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Lesson 13 Getting Familiar with Visual Basic 2010 Express

What is Visual Basic?
Visual Basic is an object-oriented programming language developed by Microsoft Corporation. “Visual”
refers to the method used to create what the user sees-the graphical user interface, or GUI. “Basic” refers to the
BASIC (Beginners All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) high-level programming language whose design
philosophy emphasizes ease of use. It is the language used by more programmers than any other language in the
history of computing.
Different Visual Basic Versions
Visual Basic dates back to 1991 when its initial version was introduced. Its core was developed based on
BASIC language which was a popular programming language in the 80s. Bill Gates’ Microsoft Corporation
asked Alan Cooper of Tripod to develop his concept of drag-and-drop interface concept into a form-building
application. Tripod agreed to work on the project with Microsoft and it was called Ruby. But it did not include a
programming language. Later on, Microsoft decided to bundle Ruby with the ‘BASIC programming language
creating Visual Basic.
So between 1991 and 1998, Microsoft released six versions of Visual Basic (versions 1.0 through 6.0)
which revolutionized software development for Windows. These versions introduced event-driven
programming to a wide audience based on the QuickBasic programming language. Then after a significant
period of additional development and innovation, Microsoft released Visual Basic .NET 2002, an object-
oriented programming language which incorporates features of Microsoft’s .NET Framework and Web
Services. VB.NET, thought would be a sequel to VB 6.0, has a totally different language core.
Visual Basic.NET is still an object-oriented programming language. There is no backward or forward
compatibility between Visual Basic 6.0 projects and code and Visual Basic.NET projects and code. Visual
Basic.NET is a language designed to create .NET applications, Windows or Web applications, and Web
Services.
As improved versions of Visual Basic came out in 2003, 2005, and 2008, Visual Basic became a
component within the Visual Studio suite, and significant support was added to the product for database,
Internet, and team development projects, as well as continued improvements to the .NET Framework.
Visual Basic 2010 is now integrated with Visual Studio that it is available only as a component in this
programming suite, which also includes Visual C#, Visual C++, Visual Web Developer, and other
Microsoft .NET development tools.
Since 2005, both Visual Basic and Visual Studio have dropped the “.NET" moniker, although they are
still based on the .NET Framework technology.

Introducing the Visual Basic 2010

Visual Basic 2010 is not a stand-alone product. It is still a major component of Microsoft Visual Studio
which can be purchased commercially. To test drive the software, a free version of VB2010 Express can be
downloaded from Microsoft's official website

After downloading, install and launch it in your computer. To launch Microsoft Visual Basic 2010
Express:
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1. Click Start.
2. Go to All Programs.
3. Select Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express.
4. Choose Microsoft Visual Basic 2010 Express.

When you launch VB20l0 Express, the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is displayed. The
IDE shows the different tools that help in writing a computer program.

Understanding the Integrated Development Environment

The Start page is divided into two sections: project management and information. The project
management side of the page, on the left, offers a quick way to start new projects or work with a list of recently
opened projects.
 The New Project/Open Project lets you create a new VB project.
 The Recent Projects shows a list of projects that have been recently created.

The information side of the page, on the right, contains resources to help to work on VB, such as links to
the Microsoft website, walkthroughs to help you learn new features
 The Getting Started Pane provides some helpful tips to quickly develop applications.
 The Latest News section provides the latest online news about Visual Basic 2010 Express. It announces
new releases and updates.
The IDE main window holds the Visual Basic menu bar and the toolbars. Aside from its main window,
it also shows various child windows. Each window am be moved, resized, opened, closed, and modified or
customized. Some windows have tabs that allow you to display dnfferent contents.
The windows in the IDE are considered either document windows or tool windows. The Designer and
Editor windows are generally displayed in tabs in the center of the screen (the Document window), and the
various tool windows are docked along the edges and bottom of the IDE. But the locations and docking
behavior are all customizable as you work on your different projects.

The Main Menu

The menu bar on the top section provides access to most of the commands that control the development
environment. It is divided in different categories: File, Edit, View, Debug, Tools, Window, and Help. These sub-
menus work just like in other applications. Menus and commands work as they do in all Windows-based
programs, and you can access them by using the keyboard or the mouse.

