WebEnabled Decision Support Systems

1
Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

• Introduction to Visual Studio

Prof. Name
name_at_email.com Position
[phone] University Name
2
Overview

• 10.1 Introduction
• 10.2 Exploring Visual Studio IDE
• 10.3 Visual Studio IDE Windows
• 10.4 Object-Naming Conventions
• 10.5 A Look at the VB .NETs Code Window
• 10.6 The Object Browser
• 10.7 In-Class Assignment
• 10.8 Summary

3
Introduction

• Visual Studio is an Integrated Development
  Environment (IDE)
• Used to develop, debug, and deploy various
  applications
• We will use it with the Visual Basic .NET (VB
  .NET) programming language
• Database applications are computer programs that
  allow users to manipulate the data in a DBMS
  through a user-friendly interface
• Broadens perception of information
• Enhances the efficiency of data editing,
  processing, and printing operations
• Application platforms
• Windows based (for a single user)
• Web based (for multiple users)

4
Overview

• 10.1 Introduction
• 10.2 Exploring Visual Studio IDE
• 10.3 Visual Studio IDE Windows
• 10.4 Object-Naming Conventions
• 10.5 A Look at the VB .NETs Code Window
• 10.6 The Object Browser
• 10.7 In-Class Assignment
• 10.8 Summary

5
Exploring Visual Studio IDE

• Visual Studio is Microsofts development tool for
  Windows-based and web-based applications
• Facilitates the process of design, development,
  debugging, and deployment
• Package includes
• Component-based development tools Visual Basic,
  Visual C, Visual C, J
• Other supporting technologies
• The Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is a
  powerful and sophisticated tool with a wealth of
  features for application development
• Integrates and manages development tools under
  one single window or environment

6
The Start Page

• On start up, Visual Studio displays the tabbed
  Start Page

Visual Studio Start Page
7
Project Selection

• To open an existing project
• Choose File Open Project from the Main menu.
• To create a new project
• Choose File New Project from the Main menu.
• We now start developing our first Windows
  application
• A single-form that greets the user by displaying
  a welcome message accompanied by a graphic image

8
Creating a New Application

• How-to Create a New Visual Basic Windows
  Application
• From the Start Page, click Create Project.
  Select the Visual Basic option under the Projects
  types, and then choose the Windows Application
  icon under the Templates area. Name the project
  FirstProgram and click OK.

The New Project Dialog Box
9
Visual Studio IDE

• At this point, the screen should resemble below

Visual Studio IDE
10
The Design Window

• The Design Window consists of tabbed documents
• Each form is displayed as a separate tab
• Example Form1.vb Design
• The active tab is always positioned in front of
  all other tabs and is displayed with a boldface
  name
• The tab system saves a lot of space and allows
  easy access to multiple documents

11
The Main Menu

• Main Menu features
• File Creates, opens, saves, and closes projects
• View Allows us to quickly open various IDE
  windows
• Project Facilitates addition of new items to the
  current project
• Build Compiles, builds, and runs the project
• Debug Allows us to debug the current project
• Tools Used to configure the Visual Studio IDE

Visual Studio Main Menu
12
The Toolbar

• Toolbar features
• Solution Explorer
• Opens the Solution Explorer Window
• Property Window
• Opens the Property Window
• ToolBox
• Opens the ToolBox

Visual Studio Toolbar
13
Overview

• 10.1 Introduction
• 10.2 Exploring Visual Studio IDE
• 10.3 Visual Studio IDE Windows
• 10.4 Object-Naming Conventions
• 10.5 A Look at the VB .NETs Code Window
• 10.6 The Object Browser
• 10.7 In-Class Assignment
• 10.8 Summary

14
Visual Studio IDE Windows

• The Visual Studio IDE consists of various windows
  that assist in the application development
  process
• Solution Explorer Window
• ToolBox
• Property Window
• Server Explorer
• Window Properties
• Accessible from the View menu and toolbar buttons
  
• May be docked along the edges of the Visual
  Studio Window
• Auto-hide feature
• Balances the design space and the availability of
  IDE tools
• Use the small-pin icon to enable

15
The Solution Explorer Window

• The Solution Explorer Window gives us a
  hierarchical view of all the files that belong to
  the current project
• Provides access to all the files and components
  of the project

The Solution Explorer Window for the
FirstProgram Application
16
The Toolbox

• The ToolBox contains a set of reusable components
  called controls
• Groups the controls together and arranges them by
  group name
• Examples All Windows Forms, Common Controls,
  Data, Crystal Reports
• Visual Programming is a programming paradigm in
  which we add visual components to build
  applications without writing much code
• An object is any element that can be named and
  has some specific purpose
• Windows forms, ToolBox controls, Toolbars, the
  Main Menu, etc.

