Tutorial: Programming in Visual Basic 6.

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This tutorial contains a beginners guide to Visual Basic 6.0, introducing the programming environment, defining key terms and introducing exercises to demonstrate the five control structures (sequence, selection: binary and multiway, iteration: pre and post test).

Syllabus outcome
H5.3 A student selects and applies appropriate software to facilitate the design and development of software solutions Students learn to implement a fully tested and documented software solution in a methodical manner. (SDD syllabus, p.51) The following headings may help you navigate: Activity 1: Welcome screen and menu editor Activity 2: Event handlers and scroll bars Naming conventions Data types, variables and functions Activity 3: Messages and input boxes Activity 4: Create a calculator and avoid division by zero Sequence Binary Selection Activity 5: Measurement converter Multiway selection Activity 6: Multiway selection Activity 7: Control arrays Iterations Activity 8: Pre-test loops Activity 9: Post-test loops Activity 10: Random number generator Activity 11: Using a counter in a pre-test loop Activity 12: Nested FOR loops and arrays

Organising your first project

The first step is to create a project template within VB, to organise and store your work. This will consist of a menu structure with headings that will let you access the many exercises and examples you complete.

Activity 1

Open VisualBasic 6.0 Use the file menu to open a new project with a blank form. Use the properties window to set Main.frm as the form name. My programs as the caption. BackColor to White. BorderStyle to Fixed Single. WindowState to Maximised. Find the Menu icon and click on it to select it. Enter the following menu headings:

Quit Introduction with indented subheadings of Example1 Example2

Click OK after each menu caption and name are typed.

Click on Quit menu heading and enter the following code. This procedure is used to exit from running the project display and return to the design screens.
Private Sub Quit_Click() Unload me End End Sub

Use the <F5> function key to run the application to verify that the Menu structure is correct and that the Quit procedure is free from error. Use the File menu to save your work as Main.frm and (your intitials)Project1.vbp Use the file menu to open a new blank form (or the properties window) Set the following form properties: form name as Welcome caption to Example1 BackColor to White BorderStyle to Fixed Single WindowState to Maximised Click on the Example 1 main menu heading and enter the following code:
Private Sub Example1_Click() Welcome.Show End Sub

Save your work and run <F5> to ensure that it is free of errors.

Add two labels, an image and a command button to create a welcome screen. To do this

Select label icon from the toolbox. Click towards the centre-top of your form and
position and resize your label as required. With the label selected, use the properties window to Change the caption to WELCOME TO VISUAL BASIC Choose a bright back colour Set the font (Arial, underline, alignment centred, size 24 point, forecolour blue) Repeat to add the Enjoy label. Use the image icon on your toolbox to add the image to your form. Use the properties window of the image to select a picture. Use the command Button icon to add the button. Change its caption to RETURN. Then double-click the button and add the following line of code after the Command1_Click() procedure.
Unload Welcome

Use the file menu to save your work and use <F5> to run the application. DONT FORGET TO SAVE (AND BACK UP TO FLOPPY) ALL YOUR WORK.

Event handlers and scroll bars

Some definitions to learn An object is a thing anything that appears on the screen. An object has a set of properties. Each property of the object has a value. e.g. Label.Caption = Welcome to Visual Basic where Label is an object Caption is a property of label Welcome to Visual Basic is a value of the Caption property.

Events are things that happen on the screen. Event handlers transfer data to procedures that complete the task. The results of these procedures are returned
back to other screen objects, e.g. onChange onClick A procedure is a group of statements designed to perform a specific task. A procedure attached to an object, such as a button, is a command used to make something happen, e.g.
Public Sub Command2_Click() Text1.Text = This is a procedure. End Sub

Add new form to menu

As each new example and exercise solution is to be added to your project you will need to: add a new form set the form properties using the properties window click on the main menu icon with the main form displayed to show the menu designer add a new menu heading click on the menu heading to show the procedure code to the procedure code, add the statement where FormXX is the new form name.
FormXX.Show

Activity 2
1. Open a new form and change its name to ColourChanger. Place the following objects on this form. A heading label2 (Caption = Colour Changer) 3 horizontal scroll bars (Set the max value property of all three to 255) 3 other labels (2red, 3Green, 4Blue) a command button to quit the form (Caption = Return) another small label5 under the button with its visible property set to false.

