Chapter 5 - General

Procedures
5.1 Function Procedures
5.2 Sub Procedures, Part I
5.3 Sub Procedures, Part II
5.4 Program Design

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 General Procedures

Visual Basic has two devices for breaking

problems into smaller pieces:
• Function procedures
• Sub procedures

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 5.1 Function Procedures

• Functions Having One Parameter

• Passing by Value
• Restriction on Data Types
• Functions Having Several Parameters
• Boolean-Valued Functions
• The Exit Function Statement

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 Some Built-In Functions

Function: Int
Example: Int(2.6) is 2
Input: number
Output: number

Function: Math.Round
Example: Math.Round(1.23, 1) is 1.2
Input: number, number
Output: number
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 Some Built-In Functions
(continued)
Function: Chr
Example: Chr(65) is A
Input: number
Output: string

Function: Asc
Example: Asc("Apple") is 65
Input: string
Output: number
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 Function Procedures

• Function procedures (aka user-defined

functions) always return one value
• Syntax:
Function FunctionName(var1 As Type1,
var2 As Type2,
...) As ReturnDataType
statement(s)
Return expression
End Function

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 Example with One Parameter

Function FtoC(t As Double) As Double

'Convert Fahrenheit temp to Celsius
Return (5 / 9) * (t - 32)
End Function

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Header of the FtoC
Function Procedure

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Example 1: Form

txtTempF

txtTempC

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 Example 1: Code
Private Sub btnConvert_Click(...) _
Handles btnConvert.Click
Dim fahrenheitTemp, celsiusTemp As Double
fahrenheitTemp = CDbl(txtTempF.Text)
celsiusTemp = FtoC(fahrenheitTemp)
txtTempC.Text = CStr(celsiusTemp )
End Sub

Function FtoC(t As Double) As Double

Return (5 / 9) * (t - 32)
End Function

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Example 1: Output

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 Example with One Parameter

Function FirstName(fullName As String) As

String
'Extract first name from full name
Dim firstSpace As Integer
firstSpace = fullName.IndexOf(" ")
Return fullName.Substring(0, firstSpace)
End Function

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Example 2: Form

txtFullName

txtFirstName

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 Example 2: Code
Private Sub btnDetermine_Click(...) _
Handles btnDetermine.Click
Dim fullName As String
fullName = txtFullName.Text
txtFirstName.Text = FirstName(fullName)
End Sub
Function FirstName(fullName As String) As String
Dim firstSpace As Integer
firstSpace = name.IndexOf(" ")
Return name.Substring(0, firstSpace)
End Function

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Example 2: Output

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 User-Defined Function Having
Several Parameters
Function Pay(wage As Decimal,
hrs As Decimal) As Decimal
Dim amt As Decimal 'amount of salary
Select Case hrs
Case Is <= 40
amt = wage * hrs
Case Is > 40
amt = (wage * 40) +(1.5D * wage * (hrs – 40))
End Select
Return amt
End Function
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Example 3: Form

txtWage

txtHours

txtEarnings

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 Example 3: Partial Code
Private Sub btnCalculate_Click(...) _
Handles
btnCalculate.Click
Dim hourlyWage, hoursWorked As Decimal
hourlyWage = CDec(txtWage.Text)
hoursWorked = CDec(txtHours.Text)
txtEarnings.Text =
(Pay(hourlyWage,
hoursWorked)).ToString("C")
Function call
End Sub

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Example 3: Output

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 User-Defined Boolean-Valued
Function
Function IsVowelWord(word As String) As
Boolean
If word.IndexOf("A") = -1 Then
Return False
End If
.
.
If word.IndexOf("U") = -1 Then
Return False
End If
Return True
End Function

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The Exit Function Statement

• The Exit Function statement immediately

exits the Function procedure in which it
appears.
• Usually appears inside a decision block

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 5.2 Sub Procedures, Part I

• Defining and Calling Sub Procedures

• Variables and Expressions as Arguments
• Sub Procedures Having No Parameters
• Sub Procedures Calling Other Sub
Procedures
• The Exit Sub Statement

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 General Form of Sub
Procedure
Sub ProcedureName(par1 As Type1, par2 As Type2, _
..., parN As TypeN)
statement(s)
End Sub

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 Calling a Sub Procedure

• The statement that invokes a Sub

procedure is referred to as a calling
statement.
• A calling statement looks like this:
ProcedureName(arg1, arg2,..., argN)

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 Naming Sub Procedures

The rules for naming Sub procedures are

the same as the rules for naming variables.

