VB .NET Language in a Nutshell

Preface............................................................................................................................... 14
Why Another VB Book?........................................................................................... 26
Who This Book Is For............................................................................................... 26
Readers New to Visual Basic............................................................................. 26
VB and VBScript Developers New to VB .NET............................................ 26
Existing VB .NET Developers ............................................................................ 27
How This Book Is Structured................................................................................ 27
The Format of the Language Reference....................................................... 28
Conventions Used in This Book............................................................................ 29
How to Contact Us .................................................................................................... 30
Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................... 30
Part I: The Basics .............................................................................................................. 33
Chapter 1. Introduction..................................................................................................... 33
1.1 Why VB .NET?..................................................................................................... 34
1.2 What Is VB .NET? .............................................................................................. 37
1.2.1 Object Orientation..................................................................................... 37
1.2.2 A Common Type System........................................................................ 38
1.2.3 Access to System Services: The Framework Class Library ...... 39
1.2.4 A Common Runtime Environment ...................................................... 41
1.3 What Can You Do with VB .NET?................................................................. 42
Chapter 2. Variables and Data Types............................................................................ 43
2.1 Variables ............................................................................................................... 43
2.1.1 Variable Scope............................................................................................ 43
2.1.2 Variable Lifetime........................................................................................ 45
2.2 Declaring Variables and Constants............................................................. 47
2.3 Data Types........................................................................................................... 48
2.3.1 Value and Reference Types................................................................... 49
2.3.2 VB Data Types: A Summary ................................................................. 51
2.3.3 Simple Data Types in Visual Basic...................................................... 54
2.3.4 Data Type Conversion ............................................................................. 62
2.4 Arrays..................................................................................................................... 64
2.4.1 Definition of Array..................................................................................... 64
2.4.2 Dimension of an Array............................................................................. 64
2.4.3 Size of an Array ......................................................................................... 64
2.4.4 Arrays in VB .NET...................................................................................... 65
2.5 Object Variables and Their Binding ............................................................ 67
2.5.1 Late Binding Versus Early Binding...................................................... 68
2.6 The Collection Object....................................................................................... 69
2.7 Parameters and Arguments........................................................................... 70
2.7.1 Passing Arguments ................................................................................... 70
2.7.2 Passing Objects .......................................................................................... 71
2.7.3 Optional Arguments.................................................................................. 73
2.7.4 ParamArray.................................................................................................. 73
Chapter 3. Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming.......................................... 75
3.1 Why Learn Object-Oriented Techniques? ................................................ 75
3.2 Principles of Object-Oriented Programming............................................75
3.2.1 Abstraction ...................................................................................................75
3.2.2 Encapsulation ..............................................................................................76
3.2.3 Interfaces......................................................................................................77
3.3 Classes and Objects..........................................................................................79
3.3.1 Class Modules in VB .NET .......................................................................79
3.3.2 Class Members............................................................................................79
3.3.3 The Public Interface of a VB .NET Class ...........................................81
3.3.4 Objects ...........................................................................................................81
3.3.5 Properties......................................................................................................82
3.3.6 Instance and Shared Members.............................................................83
3.3.7 Class Constructors.....................................................................................84
3.3.8 Finalize, Dispose, and Garbage Collection .......................................85
3.4 Inheritance ...........................................................................................................86
3.4.1 Permission to Inherit ................................................................................88
3.4.2 Overriding .....................................................................................................88
3.4.3 Rules of Inheritance..................................................................................89
3.4.4 MyBase, MyClass, and Me ......................................................................89
3.5 Interfaces, Abstract Members, and Classes ............................................91
3.5.1 Interfaces Revisited ..................................................................................93
3.6 Polymorphism and Overloading ...................................................................93
3.6.1 Overloading ..................................................................................................93
3.6.2 Polymorphism..............................................................................................94
3.7 Scope and Accessibility in Class Modules.................................................95
Chapter 4. The .NET Framework: General Concepts..................................................97
4.1 Namespaces.........................................................................................................97
4.2 Common Language Runtime (CLR), Managed Code, and Managed
Data................................................................................................................................97
4.3 Managed Execution ...........................................................................................98
4.4 Assemblies............................................................................................................98
4.5 Assemblies and VB .NET ...............................................................................100
Chapter 5. The .NET Framework Class Library..........................................................103
5.1 The System Namespace................................................................................104
5.1.1 Data Type Conversion............................................................................104
5.1.2 The Array Class.........................................................................................105
5.1.3 The Math Class..........................................................................................106
5.1.4 The String Class .......................................................................................107
5.2 Other Namespaces ..........................................................................................108
5.2.1 System.Collections ..................................................................................110
5.2.2 System.Data ..............................................................................................110
5.2.3 System.IO...................................................................................................111
5.2.4 System.Text.RegularExpressions ......................................................111
