Visual Basic 2005: In a Nutshell, 3rd Edition By Paul Lomax, Tim Patrick, Ron Petrusha, Steven Roman, Ph.D Publisher: O'Reilly Pub Date: January 2006 Print ISBN-10: 0-596-10152-X Print ISBN-13: 978-0-59-610152-7 Pages: 766 Table of Contents | Index When Microsoft made Visual Basic into an object-oriented programming language, millions of VB developers resisted the change to the NET platform Now, after integrating feedback from their customers and creating Visual Basic 2005, Microsoft finally has the right carrot Visual Basic 2005 offers the power of the NET platform, yet restores the speed and convenience of Visual Basic Accordingly, we've revised the classic in a Nutshell guide to the Visual Basic language to cover the Visual Basic 2005 version and all of its new features Unlike other books on the subject, Visual Basic 2005 in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition doesn't assume you're a novice It's a detailed, professional reference to the Visual Basic language-a reference that you can use to jog your memory about a particular language element or parameter It'll also come in handy when you want to make sure that there isn't some "gotcha" you've overlooked with a particular language feature The book is divided into three major parts: Part I introduces the main features and concepts behind Visual Basic programming; Part II thoroughly details all the functions, statements, directives, objects, and object members that make up the Visual Basic language; and Part III contains a series of helpful appendices Some of the new features covered include Generics, a convenient new library called My Namespace, and the operators used to manipulate data in Visual Basic No matter how much experience you have programming with Visual Basic, you want Visual Basic 2005 in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition close by, both as a standard reference guide and as a tool for troubleshooting and identifying programming problems Visual Basic 2005: In a Nutshell, 3rd Edition By Paul Lomax, Tim Patrick, Ron Petrusha, Steven Roman, Ph.D Publisher: O'Reilly Pub Date: January 2006 Print ISBN-10: 0-596-10152-X Print ISBN-13: 978-0-59-610152-7 Pages: 766 Table of Contents | Index Copyright Preface Why Another Visual Basic Book? Who This Book Is For How This Book Is Structured About the Third Edition Using Code Examples Conventions Used in This Book Safari® Enabled How to Contact Us Acknowledgments Part I: The Basics Chapter 1 Introduction Section 1.1 Why Visual Basic NET? Section 1.2 What Is Visual Basic NET? Section 1.3 What Can You Do with Visual Basic NET? Section 1.4 Versions of Visual Basic for NET Chapter 2 The NET Framework: General Concepts Section 2.1 Common Language Runtime Section 2.2 Managed Code Section 2.3 Namespaces Section 2.4 Types and Objects Section 2.5 Assemblies Section 2.6 The Framework Class Library Section 2.7 Application Deployment Section 2.8 The NET Framework and Visual Basic Chapter 3 Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming Section 3.1 Principles of Object-Oriented Programming Section 3.2 OOP Development in Visual Basic Chapter 4 Variables and Data Types Section 4.1 Data Types Section 4.2 Variables Section 4.3 Constants Section 4.4 Enumerations Section 4.5 Arrays Section 4.6 Collections Section 4.7 Parameters and Arguments Chapter 5 Operators Section 5.1 Arithmetic Operators Section 5.2 Concatenation Operators Section 5.3 Logical and Bitwise Operators Section 5.4 Assignment Operators Section 5.5 Comparison Operators Section 5.6 Object Operators Section 5.7 Operator Overloading Section 5.8 Operator Precedence Chapter 6 Program Structure Section 6.1 Visual Studio Application Types Section 6.2 Referencing Components and Classes Section 6.3 Application Entry Points Section 6.4 Code File Contents Section 6.5 The Structure of a Visual Basic Program Chapter 7 The NET Framework Class Library Section 7.1 The System Namespace Section 7.2 The System.Collections Namespace Section 7.3 The System.Data Namespace Section 7.4 The System.IO Namespace Section 7.5 The System.Text.RegularExpressions Namespace Section 7.6 The System.Windows.Forms Namespace Section 7.7 Other Namespaces Chapter 8 Delegates and Events Section 8.1 Delegates Section 8.2 Events and Event Binding Chapter 9 Attributes Section 9.1 Syntax and Use Section 9.2 Defining a Custom Attribute Section 9.3 Using a Custom Attribute Chapter 10 Generics Section 10.1 What Are Generics? Section 10.2 Type Parameters Section 10.3 Multiple Type Parameters Section 10.4 Constraints Section 10.5 Multiple Constraints Section 10.6 Accessing Type Parameter Members Section 10.7 Generic Methods Section 10.8 Nested Generic Types Section 10.9 Overloaded Types and Members Chapter 11 Error Handling in Visual Basic Section 11.1 Error Detection and Error Handling Section 11.2 Runtime Error Handling Section 11.3 Dealing with Logic Errors Section 11.4 Error Constants Part II: Reference Chapter 12 The Language Reference #Const Directive #If Then #Else Directive #Region #End Region Directive Abs Function Acos Function AddHandler Statement AddressOf Operator AppActivate Procedure Application Class Application.CompanyName Property Application.DoEvents