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 Passing Values
DisplaySum(2, 3)
Sub DisplaySum(num1 As Double, num2 As Double)
Dim z As Double
z = num1 + num2
lstOutput.Items.Add("The sum of " & num1 &
" and " & num2 & " is " & z & ".")
End Sub

• In the Sub procedure, 2 will be stored in num1

and 3 will be stored in num2
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 Arguments and Parameters

Sum(2, 3)
arguments

parameters
Sub DisplaySum(num1 As Double, num2 As Double)

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 Several Calling Statements

DisplaySum(2, 3)
DisplaySum(4, 6)
DisplaySum(7, 8)

Output:
The sum of 2 and 3 is 5.
The sum of 4 and 6 is 10
The sum of 7 and 8 is 15.

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 Passing Strings and Numbers
Demo("CA", 39)
Sub Demo(state As String, pop As Double)

lstOutput.Items.Add = state &

" has population " & pop & " million."
End Sub

Note: The statement Demo(39, "CA") would not be

valid. The types of the arguments must be in
the same order as the types of the parameters.
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 Variables and Expressions as
Arguments
Dim s As String = "CA"
Dim p As Double = 19
Demo(s, 2 * p)
Sub Demo(state As String, pop As Double)
lstOutput.Items.Add = state &
" has population " & pop & " million."
End Sub

Note: The argument names need not match the

parameter names. For instance, s versus
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 Sub Procedure Having No
Parameters

Sub DescribeTask()
lstBox.Items.Clear()
lstBox.Items.Add("This program displays")
lstBox.Items.Add("the name and population")
lstBox.Items.Add("of a state.")
End Sub

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 Sub Procedure Calling Another
Sub Procedure
Private Sub btnDisplay_Click(...) Handles _
btnDisplay.Click
Demo("CA", 39)
End Sub

Sub Demo(state As String, pop As Double)

DescribeTask()
lstOutput.Items.Add("")
lstOutput.Items.Add = state &
" has population " & pop & " million."
End Sub

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Output

This program displays

the name and population
of a state.

CA has population 39 million.

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5.3 Sub Procedures, Part II

• Passing by Value
• Passing by Reference
• Sub Procedures That Return a Single
Value
• Scope and Lifetime of Variables and
Constants
• Debugging

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 ByRef Keyword

• Parameters in Sub procedure headers

can be proceeded by ByRef
• ByRef stands for By Reference

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 Passing by Value

• When a variable argument is passed to a

parameter not preceded with ByRef, just
the value of the argument is passed.
• After the Sub procedure terminates, the
variable has its original value.

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 Example

Public Sub btnOne_Click (...) Handles _

btnOne.Click
Dim n As Double = 4
Triple(n)
txtBox.Text = CStr(n)
End Sub
Sub Triple(num As Double)
num = 3 * num
End Sub

Output: 4
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 Same Example: n num
Public Sub btnOne_Click (...) Handles _
btnOne.Click
Dim num As Double = 4
Triple(num)
txtBox.Text = CStr(num)
End Sub
Sub Triple(num As Double)
num = 3 * num
End Sub

Output: 4
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 Passing by Reference

• When a variable argument is passed to a

parameter preceded by ByRef, the
parameter is given the same memory
location as the argument.
• After the Sub procedure terminates, the
argument variable has the value of the
parameter.