2. Double click each scroll bar and add the following code to its _onChange() event. Use cut and paste to make the task easier.
Label1.BackColor = RGB(HScroll1.Value, HScroll2.Value, HScroll3.Value) Label5.BackColor = RGB(HScroll1.Value, HScroll2.Value, HScroll3.Value) Label1.ForeColor = RGB(255 - HScroll1.Value, 255 - HScroll2.Value, 255 HScroll3.Value) Label5.ForeColor = RGB(255 - HScroll1.Value, 255 - HScroll2.Value, 255 HScroll3.Value) Label5.Visible = True Label5.Caption = WOW! Label2.BackColor = RGB(HScroll1.Value, 0, 0) Label3.BackColor = RGB(0, HScroll2.Value, 0) Label4.BackColor = RGB)0, 0, HScroll3.Value)

3. Double click the return button and add the following code to its _onClick() event
Unload Me

4. Use the Project Explorer window to return to your main form and double click example 2 in your menu to add the appropriate code. 5. Use <F5> function key to test your project. Save and backup.

Naming conventions
Up till now, we have often accepted default names, Text1, Label1, etc. In a big project, this is not good practice as it makes the code harder to read or maintain. Naming conventions use a prefix of three lowerCase letters to identify the type of control, followed by a meaningful name. eg. lblTitle

Prefix Abbreviations for Control names Prefix Control Prefix

cbo cmd drv fil frm hsb lbl lst ole pic tmr vsb combo box command button drive list box file list box form horizontal scrollbar label list box OLE client picture box timer vertical scrollbar

chk dir fil fra grd img lin mnu opt shp txt

check box directory list box file list box frame grid image line menu option button shape text box

Control

Data types in VB
A variable is a named location that holds data. A variable can only hold one datatype. A program can have as many variables as you need but before you can use a variable it must be declared. You use a DIM statement to declare variables (where DIM stands for dimension). Here is the format of the DIM statement:

Dim VarName As Datatype

e.g. Dim curCost As Currency, Dim strSurname As String Boolean Byte

Datatype Description and Range

Currency Date Double Integer Long

One of two values only. e.g. True or False e.g. blnIsOverTime Positive numeric values without decimals from 0-256 e.g. bytAge Data that holds dollar amounts from -$922,337,203,685,477.5808 to +$922,337,203,685,477.5807 e.g. curHourlyPay Date and time values from Jan 1, 100 to Dec 31, 9999 e.g. dteFirstLesson Numeric values from 1.79769313486232E+308 to +1.79769313486232E+308. Often called double-precision. e.g. dblMicroMeasurement Numeric values with no decimal point or fraction from 32,768 to 32,767 e.g. intCount Integer values beyond the range of Integer datatype from

bln byt cur dte dbl int lng

Prefix

Object Single String Variant

2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647 e.g. lngStarDistance A special datatype that holds and references objects such as controls or forms. e.g. objSoundClip Numeric values that range from 3,402823E+38 to 3,402823E+38. Often called single-precision. sngYearSalesFigures Data that consists of 0 to 65,400 characters of alphanumeric data including special characters such as @, ^, e.g. strFirstName Data of any datatype used for control and other values for which the datatype is unknown. e.g. vntControlValue

obj sng str vnt or var

A function is a segment of code that accepts zero, one or more arguments and returns a single result. Visual Basic includes many built-in functions (intrinsic functions). Some perform basic mathematical tasks. Others manipulate string data such as converting text to upperCase or lowerCase letters. An argument is a value you pass to a function so the function has data to work with. Function names have parentheses at the end to hold the function arguments. Even if a function has no arguments, the parenthesis are required. Two intrinsic functions include message boxes and input boxes.

Activity 3: Message and input boxes

Message and input boxes are intrinsic functions in Visual Basic 6.0 which allow the end user to interact with the program. Follow the instructions Add new form to menu at the end of Activity 1 to create a new form with a menu heading on the main form. Call this Message and Input Boxes Make the Form.Caption = Message and Input Boxes Put a label on the top of the form Computer Conversation. Underneath have a command button with the caption Talk to me! Name the command button cmdTalk. Double click the command button to add the following code sequence.
Private Sub cmdTalk_Click() Dim strQuestion As String Dim intAnswer As Integer First you must declare your variables

Then use the input and message box functions strQuestion = InputBox(Type in your name!, Ebeneezer) intAnswer = MsgBox(Hello there & strQuestion, vbOKCancel, Chat) End Sub

Add a return button, called cmdBack as you did in the ColourChanger, using the code
Private Sub cmdBack_Click() Form1.Show End Sub

Run your program using <F5>. Dont forget to save your work.

