VISUAL BASIC

Variables-Operations
May 2002
Variable
 Memory location whose value can change as the
program is running.
 Used to hold temporary information
 Used to control the type of data used in
calculations
 Can Store only one piece of data at any time
 Data is processed faster
Data Types
 Integer - Whole numbers - 2 bytes - +/- 32,767
 Long - Whole numbers - 4 bytes - +/- 2 billion
 Single - Decimal - 4 bytes - +/- 1E-45 to 2E38
 Double - Decimal - 8 bytes - +/- 5E-324 to 1.8E308
 Currency - 15 left, 4 right of decimal - 8 bytes - +/- 9E14
 String - Text - 1 byte per character - 65,400 chars for fixed strings, 2
billion for dynamic strings
 Byte - Whole numbers - 1 byte – 0 to 255
 Boolean - Logical values - 2 bytes - True or false
 Date - Date and time - 8 bytes - 1/1/100 to 12/31/9999
 Object - OLE objects - 4 bytes - N/A
 Variant - Any preceding type - 16 bytes+1 byte per character - N/A
Use of Appropriate Data Type
 Integer or Long - Used to store whole numbers
 Single, Double, Currency - Used to store numbers
with a decimal fraction
 String - Used to store strings
 Boolean - Used to store Boolean values (True and
False)
 Date - Used to store date and time information
 Object - Used to store a reference to an object
 Byte - Used to store binary data
 Variant - Flexible, but not efficient
Variable Names
 Can be no longer than 255 characters
 Can not be a reserved word
 Should be meaningful
 First three characters should represent the
data type or should start with a letter
 Remainder of name should represent the
variable’s purpose. No spaces, periods, or
other punctuation characters are allowed
Three-Character Ids
 Byte byt  Long lng
 Boolean bln  Object obj
 Currency cur
 Single sng
 String str
 Date/Time dtm
 Variant vnt
 Double dbl
 Integer int
Variable Declaration
 Dim variablename [As datatype] [,
variablename2 [As datatype2]]
 Public variablename [As datatype]
 Private variablename [As datatype]
 Static variablename [As datatype]
Assigning Values to Variables
 Assignment statement
 variablename = value
 Examples:
 sngHours = 38.5
 curBonus = curSales * .1
 strName = “Susan”
Scope of a Variable
 Indicates which procedures can use the
variable

 Determined by where the Dim or Public

statement is entered

 Can be either global, form-level, or local

Local Variables
 Created with the Dim statement
 The Dim statement is entered in an
object’s event procedure
 Only the procedure in which it is
declared can use the variable
 Removed from memory when the
procedure ends
Form Level Variables
 Created with the Dim/Private statement
 The Dim statement is entered in a form’s
General declarations section
 Can be used by any of the procedures in
the form
 Removed from memory when the
application ends
Global Variables
 Created with the Public statement
 The Public statement is entered in a code
module’s General declarations section
 Used in multi-form projects and can be used
by any of the procedures in any of the project’s
forms
 Removed from memory when the application
ends
Static Variables
 Can be used to preserve the variable value for
the procedures to be called multiple times
Static Sub Test()
Dim x As Integer
Debug.Print x
x = 1234
Debug.Print x
End Sub
(1st run: 0 and 1234; 2nd run: 1234 and 1234)
Variable Arrays
 Group of variables of same type
Dim x1 As Currency, x2 As Currency
Dim x3 As Currency, x4 As Currency
Dim xtotal As Currency
xtotal=x1+x2+x3+x4

