Start Here!™ Learn Microsoft Visual Basic® 2012 by Halvorson, Michael -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Start Here!™ Learn Microsoft Visual Basic® 2012 Dedication A Note Regarding Supplemental Files Introduction

Who Should Read This Book

Assumptions

Who Should Not Read This Book Organization of This Book Free eBook Reference Conventions and Features in This Book System Requirements Code Samples

Installing the Code Samples Using the Code Samples

Acknowledgments Errata & Book Support We Want to Hear from You Stay in Touch

1. Getting to Know Visual Basic 2012

Development Opportunities for Visual Basic Programmers

New Development Platforms

Obtaining, Installing, and Starting Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows 8

Downloading the Product Installing Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows 8 Starting Visual Studio Express 2012

Start Visual Studio Express 2012

The Visual Studio Development Environment

Open a Visual Basic project

The Visual Studio Tools

The Designer Window

Display the Designer window

Running a Visual Basic Program

Run the World Capitals program

The Properties Window

Change properties

Moving and Resizing the Programming Tools

Moving and Resizing Tool Windows

Move and resize the Properties window

Docking Tool Windows

Dock the Properties window

Hiding Tool Windows

Use the Auto Hide feature

Switching Among Open Files and Tools Using the IDE Navigator

Use the IDE Navigator

Opening a Web Browser Within Visual Studio

Open the Visual Studio web browser

Customizing IDE Settings to Match This Book’s Exercises

Checking Project and Compiler Settings

Check project and compiler settings

Exiting Visual Studio

Exit Visual Studio

Summary

2. Creating Your First Windows 8 Application

Web List: Your First Visual Basic Program Creating the User Interface

Create a new project

Create a new project Create a user interface Move and resize a text box Add a button object Add a second text box Add a web view object

Setting the Properties

Set the web address text box

Set the web address text box Set the Content property of the button object Set the properties of the web view object

Writing the Visual Basic Code

Use the Code Editor to create an event handler

A Look at the Visual Basic Code-Behind File

Running Visual Basic Applications

Run the My Web List program

Sample Projects on Disk

Building an Executable File and Deploying

Deploy a release build for a Windows 8 application

Summary

3. Using Controls

Using the Ellipse and TextBlock Controls

Create a colorful background shape with the Ellipse control

Create a colorful background shape with the Ellipse control Add a TextBlock control to display text on the page

Using the CheckBox and RadioButton Controls

Add a check box to the page

Add a check box to the page Add radio buttons to a page

Using the MediaElement Control to Add Music and Video

Thinking about Media Files

Play audio media with the MediaElement control Use Button controls to manage playback Play video media with the MediaElement control

Summary

4. Designing Windows 8 Applications with Blend for Visual Studio

Blend for Visual Studio

Why Blend Is Useful for Visual Studio Developers Starting Blend

Open a new project in Blend

Design Tools in the Blend IDE

Using XAML Controls in Blend

Add an Image control to the page

Add an Image control to the page Add a Button control to the page

Creating a Storyboard to Add Basic Animation Effects

Create a storyboard

Create a storyboard Run and test a storyboard

Writing Event Handlers in Visual Studio

Adjust Blend settings for XAML projects

Adjust Blend settings for XAML projects Open and run the event handler Edit the event handler to reverse the animation

Using the OnNavigatedTo Event

Create a startup event handler for the main page

Summary

5. Working with XAML

Understanding XAML Basics

What Is XAML? XAML Is Related to XML and HTML XAML Elements

Namespaces in XAML Markup

Examining XAML Project Files

Open a new Windows 8 XAML project and examine App.xaml Edit XAML markup in MainPage.xaml

Creating XAML Objects

Add ToggleButton and Image controls to the grid

Add ToggleButton and Image controls to the grid Create an event handler for the toggle button object Add a Canvas control and fill it with shapes

Summary

6. Visual Basic Language Elements

Understanding Visual Basic Program Statements Using Variables to Store Information

Setting Aside Space for Variables: The Dim Statement

Using Variables in an Event Handler

Change the value of a variable

Using a Variable to Store and Process Input

Process input using a TextBox control

Working with Data Types

Use fundamental data types in code

Constants: Variables That Don’t Change

Use a constant in a code-behind file

Working with Visual Basic Operators

Basic Math: The +, –, *, and / Operators

Work with basic operators

Advanced Operators: \, Mod, ^, and &

Work with advanced operators

Establishing Order of Precedence

Using Parentheses in a Formula

Summary

7. Controlling Application Design, Layout, and Program Flow

Creating a Tile-Based Layout for Windows Store Apps

Designing Pages for User Input

Build a tile-based layout with XAML markup Use Select Case to process ListBox selections

Evaluating Specific Conditions Using If…Then…Else Statements

Add an If…Then…Else statement

Using the Day of the Week in an If…Then…Statement

Controlling Program Flow Using For…Next and For Each…Next Loops

For…Next Loops

Add a For…Next loop

For Each…Next Loops

Add a For Each…Next loop

Writing an Exception Handler to Manage Error Conditions

Add an exception handler

Summary

8. Using the .NET Framework

Programming Resourcefully: Using Class Libraries in the .NET Framework

Object-Oriented Terminology Using the Object Browser

Use the Object Browser to explore Microsoft.VisualBasic

Using Methods in System.String

Process text with .NET Framework methods

Process text with .NET Framework methods Search a string for a pattern

Using Methods in System.Math

Use the System.Math class to compute square roots

Working with Random Numbers

Generate a random number

Using Code Snippets to Insert Ready-Made Code

Generate a set of random numbers with a Do…While loop

Summary

9. Debugging Applications

Finding and Correcting Errors Three Types of Errors Identifying Logic Errors Debugging 101: Using Debugging Mode

Debug the Debug Test program

Tracking Variables by Using a Watch Window

Open a Watch window

Visualizers: Debugging Tools That Display Data

Open a text visualizer in the debugger

Using the Immediate Window

Use the Immediate window to modify a variable

Removing Breakpoints

Remove a breakpoint

Summary

10. Managing Data with Arrays and LINQ

Using Arrays to Store Data

Declaring Arrays Declaring a Fixed-Size Array Using an Array Assigning Initial Values to an Array

Create string arrays in a program

Using Methods in the Array Class

Use the Array.Sort and Array.Reverse methods

Introducing LINQ

Understanding LINQ Syntax

Create a LINQ query to extract data from one array Create a LINQ query to find overlapping elements in two arrays

Working with XML Documents

Using XML Documents in a Visual Basic Project

Create a LINQ query that retrieves XML data from an XML document

Summary

11. Design Focus: Five Great Features for a Windows 8 Application

Creating a Tile for Your App on the Windows Start Page

Create a tile for the Start page

Create a tile for the Start page Add a custom Start page tile to a Visual Studio project

Creating a Splash Screen for Your App

Create a splash screen to run at startup

Settings Permissions and Capabilities for Your Windows 8 App

Set permissions and capabilities for your app

Using a Project Template to Showcase Application Content

Use the Grid App template to display product information

Optimizing Your App for Touch Input and Gestures

Touch Input is Built In The Tap The Slide Zooming and Resizing Designing for Touch

Summary

12. Future Development Opportunities and the Windows Store

Preparing for the Windows Store

Exploring the Store’s Features Pricing and Sales Getting Ready for Certification and Deployment Store Requirements Checklist

Future Opportunities and Programming Resources

Web Sites for Visual Basic and Windows 8 Video on the Web Books About Visual Basic and Visual Studio

Visual Basic Programming Windows Programming Database Programming and LINQ Web Programming with Visual Basic General Books About Programming and Computer Science

Summary

Index About the Author Copyright

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