Here are some handy literals (values that dont change). You dont have to learn them as the help prompt supplies a drop down list as you start to type.

Buttons in Message Boxes Named Literal Value

vbOKOnly vbOKCancel vbAbortRetryIgnore vbYesNoCancel vbYesNo vbRetryCancel 0 1 2 3 4 5

Description

Displays the OK button Displays the OK button and Cancel buttons Displays the Abort, Retry and Ignore buttons. Displays the Yes, No and Cancel buttons. Displays the Yes and No buttons. Displays the Retry and Cancel buttons.

Icons in Message Boxes Named literal Value

vbCritical vbQuestion vbExclamation vbInformation vbSystemModal 16 32 48 64 4096

Displays Critical Message icon Displays Warning Query icon. Displays Warning Message icon. Displays Information message icon. Displays a System Modal dialog box. The user must acknowledge this box before doing anything else.

Description

Remarks are added in code to explain the purpose of a section of code or to add

information for code maintenance. If Rem or is placed in front of the remark, that line of code is ignored completely.

Activity 4
Create a calculator that can add, subtract, multiply and divide two numbers given by the user. [A possible solution might use two input boxes (txtOne and txtTwo) and a label to display the answer (lblAnswer). Declare variables:
dblNo1 As Double dblNo2 As Double dblAnswer As Double intError As Integer

Use Val function to change string from input box to a number, then an assignment statement to put that value into the variable.
dblNo1 = Val (txtOne.text)

Repeat for second number. Use a Format function to ensure answer is rounded off to two decimal places.
lblAnswer.Caption = Format (dblAnswer, #,##0.00)

If you are very clever, this might be an option for the user. Ensure that it is not possible to divide by zero, either by entering nothing or by entering zero. Use the MsgBox() function to indicate the problem to the user.
If Val (txtTwo.Text) = 0 Then IntError = MsgBox (You cannot divide by 0!, VbOkCancel, Whoops!) Else End If

Add a clear command button with the following code to allow the user to do another calculation.
txtOne.Text = txtTwo.Text = lblAnswer.Caption = txtOne.SetFocus

The SetFocus method returns the cursor to the first input box. Set properties to pretty it up. Check that it works. Use integers, very big numbers, very small numbers, negative numbers, zeros, etc. Is your label big enough for all values? If you set the labels autosize property to true it will stretch to fit. Add a remark (put at the beginning of the line) at the top of your code which includes your name and the date. Connect to a Binary Selection menu heading on the main form.

Sequence algorithms
The programs in Activities 1 3 were all constructed from sequence algorithm constructs. Each line of code followed another with only one possible pathway for each event. So, for each sub procedure, the algorithm would consist of input, output and a series of process steps, e.g.
Private Sub cmdClear_Click() txtOne.Text = txtTwo.Text = lblAnswer.Caption = txtOne.SetFocus End Sub `user input `sequence of processes initializing variables

`output

Binary selection
The next group of programs you will write uses the second algorithm construct selection. Selection allows multiple pathways for any event and allows for choices to be made. Selection constructs can be Binary (two way) or Multiway (multiple choices)

Binary selection uses the If

is the syntax in Visual Basic.

End If

or the If Else End If statements. Here

If comparison test Then End If

OR

One or more Visual Basic statements

If comparison test Then Else End If

One or more Visual Basic statements One or more Visual Basic Statements

(You have used binary selection in your calculator to prevent a user dividing by zero.)

Activity 5

Is your measurement in Inches Enter the measurement

1

or Centimetres
Convert it!

The measurement in centimetres is 2.54 cms.

Add a new menu heading Selections with two subheadings, Binary Selection and Multiway Selection. Write a program to convert inches to centimetres OR centimetres to inches (using the conversion 1 inch = 2.54 centimetres). Use option buttons (from the toolbox) for the user to indicate whether the conversion is inches to centimetres or centimetres to inches. Use IF statements to determine which formula to use based on which option button is selected. Option buttons are mutually exclusive, i.e. only one can be selected at a time. Connect to menu heading Binary Selection. Run the application to ensure that it is working correctly. Use your calculator to verify the results. Try it out with some test data including very large numbers, very small numbers, zero, negative numbers, 0.000000987654.

