BODY background="[Link]">
<CENTER>
<H2>INDIAN MONUMENTS</H2><HR>
</CENTER>

<DIV Id=divLogin>
<FORM Id=frmLogin>
<LABEL>Password
<INPUT Type=Password Id=txtPWord>
</LABEL>
<INPUT Type=Button Id=cmdLogin Value="Login">
</FORM>
</DIV>

<DIV Id=divOptions Style="Position:Absolute;

Left:20;Top:90;Visibility:Hidden">

Choose any one of Monuments <BR>

to view its Description

<DIV Style="Position:Relative;Top:10;Width:130;Height:80;
Background-color:Yellow">
<FORM Id=frmOptions>
<INPUT Type=Radio Name=Monument Id=Opt1 Checked>Taj

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Mahal<BR>
<INPUT Type=Radio Name=Monument Id=Opt2>Qutub Minar<BR>
<INPUT Type=Radio Name=Monument Id=Opt3>Fatehpur Sikri<BR>
</DIV>

</FORM>
</DIV>

<DIV Id=divForOpt1 Style="Visibility:Hidden">

<IMG Src="C:\Raguram\Images\[Link]"

Style="Position:Absolute;Left:275;Top:85">

<DIV Style="Position:Absolute;Left:20;Top:240;Width:450;Background-
color:Yellow">
One among the 7 World wonders. Built by Shajahan at the riverbank of
Yamuna.
</DIV>
</DIV>

<DIV Id=divForOpt2 Style="Visibility:Hidden">

<IMG Src=" C:\Raguram\Images\[Link]"
Style="Position:Absolute;Left:275;Top:85">

<DIV Style="Position:Absolute;Left:20;Top:240;Width:450;
Background-color:Yellow">
Astonishing tower with height 242 feet. Started by Quthputheen and successfully
completed by Eldhuthmish.

</DIV>
</DIV>

<DIV Id=divForOpt3 Style="Visibility:Hidden">

<IMG Src=" C:\Raguram\Images\[Link]"
Style="Position:Absolute;Left:275;Top:85">

<DIV Style="Position:Absolute;Left:20;Top:240;Width:450;
Background-color:Yellow">
Instance for sculpting art. Nick named as love designed in stone. Built by
great emperor Akbar.
</DIV>
</DIV>
</BODY>
</HTML>

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When this HTML page is opened in the Internet Explorer it will prompt to enter the
password as in Figure 24.1.

Figure 24.1 [Link] - prompting the visitor to enter the Password.

Enter the password Indian and click Login button. Now the first segment in this
document that contains the textfield, button, will disappear and the other segments
that describes about Indian Monuments will appear as in Figure 24.2

Figure 24.2 [Link] – Describing about Indian Monuments.

™ Click any one of the options among the three to view their description.

24.3 DHTML application in Visual Basic

So far, web pages are created in non-visual environment (Notepad). Creating web
pages in this method consumes much time and also positioning the controls and
elements of a web page at proper location will cause the developer’s eye turn to red.
As so much of tags are used even to create simple web pages, there is a chance that
few tags may be misspelled. And it is difficult to trace out the errors caused due to
this misspelling.

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Visual Basic 6.0 includes new project type called DHTML Application, which
provides visual environment to rapidly develop the DHTML applications.

Web Pages vs. Forms

DHTML applications are structured differently than forms-based Visual Basic

applications. In a DHTML application, the user interface consists of a series of HTML
pages rather than forms. An HTML page is like a form in that it contains all the
visual elements that makes up the application's user interface. Text box, Image, radio
buttons, and check boxes can easily be placed on an HTML page at desired locations.

An HTML page is stored in a .htm file that is analogous to a .frm file. The following
table sums up the differences between forms-based applications and Web-based
applications:

Forms-based Web-based

application application

User interface Visual Basic forms HTML pages

.htm or .html files, or
File format .frm files generated from Visual
Basic code
Creator Developer Web designer or developer
Visual Basic run-time Web browser with
Run time
DLL, [Link] [Link]

Table 24.1 Differences between Forms-based application and Web-based

application.

24.4 Structure of DHTML Applications

DHTML applications are made up of the following pieces:

™ One or more HTML pages.

™ Visual Basic code that handles the events generated from the HTML
pages.

™ A project DLL that contains the Visual Basic code and is accessed by the
run-time component generated automatically when the application is
compiled.

When a DHTML project is compiled, all HTML pages are stored in separate .htm
files. The code that handles the events generated from the HTML pages are
compiled in to a .dll file. The id of the .dll file is automatically included in the .htm

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files. So whenever an event raises from a .htm file, the code for that event in the .dll
file is executed by the browser automatically.

24.5 Advantages of VB DHTML applications

Visual Environment HTML pages can be created in the familiar Visual Basic IDE.
As it is a Visual environment, controls can be placed in the HTML pages at the
desired locations easily. Debugging tools can also be used to fix the bugs in VB
scripts.

Code Security When scripts are embedded with an HTML page, anyone can access the
page, read the script, and make changes to it. As Visual Basic compiles the code into
.dll, the code is not part of the HTML file itself, and so it can’t be tampered.

24.6 The DHTML Page designer

When a project of type DHTML is opened, Visual Basic presents DHTML Page
designer as in Figure 5.4, which enables to:

™ Create a new HTML page, or edit the contents of an existing page.

™ Determine which elements on the page are programmable and explore all the
dynamic elements on the page.

™ Access the Code Editor window to write code for each programmable
element on the page.

The following sections brief the different areas of the DHTML Page designer.

Figure 24.3 DHTML Page Designer.

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 DHTML

Tree View Pane

Displays a hierarchical representation of all of the elements within an HTML page.

For each element, the page designer lists the ID (if one exists), the type of control,
and in some cases the beginning of the content for that element. Elements with IDs
are indicated in bold. All elements in the treeview are children of the Body element
and the Document object.

Detail Pane

Presents a drawing surface that enables to create a new page or edit the contents of
an existing page. It provides a visual environment to add HTML elements to the
page, position them, and set properties that control their physical appearance.

Format Tool bar band

Contains buttons that are frequently used when formatting an HTML page in the
designer. The items on this toolbar are available whenever a DIV element, or a
hyperlink, or a piece of text, or the BODY or DOCUMENT objects in the treeview or
detail panes of the designer is selected.

