Visual Basic .

Net

Seminar June 7, 2004

 Topics Today include
The .Net Framework
Studio .Net Environment
VB .Net
Introduction to VB .Net
Loops and Control Structures
The .Net Framework

What is the .Net Framework

Common Language Runtime
.Net Managed Assemblies
Compilation of .Net Code
.Net Framework Class Library
.Net Languages
The future of .Net
What is the .Net
Framework
Primarily a development platform
(mostly effects application
development)
Consists of two main parts
Common Language Runtime
.Net Framework Class Library
CLR (Common Language
Runtime)
Provides a runtime environment for
the execution of code written in ANY
.Net Language
Manages
The overall execution of .Net code
Inheritance, Memory, Debugging, and
application development across Multiple
languages
CLR (Continued)
Languages that utilizes the .Net framework must follow the
CLS
Common Language Specification
Outlines the rules and standards required or needed by the CLR
to execute .Net code.
The CLR will execute Managed Assemblies
Intermediate Languages managed by the CLR are called
Managed Code
The CLR will manage for the IL
Garbage collection
Object instantiation
Memory allocation
Components written in Managed Code by the CLR are called
.Net Managed assemblies
.Net Managed Assemblies
Basic Unit of deployment of .Net
Applications
Similar to the Microsoft COM Objects
Each Managed Assembly contains a Manifest
Hold definitions of other components required
for execution of the application
Prevents the problems associated with
conflicting DLLs
Revision numbers and components are listed in
the manifest
Two versions of the same DLL can then co-exist
Compilation of .Net code
All .Net languages are first compiled into an
intermediate language called MSIL or IL (Microsoft
Intermediate Language)
The MSIL is then Just In Time (JIT) compiled at
first execution of the code and managed by the CLR
All MSIL or IL code can be compiled directly to
native code with the following
Compiling native code will provide faster startup execution
of the code
Performance during execution of the code will then be
sacrificed
During JIT Optimization is placed on the Managed Code in
order to improve performance at the time of execution
.Net Framework Class
Library
Provide a library of base classes that
developers can use in their own
applications written in ANY .Net
language
Because of the use of these base
classes, Inheritance can then be
extensively used in languages that use
the .Net Framework
.Net Languages
.Net applications can be written by any or a
combination of many .Net languages
Languages include
VB .Net
C#
J#
Managed C++ (default in studio is set for managed C++)
Applications can be developed without the use of
Studio .Net
Applications can be developed still using a simple text
editor
ASP .Net Applications as well as other apps can be still
developed using notepad
The future of the .Net
Framework
Standards were release in 2000 from Microsoft to the community
GNU .Net is a project in the Linux community that is presently developing a
CLR to run in the Linux environment
Languages planned to include the CLS are
APL
COBOL
Eifel
Fortran
Haskel
Mercury
Mondrian
Oberon
Pascal
Perl
Python
RPG
Scheme
Studio .Net Environment
The IDE

Studio .Net
The Start Page
Problems with Studio .Net in the lab
environment
Studio .Net
All present .Net languages are included under one
development environment
When using any one of the languages, the studio must be
used (there is no longer an environment for each
language)
You have to start a new solution/project
Projects are containers that contain the files associated with
a particular project
A solution is a container that contains one or more projects
or project containers
When the IDE is started you have the Projects tab,
online resources, and My Profile
The Start Page

Profile and
environment settings
Tab for
Tab for Additional Help
this view
Previous Projects

Open a project
Start a new
in a diff. location
project
Problems with Studio .Net
environment in the lab
.Net security must allow access to the J: drive or
the local intra net in order to work properly
Problems arise when debugging apps on an ASP
.Net server that is not part of the current domain
(CLC) Basic apps will still work fine
These problems are not present if IIS and remote
debugging tools are installed on the client machine
This solution is fine for students but is not practical for a
lab
Due to security holes of IIS you can have hundreds of
security risks on a given network.
In the Real world situation, all apps will be placed on a
server anyway
Visual Basic .Net