Method Application.ExecutablePath Property Application.ProductName Property Application.ProductVersion Property Application.Run Method Array Class Array.BinarySearch Method Array.Copy Method Array.IndexOf Method Array.LastIndexOf Method Array.Reverse Method Array.Sort Method Asc, AscW Functions AssemblyVersion Attribute Asin Function Atan Function Atan2 Function AttributeUsage Attribute Beep Procedure Call Statement CallByName Function CBool Function CByte Function CChar Function CDate Function CDbl Function CDec Function Ceiling Function ChDir Procedure ChDrive Procedure Choose Function Chr, ChrW Functions CInt Function Class End Class Statement Clipboard Class CLng Function CLSCompliant Attribute CObj Function Collection Class Collection.Add Method Collection.Count Property Collection.Item Property Collection.Remove Method ColorDialog Class COMClass Attribute Command Function Const Statement Continue Statement Cos Function Cosh Function CreateObject Function CSByte Function CShort Function CSng Function CStr Function CType Function CUInt Function CULng Function CUShort Function CurDir Function Custom Event Statement DateAdd Function DateDiff Function DatePart Function DateSerial Function DateString Property DateValue Function Day Function DDB Function Debug Class Debug.Assert Method Debug.Listeners Property Debug.Write Method Debug.WriteIf Method Debug.WriteLine Method Debug.WriteLineIf Method Declare Statement DefaultMember Attribute Delegate Statement DeleteSetting Procedure Dim Statement Dir Function DirectCast Function Directory Class Directory.CreateDirectory Method Directory.Delete Method Directory.Exists Method Directory.GetCreationTime Method Directory.GetDirectories Method Directory.GetDirectoryRoot Method Directory.GetFiles Method Directory.GetFileSystemEntries Method Directory.GetLogicalDrives Method Directory.GetParent Method Directory.Move Method Do Loop Statement E Field End Statement Enum Statement Environ Function EOF Function Erase Statement Erl Property Err Object Err.Clear Method Err.Description Property Err.GetException Method Err.HelpContext Property Err.HelpFile Property Err.LastDLLError Property Err.Number Property Err.Raise Method Err.Source Property Error Statement ErrorToString Function Event Statement Exception Class Exit Statement Exp Function File Class File.Exists Method FileAttr Function FileClose Procedure FileCopy Procedure FileDateTime Function FileGet, FileGetObject Procedures FileLen Function FileOpen Procedure FilePut, FilePutObject Procedures FileWidth Procedure Filter Function Fix Function Flags Attribute Floor Function FontDialog Class For Next Statement For Each Next Statement Format Function FormatCurrency, FormatNumber, FormatPercent Functions FormatDateTime Function FreeFile Function Friend Keyword Function Statement FV Function GetAllSettings Function GetAttr Function GetChar Function GetObject Function GetSetting Function GetType Operator Global Keyword GoTo Statement Guid Attribute Handles Keyword Hashtable Class Hashtable.Add Method Hashtable.ContainsKey Method Hashtable.ContainsValue Method Hashtable.CopyTo Method Hashtable.Item Property Hashtable.Keys Property Hashtable.Remove Method Hashtable.Values Property Hex Function Hour Function IEEERemainder Function If Then Else Statement IIf Function Implements Keyword Implements Statement Imports Statement Inherits Statement Input Procedure InputBox Function InputString Function InStr Function InStrRev Function Int Function Interface End Interface Statement IPmt Function IRR Function Is Operator IsArray Function IsDate Function IsDBNull Function IsError Function IsNot Operator IsNothing Function IsNumeric Function IsReference Function Join Function Kill Procedure LBound Function LCase Function Left Function Len Function Like Operator LineInput Function Loc Function Lock Procedure LOF Function Log Function Log10 Function LSet Function LTrim Function MarshalAs Attribute Max Function Me Keyword Mid Function Mid Statement Min Function Minute Function MIRR Function MkDir Procedure Mod Operator Module End Module Statement Month Function MonthName Function MsgBox Function MTAThread Attribute MyBase Keyword MyClass Keyword Namespace Statement Index [SYMBOL] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] SaveFileDialog class SaveMySettingsOnExit property SaveSetting procedure SByte data type scope block-level module-level procedure-level variables Screen property ScriptEngine propertyproperties ScriptEngine ScriptEngineBuildVersion property ScriptEngineMajorVersion property ScriptEngineMinorVersion property ScrollLock property SearchOption enumeration Second function second-level namespaces Seek function Seek procedure Select Case statement Send method SendKeys method SendWait method SerialPortNames property SetAttr procedure SetAudio method SetData method SetDataObject method SetDelimiters method SetFieldWidths method SetFileDropList method SetImage method SetText method Settings object SetValue method shadowing members Shadows keyword Shared keyword shared members, instance members and shared routines Shell function Shift Left () operator ShiftKeyDown property Short data type short-circuiting Shutdown event Sign