The Toolbars
The toolbar contains frequently accessed functionality that is a subset of what is available in the main menu.
The toolbars are context-sensitive, showing and hiding functionalities depending on what is being done. You
can display any toolbar by clicking on View then selecting Toolbars.
There are two ways to start customizing the toolbars. You can click View in the main menu then select
Toolbars. Choose any toolbar of your choice in the fly-out menu. You can also right-click on the toolbar of your
choice, then scroll to the bottom of the list, and select Customize. The toolbar customization window allows you
to add any feature you would like to the current toolbar.

To customize the toolbars:

1. 0n the Customize dialog box, click the Commands tab.
2. Click the Toolbars radio button.
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3. In the Toolbars combo box, select the toolbar that will host the button. In this example, it would be
Standard
4. In the Controls list, click the button that will come after the new button. Choose Start/Continue.
5. Click Add Command.
6. In the Categories list of the Add Command dialog box, select the category with the button you want. In
this example, that would be Debug.
7. In the Commands list, click the desired button or menu item. In this example, we chose Start Without
Debugging.
8. Click OK after making the selection.
9. Click Close on the Customize dialog box.

The Document Window

The largest window in the center of the screen is the Document window Notice the tabs across the top of
the window, which allow you to switch between open documents. The items that display in the Document
window include the Form Designer and the Code Editor. You can switch from one tab to another, or Close any
of the documents using its Close button.
The Properties Window
The Properties window contains an Object list that itemizes all the user interface (U1) elements on the
form. It displays different fields depending on the item selected in the Solution Explorer. It is used to change the
characteristics or property settings of the UI element. (A property setting is a quality of one of the objects in the
program.)
Property names are listed in the left column while the current setting for each property is listed in the
right column. Since there are so many properties, they are organized into categories and displayed in outline
view. If the category has an arrow symbol next to it, click the arrow to display all the properties in that category.
If the category has a dark rotated arrow next to it, the properties are all visible. Click the arrow again to hide the
list under the category name.
When a field is disabled, it cannot be modified.

The Toolbox
When you launch VB2010 Express, the toolbox by default is docked as a vertical tab hidden on the far
left side of the VB window. It contains a context-sensitive list of controls at can be dragged and dropped into
any part of the window.
The Toolbox contains the controls of Visual Basic 2010 Express. These controls are categorized into
Common Controls, Containers, Menus, Toolbars, Data, Components, Printings and Dialogs. Some of the most
frequently used Common Controls are Button, Label, ComboBox, ListBox, PictureBox, and TextBox.

Managing VB Windows
When you start or open a project, some VB windows are already displayed in the working area. These
are the commonly used windows. Window title bars include a set of three icons: Window position (the down
arrow image). Maximize/Restore Down (Window image), and Close (cross image).
The Window Position allows you to treat the window as Dock, Float, Dock As Tabbed Document, Auto
Hide, and Hide. You can expand a window to fill the entire work area or allow the window to be resized and
float freely around the work area with the Maximize/Restore Down icon. In the docked position, the
Maximize/Restore Down icon becomes a pin that can be used to pin the window open or allow it to slide shut.
The Close icon allows you to close a window.
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Name: ________________________________________ Date: ______________ Score: ____________

A. Identify what is being asked in each number. Write your answer in the provided. Choose your answer
from the box below.

Allan Cooper Visual Studio

QuickBasic Ruby
1991 VB6.0
Bill Gates Object-oriented
VB2005 BASIC

_________1. He is one of the founders of Microsoft Corporation.

_________2. The software application where VB 2010 Express is in incorporated.
_________3. It is the type of programming language that the VB.Net versions are based.
_________4. The year that the very first version of Visual Basic.
_________5. It is considered as the most popular version of Visual Basic.
_________6. He developed the drag-and-drop concept which was adapted in Visual Basic.
_________7. It is when this VB version was introduced that the “.NET” portion was dropped.
_________8. It is the type of programming language that the earlier version of VB adapted.
_________9. It is a pioneer programming language where Visual basic is based upon.
_________10. The concept that was bundled with the BASIC to start Visual Basic.