General Features
Additional Features of VB .Net
What has changed in VB .Net
General features
It is an object oriented language
Students do better with this subject when they have a firm understanding of objects
In the past VB had objects but focus was not placed on them
VB .Net use objects and inheritance with everything
Uses exception handling extensively
New techniques are shown to the student for providing feedback from their
programs in order to help trouble shoot errors
Like with most OOP languages, exceptions that are not handled will cause programs
to abnormally end or exit
Uses generics with creating classes and Sub programs
Can use the top data type on inheritance of type Object
Used for late binding of data types and is quite useful when implementing stacks or
queues of any data type (.Net 2.0)
Provides a quick way to develop heavy duty applications in a windowing
environment
It is a useful tool for developing event driven programs
Additional Feature of VB
.Net
Can create both windows applications and web applications at
the click of a mouse button
The interface between the Databases and applications
Are the same between web apps and windows apps
All data are transferred between the apps in XML format
regardless if it is a web application or a windows application
A copy of the data from the database is loaded into a data set.
Persistent connections between the application and the database
no longer exists
Every form is a class and new forms now have to be
instantiated
VB .Net is still not case sensitive
What is Not in VB .Net
Data Controls
Because of the different way that the apps connect to the
database, there is no longer the support of data controls
in VB .Net
Persistent connections with the database is no longer
present
Object instantiation is now done differently
Garbage collection for references that lose there
objects are done periodically not when the
reference lose its scope
Periodic changes throughout the language making
it vastly different from VB 6.0 in order to make it
compliant to the .Net Framework and the CLS
The Introduction to
VB .Net
Data Types in VB .Net
Functions and Sub Procedures
Practice Examples
Data Types in VB .Net
Data Types and possible values
Integer -> -2,147,483,648 (4 bytes)
Double -> floating point numbers with 14 digits of accuracy
(8
Bytes)
Decimal -> decimal values ( 16 bytes replaced currency in 6.0)
Date -> the date (8 Bytes)
Byte -> 0 to 255 (1 Byte)
Char -> Unicode character (2 Bytes)
Boolean ->True or false value (2 Bytes)
Single -> floating point number with 6 digits of accuracy (4 bytes)
Short -> 2 byte integer
Long -> 8 byte integer
String -> an arrangement of alpha-numeric characters varies in
length
Object -> any data type 4 bytes
Functions and Sub
procedures / Programs in
VB .Net (Methods)
Functions and sub procedures must either have a sub or
function keyword in the function or sub procedure heading
They can be either public or private (following the same
conventions in OOP languages such as C++ or Java)
All parameters are passed by value by default in VB .Net
Parameters of any data type may be passed by reference
All Objects and arrays are passed by reference not value
All events are handled by a sub procedure in VB .Net
Functions return a value and Sub Procedures do Not
Practice example 1
You can use the text book given to you to
get the basics needed in programming VB
starting on page 477
Getting familiar with VB .Net
Write a program that will take text from one text
box and place that text in another text box with
a click of a button
Take a look at the attributes of each control
A control can be a button text box etc.
Each control should contain names that follow VB
specifications i.e. txtBox1 txtBox2 btnMove
Each name as always should be meaningfull
Practice Example 2

Using Functions in VB .Net

Use the text boxes from the previous example
Add a text box
Provide a function that adds the values of text
box 1 and text box 2
Place the answer in text box3
Use variables of type double and use the CDbl()
function to convert the string value of the text
box to a double page 485 in your text
Loops and control
structures
The If Statement
The Select Case Statement
The Do While and Loop While loops
The For Loop
The IF Statement
Every If statement must contain a then and an end if
Example:
If Num1 < 2 Then
MessageBox.show(The value is less than 2)
End If
If Num1 <> 4 then
MessageBox.Show(The value is not 4)
End If
The relational operators that can be used in VB are
>
<
=
>=
<=
<> (Not equal to)
The Select Case statement

The select case statement is a lot like the

switch statement in Java
It can use ANY data type in VB
Example
Select Case Num1
Case 1 DoSomeThing()
Case 2 Do SomethingElse()
End Select
Yes you can use strings as well
Do While Loops

Do while loops evaluate the expression

first then executes the Loop Body
Act much in the same as All While
loops in languages like C++ and Java
Example
Do While Num1 < 10
Num1 += 1
Loop
Loop While Loops
The Body of the Loop is executed first then
the expression is evaluated
The loop will execute at least once
This is a lot like the do while loop in Java
and students get confused with this subtle
change
Example
Do
Num1 += 1
Loop While Num1 < 10
End Of Day 1
VB .Net Seminar Day 2