17
Adding Controls to a Form

• How-to Add a Windows Control from the ToolBox to
  a Form
• Click the desired control in the ToolBox. Place
  the mouse pointer on the form at the desired
  control position.
• Drag the pointer to designate the desired size of
  the control.

Adding a Control Object to the Form
18
The Properties Window

• Properties are attributes of an object
• The Property Window displays a list of properties
  for a selected object
• Used to manipulate the appearance and behavior of
  an object
• Top box
• Name of the selected object (lblTitle)
• Middle Icons
• Controls to sort by category or alphabetical
  order
• Lower box
• Property names and values

19
Adding and Modifying a Label Control

• The following is a continuation of the How-to,
  Create a New Visual Basic Windows Application
• Add a Label control to Form1.
• Use the Properties Window to change the Label
  control properties as listed below
• Name lblTitle
• Text Welcome to the World of Programming
• Text Align Middle Center
• Fore Color Navy
• Font Georgia, Bold, 14
• Use the drop-down button to select the property
  values for Text Align and Fore Color, and use the
  ellipsis button at the end to open the Font
  dialog box. Set the Font, Font Style, and Size
  values.

20
Visually Modifying Label Properties
Properties Window
Forecolor
Text Align
Font
21
Modifying Form Properties

• Select the form itself so that we can view its
  properties. Change its properties as listed
  below
• Text First Form
• BackColor 255,128,0 (Orange)

22
Adding a PictureBox Control

• Add the PictureBox control to the form. Select
  and manipulate the PictureBox properties using
  the guidelines below
• Cursor Hand
• Image System.Drawing.Bitmap
• Name imgSample

PictureBox Properties
Adding PictureBox Control
23
Running the Application

• Visual Studio compiles and runs an application to
  produce its output
• How-to Run an Application
• From the Main menu, choose Debug Start Without
  Debugging.
• Run the application. Close the running form to
  return to the Design Window.

Running an Application Using the Debug Menu
24
The Running Form
The Running FirstProgram Application
25
The Server Explorer Window

• The Server Explorer Window gives access to the
  available servers
• A server is a piece of software that provides
  some service
• Example
• An Access database

The Server Explorer Window
26
The Help Menu

• Visual Studio has an excellent online help
  feature that provides assistance to developers
• The Help menu has four main menus
• Content
• Displays articles that are categorized by topic
• Index
• Displays help topics organized alphabetically
• Search
• Finds and displays help topics based on the
  search keyword
• Dynamic Help
• Offers a list of help topics specific to the
  users current tasks and needs in the IDE

The Help Menu
27
Overview

• 10.1 Introduction
• 10.2 Exploring Visual Studio IDE
• 10.3 Visual Studio IDE Windows
• 10.4 Object-Naming Conventions
• 10.5 A Look at the VB .NETs Code Window
• 10.6 The Object Browser
• 10.7 In-Class Assignment
• 10.8 Summary

28
Object-Naming Conventions

• We follow naming conventions in order to manage
  an application that features an increasing number
  of objects
• Naming should be logical
• Names should start with a capital letter
• While names can include any number of digits,
  they cannot start with a digit
• Every object name should have a prefix (three
  lower case letters) indicating the type of
  object

Naming Standards
29
The File Extensions

• The table below gives brief summary of the most
  common file extensions used by a Visual Basic
  application

A Few Commonly Encountered File Extensions
30
Overview

• 10.1 Introduction
• 10.2 Exploring Visual Studio IDE
• 10.3 Visual Studio IDE Windows
• 10.4 Object-Naming Conventions
• 10.5 A Look at the VB .NETs Code Window
• 10.6 The Object Browser
• 10.7 In-Class Assignment
• 10.8 Summary

31
A Look at the VB .NETs Code Window

• The Code Window is Visual Basics programming
  environment
• Invoke by double-clicking anywhere on a form

The Code Window
32
VB .NET Programming

• Visual Basic programs control flow is designed
  around a users actions
• Examples
• Loading of a form
• Clicking of a button
• Entering of text
• Visual Basic events are triggered by actions
• Event-driven programming involves writing code
  designed to handle these events
• Visual Basic provides a rich set of events
  associated with each Windows control

33
Adding Event Code

• How-to Add Event Code to the PictureBox Control
• Open the Code Window for the PictureBox control,
  imgSample, and associate the following code
  with its Click event.
• Run the application and verify the output by
  clicking on the image.