Multiway selection
In Activity 5 we looked at an example of binary selection. If the selection involves more than two alternatives, you can use nested If statements but this becomes complicated and leads to hard-to-read code. It is better to use Case statements. Here is the syntax for multiple selection through Case statements.

Select Case Expression Case value Case value Case value Case Else End Select
For example:

[One or more VB statements] [One or more VB statements] [One or more VB statements]

[One or more VB statements]

Select Case intAge

Case Is < 6

Case 6 To 11 Case Else End Select Activity 6

lblTitle.Caption = Preschool lblTitle.Caption = Primary School lblTitle.Caption = Secondary School

Case 12 To 18

lblTitle.Caption = Adult

1. The post office has the following charges for parcels based upon different weights. 0 50 51 100 101 250 251 500

Weight (gram)

Cost

$1.40 $2.70 $4.00 $7.50

Parcels which are heavier than 500 gms are calculated by weight*0.02 Design a project that allows a user to enter the weight in a text box and calculate the postage. Use Case statements in your code. Link this as CaseWeights under the Multiway menu heading in your main form. 2. Use a set of check boxes to allow a user to choose the noise level by the comments, then output the probable decibel level based on information in the following table.

Decibel level
140+ 90 139 60 89 30 59 0 29

Extremely painful Deafening Disturbing Distracting Relaxing

Comfort level

Again use Case statements and link this to the main form menu under the name NoiseLevels again connected to the Multiway menu heading.

Activity 7
A control array is a set of multiple controls of the same type with the same name (often created by using the Copy and Paste command). You may have encountered this already in adding radio buttons or check boxes to your form. Individual controls within the array are distinguished by having different Index property values. So, if you created a control array of option buttons called optChoice, the Click event procedure might look like this:
Private Sub optChoice_Click (Index As Integer) Select Case optChoice (Index) Case Index = 0 Label1.Caption = "Monday" Case Index = 1 Case Index = 2 Case Index = 3 Label1.Caption = "Tuesday" Label1.Caption = "Wednesday" Label1.Caption = "Thursday"

Case Index = 4 Case Index = 5 Case Else End Select End Sub

Label1.Caption = "Friday" Label1.Caption = "Saturday" Label1.Caption = "Sunday"

The code above would change the label caption as each different option button was selected. Try this out, then add code to change the label background colour (to something appropriate) for each different day. Link to the menu Multiway Selection heading in the main form menu under the heading Colour My Days. Before we continue with the last structures iterations check that the menu headings on Main are all correct and linked (by code) to the correct forms. Check the list below and change any that need to be changed. Quit Introduction (Sequences) Example 1 ( Welcome to VB) Example 2 ( Colour changer) Message and Input boxes Sequence ( Computer Conversation) Selection Binary (- The calculator) Binary (- Measurement Converter) Multiway (- Parcel weights) Multiway (- Noise levels) Multiway (-Colour my days) Iteration

Menu

from Activity 1 from Activity 2 from Activity 3 from Activity 4 from Activity 5 from Activity 6 from Activity 6 from Activity 7

Iterations
Iterations or loops are structures that allow a statement or group of statements to be carried out repeatedly while some condition remains true (or for a counted number of times). Each iteration MUST contain a way of stopping the looping. There are 2 basic iteration structures:

Pre-test iterations: in these loops, the condition to be met occurs at the beginning
of the loop and the code will not run at all if the condition is never met. so that the code always runs at least once.

Post-test iterations: in these loops, the condition to be met is at the end of the loop

Activity 8
Create a new form and link to iteration pre-test (- Count the beeps) on the Main menu. Add a text box and a command button. Put a label above the text box asking the user to input a number between 1 and 10. When the user clicks the command button, check the textbox for a valid number and issue an error message if the number isnt inside the expected range. If the number is valid, use Do While Loop to issue that number of beeps. Name your form frmBeeper.

Private Sub Command1_Click() Dim intNumber As Integer Dim pause As Integer intNumber = Val(Text1.Text) If (intNumber > 0) And (intNumber < 11) Then Do While intNumber > 0 Beep For pause = 0 To 2500 frmBeeper.Refresh Next pause intNumber = intNumber - 1 Loop Else Text1.Text = "" Text1.SetFocus End If End Sub

Declare variables

Input user number Validate number

Slow down the beeps

Count down

Write an IPO Chart for this program. Then write the pseudocode algorithm for this program.