When a toolbar button is clicked to carry out the action represented by that button,
Visual Basic inserts the appropriate opening and closing HTML tags or tag attributes
to the selection. These tags are not visible within the designer, but the results of
formatting are rendered in the detail pane.

Element Toolbar Band

Contains buttons that are frequently used when grouping the elements on the page
such as by using DIV tag or working with tables. With the exception of the Table
Operations icon, the options on this toolbar band are available only when some
elements are selected. The Table Operations icon is always available.

Note : The HTML files created using DHTML Page designer are stored in the
files with the extension .dsr. The actual .htm files are created only
when the application is compiled.

Creating an DHTML Application using Visual Basic

This section shows how to create a simple DHTML application, which contains three
HTML pages.

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The first HTML page has a hyperlink that leads to the second HTML page. The
second page contains a command whose clicking leads to the third page using code.
This is not a full-fledged application. But the purpose of this section is to show how
creation of the DHTML applications are simpler than by using HTML tags.

To create the DHTML application

™ Choose File | New Project to open the New Project dialog box.

™ Double-click the DHTML Application icon.

DHTML Application Icon

This will create a new DHTML Application with default DHTML page (DHTMLPage1).

™ Choose Project | Add DHTML Page to add the second page.

™ Repeat the above step to add the third page.

™ Name the Project as Seas, DHTMLPage1 as ArabicSea, DHTMLPage2 as

BayOfBengal, and DHTMLPage3 as IndianOcean using Properties Window.

™ In the Project Explorer window double click the ArabicSea to bring its design
window front.

™ In the Format band select Header1 from the HTML Block Elements combo
box and enter “Arabic Sea” in the Details pane.

™ Hit enter and type the following:

Click me to go to Bay of Bengal

™ Select the word “me” and click the Make Selection Into Link icon in the
Element Toolbar band.

™ Right click on the word “me” in the popup menu that appears, choose
Properties. This will display the Properties dialog box.

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 DHTML

™ Enter [Link] in the Link text box and Leads to Bay of Bengal in
the popup text box as in Figure 5.5. This text will appear in the browser
window when the mouse pointer moves over the hypertext “me”. When it is
clicked [Link] page will appear in the browser.

Figure 24.4 Destination (through Link) and Popup text for the hypertext “me”.

The designed DHTML page ArabicSea should resemble the Figure 24.5

Figure 24.5 Designed DHTML Page ArabicSea.

™ In the Project Explorer window double click the BayOfBengal to bring its
design window front.

™ In the Format band select Header1 from the HTML Block Elements combo
box and enter “Bay of Bengal” in the Details pane.

™ Draw a button and set its caption as “Click me to go to Indian Ocean”

The designed DHTML page BayOfBengal should resemble the Figure 24.6.

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Figure 24.6 Designed DHTML Page BayOfBengal.

™ Write the following lines for the button’s (Click me to go...) click event
procedure.

[Link] = "[Link]"

The above line assigns the HTML file name “[Link]” to the Href
(Hyperlink reference) property of the location object of the basewindow to
jump to that file.

™ In the Project Explorer window double click the IndianOcean to bring its
design window front.

™ In the Format band select Header1 from the HTML Block Elements combo
box and enter “Indian Ocean” in the Details pane.

™ Save the Project and Choose File | Make [Link].

™ When the Visual Basic prompts the .dll file name accept the default file name
[Link].

™ When the Visual Basic prompts file name for each DHTML files, enter them
as [Link], [Link], and IndianOcean respectively.

™ Open the Internet Explorer and in its address text box type [Link]
with full path and hit enter. This will open the [Link] file in the
Internet Explorer.

™ Test the

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™ hyperlink and button to jump to their destinations.

24.6 Short Summary

) Visual Basic 6.0 includes new project type called DHTML Application, which
provides visual environment to rapidly develop the DHTML applications.

) Visual Environment HTML pages can be created in the familiar Visual Basic
IDE. As it is a Visual environment, controls can be placed in the HTML pages
at the desired locations easily. Debugging tools can also be used to fix the
bugs in VB scripts.

) Code Security When scripts are embedded with an HTML page, anyone can
access the page, read the script, and make changes to it. As Visual Basic
compiles the code into .dll, the code is not part of the HTML file itself, and so
it can’t be tampered.

24.8 Brain Storm

1. What are all the process involved in developing a DHTML script?

2. What are the advantages of DHTML?

Lab Unit – 24 (2 Real Time Hrs)

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Advanced Visual Basic

Lecture - 25

Data Report

Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ About Data Report

™ About Report Designer

™ Creating and Printing a Data Report

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Lecture Unit - 25

25.1 Snap Shot

25.2 Report

25.3 Introduction to Data Report

25.4 Parts of a Data Report

25.5 Report Designer

25.6 Data Report Controls

25.7 Data Report Creation

25.8 Short Summary

25.9 Brain Storm

Lab unit 25 ( 2 Real Time Hrs )

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Advanced Visual Basic

25.1 Snap Shot

This Chapter goes on discussion about Data Report, Data report designer, Data
Report control and creating a simple Data Report Creation.

25.2 Report
Displays or prints a report under the control of a report definition file created with
MODIFY REPORT or CREATE REPORT.

Syntax

REPORT FORM FileName1 | ?

[ENVIRONMENT]
[Scope] [FOR lExpression1] [WHILE lExpression2]
[HEADING cHeadingText]
[NOCONSOLE]
[NOOPTIMIZE]
[PLAIN]
[RANGE nStartPage [, nEndPage]]
[PREVIEW [[IN] WINDOW WindowName | IN SCREEN]
[NOWAIT]]
[TO PRINTER [PROMPT] | TO FILE FileName2 [ASCII]]
[NAME ObjectName]
[SUMMARY]

Arguments
FileName1

Specifies the name of the report definition file to print.

?
Displays the Open dialog box, from which you can choose a report file.

25.3 Introduction to Data Report

Helps you design a report that displays fields and records from the underlying table
or query.

A report is an effective way to present data in a printed format. You can display the
information the way you want to see it.

You create the report using graphical objects called Data Report designer controls.
Data Report designer controls include: a data-bound TextBox control, a Function
control which displays calculated figures, an Image control for inserting graphics,
labels that display captions, and a Line and a Shape control that graphically
organizes the data.

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Note : Although the Data Report designer controls are similar to Visual Basic intrinsic
controls, Data Report Designer controls have a limited subset of features. When
the Data Report designer is added to a project, the designer's controls are placed
in the Visual Basic Toolbox on a new tab named DataReport and can be used
only in the Microsoft Data Report.