June 8, 2004
 Microsoft SQL Server
MS SQL Basics
The Enterprise Manager
Creating Databases
Connecting to Databases
The use of the Data Set
Exception Handling
Microsoft SQL Basics

Differences between MS SQL and

Access
Advantages of MS SQL
Quirky things with SQL
Connecting to the database with the
manager
Differences between MS
SQL and Access
SQL More Powerful than MS Access
Larger data types are available
Connection over a network provide
access to multiple clients
Blob data type available
A client is required to connect to the
SQL Database
Advantages of MS SQL

Can handle multiple users at one time

Ideal for web sites and web
applications
Contain the BLOB (Binary Large
Object) which enables a user to store
images in a database
Larger numeric values can be stored in
each field
Quirky problems with SQL

No Auto Number Data Type in MS SQL

Auto number is an integer data type
Identity is set to yes
And the seed is set to one
This gives you the option to set the
starting number and the increment
you want the auto number to have
Enterprise Manager

Connecting to the database

Getting through the confusion of
locating databases
Defining the different containers in the
Manager
Connecting to the DBMS

Start the Enterprise Manager

Right Click SQL Server group

Connecting to the DBMS
Click on SQL Server
Registration
Click next
In the text box
labeled Available
Servers type
Sigma.vbnet.matcm
p.ncc.edu
Click Add then next
Connecting to the DBMS

Click on SQL Server login

Username is the first six letters of your
last name and your first initial
Password is vbnet
Click next and click next again
Click Finish
Click close on the next dialog box
Getting through the
concussion
MS SQL Enterprise Manager will display ALL
of the databases located on the server
Access to each database is controlled by the
DBMS
ALL tables are displayed in each database
This includes tables that are used by the
DBMS
The Containers in SQL

Each container
has a specific
role
Student
Databases are
in the
databases
container
Database Container

Every students
database is displayed
Only the database that
the student has
permissions for can be
opened
Click on the database
container with your
username
Student Database
container
Creating the Database

Creating tables
Properties of the data types
Entering and Displaying Data in
database Tables
Creating Tables

Right click on the table container

Click new table
This is a lot like the Access interface
with different data types.
At this points explore the interface and
notice the differences
Properties of Data Fields

Each Data Field has a length property

This sometimes causes a problem with
students who make this field too small
Each data Field can also allow null values
After defining each column and setting all
the properties set the primary key by right
clicking on the field that is to be the key
Entering and Displaying
Data
Right Click the table
Click Open Table
Click Return All Rows
From here you can view and enter
new data into the table
Practice Example 1
Creating a Table in VB .Net
Create a table of customers in a hardware store
Columns will include
Customer ID
First Name
Last Name
Address
Zip Code
Fill the table with data
Display that data
Connecting to the database
with VB .Net Applications
The Data Provider
The Data Set
The use of the wizard
The Data Adapter

Needed to connect to every DBMS

Must Use the Adapter that represents
the DBMS you are going to use
We are going to use the
SQLDataAdapter Object
Holds the information on how to
The Data Provider

Manipulates data through the use of SQL

statements or commands
Hold connection information to the
Database
Contain two Major components
Data Adapter Object updates data in the
dataset
Connection Object maintains the connection
The Data Set

Holds data returned from a procedure

or Query performed by the data
adapter
Provides a local Copy of the data
from the table on the local machine
Prevents persistent connections with
the database and reduces network
traffic
The use of the wizard

Give Demo on using the wizard

The Data Set

Generating the data set object

The use of the onload event handler
Binding controls
Creating navigation for a database
Generating the Data Set
Object
Once the Data Adapter and the
connection object is created click on
Data in the menu
Click generate dataset
Give a name to the dataset
Click OK
The use of the onLoad
event Handler
Double click the form
Place the fill method in the Load event
handler
This will fill the dataset object with the
data from the table when the form
loads
Example
SQLDataAdapter1.Fill(MyDataSet1)
Binding Controls

