VB.

NET
VB.Net is a simple, modern, object-oriented computer programming language
developed by Microsoft to combine the power of .NET Framework and the common
language runtime with the productivity benefits that are the hallmark of Visual Basic.
This tutorial will teach you basic VB.Net programming and will also take you through
various advanced concepts related to VB.Net programming language.

Audience
This tutorial has been prepared for the beginners to help them understand basic
VB.Net programming. After completing this tutorial, you will find yourself at a moderate
level of expertise in VB.Net programming from where you can take yourself to next
levels.

Prerequisites
VB.Net programming is very much based on BASIC and Visual Basic programming
languages, so if you have basic understanding on these programming languages, then
it will be a fun for you to learn VB.Net programming language.

VB.Net - Overview
Visual Basic .NET (VB.NET) is an object-oriented computer programming language
implemented on the .NET Framework. Although it is an evolution of classic Visual
Basic language, it is not backwards-compatible with VB6, and any code written in the
old version does not compile under VB.NET.
Like all other .NET languages, VB.NET has complete support for object-oriented
concepts. Everything in VB.NET is an object, including all of the primitive types (Short,
Integer, Long, String, Boolean, etc.) and user-defined types, events, and even
assemblies. All objects inherits from the base class Object.
VB.NET is implemented by Microsoft's .NET framework. Therefore, it has full access to
all the libraries in the .Net Framework. It's also possible to run VB.NET programs on
Mono, the open-source alternative to .NET, not only under Windows, but even Linux or
Mac OSX.
The following reasons make VB.Net a widely used professional language −
 Modern, general purpose.
 Object oriented.
 Component oriented.
 Easy to learn.
 Structured language.

1
  It produces efficient programs.
 It can be compiled on a variety of computer platforms.
 Part of .Net Framework.

Strong Programming Features VB.Net

VB.Net has numerous strong programming features that make it endearing to multitude
of programmers worldwide. Let us mention some of these features −
 Boolean Conditions
 Automatic Garbage Collection
 Standard Library
 Assembly Versioning
 Properties and Events
 Delegates and Events Management
 Easy-to-use Generics
 Indexers
 Conditional Compilation
 Simple Multithreading

VB.Net - Environment Setup

In this chapter, we will discuss the tools available for creating VB.Net applications.
We have already mentioned that VB.Net is part of .Net framework and used for
writing .Net applications. Therefore before discussing the available tools for running a
VB.Net program, let us understand how VB.Net relates to the .Net framework.

The .Net Framework

The .Net framework is a revolutionary platform that helps you to write the following
types of applications −
 Windows applications
 Web applications
 Web services
The .Net framework applications are multi-platform applications. The framework has
been designed in such a way that it can be used from any of the following languages:
Visual Basic, C#, C++, Jscript, and COBOL, etc.
All these languages can access the framework as well as communicate with each
other.

2
The .Net framework consists of an enormous library of codes used by the client
languages like VB.Net. These languages use object-oriented methodology.
Following are some of the components of the .Net framework −
 Common Language Runtime (CLR)
 The .Net Framework Class Library
 Common Language Specification
 Common Type System
 Metadata and Assemblies
 Windows Forms
 ASP.Net and ASP.Net AJAX
 ADO.Net
 Windows Workflow Foundation (WF)
 Windows Presentation Foundation
 Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)
 LINQ
For the jobs each of these components perform, please see ASP.Net - Introduction,
and for details of each component, please consult Microsoft's documentation.

Integrated Development Environment (IDE) For VB.Net

Microsoft provides the following development tools for VB.Net programming −
 Visual Studio 2010 (VS)
 Visual Basic 2010 Express (VBE)
 Visual Web Developer
The last two are free. Using these tools, you can write all kinds of VB.Net programs
from simple command-line applications to more complex applications. Visual Basic
Express and Visual Web Developer Express edition are trimmed down versions of
Visual Studio and has the same look and feel. They retain most features of Visual
Studio. In this tutorial, we have used Visual Basic 2010 Express and Visual Web
Developer (for the web programming chapter).
You can download it from here. It gets automatically installed in your machine. Please
note that you need an active internet connection for installing the express edition.