Activity 9
In this tutorial, we look at writing code containing the 5 basic control structures. sequence binary selection multiway selection pre-test iteration post-test iteration The IPO chart and pseudocode algorithm for finding the average of some numbers entered from the keyboard, using a post-test loop, might look like this: I P O number, counter add number to sum add 1 to counter average = sum/counter average

BEGIN Main Program counter = 0 sum = 0 get number sum = sum + number counter = counter + 1 UNTIL counter = 10 average = sum / counter display average END MAINPROGRAM Write this algorithm as a flowchart.

REPEAT

Open a new form and create a link to the program from the menu form (Main) under Iterations Post-test Loops Averages. Write an application to display the average of 10 numbers entered by the user using a post-test loop with the syntax Do ..Loop Until to ask for each number. Remember to use the Val () function to convert strings to numbers. Each number might be asked for with an input box using the syntax:
strNumber = InputBox(Enter the next number., Enter your numbers.) intNumber = Val(strNumber)

Dont forget to declare all your variables with Dim statements. e.g. Dim strNumber As String Initialise your variables to 0 at the beginning of the procedure.
intNumber = 0 intCounter = 0

Can you be sure that the counter will never cause division by zero and crash your program? Explain your answer.

Activity 10
Use a new function Rnd() to generate a random number. Write an application on a new form to generate a random number between 1 and 6 to simulate the rolling of a dice. Your form will need a large picture box with the Autosize property set to true and a command button with the following code behind it.

Private Sub Command1_Click() Dim x As Integer x = 0 Picture1 Print Randomize Ensures the start of each sequence of random numbers is also randomised Do x = Int(Rnd * 6 + 1) Picture1 Print x; Loop Until x <> 6 End Sub

Run your program clicking the command button several times (until the picture box is full). Create a link to the program from the menu form (Main) under Iterations Post test Loops Roll the dice. To produce a random integer x where 0 <= x < N, use the following syntax
x = Int(Rnd * N)

The following statement produces random integers in the range from 51 to 150.
x = Int (Rnd*100 + 51)

The Randomize statement ensures that the start of each sequence of random numbers is also random.

You will notice that Visual Basic has two different syntax statements for post-test iterations: Both are post-test loops where the comparison test appears at the bottom of the loop meaning that the code in the loop must execute at least once. These are both equivalent to the pseudocode syntax REPEAT . UNTIL Write the algorithm for this application in pseudocode that explains what every line in the program does.
Do . Loop Until (comparison test) Do . Loop While (comparison test)

Activity 11
Create a program to generate the first 20 Fibonacci numbers. This time use a counter to control the number of iterations. Add a Picture Box to print your results to. Make sure the PictureBox.Font Transparent = False, AutoRedraw = True and that the BackColor is different from the ForeColor. Use the following code to help you.
Dim FibNumber As Integer, FibNext As Integer, Counter As Integer Initialise FibNumber = 0 FibNext = 1 Picture1 Print "Ist 20 Fibonacci Numbers" Do While Counter < 20 Picture1 Print FibNumber & ", "; trailing semicolon stops the Print method going to the next line. Picture1 Print FibNext & ", " FibNumber = FibNumber + FibNext FibNext = FibNext + FibNumber Counter = Counter + 2 If Counter = 10 Then Picture1 Print This creates a new line End If Loop

Write an IPO chart and the algorithm in pseudocode and as a flowchart.

Activity 12
Write a program that uses nested For loops to fill a 2 dimensional array and then to print out the times tables from 1 12 into a picture control using the syntax: picDisplay Print (variable, [variable] ...] with a new line for each new times table on the display. You will definitely need to plot this one out on paper first, writing your algorithms and checking them. To declare your variable, you need the statement:

Dim arrTables[12,12] As Integer

Bibliography
Lynch, I (1999). An introduction to Visual Basic. Mansfield, QLD: Lynformation

Further Resources
Kerman, M. and Brown, R. (2000). Computer programming fundamentals with applications in Visual Basic 6.0. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley. searchVB.com, The VB Specific Portal and Search Engine presented by TechTarget.com: http://www.searchvb.com/ Free-Ed Net Course Catalog: http://www.free-ed.net/catalog.htm

This work was prepared by

Beverley Sampford