Creating reports is a main function of any good business application. A

system might have useful data, but without a coherent way to present it, the
numbers are meaningless. So, Microsoft provides a Data Report designer,
which is used to generate eye-catching reports. It is used in conjunction with
a data source such as the Data Environment designer.

The Data Report generates reports using records from a database. To use it:

1. Configure a data source, such as the Microsoft Data Environment, to access a

database.
2. Set the DataSource property of the DataReport object to the data source.
3. Set the DataMember property of the DataReport object to a data member.
4. Right-click the designer and click Retrieve Structure.
5. Add appropriate controls to the appropriate sections.
6. Set the DataMember and DataField properties for each control.
7. At run time, use the Show method to display the Data Report.

Use the DataReport object to programmatically change the appearance and behavior
of the Data Report by changing the layout of each Section object.

The Data Report designer also features the ability to export reports using the
ExportReport method. This method allows you to specify an ExportFormat object,
from the ExportFormats collection, to use as a template for the report.

25.4 Parts of The Data Report

The Data Report designer consists of the following objects:

DataReport object—Similar to a Visual Basic form, the DataReport object has a

visual designer. It is used to create the layout of a report.

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Section object— The data report designer contains sections which helps to configure
the report more elegantly. The Sections of the Data report designer is explained in
the next section.

Data Report Controls—Special controls that only work on the Data Report designer
are included with it. These controls are found in the Visual Basic Toolbox, but they
are placed on a separate tab named "DataReport."

25.5 Report Designer

Use the Report Designer to create and modify reports. When the Report Designer
window is active, Visual Basic displays Report Controls toolbar.

Data Report Designer Features

The Data Report designer has several features:

Drag-and-Drop Functionality for Fields— When fields are dragged from the
Microsoft Data Environment designer to the Data Report designer, Visual Basic
automatically creates a text box control on the data report and sets the DataMember
and DataField properties of the dropped field. A command object can also be
dragged from the Data Environment designer to the Data Report designer. In that
case, for each of the fields contained by the Command object, a text box control will
be created on the data report; the DataMember and DataField property for each text
box will be set to the appropriate values.

Toolbox Controls—The Data Report designer features its own set of controls. When
a Data Report designer is added to a project, the controls are automatically created
on a new Toolbox tab named DataReport. Most of the controls are functionally
identical to Visual Basic intrinsic controls, and include a Label, Shape, Image,
TextBox, and Line control. The sixth control, the Function control, automatically
generates one of four kinds of information: Sum, Average, Minimum, or Maximum.
Print Reports— When a report is generated, it can be printed by clicking the printer
icon on the toolbar.

Note: A printer must be installed on the computer to print a report.

File Export – In addition to creating printable reports, it can be exported to text files,
by clicking the Export icon and specifying text file name.

Report Designer Shortcut Menu

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Contains shortcuts to several commands useful in the Report Designer. These

commands appear when you right-click the Report Designer.

Note These shortcut menu options are context sensitive. Not all of the following
options appear each time you open the shortcut menu.

Shortcut Menu Options

Paste
Places from the Clipboard cut or copied sections of text at the insertion point. This
command corresponds to the Paste command in the Edit menu.

Cut
Removes selected text to the Clipboard. Once you cut something, you can paste it
elsewhere in the current application or in other application. This command
corresponds to the Cut command in the Edit menu.

Copy
Duplicates selected text and puts it on the Clipboard. Once you copy something to
the Clipboard, you can paste it elsewhere in the current application or in other
applications. This command corresponds to the Copy command in the Edit menu.

Preview
Shows you the results of your work without printing it and displays the Print
Preview toolbar. Use the options on the toolbar to change the preview. You can also
click the image of the previewed page to zoom in, and click again to zoom out or
return to design mode. This command corresponds to the Preview command in the
View menu.

Print
Allows you to print the current report by displaying the Print dialog box. This
command corresponds to the Print command in the File menu.

Data Environment
Displays the Data Environment Designer which allows you to visually create and
modify the data environment of the report. This command corresponds to the Data
Environment command in the View menu.

Data Grouping
Displays the Data Grouping dialog box so you can create data groups and specify
their properties. This command corresponds to the Data Grouping command in the
Report menu.

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Properties
Displays a dialog box that corresponds to the object type selected (a text field,
rectangle, an OLE Object field, etc.) which allows you to set the object's position and
other parameters. These parameters can include printing instructions, calculations
and expressions.

Help
Displays Help on the selected item.

Sections of the Data Report Designer

The Data Report designer contains the following Sections:

Report Header—contains the text that appears at the very beginning of a report, such
as the report title, author, or database name.

Page Header—contains information that goes at the top of every page, such as the
report's title.

Group Header/Footer—contains a "repeating" section of the data report. Each group

header is matched with a group footer. The header and footer pair are associated
with a single Command object in the Data Environment designer.

Details—contains the innermost "repeating" part (the records) of the report. The
details section is associated with the lowest-level Command object in a Data
Environment hierarchy.

Figure 25.1 Data Report.

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Page Footer—contains the information that goes at the bottom of every page, such as
the page number.

Report Footer—contains the text that appears at the very end of the report, such as
summary information, or an address or contact name.

25.6 Data Report Controls

When a new Data Report designer is added to a project, the following

controls are automatically placed in the Toolbox tab named DataReport:

™ TextBox Control (RptTextBox)—holds the data that is supplied at runtime.

™ Label Control (RptLabel)— used to identify fields or sections.

Figure 25.2 Data controls for Data Report on the Toolbox.

™ Image Control (RptImage)—enables to place graphics on a report.

Note : This control cannot be bound to a data field.

™ Line Control (RptLine)—lets to draw rules on the report to further

distinguish sections.

™ Shape Control (RptShape)—enables to place rectangles, triangles, or circles

(and ovals) on a report.

™ Function Control (RptFunction)—a special text box that calculates values as

the report is generated.

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25.7 Creating a Simple Data Report

This topic creates a simple data report using a Data Environment designer as a data
source. The Data Environment designer uses the NorthWind database supplied with
Visual Basic to create a simple hierarchical cursor. The cursor contains two tables,
Customers and Orders, and uses the CustomerID field to link the two. The finished
report resembles the figure 25.3 .

Figure 25.3 Simple Data Report: Order Dates by Customers

Before you begin the step-by-step process, ensure that the Northwind database
([Link]) is present on your computer. If it is not present, copy the file from
your Visual Basic CD onto your hard disk.