Writing VB.Net Programs on Linux or Mac OS

Although the.NET Framework runs on the Windows operating system, there are some
alternative versions that work on other operating systems. Mono is an open-source
version of the .NET Framework which includes a Visual Basic compiler and runs on

3
several operating systems, including various flavors of Linux and Mac OS. The most
recent version is VB 2012.
The stated purpose of Mono is not only to be able to run Microsoft .NET applications
cross-platform, but also to bring better development tools to Linux developers. Mono
can be run on many operating systems including Android, BSD, iOS, Linux, OS X,
Windows, Solaris and UNIX.

VB.Net - Program Structure

Before we study basic building blocks of the VB.Net programming language, let us look
a bare minimum VB.Net program structure so that we can take it as a reference in
upcoming chapters.

VB.Net Hello World Example

A VB.Net program basically consists of the following parts −
 Namespace declaration
 A class or module
 One or more procedures
 Variables
 The Main procedure
 Statements & Expressions
 Comments
Let us look at a simple code that would print the words "Hello World" −
Live Demo

Imports System
Module Module1
'This program will display Hello World
Sub Main()
Console.WriteLine("Hello World")
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Hello, World!
Let us look various parts of the above program −
 The first line of the program Imports System is used to include the System
namespace in the program.

4
  The next line has a Module declaration, the module Module1. VB.Net is
completely object oriented, so every program must contain a module of a class
that contains the data and procedures that your program uses.
 Classes or Modules generally would contain more than one procedure.
Procedures contain the executable code, or in other words, they define the
behavior of the class. A procedure could be any of the following −
o Function
o Sub
o Operator
o Get
o Set
o AddHandler
o RemoveHandler
o RaiseEvent
 The next line( 'This program) will be ignored by the compiler and it has been put
to add additional comments in the program.
 The next line defines the Main procedure, which is the entry point for all VB.Net
programs. The Main procedure states what the module or class will do when
executed.
 The Main procedure specifies its behavior with the statement
Console.WriteLine("Hello World") WriteLine is a method of the Console class
defined in the System namespace. This statement causes the message "Hello,
World!" to be displayed on the screen.
 The last line Console.ReadKey() is for the VS.NET Users. This will prevent the
screen from running and closing quickly when the program is launched from
Visual Studio .NET.

Compile & Execute VB.Net Program

If you are using Visual Studio.Net IDE, take the following steps −
 Start Visual Studio.
 On the menu bar, choose File → New → Project.
 Choose Visual Basic from templates
 Choose Console Application.
 Specify a name and location for your project using the Browse button, and then
choose the OK button.
 The new project appears in Solution Explorer.

5
  Write code in the Code Editor.
 Click the Run button or the F5 key to run the project. A Command Prompt
window appears that contains the line Hello World.
You can compile a VB.Net program by using the command line instead of the Visual
Studio IDE −
 Open a text editor and add the above mentioned code.
 Save the file as helloworld.vb
 Open the command prompt tool and go to the directory where you saved the file.
 Type vbc helloworld.vb and press enter to compile your code.
 If there are no errors in your code the command prompt will take you to the next
line and would generate helloworld.exe executable file.
 Next, type helloworld to execute your program.
 You will be able to see "Hello World" printed on the screen.

VB.Net - Basic Syntax

VB.Net is an object-oriented programming language. In Object-Oriented Programming
methodology, a program consists of various objects that interact with each other by means of
actions. The actions that an object may take are called methods. Objects of the same kind are
said to have the same type or, more often, are said to be in the same class.
When we consider a VB.Net program, it can be defined as a collection of objects that
communicate via invoking each other's methods. Let us now briefly look into what do class,
object, methods and instance variables mean.
 Object − Objects have states and behaviors. Example: A dog has states - color, name,
breed as well as behaviors - wagging, barking, eating, etc. An object is an instance of a
class.
 Class − A class can be defined as a template/blueprint that describes the behaviors/states
that objects of its type support.
 Methods − A method is basically a behavior. A class can contain many methods. It is in
methods where the logics are written, data is manipulated and all the actions are
executed.
 Instance Variables − Each object has its unique set of instance variables. An object's
state is created by the values assigned to these instance variables.

A Rectangle Class in VB.Net

For example, let us consider a Rectangle object. It has attributes like length and width.
Depending upon the design, it may need ways for accepting the values of these attributes,
calculating area and displaying details.

