Lecture Set 2

1
Lecture Set 2

• Part B Configuring Visual Studio
  Configuration Options and The Help System
• (scan quickly for future reference)

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Objectives

• Describe the Visual Studio IDE and configure
  Visual Studio for use with Visual Basic
• Intro to the Options Dialog Box
• Describe the organization of the Visual Studio
  Help system
• Navigate the Visual Studio Help system

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Objectives (continued)

• Work with Visual Studio solutions and projects
• Explore the Visual Studio IDE and its windows
• Use Visual Studio to create and compile a Visual
  Basic project
• Create application comments and work with the My
  object

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How to Approach this Lecture Set

• You will find that almost all options are set the
  way we want them to be
• So dont try to memorize or learn this material
  all at once
• For the options, just become familiar with the
  dialog boxes so that you have some idea where to
  find things and change the set up if you need to
• Help is a bit different the more you use it,
  the more you investigate, the more you will learn
  and the more proficient you will become

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Introduction to Visual Studio

• Visual Studio simplifies the process of creating,
  compiling, and testing applications
• Visual Studio can create applications in Visual
  C, C, J, and Visual Basic
• The same development environment is used
  regardless of the programming language
• Here we provide some tips as to a reasonable,
  convenient configuration for your VS setup
• Visual Studio windows we will see and use?

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Solution Explorer
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Configuring Visual Studio for use with Visual
Basic

• Visual Studio has extensive configuration options
• Use the Options dialog box to configure Visual
  Studio
• The Options dialog box has a drill down interface
• Click the plus () and minus (-) signs to expand
  or collapse the folders appearing in the left
  pane
• Configuration options appear in the right pane

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Options Dialog Box General Subfolder

• Use to set common environment options
• Use to set development modes
• Tabbed documents mode is the newer and preferred
  developer interface
• Multiple Document Interface (MDI) mode is the
  older developer interface
• It was used by VB 6 and older Visual Basic
  versions
• You should not have to deal with this box for a
  while

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Options Dialog Box General Subfolder
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Options Dialog Box Help Subfolder
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Options Dialog Box Build and Run subfolder

• These options control how Visual Basic compiles
  and executes a project
• Set thing up to provide reasonable level of
  information and, above all, to SAVE YOU FROM
  YOURSELF
• Before building, save all changes so that the
  most recent program version will be compiled when
  you do the build
• Always build projects before running

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Options Dialog Box Build and Run subfolder
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Options Dialog Box Basic General and
Basic Tabs Subfolders

• Use to configure the Visual Basic editing
  environment
• Enable statement completion options to enable
  Intellisense technology
• Use smart indenting to indent program code
  automatically
• Enable the VB Specific options to enable other
  helpful editing features

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Options Dialog Box Basic, General Subfolder
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Options Dialog Box Basic, Tabs subfolder
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Options Dialog Box VB Specific subfolder
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Introduction to the Visual Studio Help System

• The Help system encompasses
• Visual Studio
• The .NET Framework class library
• The different Visual Studio languages
• The Help system for the Visual Basic Express
  edition is simplified

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Types of Help Pages

• Language Help pages relate to the statements that
  make up Visual Basic or other Visual Studio
  language
• Class Help pages describe the purpose of a class
  or other type
• Members Help pages list a types members,
  organized hierarchically
• Each category of Help page is made up of sections
  with common names
• Sections can be expanded or collapsed

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Help Settings

• The Help system may be configured to use
• Online Help as the primary Help source
• Use online Help for the most up to date Help
  files
• Online Help will perform poorly with a dial-up
  Internet connection
• Local Help as the primary Help source and online
  Help as the backup Help source
• Local Help only

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Online Help Settings Dialog Box
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Language Help Pages

• Used to describe the purpose of a Visual Basic
  statement or other language element
• Sections
• Statement syntax describes the syntax of a
  language element
• The Parts section describes the syntax in detail
• The Remarks section contains technical and usage
  notes
• The Example section contains simple examples
• These examples can be copied and pasted into
  programs
• The See Also section contains links to other Help
  pages

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Language Help Page
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Members Help Pages

• Most classes (and other types) have a Members
  Help page
• Lists the members of the class or other type
  hierarchically by
• Property
• Method
• Event
• Each item has a link to another Help page

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Console Members Help Page
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Class Help Pages

• A Class Help page describes the purpose of a
  particular class
• Sections
• Syntax
• Remarks
• Example
• Inheritance Hierarchy
• Thread Safety
• Platforms
• Version Information
• See Also

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Class Help Page for the System.Console
Class
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Class Help Pages (Syntax Section)

• The Syntax section shows the declaration for a
  class or other type
• The Syntax section contains keywords for the
  declaration
• Sample keywords
• Public denotes that the type is publicly
  accessible
• Class denotes the type is a class
• NotInheritable denotes the class cannot be
  inherited

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Console Class Help Page Syntax