To Create a simple hierarchical cursor in the Data Environment designer

1. Create a new Standard EXE project.

2. On the Project menu, click Add Data Environment to add a designer to your
project. If the designer is not listed on the Project menu, click Components. Click
the Designers tab, and click Data Environment to add the designer to the menu.

3. On the Data Link Properties dialog box, click Microsoft Jet 3.51 OLE DB Provider.
This selects the correct OLE DB provider for accessing a Jet database.

4. Click the Next button to get to the Connection tab.

5. Click the ellipsis button (…) next to the first text box.

6. Use the Select Access Database dialog box to navigate to the [Link] file,
which is installed in the Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\Vb98 directory.

7. Click OK to close the dialog box.

8. Right-click the Connection1 icon, and click Rename. Change the name of the icon
to Northwind.

9. Right-click the Northwind icon, and then click Add Command to display the
Command1 dialog box. In the dialog box, set the properties as shown below:

Property Setting
Command Name Customers
Connection Northwind
DataBase Object Table
Object Name Customers

10. Click OK to close the dialog box.

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11. Right-click the Customers command, and click Add Child Command to display
the Command2 dialog box. In the dialog box, set the properties as shown below:

Property Setting
Command Name Orders
Connection Northwind
DataBase Object Table
Object Name Orders

12. Click the Relation tab. The Relate to a Parent Command Object check box should
be checked. The Parent box should contain Customers; both the Parent Fields and
Child Fields/Parameters boxes should contain CustomerID.

When designing relational databases, it's customary for related tables to use the
same name for linking fields. In this case, the linking fields are both named
CustomerID. The Data Environment designer automatically matches such pairs
in the dialog box.

13. Click Add. Click OK to close the dialog box.

Clicking the Add button adds the relation to the Command object. After closing
the dialog box, the Data Environment designer reflects the relationship by
displaying the two commands as a hierarchy. This hierarchy will be used to
create the data report.

14. Set the properties of the project and designer according to the settings below,
then save the project:

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Object Property Setting

Project Name PrjNwind
DataEnvironment Name deNwind
Form Name frmShowReport

Data Report at Run Time

1. On the Project Explorer window, double-click the frmShowReport icon to display

the Form designer.

2. On Toolbox, click the General tab.

When you add a Data Report designer to your project, its controls are added to
the tab named DataReport. To use the standard Visual Basic controls, you must
switch to the General tab.

3. Click the CommandButton icon and draw a CommandButton on the form.

4. Set the properties of the Command1 control according to the table below:

Property Setting
Name cmd
Show Caption
Show Report

5. In the button's Click event, paste the code below.

Private Sub cmdShow_Click()

[Link]
End Sub

6. Save and run the project.

7. Click Show Report to display the report in print preview mode.

Optional—Setting the Data Report as the Startup Object

You can also display the data report with no code at all.

1. On the Project menu, click prjNwind Properties.

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2. In the Startup Object box, select rptNwind.

3. Save and run the project.

Note : If you use this method, you can remove the Form object from your
project.

Printing a Data Report

Printing a data report can be accomplished in one of two ways. The user can click the
Print button that appears on the data report in Print Preview mode (using the Show
method), or you can programmatically enable printing using the PrintReport
method. If an error occurs during printing, trap it in the Error event.

Choosing to Display a Print Dialog Box

When printing a report programmatically, you have two choices: to print by

displaying the Print dialog box, or by printing without displaying the dialog box.

To display the Print dialog box

1. Add a CommandButton to a Form.

2. In the button's Click event, place the following code:

[Link] True

The Print dialog box allows the user to select a printer, print to file, select a range of
pages to print, and specify the number of copies to print.

Note : Printers must be installed on the computer in order to present a choice

of printers.
Printing Without a Dialog Box

In some cases, you may wish to print the report without user intervention. The
PrintReport method also gives you the option of selecting a range of pages to print,
either all, or a specified range.

To print without displaying the dialog box

1. Add a CommandButton to a Form.

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2. In the button's Click event, place the following code:

[Link] False

Or, to specify a range of pages to print, use the code below:

[Link] False, rptRangeFromTo, 1, 2

PrintReport Method

At run time, prints the data report created with the Data Report designer.

Syntax

[Link](ShowDialog, Range, PageFrom, PageTo)

The PrintReport method syntax has these parts:

PartDescriptionobjectRequired. An object expression that evaluates to an object in

the Applies To
[Link]. A boolean expression that determines if the Print dialog
box is [Link]. Sets an integer that determines if all the pages in the
report will be executed or a range of pages, as shown in [Link].
An integer that sets the page from which to start [Link]. An
integer that sets the page at which to stop printing.

Settings

ConstantValueDescriptionrpt RangeAllPages0(Default)
All pages will be printed. rptRangeFromTo1Only the specified range of pages will be
exported.
Long

If no arguments are supplied with the method, a dialog box will be displayed
prompting the user for appropriate information.

The PrintReport method performs an asynchronous operation. The PrintReport

method returns the identifier of the "cookie" that identifies the asynchronous
operation.

To extend the data environment

1. On the Data Environment designer, right-click the Orders Command object. Then
click Add Child Command.

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2. On the Command1 Properties dialog box, set the following properties:

Property Setting
Command Name OrderDetails
Connection Northwind
DataBase Object Table
Object Name Order Details

3. Click the Relation tab. The Relate to a Parent Command Object check box should
be checked. The Parent box should contain Orders; both the Parent Fields and
Child Fields/Parameters boxes should contain OrderID. Click the Add button
and then click OK to close the dialog box.

4. Right-click the OrderDetails Command object, and click Add Child Command.
Set the properties of the connection as shown below:

Property Setting
Command Name Products
Connection Northwind
DataBase Object Table
Object Name Products.

Figure 25.4 Data Report

Click the Relation tab. The Relate to a Parent Command Object check box should be
checked. The Parent box should contain OrderDetails; both the Parent Fields and

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Child Fields/Parameters boxes should contain ProductID. Click the Add button and
then click OK to close the dialog box.

Extending the Data Report

Once the data environment has been extended with new tables, you can extend the
data report as well by dragging fields from the Data Environment designer to the
Data Report designer.

To Extend the data report

1. Right-click the Data Report designer, and clear Show Page Header/Footer box.

Clearing this option deletes the page header and footer, which are not being used
at this point.