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 Example
Public Sub btnOne_Click (...) Handles _
btnOne.Click
Dim n As Double = 4
Triple(n)
txtBox.Text = CStr(n)
End Sub
Sub Triple(ByRef num As Double)
num = 3 * num
End Sub

Output: 12
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 Example: num n
Private Sub btnOne_Click(...) Handles _
btnOne_Click
Dim n As Double = 4
Triple(n)
txtBox.Text = CStr(n)
End Sub
Sub Triple(ByRef num As Double)
num = 3 * num
End Sub

Output: 12 © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

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 Most Common Use of ByRef:
Get Input

Sub InputData(ByRef wage As Double,

ByRef hrs As Double)
wage = CDbl(txtWage.Text)
hrs = CDbl(txtHours.Text)
End Sub

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 Sub Procedures that Return a
Single Value with ByRef
• Should be avoided
• Usually can be replaced with a Function
procedure

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 Lifetime and Scope of a
Variable
• Lifetime: Period during which it remains in
memory.
• Scope: In Sub procedures, defined same as
in event procedures.
• Suppose a variable is declared in procedure
A that calls procedure B. While procedure B
executes, the variable is alive, but out of
scope.
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 Debugging

• Programs with Sub procedures are

easier to debug
• Each Sub procedure can be checked
individually before being placed into the
program

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 Comparing Function Procedures
with Sub Procedures
• Sub procedures are accessed using a
calling statement
• Functions are called where you would
expect to find a literal or expression
• For example:
• result = functionCall
• lstBox.Items.Add (functionCall)

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 Functions vs. Procedures

• Both can perform similar tasks

• Both can call other procedures
• Use a function when you want to return
one and only one value

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 5.4 Program Design

• Top-Down Design
• Structured Programming
• Advantages of Structured Programming
• Object-Oriented Programming

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 Design Terminology

• Large programs can be broken down

into smaller problems
• divide-and-conquer approach called
stepwise refinement
• Stepwise refinement is part of top-
down design methodology

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 Top-Down Design

• General problems are at the top of the

design
• Specific tasks are near the end of the
design
• Top-down design and structured
programming are techniques to enhance
programmers' productivity

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 Top-Down Design Criteria
1. The design should be easily readable and
emphasize small module size.
2. Subtasks proceed from general to specific as you
read down the chart.
3. The subtasks, as much as possible, should be
single minded. That is, they should only perform a
single well-defined task.
4. Subtasks should be as independent of each other
as possible, and any relationships among
modules should be specified.
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Beginning of Hierarchy Chart

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Detailed Hierarchy Chart

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 Structured Programming

Control structures in structured programming:

• Sequences: Statements are executed one
after another.
• Decisions: One of two blocks of program code
is executed based on a test of a condition.
• Loops (iteration): One or more statements are
executed repeatedly as long as a specified
condition is true.

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 Advantages of Structured
Programming
Goal to create correct programs that are
easier to
• write
• understand
• modify

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 Easy to Write

• Allows programmer to first focus on the

big picture and take care of the details
later
• Several programmers can work on the
same program at the same time
• Code that can be used in many
programs is said to be reusable

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 Easy to Debug

• Procedures can be checked individually

• A driver program can be set up to test
modules individually before the complete
program is ready.
• Using a driver program to test modules
(or stubs) is known as stub testing.

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 Easy to Understand

• Interconnections of the procedures reveal

the design of the program.
• The meaningful procedure names, along
with relevant comments, identify the tasks
performed by the subtasks.
• The meaningful procedure names help the
programmer recall the purpose of each
procedure.
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 Easy to Change

• Because a structured program is self-

documenting, it can easily be
deciphered by another programmer.

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 Object-Oriented Programming

• an encapsulation of data and code that

operates on the data
• Objects have properties, respond to
methods, and raise events.
• Chapter 11 discusses object-oriented
programming in detail.

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The Exit Sub Statement

• The Exit Sub statement immediately

exits the Sub procedure in which it
appears.
• They most commonly occur at the
beginning of a procedure to determine if
the procedure should be executed

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