6
Let us look at an implementation of a Rectangle class and discuss VB.Net basic syntax on the
basis of our observations in it −
Imports System
Public Class Rectangle
Private length As Double
Private width As Double

'Public methods
Public Sub AcceptDetails()
length = 4.5
width = 3.5
End Sub

Public Function GetArea() As Double

GetArea = length * width
End Function
Public Sub Display()
Console.WriteLine("Length: {0}", length)
Console.WriteLine("Width: {0}", width)
Console.WriteLine("Area: {0}", GetArea())

End Sub

Shared Sub Main()

Dim r As New Rectangle()
r.Acceptdetails()
r.Display()
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Class

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Length: 4.5
Width: 3.5
Area: 15.75
In previous chapter, we created a Visual Basic module that held the code. Sub Main indicates
the entry point of VB.Net program. Here, we are using Class that contains both code and data.
You use classes to create objects. For example, in the code, r is a Rectangle object.
An object is an instance of a class −
Dim r As New Rectangle()
A class may have members that can be accessible from outside class, if so specified. Data
members are called fields and procedure members are called methods.
Shared methods or static methods can be invoked without creating an object of the class.
Instance methods are invoked through an object of the class −

7
Shared Sub Main()
Dim r As New Rectangle()
r.Acceptdetails()
r.Display()
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub

Identifiers
An identifier is a name used to identify a class, variable, function, or any other user-defined
item. The basic rules for naming classes in VB.Net are as follows −
 A name must begin with a letter that could be followed by a sequence of letters, digits (0
- 9) or underscore. The first character in an identifier cannot be a digit.
 It must not contain any embedded space or symbol like ? - +! @ # % ^ & * ( ) [ ] { } . ; :
" ' / and \. However, an underscore ( _ ) can be used.
 It should not be a reserved keyword.

VB.Net Keywords
The following table lists the VB.Net reserved keywords −
AddHandler AddressOf Alias And AndAlso As Boolean

ByRef Byte ByVal Call Case Catch CBool

CByte CChar CDate CDec CDbl Char CInt

Class CLng CObj Const Continue CSByte CShort

CSng CStr CType CUInt CULng CUShort Date

Decimal Declare Default Delegate Dim DirectCast Do

Double Each Else ElseIf End End If Enum

Erase Error Event Exit False Finally For

Friend Function Get GetType GetXML Global GoTo

Namespace

Handles If Implements Imports In Inherits Integer

Interface Is IsNot Let Lib Like Long

Loop Me Mod Module MustInherit MustOverride MyBase

8
 MyClass Namespace Narrowing New Next Not Nothing

Not Not Object Of On Operator Option

Inheritable Overridable

Optional Or OrElse Overloads Overridable Overrides ParamArray

Partial Private Property Protected Public RaiseEvent ReadOnly

ReDim REM Remove Resume Return SByte Select

Handler

Set Shadows Shared Short Single Static Step

Stop String Structure Sub SyncLock Then Throw

To True Try TryCast TypeOf UInteger While

Widening With WithEvents WriteOnly Xor

VB.Net - Data Types

 Previous Page
Next Page  

Data types refer to an extensive system used for declaring variables or functions of
different types. The type of a variable determines how much space it occupies in
storage and how the bit pattern stored is interpreted.

Data Types Available in VB.Net

VB.Net provides a wide range of data types. The following table shows all the data
types available −

Data Type Storage Allocation Value Range

Boolean Depends on implementing platform True or False

9
Byte 1 byte 0 through 255 (unsigned)

Char 2 bytes 0 through 65535 (unsigned)

Date 8 bytes 0:00:00 (midnight) on January 1, 0001 through

11:59:59 PM on December 31, 9999

Decimal 16 bytes 0 through +/-

79,228,162,514,264,337,593,543,950,335 (+/-
7.9...E+28) with no decimal point; 0 through +/-
7.9228162514264337593543950335 with 28 places
to the right of the decimal

Double 8 bytes
-1.79769313486231570E+308 through
-4.94065645841246544E-324, for negative
values
4.94065645841246544E-324 through
1.79769313486231570E+308, for positive
values

Integer 4 bytes -2,147,483,648 through 2,147,483,647 (signed)