2. Right-click the Data Report designer, and click Insert Group Header/Footer. The
Insert New Group Header/Footer dialog box will be displayed.

The dialog box allows you to determine if the new header and footer will "bracket" other
header/footer pairs. This becomes important as you add more header and footer pairs
because the outermost pair of header/footers subordinates all other pairs. Click OK to
select the default placement of the new header and footer pair and close the dialog box.

3. Select the new group header, and on the Properties window, change its name
from Section1 to Orders_Header. Change the corresponding footer name from
Section4 to Orders_Footer.

4. Repeat steps 2 to 3. Name the new group header OrderDetails_Header, and the
new group footer OrderDetails_Footer.

5. Click the Detail (Orders_Detail) section to select it. On the Properties window,
change the section's name to Products_Detail.

6. Using the mouse, drag the OrderDate field from the Detail (Products_Detail)
section to the Orders_Header section.

7. From the Data Environment designer, drag the ProductName field (under the
Products command) into the Detail (Products_Detail) section.

8. Delete the Label control named Label1.

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9. Resize the group headers, and rearrange the text box controls to resemble the
figure 25.5 below.

Figure 25.5 Data Report Designer

The figure above requires some explanation. First, the Group footers are all closed in
order to take up the least possible space. Like the Details section, any additional
space left in any header or footer will be multiplied in the final report. Therefore, if a
header or footer doesn't contain any fields, you can close the distance between the
headers or footers.

The Group Header named OrderDetails_Header is also closed. If you wonder why
no fields are being shown, you must understand that the Order Details table in the
Northwind database is a join table—the table contains only the IDs of records from
the Orders table joined to IDs of records from the Products table. Thus the Order
Details table doesn't contain fields which are actually displayed. Instead, it functions
only to join two other tables. In the Data Report designer, the Order Details table
therefore functions only to create groups of records—the product names grouped
under the order dates.

Finally, the Details section contains only the names of products. The Details section
contains the innermost level of repeating records.

10. Save and run the project.

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25.8 Short Summary

• The first four kinds of ActiveX designers loaded for a project are listed on the
project menu. If more than four designers are loaded, the later ones will be
available from the More ActiveX submenu of the Project menu.

• Visual Basic’s intrinsic controls, or any ActiveX controls, can not be used on the
Data Report Designer.

25.9 Brain Storm

1. What are the parts of Data Report Objects?

2. What are the special features of Data Report Designer?

3. What are all the Options available in Data Report Shortcut Menu?

Lab Unit – 25 (2 Real Time Hrs)

Create the following tables

• EMP

Eno
Ename
Basic
HRA
DA
PF
Dno

• DEPT

Dno
Dname

Add records to both the tables

Open Data Report

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 Data Report

Fetch the tables to the Command of Data Environment

Create a report, which shows all the above listed fields grouped by their Dno

Calculate the Net Salary of individuals and display it

Calculate Department-wise Total, Grant Total and display it

Display the page number at the right bottom of the page

Display the title of the report as ‘XYZ COMPANY’ and a Logo to the left of it

The Date of preparation should be displayed in the top right corner of the report

After completion of your report, Place a Command Button on to your Form.

When Command Button is clicked, the Report should be displayed.

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Lecture - 26

Active Server Page

Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ About New Features of Visual Basic6

™ New Object Oriented features

™ Under About Integrated Development Environment

™ How to develop a script in Visual Basic

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 Active Server Page

Lecture Unit - 26

26.1 Snap Shot

26.2 Active Server Pages

26.3 Advantages of Active Server Pages

26.4 Active Server Pages - Objects

26.5 Creating Active Server Pages

26.6 Short Summary

26.7 Brain Storm

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[Link] Shot

This chapter will discuss on how to display Data Report during the Run Time,
Introduction about Active Server Page, Developing Active Server Page and its
applications.

26.2 Active Server Pages

Microsoft introduced several methods for developing scripts on the server - some of
them quite simple and others not as simple. There was a confusing time when
companies did their best to simplify the development for sever side scripts, but none
of these methods were particularly easy for Visual Basic developers or even for Web
authors.

The situation changed drastically with the introduction of Active Server Pages (ASP),
an elegant solution to the problem of scripting. Active Server Pages are basically
HTML code that contains VBScript code, which is executed on the server. The
HTML code is transmitted to the client, as is. Active Server Pages almost look like
HTML document. As the HTML document has the .htm extension, ASP has the
extension .asp.

The scripts included on an Active Server Page produce text and HTML tags that are
also sent to the client, where they are rendered on the screen. An Active Server Page
can produce any output, but only HTML documents can be rendered on the client.

26.3 Advantages of Active Server Pages

Open Architecture

Active Server Pages are not limited to a particular language. Currently, they support
VBScript and JScript, but third parties can provide support for other languages such
as Perl. In addition, multiple scripting languages can be used interchangeably in the
same ASP file.

Ease of Development

Active Server Pages make it easy for HTML authors to activate their Web pages on
the server.

Browser Independence

The output produced by an ASP is straight HTML code, which can be viewed with
any browser. All application logic needed to generate dynamic content resides on

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the server. It may be complicated. But the visitors do not see this complexity, and
they aren’t required to have a specific browser. Any browser that can handle the
latest version of HTML will render the documents produced by the ASP.

Passing Parameters to Server

Active Server Pages provide the client’s the requested information. Actually the
request is made by the client’s browser. It passes visitor-supplied data to the Server.
In the Server, the ASP read the data, process them, and pass the results in the form of
another HTML page, which is generated on the fly.

In a normal HTML page, when a hyperlink is clicked or some button that lets a jump
to another page is clicked, the browser passes the address of the page (which is to be
displayed) to the Server and the Server supplies that page to the browser.

But, for the client to interact with the Server there must be a way for the browser to
send information to the server, along with the name of the requested page or
document For example, a visitor may like to get information about specific products,
say Car. The browser must request the document, say [Link], with the user
entered data – Car. These data are appended as parameters with the requested
document and sent to the server, which is something like this.