5.2.5 System.Windows.Forms........................................................................113
Chapter 6. Delegates and Events .................................................................................115
6.1 Delegates ............................................................................................................115
6.1.1 Using a Delegate to Call a Method....................................................116
6.1.2 Using a Delegate as a Function Pointer ..........................................117
6.2 Events and Event Binding ............................................................................ 118
6.2.1 Control-Related Events ......................................................................... 119
6.2.2 WithEvents ................................................................................................. 119
6.2.3 AddHandler ................................................................................................ 120
Chapter 7. Error Handling in VB .NET ......................................................................... 123
7.1 Error Detection and Error Handling.......................................................... 123
7.2 Runtime Error Handling ................................................................................ 124
7.2.1 Unstructured Error Handling ............................................................... 124
7.2.2 Structured Exception Handling .......................................................... 127
7.3 Dealing with Logical Errors.......................................................................... 131
7.3.1 Detecting Logical Errors........................................................................ 131
7.3.2 Where to Handle a Logical Error ....................................................... 132
7.4 Error Constants ................................................................................................ 133
Part II: Reference ............................................................................................................ 135
Chapter 8. The Language Reference ....................................................................... 135
#Const Directive.................................................................................................. 137
#If...Then...#Else Directive ............................................................................ 139
#Region...#End Region Directive ................................................................. 141
Abs Function.......................................................................................................... 141
Acos Function........................................................................................................ 143
AddHandler Statement...................................................................................... 143
AddressOf Operator............................................................................................ 144
AppActivate Procedure ...................................................................................... 145
Application Class.................................................................................................. 147
Application.CompanyName Property........................................................... 148
Application.DoEvents Method......................................................................... 149
Application.ExecutablePath Property........................................................... 150
Application.ProductName Property............................................................... 151
Application.ProductVersion Property ........................................................... 152
Array Class............................................................................................................. 152
Array.BinarySearch Method ............................................................................ 153
Array.Copy Method............................................................................................. 156
Array.IndexOf Method....................................................................................... 158
Array.LastIndexOf Method............................................................................... 159
Array.Reverse Method....................................................................................... 161
Array.Sort Method............................................................................................... 162
Asc, AscW Functions .......................................................................................... 164
Asin Function......................................................................................................... 166
Atan Function........................................................................................................ 167
See Also .................................................................................................................. 168
Atan2 Function ..................................................................................................... 168
Beep Procedure .................................................................................................... 169
Call Statement...................................................................................................... 170
CallByName Function......................................................................................... 172
CBool Function...................................................................................................... 174
CByte Function ..................................................................................................... 175
CChar Function..................................................................................................... 176
CDate Function .....................................................................................................177
CDbl Function ........................................................................................................178
CDec Function .......................................................................................................179
Ceiling Function ....................................................................................................180
ChDir Procedure ...................................................................................................181
ChDrive Procedure...............................................................................................182
Choose Function...................................................................................................184
Chr, ChrW Functions...........................................................................................185
CInt Function .........................................................................................................187
Class Statement ...................................................................................................188
Clipboard Class .....................................................................................................190
Clipboard.GetDataObject Method..................................................................190
Clipboard.SetDataObject Method ..................................................................192
CLng Function........................................................................................................192
CObj Function........................................................................................................194
Collection Class.....................................................................................................195
Collection.Add Method .......................................................................................198
Collection.Count Property.................................................................................199
Collection.Item Method .....................................................................................200
Collection.Remove Method...............................................................................202
ColorDialog Class .................................................................................................203
Command Function .............................................................................................205
Const Statement ..................................................................................................207
Cos Function ..........................................................................................................208
Cosh Function........................................................................................................209
CreateObject Function .......................................................................................210
CShort Function....................................................................................................212
CSng Function .......................................................................................................214
CStr Function.........................................................................................................215
CType Function .....................................................................................................216
CurDir Function.....................................................................................................218
DateAdd Function.................................................................................................219
DateDiff Function .................................................................................................221