function Sin function Single data type Sinh function SLN function Space function SPC function SpecialDirectories object SplashScreen property Split function Sqrt function Stack class Stack.Contains method Stack.CopyTo method Stack.Peek method Stack.Pop method Stack.Push method Stack.ToArray method StackTrace property Startup event StartupNextInstance event statements AddHandler Call Class End Class Const Continue Custom Event Declare Delegate Dim Do Loop End Enum Erase Error Event Exit For Each Next statements (continued) For Next Function GoTo If Then Else Implements Imports Inherits Interface End Interface language reference Mid Module End Module Namespace On Error Operator Option Compare Option Explicit Option Strict Property RaiseEvent ReDim Rem RemoveHandler Resume Return Select Case Static Stop Structure End Structure Sub SyncLock Throw Try Catch Finally Using End Using While End While With End With STAThread attribute Static statement Stop method Stop statement Str function StrComp function StrConv function StrDup function String class, System namespace String data type string elements StrReverse function Structure End Structure statement structured exception handling structures sub procedures Sub statement subtraction (-) operator Switch function switches, command-line SYD function SyncLock statement syntax attributes System namespace Array class Convert class Math class second-level namespaces String class System.Collections namespace System.Data namespace System.IO namespace System.Text.RegularExpressions namespace System.Windows.Forms namespace SystemTypeName function Index [SYMBOL] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] TAB function Tan function Tanh function Temp property TextFieldParser object TextFieldType property ThreadStatic attribute Throw statement TickCount property time elements TimeOfDay property Timer property TimeSerial function TimeString property TimeValue function Title property Today property TotalPhysicalMemory property TotalVirtualMemory property TraceSource property Trademark property Trim function TrimWhiteSpace property TriState enumeration Try Catch Finally statement TryCast function 2nd two's-complement represetnation type parameters generics multiple type parameters members TypeName function TypeOf operator 2nd types code files generics, overloading members Index [SYMBOL] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] UBound function UCase function UICancelOption enumeration UICulture property UInteger data type UIOption enumeration ULong data type unary (+) operator UnhandledException event Unlock procedure unstructured error handling UploadFile method User object user-defined data types Users property UShort data type Using statement, VB 2005 Using End Using statement Index [SYMBOL] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] Val function value types values, variables variables access level addresses data types declaration lifetime local, scope names scope 2nd values VB.NET 2002 changes VariantType enumeration VarType function VB 2005 arrays, lower bound ClickOnce installation Continue statement custom events data types generics Global keyword IsNot operator My namespace operator overloading partial types properties TryCast function Using statement XML comments VB.NET 2002 language changes bitwise operators data types logical operators miscellaneous procedure-related variables object-orientation changes programming changes VB.NET 2003 language changes VB.NET 2005 changes enhancements VBFixedArray attribute VBFixedString attribute VbStrConv enumeration VbTypeName function Version property Visual Basic NET introduction object orientation reasons for type system uses versions Visual Studio application types Index [SYMBOL] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] WebMethod attribute WebService attribute WebServices object Weekday function WeekdayName function WheelExists property WheelScrollLines property While End While statement Windows applications Forms, Main routine Windows Forms events Windows services With End With statement WithEvent keyword WithEvents keyword WorkingSet property Write procedure WriteAllBytes method WriteAllText method WriteEntry method WriteException method WriteLine procedure Index [SYMBOL] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] XML, comments Xor operator Index [SYMBOL] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] Year function ... which, incidentally, is Microsoft.VisualBasic, the namespace that defines many features of the Visual Basic language), several thousand types (including classes, interfaces, delegates, and enumerations), and an enormous number of... O'Reilly logo are registered trademarks of O'Reilly Media, Inc The In a Nutshell series designations, Visual Basic 2005 in a Nutshell, Third Edition, the image of a catfish, and related trade dress are trademarks of O'Reilly Media, Inc Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to... Developers who have used previous versions of Visual Basic Developers who are new to Visual Basic, but who have been developing applications in other programming languages, such as C++ Those who are learning VB as their first language and would