[Link]

everything proceeding the question mark is the address of the document

[Link]. This document is not an HTML page, but the client doesn’t care; it will
receive an HTML document anyway. The question mark separates the address of the
requested document from the parameters. Parameters have a name and a value, and
they are specified as,

parametername=parametervalue

The parametername parameter is the name, and parametervalue is the value of the
parameter. If a Form (defined using <FORM> tag) is used collect information from
the visitor, the parameter names are the names of the controls on the Form. Multiple
parameters are separated by the ampersand (&) sign, as in the following:

[Link]

If a value contains spaces, each space is replaced by the plus sign (+) as in the
following:

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Advanced Visual Basic

[Link]
Diesel

To append the parameter to an address the <FORM> tag requires two parameters:

™ Action
™ Method

The Action parameter specifies the name of the application that will process the
request on the Server. For the purpose of this chapter, this application is an Active
Server Page (a file with the extension ASP). The method parameter indicates the
type of form-handling protocol that will be used to pass the parameters to the
application, and it can have one of the values GET and POST. The application that
receives the information usually dictates the method. Active Server Pages recognize
both methods, but handle them differently.

The browser, therefore, picks up the address of the application from the <FORM> tag
and appends the parameter=value pair to it. Each pair corresponds to a control on
the Form: The control’s name is the parameter name, and the control’s value is the
parameter value. The whole thing is done automatically. When the Submit button in
the FORM is clicked, the browser submits the request to the Server. This button is
defined using <INPUT> tag as in the following:

<INPUT Type=Submit Value= “Submit”>

26.4 Objects of Active Server Pages

Previous section explained how the browser sends information to the Server. Active
Server Pages, which are, get executed on the Server must have some way to process
the information sent by the browser. They use objects to process the incoming
information and to give response to the browser. Their major objects are:

Request

It enables to access the parameters passed to the Server by the client, along with the
address. Its property QueryString returns the entire parameters collection. This
collection can be stored in a variable and parameter names can be used to access their
values as in the following:

‘ Storing the parameter collection in a variable (Param)

Set Param = [Link]
‘ Accessing the ProductName parameter
PName = Param(“ProductName”)

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Response

It provides methods needed to build the response, which is another HTML

document. The Response object represents the output stream, which is directed by
the Web server to the client, as if it were another HTML document. The following
example shows an ASP builds an HTML document based on the value of the PName
variable, in which parameter ProductName’s value is stored.

<%
[Link] “<BODY>”
If PName = “Car”
[Link] “<P> <B> New Cars </B> </P>”
[Link] “Indica <BR>”
[Link] “Hyundai <BR>”
Else
[Link] “<P> <B> General Products </B> </P>”
---------------------------------------
---------------------------------------
End if
[Link] “</BODY>”
%>

26.5 Creating an ASP Page

This section first gives a listing of an HTML page, which gets a word from the visitor
and calls an ASP page with the entered word as an argument. Then this section
shows how to create the ASP page, which gets the entered word by the visitor,
generates an HTML page on the fly that prints that word for five times and sends
that HTML page to the browser. The following is the listing of the HTML page
[Link].

<HTML>
<BODY>
Type a word and click Submit.<BR>
Web Server will print it for five times

<FORM Method="GET"
Action="[Link]

<INPUT Type=Text Name="Word"> <BR><BR>

<INPUT Type=Submit Value="Submit">

</FORM>
</BODY>

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</HTML>

The string [Link] in the Action parameter of the FORM tag specifies the
address of the Web Server of the local computer. The string /ASPages specifies the
virtual directory which contains the [Link] file that is to be executed.
Physical directories in the Web Server are mapped into Virtual directories and the
Web Server makes use of it. Using virtual directories will prevent the visitors from
knowing about the actual location of the Active Server Pages.

The FORM in this HTML page contains two controls – a textfield and a submit
button. The Name argument in the INPUT tag that defines the textfiled specifies the
name of the textfield as “Word”. So that when submit button is clicked the
parameter=value pair in the address string will appear as in the following:

Word=someword

The value argument in the INPUT tag that defines the Submit button specifies the
caption of the Submit button as “Submit”.

The following steps show how to create the ASP file.

™ Open the Notepad.

™ Type the lines given below:

<HTML>
<%
Set Param = [Link]
[Link] "<BODY>"
[Link] "<H2> Response from ASP</H2> <HR>"
For I = 1 to 5
[Link] "<H4>" & Param("Word") & "</H4>"
Next
[Link] "</BODY>"
%>
</HTML>

™ Save it as [Link]

The scripts in this document are placed between the tags <% and %>. So they are
not visible to the user and they are replaced by their output (Proved in a Figure
shortly). This document first assigns the parameter collection sent by the browser
in the variable Param. Then it begins to build the HTML document that prints the
value of the “Word” parameter for five times using the write method of the
Response object. The result of the write method produces an output stream and it
is directed by the Server to the browser, and the browser renders the received
output.

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Open the [Link] in the Internet Explorer, which will resemble the Figure
26.1

Figure 26.1 [Link] page in Internet Explorer.

™ Type a word in the textfield, say Jaihind, and click the Sumbit button. The
browser will send the request to the Server as in the following:

[Link]
When the Server receives the request it will invoke the [Link] file with the
received parameter “Word”. The output produced by the [Link] is directed
by the Server to the Browser, which renders it as in Figure 26.2

Figure 26.2 Rendered HTML page, which is created by the [Link].

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™ Choose View | Source from the Internet Explorer menu. This will display the
created HTML document code in the NotePad as in Figure 26.3.

Figure 26.3 Created HTML code by [Link]’s script in the Notepad.

Note that the scripts in the [Link] are replaced by its output.

26.6 Short Summary

) To call Active Server Pages that live in the local computer, either Internet
Information or Personal Web Server must be installed in the local computer.
) Server side scripts such as [Link] “….”, are enclosed in a pair of <% and
%>. These tags enclose all the statements that must be executed on the server.
Everything Between these two tags is considered server-side scripts, which is
replaced by its output and Seen by the client.
) Active Server Pages provide the client’s the requested information.

26.7 Brain Storm

1. What are all the steps involved do display a Data Report during the Run Time?
2. Write a note on Active Server Pages
3. What are the advantages of Active Server Pages?
4. What are all the ASP Object type?

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 Package and Deployment

Lecture - 27

Package and Deployment

Objectives

In this lecture you will learn the following

™ Introduction to Package and Deployment

™ Uses Of Packages and Deployment

™ Working with Packages and Deployment

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Lecture Unit - 27

27.1 Snap Shot

27.2 Package and Deployment Wizard

27.3 Overall steps in the Packaging process

27.4 Overall steps in the Deployment Process

27.5 Short Summary

27.6 Brain Storm

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 Package and Deployment

27.1 Snap Shot

This Chapter mainly will discuss on about Package and Deployment wizard.