Dim x (1 to 4) As Currency
Dim xtotal As Currency
xtotal=0
For xcounter = 1 to 4
xtotal=xtotal+x(xcounter)
Next xcounter
Option Explicit Statement
 Doesn’t allow you to create variables “on the fly”
 Enter in every form’s, and every code module’s,
General declarations section
 Use Tools, Options, Editor tab, Require
Variable Declaration to have Visual Basic
include Option Explicit in every new form and
module
 If you fail to define a variable you will receive an
error message “Variable not defined”
Constants
 Literal constant
 an item of data whose value cannot change
while the program is running
 7
 “Janet”
 Symbolic constant
 a memory location whose contents cannot
be changed while the program is running
 conPi
 conRate
Creating a Symbolic Constant
 A memory location whose value cannot
change during run time
 Syntax: [Public] Const constname [As
datatype] = expression
 Examples:
 Const conPi As Single = 3.141593
 Public Const conMaxAge as Integer = 65
Scope of a Symbolic Constant
 Indicates which procedures can use the
symbolic constant
 Global: Public Const statement in a code
module’s General declarations section
 Form-level: Const statement in the form’s
General declarations section
 Local: Const statement in an event procedure
Assignment Statements
 IntNumStudents=25
numeric literal
 StrTopStudent=“June”
string literal
 IntAvgScore=TotScore/NumStudents
mathematical expression
 StrSpouseName=“Mrs. ” & “Tina Fortner”
string expression
 StrCapitalName=Ucase$(“Chris”)
return value of a function
Operator Order of Precedence
 ^ exponentiation
 - negation
 *, / multiplication and division
 \ integer division
 Mod modulus arithmetic
 +, - addition and subtraction
 Order is from left to right for same order or
precedence. Parentheses can be used to
override the order or precedence.
Function
 A predefined Visual Basic procedure

 A function returns a value

 Val and Format are two examples of

Visual Basic’s intrinsic functions
Val Function
 Val function - returns the numeric equivalent of a
string
 Syntax: Val(string)
 This Val function: Would be converted to:
 Val(“456”) 456
 Val(“24,500”) 24
 Val(“24.500”) 24.5
 Val(“$56.8”) 0
 Val(“A”) 0
 Val(“”) 0
String Concatenation
 Ampersand - &
 Examples: (Assume strFirstName contains “Mary”
and sngSales contains 1000)
 “Hello “ & strFirstName
 strFirstName & “ sold $“ & sngSales & “.”

 Results:
 Hello Mary

 Mary sold $1000.

Newline Character
 Chr(13) & Chr(10) - issues a carriage return
followed by a line feed

 vbNewLine - one of Visual Basic’s intrinsic

constant

 An intrinsic constant is one that is built into the

Visual Basic language
Len Function

 You can use the Len function to

determine the number of characters
contained in a text box or a variable

 Syntax: Len(textbox.Text)
SelStart Property of a Text Box

 Tells Visual Basic where to position the

insertion point

 Syntax: object.SelStart [ = index]

 The first position is position (index) 0

SelLength Property of a Text Box

 Tells Visual Basic how many characters

to select

 Syntax: object.SelLength [ = number]

Highlighting Existing Text
 Use the following two lines of code:

 textbox.SelStart = 0

 textbox.SelLength = Len(textbox.Text)

 Enter the lines of code in the text box’s

GotFocus event, which occurs when an object
receives the focus
Change Case
 All upper case letters: Ucase
 All lower case letters: Lcase
Dim str1 As String, str2 As String
Dim str3 As String, str4 As String
s1 = "çğıiöşü"
s2 = "ÇĞIİÖŞÜ"
s3 = UCase(s1) ‘ÇĞıIÖŞÜ
s4 = LCase(s3) ‘çğiİöşü
MsgBox (s1 & vbNewLine & s3)
MsgBox (s2 & vbNewLine & s4)
Searching a String –
Insrt - First Occurrence

 InStr(StartPos, sourcestr, searchstr)

 StrChrPos = InStr(1,“I’ll see you next Tuesday.”, “you”)
 Result is 10

 StrChrPos = InStr(9, “I’ll see you next Tuesday.”, “e”)

 Result is 15
Searching a String –
InStrRev - Last Occurrence

 InStr(StartPos, sourcestr, searchstr)

 StrChrPos = InStrRev(“I’ll see you next Tuesday.”, “e”)
 Result is 21

 StrChrPos = InStrRev(“I’ll see you next Tuesday.”, “l”)