DatePart Function ................................................................................................224
DateSerial Function.............................................................................................226
DateString Property ............................................................................................228
DateValue Function .............................................................................................229
Day Function..........................................................................................................230
DDB Function.........................................................................................................231
Debug Class ...........................................................................................................233
Debug.Assert Method.........................................................................................234
Debug.AutoFlush Property ...............................................................................235
Debug.Close Method...........................................................................................235
Debug.Flush Method...........................................................................................236
Debug.Indent Method ........................................................................................236
Debug.IndentLevel Property............................................................................237
Debug.IndentSize Property..............................................................................237
Debug.Listeners Property................................................................................. 238
Debug.Unindent Method................................................................................... 238
Debug.Write Method .......................................................................................... 239
Debug.WriteIf Method ....................................................................................... 240
Debug.WriteLine Method.................................................................................. 241
Debug.WriteLineIf Method............................................................................... 242
Declare Statement .............................................................................................. 243
Delegate Statement ........................................................................................... 248
DeleteSetting Procedure................................................................................... 249
Dim Statement ..................................................................................................... 251
Dir Function ........................................................................................................... 256
Directory Class ..................................................................................................... 259
Directory.CreateDirectory Method................................................................ 260
Directory.Delete Method................................................................................... 261
Directory.Exists Method.................................................................................... 262
Directory.GetCreationTime Method.............................................................. 263
Directory.GetDirectories Method................................................................... 263
Directory.GetDirectoryRoot Method............................................................. 265
Directory.GetFiles Method................................................................................ 266
Directory.GetFileSystemEntries Method..................................................... 267
Directory.GetLogicalDrives Method.............................................................. 268
Directory.GetParent Method ........................................................................... 269
Directory.Move Method..................................................................................... 270
Do...Loop Statement.......................................................................................... 271
E Field ...................................................................................................................... 274
End Statement .................................................................................................. 274
Enum Statement.................................................................................................. 276
Environ Function.................................................................................................. 278
EOF Function ......................................................................................................... 280
Erase Statement .................................................................................................. 281
Erl Property............................................................................................................ 282
Err Object ............................................................................................................... 283
Err.Clear Method.................................................................................................. 284
Err.Description Property ................................................................................... 285
Err.GetException Method.................................................................................. 286
Err.HelpContext Property ................................................................................. 288
Err.HelpFile Property.......................................................................................... 289
Err.LastDLLError Property................................................................................ 290
Err.Number Property.......................................................................................... 291
Err.Raise Method ................................................................................................. 293
Err.Source Property............................................................................................ 295
Error Statement ................................................................................................... 295
ErrorToString Function...................................................................................... 296
Event Statement.................................................................................................. 297
Exception Class .................................................................................................... 299
Exit Statement...................................................................................................... 302
Exp Function.......................................................................................................... 303
MIRR Function.......................................................................................................443
MkDir Procedure...................................................................................................444
Mod Operator.........................................................................................................445
Module...End Module Statement....................................................................446
Month Function .....................................................................................................447
MonthName Function..........................................................................................448
MsgBox Function ..................................................................................................449
MyBase Keyword..................................................................................................452
MyClass Keyword .................................................................................................453
Namespace Statement.......................................................................................454
Now Property.........................................................................................................455
NPer Function ........................................................................................................456
NPV Function..........................................................................................................458
Oct Function...........................................................................................................459
On Error Statement.............................................................................................460
OpenFileDialog Class ..........................................................................................463
Option Compare Statement.............................................................................466
Option Explicit Statement.................................................................................466
Option Strict Statement ....................................................................................467
Partition Function.................................................................................................469
Pi Field......................................................................................................................471
Pmt Function..........................................................................................................472
Pow Function..........................................................................................................473