27.2 Package and Deployment Wizard

The package and Deployment Wizard is one of the application in the VB6
program group. You can also use it from within Visual Basic by selecting it in
the Add –In Manager.

The Visual Basic Package and Deployment Wizard helps you create .cab files
for your application, group them into a unit, or package, that contains all
information needed for installation, and deliver those packages to end users.
You can use Visual Basic's Package and Deployment Wizard to create
packages that are distributed on floppy disks, CDs, a local or network drive,
or the Web. The Package and Deployment Wizard automates much of the
work involved in creating and deploying these files.

The distribution process of an completed Visual Basic application has the following
two steps:

Packaging – The application’s files must be packaged into one or more .cab files to
deploy them in a desired location. A .cab file is a compressed file that is well suited to
distribution on either disks or the Internet. A setup program must also be created to
install the packaged files in the end user’s system.

Deployment – The packaged application must be moved to the location, from which
users can install it. This means copying the package to floppy disks or to a local or
network drive, or deploying the package to a Web site.

The Package and Deployment wizard

The Visual Basic Package and Deployment Wizard helps automates much of the
work involved in creating and deploying the .cab files and setup files.

The Package and Deployment Wizard offers three options:

™ The Package option helps to package a project's files into a .cab file that can then
be deployed, and in some cases creates a setup program that installs the .cab files.
The wizard determines the files needed to package and leads through all the
choices that must be made in order to create one or more .cab files for the
application.
™ The Deploy option helps to deliver the packaged applications to the appropriate
distribution media, such as floppies, a network share, or a Web site.

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™ The Manage Scripts option lets to view and manipulated the scripts that are
saved from previous packaging and deployment sessions in the wizard. Each
time the wizard is used a script is saved containing all the choices made in the
current session. These scripts are useful to speed up the deployment process of
the same application for its later versions.

Each of these options is explained in detail in the following sections.

Application Packaging with the Wizard

Application packaging is the act of creating a package that can install an application
onto the user's computer. A package consists of the .cab file or files that contain the
compressed project files and any other necessary files the user needs to install and
run the application. These files may include setup programs, secondary .cab files, or
other needed files. The additional files vary based on the type of package that is
created. There are two kinds of packages:

™ Standard packages – Used to distribute the application on disk, floppy, or via a

network share.
™ Internet packages – Used to distribute via an Intranet or Internet site

An important point in creating a package is that, the version number of an

application must be set on the make tab (Figure 27.1) of the Project Properties
dialog box. It plays vital role when the new version of the existing
application is distributed. Without the appropriate change in version
numbers, the end user's computer may determine that critical files do not

need to be updated.

Figure 27.1 Portion of Make tab of Project Properties dialog box to set Major and
Minor release numbers, and Revision number.

27.3 Overall Steps in the Packaging Process

The following steps are common for any package type. And the Package and Deployment Wizard performs many of
these steps automatically.

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 Package and Deployment

1. Determining the type of package Either standard package can be chosen for
Windows-based programs that will be distributed on disk, on CD, or over a
network; or an Internet package for programs that will be distributed (ActiveX
programs) on the Web. Creation of only a dependency file can also be chosen.

2. Determining the files needed for distribution The wizard must determine the
project files and dependent files for the application before it can create the
package. Project files are the files included in the project itself — for example, the
.vbp file and its contents. Dependent files are run-time files or components the
application requires to run. Dependency information is stored in the [Link]
file, or in various .dep files corresponding to the components in the project.

3. Determining where to install files on the user's machine Program and setup
files are usually installed into a subdirectory of the Program Files directory, while
system and dependent files are usually installed into the \Windows\System or
\Winnt\System32 directory. The setup program must take this into account and
determine where to install each file.

4. Creating the package The wizard creates the package and the setup program
([Link]) for it, referencing all necessary files. The end result of this step is one
or more .cab files and any necessary setup files.

Application Deployment with the Wizard

Application deployment is the act of moving a packaged application to either the

distribution media such as CD-ROM or to a Web site from which it can be
downloaded. There are two ways to deploy Visual Basic applications:

™ Using Deployment portion of the Package and Deployment Wizard to deploy the
applications to floppy disks, a local or network drive, or to a web site.

™ Manually copying files to disks or manually publishing the files to the

appropriate Web location.

The Package and Deployment Wizard provides shortcuts and automatically performs some of the same tasks that is
performed manually.

27.4 Overall Steps in the Deployment Process

The following steps are common in both ways (by hand -manual and by
Wizard) of deploying an application.

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Advanced Visual Basic

1. Identifying the package to deploy The active project might have been packaged
using different package types such as Standard package, Internet Package, etc.
This step identifies a package for deployment.

2. Choosing a deployment method This step chooses a method to deploy the

application to the Internet, to floppy disks, or to a directory on a local or network
drive.

3. Choosing the files to deploy If the application is deployed to the Internet, some
files may be added or removed from the list of files to be deployed. For example
very common .ocx may be available in the end users system. These files can be
removed from the list of files to be deployed. This will reduce the download time
of the end user’s system.

4. Determining the destination for deployed files For Internet deployment, this
involves specifying a Web site to which the package is to be deployed. For
directory deployment, this means indicating the drive location to which the
package is to be deployed. For floppy disk deployment, this means choosing the
appropriate floppy drive.

Packaging and Deploying The Packdep_Demo Application

This section shows how to Package and deploy the simple Visual Basic application
PackDep_Demo.

™ Start a new project (Standard EXE) and rename the project as PackDep_Demo.

™ Place a command button on Form1 and write the following code in its click event.
Msgbox “India Jindabadh”

™ Save the Form1 and PackDep_Demo project in a separate folder say PDDemo.

Packaging the PackDep_Demo application

This section shows how to package the PackDep_Demo application in the sub folder
Setup of the folder PDDemo.

To Package the PackDep_Demo application

™ Choose AddIns | Package and Deployment Wizard.

Note : If Package and Deployment Wizard doesn’t appear in the Add-Ins

menu, choose Add-Ins | Add-Ins Manager, select Package and

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 Package and Deployment

Deployment Wizard, check Loaded/Unloaded option and click OK to

add the Package and Deployment Wizard add-in to the Add-Ins menu.

This will display Package and Deployment Wizard as in Figure 27.2. Figure 27.2
Package and Deployment Wizard in ready mode to Package and Deploy active
project PackDep_Demo.

