Visual Basic

Introduction to Visual Basic

History of Visual Basic

VISUAL BASIC is evolved from the earlier DOS version called BASIC. BASIC means "Beginners Allpurpose Symbolic Instruction Code". It has been around for more than 35 years. BASIC was further developed as Visual Basic to make it compatible with today's environment. Microsoft created the enhanced version of BASIC, called visual basic.

The bottom line of the enhancement is that VISUAL BASIC can create Windows programs whereas BASIC could only create DOS programs. It means that BASIC programming is done in a text-only environment and VISUAL BASIC programming is done in a graphical environment. Graphical User Interface VISUAL BASIC makes use of GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE (GUI) for creating robust and powerful applications. A simple GUI looks like this: GUI given above shows graphical interaction between user and system. That is why a GUI is an effective mean of making your application user friendly and is the key to creating successful applications. GUI becomes very popular because users can easily identify things with the help of graphics. The main advantage of using GUI is that user can interact with application using common sense. Even a laymen user can learn GUI applications easily. Getting started with visual basic This module will tell us , how to open the Visual Basic software, about the interface of Visual Basic , so that we'll versed with its looks and feel. Visual Basic Integrated Development Environment(IDE) VISUAL BASIC IDE (INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT ) is the environment in which its program are written and executed. IDE stands for Integrated Development Environment. IDE is a term commonly used to describe the interface and environment for creating your application. It is called IDE because you can access all of the development tools that you need for developing an application. VISUAL BASIC IDE contains different components. These components are: Tool Bar It provides quick access to commonly used commands in the programming environment. You click a button on the toolbar to carry out the action represented by that button. The Standard toolbar is displayed when you start Visual Basic. You can change toolbar settings by selecting Toolbars option form View menu. Toolbar can be removed from beneath of the menu bar, if you click on the Left Edge and drag it away from the menu bar. Form Designer Form objects are the basic building blocks of Visual Basic application.It is the actual window with which a user interacts at the start of application. Forms have their own properties, events, and methods with which you can control their appearance and behavior. Properties, events, and methods of a form will be explained further in tutorial. The Form Window is central to developing Visual Basic applications.It is the window where you draw your application Tool Box The Toolbox is a long box with many different icons on it. It is the selection menu for controls (objects) used in your application. To work in Visual Basic we've to know about its tools so that we can make different forms, projects and how to edit them. we'll learn all these things in this module. Property Window Properties Window is used to establish initial property values for objects (Like Form etc.). The drop-down box at the top of the window lists all objects in the current form.Two views are available: Alphabetic and Categorized. Given box shows the available properties for currently selected object: If you are not getting property window on IDE then click on Project Explorer option from view menu. Or, Use key F4 or Alt+V+W for displaying property window. Project Explorer Project Explorer Window displays a list of all forms used in making up your application. You can also obtain a view of the Form or Code windows (window containing the actual Basic coding) from Project Explorer window. If you are not viewing Project Explorer on IDE then click on Project Explorer option from the view menu. OR, Use Ctrl+R for displaying Project Explorer Window. Menu Bar It is a horizontal strip that appears across the top of the screen and contains the names of menus.Menu Bar lists the menus that you can use in the active window. You can modify the menu bar using the Commands tab of the Customize dialog box. For that go to the View menu ,then select Toolbars. Now Click on the customize option. OR, You can use key combination Alt+V+T+C for that. A window will appear like the figure given below: A list of options will be displayed .A user can make a selection in order to perform a selected action. Suppose if you want to animate menu options then click on the options in above figure. OR, Use key combination Alt+V+T+C+O for animation. Form Layout Window Form Layout Window shows where (upon program execution) your form will be displayed relative to your monitor's screen: Click on to the Form Layout window option from view menu for displaying above window. OR, Use Key Combination Alt+V+F for that. It allows you to visually position your forms . All forms will be displayed whenyou place your cursor over a form. Press the mouse button,and drag it where you want the position of your form. Application Of Visual Basic Visual Basic is the most sophisticated tool for developing commercial applications .Various information system are implementing in VISUAL BASIC today,these are as follows: Various information system are implementing in VISUAL BASIC today,these are as follows: MIS(Management Information System), EIS(employee Information System), Inventory control, ERP(Enterprise Resource Planning), Web application, Library Management System Etc. VISUAL BASIC is mostly used in application programming. VISUAL BASIC provides easy to use connectivity with database that is why most of database related software are being developed in VISUAL BASIC today. A simple VISUAL BASIC application works like given in fig: