Sams Teach Yourself Visual Basic 2012 in 24 Hours

In just 24 sessions of one hour or less, you’ll learn how to build  complete, reliable, and modern applications with Visual Basic 2012. Using this book’s straightforward, step-by-step approach, you’ll master the entire process, from navigating VB 2012 to deploying finished solutions. You’ll learn how to write efficient object-oriented code; build superior user interfaces; work with graphics, text, and databases; and even control external applications. Each lesson builds on what you’ve already learned, giving you a strong, practical foundation for success!   Step-by-step instructions carefully walk you through the most common Visual Basic 2012 tasks. Quizzes and Exercises at the end of each chapter help you test your knowledge. By the Way notes present interesting information related to the discussion. Did You Know? tips offer advice or show you easier ways to perform tasks. Watch Out! cautions alert you to possible problems and give you advice on how to avoid them.   Learn how to…   Navigate the VB 2012 environment and use VB’s powerful new tools Work with objects, collections, and events Build attractive, highly functional user interfaces Make the most of VB 2012’s advanced controls Create efficient modules and reusable procedures Store data, make decisions in code, and use loops to improve efficiency Use powerful object-oriented programming techniques Interact effectively with users Work with graphics, text files, and databases Debug and troubleshoot applications Manipulate external applications, file systems, and the Windows Registry Distribute the software you’ve created   On the Web:   Access code examples from the book, as well as updates, and corrections as they become available at informit.com/title/9780672336294 Download Visual Studio 2012 Express for Windows Desktop from www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/downloads  

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1 PART I: The Visual Basic 2012 Environment HOUR 1: Jumping in with Both Feet: A Visual Basic 2012 Programming Tour 5     Starting Visual Basic 2012 . . . . . . . . . 6     Creating a New Project . . . . . . . . . . 7     Understanding the Visual Studio 2012 Environment . . . . . 10     Changing the Characteristics of Objects . . . . . . . 11     Adding Controls to a Form. . . . . . . . . 16     Designing an Interface . . . . . . . . . 17     Writing the Code Behind an Interface . . . . . . . 21     Running a Project . . . . . . . . . . 25 HOUR 2: Navigating Visual Basic 2012 29     Using the Visual Basic 2012 Start Page . . . . . . . 30     Navigating and Customizing the Visual Basic Environment. . . 32     Working with Toolbars. . . . . . . . . . 37     Adding Controls to a Form Using the Toolbox . . . . . . 38     Setting Object Properties Using the Properties Window . . . . 39     Managing Projects . . . . . . . . . . 45     A Quick-and-Dirty Programming Primer . . . . . . 51     Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . 53 HOUR 3: Understanding Objects and Collections 57     Understanding Objects. . . . . . . . . . 58     Understanding Properties . . . . . . . . . 58     Understanding Methods. . . . . . . . . 65     Building a Simple Object Example Project. . . . . . 67     Understanding Collections . . . . . . . . . 72     Using the Object Browser . . . . . . . . . 75 HOUR 4: Understanding Events 79     Understanding Event-Driven Programming . . . . . . 79     Building an Event Example Project . . . . . . . 87     Keeping Event Names Current . . . . . . . . 92 PART II: Building a User Interface HOUR 5: Building Forms: The Basics 95     Changing a Form’s Name . . . . . . . . . 96     Changing a Form’s Appearance . . . . . . . . 97     Showing and Hiding Forms. . . . . . . . . 107 HOUR 6: Building Forms: Advanced Techniques 117     Working with Controls . . . . . . . . . 117     Creating Topmost Nonmodal Windows. . . . . . . 134     Creating Transparent Forms . . . . . . . . 135     Creating Scrollable Forms. . . . . . . . . 135     Creating MDI Forms . . . . . . . . . . 137     Setting the Startup Form. . . . . . . . . 140 HOUR 7: Working with Traditional Controls 145     Displaying Static Text with the Label Control . . . . . 145     Allowing Users to Enter Text Using a Text Box . . . . . 146     Creating Buttons. . . . . . . . . . 153     Creating Containers and Groups of Option Buttons . . . . 157     Displaying a List with the List Box . . . . . . . 161     Creating Drop-Down Lists Using the Combo Box . . . . . 168 HOUR 8: Using Advanced Controls 173     Creating Timers . . . . . . . . . . 174     Creating Tabbed Dialog Boxes. . . . . . . . 177     Storing Pictures in an Image List Control. . . . . . 180     Building Enhanced Lists Using the List View Control . . . . 182     Creating Hierarchical Lists Using the     Tree View Control. . . . . . . . . . 187 HOUR 9: Adding Menus and Toolbars to Forms 195     Building Menus . . . . . . . . . . 196     Using the Toolbar Control. . . . . . . . . 207     Creating a Status Bar. . . . . . . . . . 213 PART III: Making Things Happen–Programming HOUR 10: Creating and Calling Code Procedures 217     Creating Visual Basic Code Modules. . . . . . . 217     Writing Code Procedures . . . . . . . . . 219     Calling Code Procedures. . . . . . . . . 225     Exiting Procedures. . . . . . . . . . 231     Avoiding Infinite Recursion. . . . . . . . . 232 HOUR 11: Using Constants, Data Types, Variables, and Arrays 237     Understanding Data Types . . . . . . . . . 238     Defining and Using Constants. . . . . . . . 242     Declaring and Referencing Variables . . . . . . . 244     Working with Arrays . . . . . . . . . . 250     Determining Scope . . . . . . . . . . 254     Declaring Variables of Static Scope. . . . . . . 258     Naming Conventions. . . . . . . . . . 259     Using Variables in Your Picture Viewer Project . . . . . 261 HOUR 12: Performing Arithmetic, String Manipulation, and Date/Time Adjustments 269     Performing Basic Arithmetic Operations with Visual Basic . . . 270     Comparing Equalities . . . . . . . . . 274     Understanding Boolean Logic . . . . . . . . 274     Manipulating Strings . . . . . . . . . . 278     Working with Dates and Times . . . . . . . . 283 HOUR 13: Making Decisions in Visual Basic Code 293     Making Decisions Using If...Then . . . . . . . 293     Branching Within a Procedure Using GoTo . . . . . . 304 HOUR 14: Looping for Efficiency 309     Looping a Specific Number of Times Using For...Next . . . . 309     Using Do...Loop to Loop an Indeterminate Number of Times . . . 315 HOUR 15: Debugging Your Code 323     Adding Comments to Your Code . . . . . . . . 324     Identifying the Two Basic Types of Errors. . . . . . 326     Using Visual Basic’s Debugging Tools . . . . . . . 328     Writing an Error Handler Using Try...Catch...Finally . . . 336 HOUR 16: Designing Objects Using Classes 347     Understanding Classes . . . . . . . . . 348     Instantiating Objects from Classes . . . . . . . 357 HOUR 17: Interacting with Users 367     Displaying Messages Using the MessageBox.Show() Function . . . 367     Creating Custom Dialog Boxes . . . . . . . . 373     Using InputBox() to Get Information from a User . . . . . 377     Interacting with the Keyboard . . . . . . . . 379     Using the Common Mouse Events . . . . . . . 382 HOUR 18: Working with Graphics 389     Understanding the Graphics Object. . . . . . . 389     Working with Pens . . . . . . . . . . 392     Using System Colors . . . . . . . . . . 393     Working with Rectangles . . . . . . . . . 396     Drawing Shapes . . . . . . . . . . 397     Drawing Text . . . . . . . . . . . 399     Persisting Graphics on a Form. . . . . . . . 400     Building a Graphics Project Example . . . . . . . 400 PART IV: Working with Data HOUR 19: Performing File Operations 409     Using the OpenFileDialog and SaveFileDialog Controls . . . 409     Manipulating Files with the File Object. . . . . . 415     Manipulating Directories with the Directory Object . . . . 424 HOUR 20: Working with the Registry and Text Files 427     Working with the Registry . . . . . . . . . 427     Reading and Writing Text Files . . . . . . . . 439 HOUR 21: Working with a Database 451     Introducing ADO.NET . . . . . . . . . 452     Manipulating Data . . . . . . . . . . 456 HOUR 22: Controlling Other Applications Using Automation 469     Automating Microsoft Excel . . . . . . . . 470     Automating Microsoft Word . . . . . . . . 476 PART V: Deploying Solutions and Beyond HOUR 23: Deploying Applications 481     Understanding ClickOnce Technology. . . . . . . 481     Using the Publish Wizard to Create a ClickOnce Application . . . 482     Testing Your Picture Viewer ClickOnce Install Program . . . . 486     Uninstalling an Application You’ve Distributed . . . . . 486     Setting Advanced Options for Creating ClickOnce Programs . . . 488 HOUR 24: The 10,000-Foot View 491     The .NET Framework . . . . . . . . . . 491     Common Language Runtime . . . . . . . . 492     Microsoft Intermediate Language . . . . . . . 493     Namespaces . . . . . . . . . . . 494     Common Type System . . . . . . . . . 496     Garbage Collection . . . . . . . . . . 496     Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . 497 9780672336294, 9/17/2012