PPmt Function .......................................................................................................474
Print, PrintLine Procedures...............................................................................476
Private Statement................................................................................................478
Property Statement.............................................................................................480
Protected Keyword ..............................................................................................485
Public Statement..................................................................................................485
PV Function.............................................................................................................488
QBColor Function .................................................................................................490
Queue Class ...........................................................................................................491
Queue.Clear Method ...........................................................................................493
Queue.Contains Method....................................................................................493
Queue.CopyTo Method.......................................................................................494
Queue.Count Property .......................................................................................495
Queue.Dequeue Method....................................................................................496
Queue.Enqueue Method ....................................................................................497
Queue.Peek Method............................................................................................497
Queue.ToArray Method......................................................................................498
RaiseEvent Statement........................................................................................498
Randomize Procedure.........................................................................................500
Rate Function.........................................................................................................501
ReDim Statement ................................................................................................503
Rem Statement.....................................................................................................505
Rename Procedure ..............................................................................................506
Replace Function ..................................................................................................507
Reset Procedure................................................................................................... 509
Resume Statement ............................................................................................. 510
Return Statement................................................................................................ 511
RGB Function......................................................................................................... 513
Right Function....................................................................................................... 514
RmDir Procedure.................................................................................................. 515
Rnd Function ......................................................................................................... 517
Round Function .................................................................................................... 519
RTrim Function ..................................................................................................... 520
SaveFileDialog Class .......................................................................................... 521
SaveSetting Procedure...................................................................................... 523
ScriptEngine Function........................................................................................ 524
ScriptEngineBuildVersion Function............................................................... 525
ScriptEngineMajorVersion Function.............................................................. 526
ScriptEngineMinorVersion Function.............................................................. 527
Return Value.......................................................................................................... 527
Second Function................................................................................................... 528
Seek Function ....................................................................................................... 528
Seek Procedure .................................................................................................... 529
Select Case Statement...................................................................................... 530
Send, SendWait Methods ................................................................................. 532
Set Statement ...................................................................................................... 535
SetAttr Procedure................................................................................................ 537
Shadows Keyword............................................................................................... 539
Shell Function ....................................................................................................... 541
Sign Function ........................................................................................................ 544
Sin Function........................................................................................................... 545
Sinh Function ........................................................................................................ 546
SLN Function ......................................................................................................... 547
Space Function..................................................................................................... 548
Spc Function.......................................................................................................... 549
Split Function ........................................................................................................ 550
Sqrt Function......................................................................................................... 551
Stack Class............................................................................................................. 552
Stack.Clear Method ............................................................................................ 554
Stack.Contains Method ..................................................................................... 554
Stack.CopyTo Method........................................................................................ 555
Stack.Count Property......................................................................................... 556
Stack.Peek Method ............................................................................................. 557
Stack.Pop Method ............................................................................................... 557
Stack.Push Method ............................................................................................. 558
Stack.ToArray Method....................................................................................... 559
Static Statement.................................................................................................. 559
Stop Statement.................................................................................................... 562
Str Function ........................................................................................................... 563
StrComp Function................................................................................................ 564
StrConv Function................................................................................................. 565
StrDup Function....................................................................................................567
StrReverse Function............................................................................................568
Structure...End Structure Statement...........................................................568
Sub Statement......................................................................................................570
Switch Function ....................................................................................................574
SYD Function .........................................................................................................575
SyncLock Statement...........................................................................................576
SystemTypeName Function .............................................................................577
Tab Function ..........................................................................................................579
Tan Function ..........................................................................................................580
Tanh Function........................................................................................................581