Note: As this Wizard is launched from the Visual Basic IDE the current project is
selected automatically for Packaging and Deployment. If this Wizard is
launched as a stand-alone component i.e., via start button and Visual Basic sub
menu, it will prompt to select a project.

™ Click Package icon. This will immediately go to the next step unless the active
project is already compiled. Otherwise the Wizard will ask to compile as shown in
the following figure.27.3

Figure 27.3 Wizard asking to compile the active project or to locate the
executable file of the active project.

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Advanced Visual Basic

™ Click compile button to continue.

™ After the Wizard compiles the project will prompt to choose the package type
as shown in the following figure.

Figure 27.4 Wizard prompting to select the package type.

™ Select Standard Setup Package and click Next.

™ In this step the Wizard will prompt to choose a folder to assemble the
package. Click New folder button and enter Setup as name of the new folder
that is created as sub folder to the PDDemo folder as shown in the following
figure 27.5 and click Next.

Figure 27.5 Wizard prompting to select a folder to assemble the package.

™ Visual Basic applications consist of more files than just the executable. The next
dialog lists the files that need to be installed with the executable. This dialog
provides a Add button to include other files such as .mdb (database file),
.hlp,(help file) etc. As there are no such files for this case, simply click Next.

™ This step deals with the size of .cab files by providing two options – Single Cab
file and Multiple cab files (Figure 5.21). If the package is to be distributed by
floppy disks then multiple cab files option must be chosen and cab size no

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 Package and Deployment

longer than the floppy must be specified. As floppy disks are not used in this
example select Single Cab file option and click Next.

Note: If the package type Internet Package then instead of .cab file .htm
file will be created which can be used to download the package
using a Web browser such as Internet Explorer.

Figure 27.6 Wizard prompting to select Cab options.

™ In this step Wizard prompts to enter a title that is to be displayed while installing
the application. Enter PackDep Demonstration as shown in the following figure
27.7.

Figure 27.7 Wizard prompting a title to display during installation.

™ In this step the Wizard prompts to specify a location to place an icon to launch the
application. By default the Wizard has created a group with the application’s name
and then an icon as shown in the following figure 27.8.

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Advanced Visual Basic

Figure - 27.8 Wizard prompting to specify a location to place the application’s

icon.

™ As the application has only a single icon, the standard is to create that icon under
Programs. Click PackDep_Demo group and click Remove button. And Click
New Item button and enter PackDep_Demo as the name of the application and
click OK in the dialog box that appears (Figure 27.9). And Click Next.

Figure 27.9 Dialog box that gets certain options about new icon.

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 Package and Deployment

™ In this step the Wizard enables to change the installation location for each file.
This example has only one file. But some other application may require more
files such as database (.mdb) file and they have to be installed in some sub folder.
Sub folders can be created by adding their name to the macro $(AppPath) in the
Install Location box (shown in the figure 27.10). For example to install database
files in a DBs sub folder path can be specified in the Install Location box as
$(AppPath)\DBs.

Figure 27.10 Wizard prompting to specify install location for the listed files.
™ As the specified directory $(AppPath) is sufficient for this example simply click
Next.

™ In this step the Wizard presents a dialog box (Figure 27.11) that lets to mark any
files as shared. In this example the only listed file is PackDep_Demo.exe. As
executable files can’t be a shared file simply click Next.
Note : Certain files, such as DLLs and OCXs are considered as shared files. If any these
kinds of files are added as part of the installation, they must be marked as
shared. So that, when the user uninstall the application, the shared files are
verified whether any other application uses these files. These files are removed
only if every program, which uses them, is removed.

Figure 27.11 Wizard prompting to mark shared files.

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Advanced Visual Basic

™ In this final step of packaging process the wizard prompts to enter a script
(explained shortly) name under which settings of the current session are saved.
Simply accept the default script name (shown in the following figure- 27.12) and
click Finish.

Figure 27.12 Wizard prompting to enter script name.

™ After the wizard finishes building the installation package, it generates a report
with some important messages about what was accomplished. Read the report
and then click Close on the report and the wizard.

Deploying the PackDep_Demo application

In the package method itself, an application can be packaged to a floppy disk and
network drive straight away. The main disadvantage in this method is that if
another copy is required in a floppy disk then the entire application must be
repackaged. So fist the package method is used to package the application and the
deployment method is used to make multiple copies. Moreover deploying the
package in a web site is possible only in the Deployment method. This section
shows how to deploy the PackDep_Demo application in a new folder.

To Deploy the PackDep_Demo application

Choose Deploy icon in the Package and Deployment Wizard. This present a dialog
as in Figure 27.13.

Figure 27.13 Wizard prompting to select a package to deploy.

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 Package and Deployment

™ If an application has more than one package created with different settings or by
different package types then the Package to Deploy combo will list their
corresponding script names. From this list desired package can be selected for
deployment. For the PackDep_Demo application there is only one package with
the script name Standard Setup Package 1 and it is selected by default. So simply
click Next.

™ This step presents a dialog (Figure 27.14) to select the deployment method –
Folder or Web publishing. If Web publishing option is selected the Wizard will
permit to remove files or add more files for deployment. Then the Wizard will
prompt to enter an URL (Unified Resource Locator – a Web site address) to
deploy the files. As this example is going to deploy the files in a new folder
select Folder option and click Next.

Figure 27.14 Wizard prompting to select a deployment method.

™ In this step the Wizard will prompt (Figure 27.15) to select a folder to
deploy the files. Select a path and create a new folder PackDep_App and
click Next.

Figure 27.15 Wizard prompting to select folder to deploy the packaged files.

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Advanced Visual Basic

™ In this final step the Wizard will ask a script name to store the current session
(deployment session) settings as in the final set of packaging session. Accept the
default name and click finish.

™ After the wizard finishes deployment process, it generates a report about what
was accomplished. Read the report and then click Close on the report and the
wizard

27.5 Short Summary

• When creating standard and Internet packages, the Package and Deployment
Wizard can also be used to create dependency files. Dependency files list the run
time components that must be distributed with the application’s project files.

• The Internet Package option will appear in the Package Type list for the ActiveX
Projects only

• Standard package and Increment package are two kinds of application packaging
wizard.

27.6 Brain Storm

1. Write a note on overall steps in the packaging process?

2. Write a note on overall steps in the deployment process?

Lab Unit – 27 (2 Real Time Hrs)

Create a Setup program to install the following utility which displays date and time
In the text box whenever user presses the button.

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