Once you create a data set you can then

bind the controls of the form to fields or
columns of the database table
This is done with in the Bindings property in
the text box properties sheet
Under the bindings property click text and
then the field you wish to bind to the text
box
Creating navigation for a
database
Managed by the BindingManagerBase Object
This object contains the Position Property the holds
the current position of the record in the dataset
This is done by adding one to the position attribute
of the object
Methods of this object includes
Addnew()
EndCurrentEdit()
CancelCurrentEdit() -> provides a role back feature
RemoveAt() -> deletes current row at given position
Exception Handling
Implementation
Use try catch block much the same in Java
Can help trouble shoot connections to databases
Very important to use when filling the dataset
Example
Try
SqlDataAdapter1.Fill(DataSet11)
Catch ex As Exception
MessageBox.Show("Error will dataset fill")
End Try
Practice Example 2
Connecting a form to your Hardware customers
Create a form with text fields for each column
Create the data Adapter and Data Connection with the use
of the wizard
Create the data set object
Create the onload event handler to fill the data set
Bind your controls
Be sure to use exception handling for filling the data set
Create a Next button to navigate to the next record in the
database
End Of Day 2
VB .Net Seminar Day 3

June 9, 2004
 Topics
Adding and Editing Records
Updates and deletes with Bound controls
Classes and Modules in VB .Net
Menus
From design
MDI (Multi Document Interfaces)
Bound and unbound controls in VB .net
Why Unbound controls are used
Adding and Editing
Records
When Adding records
The Position of the dataset should be set to the
end
The text boxes should be cleared
The AddNew() Method accomplishes all this
in one method call
The AddNew() Method is part of the
BindingManagerBase Object
When changes are being made, a cancel
button should be provided to Roll Back
changes made to the data set
Edit
When Navigating the database the Text
boxes should be disabled to prevent
changes
There should be an edit button that
Disables the navigation button
Enables the text boxes for editing
Provide a cancel button that Roles Back the
changes that are made by calling the
CancelCurrentEdit() method of the
BindingManagerBase Object
Update and Deleting
Records
This is done by
Ending the current edit by calling EndCurrentEdit() in the
BindingManagerBase class
Updating the DB with Update() in the data adapter
Cause the dataset to reflect the changes by calling the
AcceptChanges() method in the data set
Deleting the records
First Ask the user if they are sure they want to delete
Use the RemoveAt() method of the BindingManagerBase
object
Update the database with the Update() method
Have the dataset reflect the change by calling the
AcceptChanges() method of the dataset object
Practice Example 1

With the Example finished yesterday

Add an Add Button
Add an Edit Button
Provide a Save and a delete feature
Use exception handling for everything
Classes and Modules in
VB .Net
Creating classes in VB .Net
The constructor and Sub procedures in
VB .Net
The use of Modules
Creating Classes in VB
.Net
Classes can be added to a project by
Right clicking the project container
Click add
Click add class
As in Most OOP Languages VB classes have
Public and private attributes
Public and private Methods (called functions or
sub procedures)
Constructors and Destructors (destructors are
not really needed in VB because of garbage
collection)
Modules

Modules can also be added to a

project to provide a place for Global
Methods and Identifiers
These Identifiers and methods can be
either public or private
Public Identifiers and methods can be
accessed from all of the forms and
classes in the VB project
Practice Example

For this Example

Create an Auto Class
An Auto will have
Three Attributes
Three Methods

Two constructors

Try instantiating the method in the form

Menus

When adding menus to a form you can

type in the choice right into the menu
object
Click event handlers can then be
added for each menu choice in the
same manner as the button
Form Design

Colors are important

They should be contrast in color
Ease to read
Easy on the eyes for long periods of viewing
Should provide easy navigation
Should provide a way to enter the data
easily with just using the keyboard
Multi Document
Interfaces (MDI)
When creating a form in VB .Net you are creating a
class
Every class in vb must be instantiated before it is
used
This is accomplished by using the new keyword
When the instance of the form is created, the form
can then be visible by calling the forms show
method
Closing a form does not exit the program. To exit
the program the End method should be called
Practice Example 3

Create a Form that will be a switch

board
Add a form to yesterdays example
Place a button that will open the
customer form
Place a button that will exit the program
Bound and Unbound
Controls
So far we have seen the benefits of bound controls
These are ok if you intend to use the same SQL
query for the whole application
Once controls are bound to a data set, changes to
the query in the data adapter can not be
accomplished
Unbounded controls give you the power to create
new data adapters with new queries.
Values can then be placed into the query to find
specific records in a database
End Day 3
VB .Net Seminar Day 4

June 10, 2004

 Topics
ASP .Net basic applications
ASP .Net Database applications
Web Forms
Crystal Reports
Creating Help Files
Demo with Serial port programming and VB
.Net
Handout Certificates
ASP .Net basic
Applications
End Day 4