Throw Statement .................................................................................................582
TimeOfDay Property ...........................................................................................582
Timer Property ......................................................................................................583
TimeSerial Function ............................................................................................584
TimeString Property............................................................................................585
TimeValue Function.............................................................................................586
Today Property......................................................................................................587
Trim Function.........................................................................................................588
Try...Catch...Finally Statement ......................................................................589
TypeName Function ............................................................................................591
UBound Function..................................................................................................593
UCase Function .....................................................................................................594
Unlock Procedure .................................................................................................594
Val Function ...........................................................................................................596
ValDec Function....................................................................................................597
VarType Function .................................................................................................598
VbTypeName Function.......................................................................................599
Weekday Function ...............................................................................................601
WeekdayName Function....................................................................................602
While...End While Statement ..........................................................................604
With Statement.....................................................................................................605
WithEvents Keyword...........................................................................................606
Write Procedure....................................................................................................608
WriteLine Procedure............................................................................................609
Year Function.........................................................................................................610
Part III: Appendixes .........................................................................................................613
Appendix A. What's New and Different in VB .NET ...................................................615
A.1 Language Changes for VB .NET .................................................................615
A.1.1 Data Types .................................................................................................615
A.1.2 Variables and Their Declaration.........................................................616
A.1.3 Boolean and Bitwise Operators ..........................................................619
A.1.4 Changes Related to Procedures .........................................................620
A.1.5 Miscellaneous Language Changes.....................................................621
A.2 Changes to Programming Elements.........................................................622
A.2.1 Constants....................................................................................................622
A.2.2 String Functions .......................................................................................623
A.2.3 Emptiness................................................................................................... 623
A.2.4 Graphical Functionality.......................................................................... 623
A.2.5 Mathematical Functionality.................................................................. 623
A.2.6 Diagnostics................................................................................................. 623
A.2.7 Miscellaneous............................................................................................ 624
A.3 Obsolete Programming Elements.............................................................. 624
A.4 Structured Exception Handling .................................................................. 627
A.5 Changes in Object-Orientation .................................................................. 627
A.5.1 Inheritance................................................................................................. 628
A.5.2 Overloading ............................................................................................... 628
A.5.3 Object Creation ........................................................................................ 628
A.5.4 Properties ................................................................................................... 629
Appendix B. Language Elements by Category........................................................... 631
B.1 Array Handling.................................................................................................. 631
B.2 Clipboard ............................................................................................................ 631
B.3 Collection Objects ........................................................................................... 632
B.4 Common Dialogs ............................................................................................. 632
B.5 Conditional Compilation................................................................................ 632
B.6 Conversion ......................................................................................................... 633
B.6.1 Data Type Conversion ........................................................................... 633
B.6.2 Other Conversion .................................................................................... 633
B.7 Date and Time.................................................................................................. 633
B.8 Debugging.......................................................................................................... 634
B.9 Declaration......................................................................................................... 634
B.10 Error Handling................................................................................................ 635
B.11 Filesystem........................................................................................................ 635
B.12 Financial ........................................................................................................... 636
B.13 IDataObject Interface ................................................................................. 636
B.14 Information ..................................................................................................... 637
B.15 Input/Output .................................................................................................. 637
B.16 Integrated Development Environment................................................. 638
B.17 Interaction....................................................................................................... 638
B.18 Mathematics.................................................................................................... 638
B.19 Program Structure and Flow .................................................................... 639
B.20 Programming.................................................................................................. 640
B.20.1 Object Programming ........................................................................... 640
B.20.2 Miscellaneous Programming............................................................. 640
B.21 Registry ............................................................................................................ 640
B.22 String Manipulation...................................................................................... 641
Appendix C. Operators................................................................................................... 643
C.1 Arithmetic Operators ..................................................................................... 643
C.2 Assignment Operators................................................................................... 644
C.3 Concatenation Operators ............................................................................. 646
C.4 Comparison Operators .................................................................................. 646
C.4.1 The Is Operator........................................................................................ 647
C.4.2 The Like Operator ................................................................................... 647
C.5 Logical and Bitwise Operators.................................................................... 647
7. Error Handling in VB .NET
7.1 Error Detection and Error Handling
7.2 Runtime Error Handling
7.3 Dealing with Logical Errors
7.4 Error Constants

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