Code for the Click Event of the PictureBox
Control
34
Understanding the Code

• The keyword sub marks the beginning of an event
  subroutine
• The name of an event subroutine is a combination
  of the control name and the type of the event
• Example imgSample_Click
• Each subroutine has a fixed syntax
• Starts with Private Sub ltnamegt
• Ends with End Sub
• Visual Basic automatically executes the code
  inside the event subroutine every time the event
  is triggered
• The property manipulation in the Code Window is
  visible only at the run-time
• The property manipulation in the Property Window
  is visible at the design-time as well as at
  run-time (until changed)

35
Additional Features of the Code Window

• The Code Window makes it easy to add an event
  other than a default event for an object
• The top portion of the Code Window has two
  drop-down boxes
• The left box lists the available objects
• The right box lists all possible methods and
  events for the object in the left box

Class and Method Selection in the Code Window
36
IntelliSense and Code Tips

• IDE provides two forms of help to assist the
  code-writing process
• IntelliSense
• When we use the dot (.) operator immediately
  after an object name, the IDE displays a list of
  properties and methods associated with that
  object
• Code Tips
• When a property or method for an object has been
  selected, IDE displays the exact syntax (command
  structure) of a selected method/event

Code Tip
IntelliSense
37
Saving the Work

• Each unsaved tab in the IDE shows an asterisk ()
• To save work, choose the File Save Project or
  File Save All option from the Main menu.

Saving the Work
38
Overview

• 10.1 Introduction
• 10.2 Exploring Visual Studio IDE
• 10.3 Visual Studio IDE Windows
• 10.4 Object-Naming Conventions
• 10.5 A Look at the VB .NETs Code Window
• 10.6 The Object Browser
• 10.7 In-Class Assignment
• 10.8 Summary

39
The Object Browser

• The Object Browser serves as a dictionary of .NET
  objects
• Allows us to quickly access information about
  various objects
• Lists all possible classes, built-in objects,
  methods, events, and more
• Appears as a separate tab in the IDE window

Object Browser Window
40
Overview

• 10.1 Introduction
• 10.2 Exploring Visual Studio IDE
• 10.3 Visual Studio IDE Windows
• 10.4 Object-Naming Conventions
• 10.5 A Look at the VB .NETs Code Window
• 10.6 The Object Browser
• 10.7 In-Class Assignment
• 10.8 Summary

41
In-Class Assignment

• This in-class assignment further extends the
  application developed in this chapter
• The simple extension is as follows
• We would like to close the form (running
  application) on the click of the Close button.

42
Overview

• 10.1 Introduction
• 10.2 Exploring Visual Studio IDE
• 10.3 Visual Studio IDE Windows
• 10.4 Object-Naming Conventions
• 10.5 A Look at the VB .NETs Code Window
• 10.6 The Object Browser
• 10.7 In-Class Assignment
• 10.8 Summary

43
Summary

• Visual Studio .NET integrates its development
  tools under one environment known as Integrated
  Development Environment (IDE)
• The IDE is a powerful tool that provides a wealth
  of features for the application development
  process
• The Design Window is one part of the IDE
• Allows the user to graphically manipulate the
  design of a form and other controls

44
Summary (cont.)

• Visual Studio .NET IDE is made up of various
  windows that assist in the process of application
  development
• The Solution Explorer Window displays a
  hierarchical view of the solution
• The ToolBox is the container for reusable
  components called controls
• The Properties Window displays the property list
  for a selected object
• The Server Explorer Window provides access to the
  available servers
• The Dynamic Help Window provides a list of help
  topics related to the current content of the IDE
• The Object Browser is a dictionary of .NET
  objects