 Result is 4
Extracting Pieces of a String
 Left(string, length) : Retrieves a specified number of
characters from the left end of a string
 Right(string, length) : Retrieves a specified number of
characters from the right end of a string
 Mid(string, start [, length]) : Retrieves characters from
the middle of a string
Dim AnyString, MyStr
AnyString = "Hello World" ' Define string.
MyStr = Left(AnyString, 7) ' Returns "Hello W".
MyStr = Right(AnyString, 7) ' Returns “o World".
MyStr = Mid(AnyString, 2, 3) ' Returns “ell".
Replacing Characters in a String
 Mid can be used to replace part of a string.
Dim AnyString, MyStr
AnyString = "Hello World" ' Define string.
Mid(AnyString, 2) = “aaa” ' Returns “Haaao World".
 Mid statement preserves the original length of the
string. If the space remaining between the starting
position and the end of the string is less than the
length of the replacement string, only the leftmost
characters are used from the replacement string.
Getting Rid of Spaces
 LTrim(string) : Removes the spaces from the
beginning of a string
 RTrim(string) : Removes the spaces from the end of a
string
 Trim(string) : Removes the spaces from both the
beginning and end of a string
Dim AnyString, MyStr
AnyString = “ Hello World" ' Define string.
MyStr = LTrim(AnyString) ' Returns "Hello World".
Format Function
 Format function - returns a formatted expression
 Syntax: Format(expression, format)
 Some of Visual Basic’s predefined formats:
 Currency
 Fixed
 Standard
 Percent
Format
 FormatCurrency(1234) or
Format(1234, “Currency”)
 $1,234.00 or 1.234,00 TL
 Format(1234, “$#,###.00”)
 $1,234.00 (According to OS)
 FormatNumber(1234)
 1,234.00 or 1.234,00
 FormatDateTime(“20:10”,vbLongTime)
 20:10:00
Named Format and Descriptions
 General Number: No special formatting
 Currency: Thousands separator, two digits to the right of the decimal
 Fixed: At least one digit to the left and two digits to the right of the decimal
 Standard: Thousands separator, at least one digit to the left and two digits
to the right of the decimal
 Percent: Multiplies by 100 and follows number by % sign
 Scientific: Standard scientific notation
 Yes/No: Displays Yes for a nonzero value.
 True/False: Displays True for a nonzero value.
 On/Off: Displays On for a nonzero value.
Codes for Numeric Formats
 0 – Digit placeholder: Displays the digit or 0 if no digit.
 9 – Digit placeholder: Displays the digit or displays nothing if no
digit. (omits leading and trailing zeros)
 . – Decimal separator: Indicates where the decimal point is
displayed.
 , – Thousands separator: Indicates where the separators are
displayed.
 % – Percentage indicator: Indicates where a percent sign is
displayed. (number multiplied by 100)
 E-,E+ - Scientific notation: With E- a minus sign is displayed next
to negative exponents, no sign for positive.
Named Date and Time Formats
 General Date: Displays date and time if expression contains both.
 Long Date: Displays the day of the week, the day of the month, the
month and the year.
 Medium Date: Displays the day of the month, a three-letter
abbreviation for the month and the year.
 Short Date: Displays the day, month, the month and year.
 Long Time: Displays hours, minutes, and seconds along with the
AM/PM indicator.
 Medium Time: Displays hours and minutes along with the AM/PM
indicator.
 Short Time: Displays hours and minutes in military time.
Other Functions
 (MonthName(Month(Now))) ‘ Returns Mart
 Change to Date
 Cdate(“November 23, 1963”)‘ Returns 11/23/63
 Add Dates
 MsgBox (DateAdd(“m”, 1, Now())) ‘ Returns 04.04.2002 10:00
 Subtract Dates
 (DateDiff(“m”, Now, “5.5.2002”)) ‘ Returns 2 (5-3)
 Round a numeric expression to a specified number of decimal places.
 Round(202.5) ‘ Returns 202
 Round(202.56) ‘ Returns 203
Credit Payment Example
Credit Payment Example
Use object names as:
lblPrincipal, txtPrincipal
lblInterest, txtInterest
lblPeriod, txtPeriod
lblPayment, txtPayment
cmdCalcul
cmdExit

Result will be: 50.388

Credit Payment Example
Private Sub cmdCalcul_Click()
Dim dPrincipal As Double, dPayment As Double
Dim dInterest As Double, dPeriod As Double, dTerm As Double
dPrincipal = Val(Replace(Replace(txtPrincipal.Text, ",", ""), ".", ""))
dInterest = Val(txtinterest.Text) / 100
dPeriod = Val(txtPeriod.Text)
dTerm = dPeriod * 12
txtPrincipal.Text = Format(dPrincipal, "###,###,###,###")
dPayment = dPrincipal * (dInterest / (1 - (1 + dInterest) ^ (0 - dTerm)))
txtPayment.Text = Format(dPayment, "###,###,###,###")
End Sub
Credit Payment Example
Private Sub cmdExit_Click()
End
End Sub
 
Private Sub Form_Load()
txtPrincipal.Text = "100000"
txtinterest.Text = 50
txtPeriode.Text = 1
End Sub