Long 8 bytes -9,223,372,036,854,775,808 through

9,223,372,036,854,775,807(signed)

Object Any type can be stored in a variable of type Object

4 bytes on 32-bit platform
8 bytes on 64-bit platform

SByte 1 byte -128 through 127 (signed)

Short 2 bytes -32,768 through 32,767 (signed)

Single 4 bytes
-3.4028235E+38 through -1.401298E-45 for

10
 negative values;
1.401298E-45 through 3.4028235E+38 for
positive values

String Depends on implementing platform 0 to approximately 2 billion Unicode characters

UInteger 4 bytes 0 through 4,294,967,295 (unsigned)

ULong 8 bytes 0 through 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 (unsigned)

User- Depends on implementing platform Each member of the structure has a range determined
Defined by its data type and independent of the ranges of the
other members

UShort 2 bytes 0 through 65,535 (unsigned)

Example
The following example demonstrates use of some of the types −
Live Demo

Module DataTypes
Sub Main()
Dim b As Byte
Dim n As Integer
Dim si As Single
Dim d As Double
Dim da As Date
Dim c As Char
Dim s As String
Dim bl As Boolean

b = 1
n = 1234567
si = 0.12345678901234566
d = 0.12345678901234566
da = Today
c = "U"c
s = "Me"

If ScriptEngine = "VB" Then

bl = True
Else

11
 bl = False
End If

If bl Then
'the oath taking
Console.Write(c & " and," & s & vbCrLf)
Console.WriteLine("declaring on the day of: {0}", da)
Console.WriteLine("We will learn VB.Net seriously")
Console.WriteLine("Lets see what happens to the floating
point variables:")
Console.WriteLine("The Single: {0}, The Double: {1}", si,
d)
End If
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
U and, Me
declaring on the day of: 12/4/2012 12:00:00 PM
We will learn VB.Net seriously
Lets see what happens to the floating point variables:
The Single:0.1234568, The Double: 0.123456789012346
The Type Conversion Functions in VB.Net
VB.Net provides the following in-line type conversion functions −

Sr.No Functions & Description

.

1
CBool(expression)
Converts the expression to Boolean data type.

2
CByte(expression)
Converts the expression to Byte data type.

3
CChar(expression)
Converts the expression to Char data type.

4
CDate(expression)

12
 Converts the expression to Date data type

5
CDbl(expression)
Converts the expression to Double data type.

6
CDec(expression)
Converts the expression to Decimal data type.

7
CInt(expression)
Converts the expression to Integer data type.

8
CLng(expression)
Converts the expression to Long data type.

9
CObj(expression)
Converts the expression to Object type.

10
CSByte(expression)
Converts the expression to SByte data type.

11
CShort(expression)
Converts the expression to Short data type.

12
CSng(expression)
Converts the expression to Single data type.

13
CStr(expression)
Converts the expression to String data type.

14
CUInt(expression)
Converts the expression to UInt data type.

13
 15
CULng(expression)
Converts the expression to ULng data type.

16
CUShort(expression)
Converts the expression to UShort data type.

Example
The following example demonstrates some of these functions −
Live Demo

Module DataTypes
Sub Main()
Dim n As Integer
Dim da As Date
Dim bl As Boolean = True
n = 1234567
da = Today

Console.WriteLine(bl)
Console.WriteLine(CSByte(bl))
Console.WriteLine(CStr(bl))
Console.WriteLine(CStr(da))
Console.WriteLine(CChar(CChar(CStr(n))))
Console.WriteLine(CChar(CStr(da)))
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
True
-1
True
12/4/2012
1
1

VB.Net - Variables

 Previous Page
Next Page  

14
A variable is nothing but a name given to a storage area that our programs can
manipulate. Each variable in VB.Net has a specific type, which determines the size and
layout of the variable's memory; the range of values that can be stored within that
memory; and the set of operations that can be applied to the variable.
We have already discussed various data types. The basic value types provided in
VB.Net can be categorized as −

Type Example

Integral types SByte, Byte, Short, UShort, Integer, UInteger, Long, ULong and Char

Floating point types Single and Double

Decimal types Decimal

Boolean types True or False values, as assigned

Date types Date

VB.Net also allows defining other value types of variable like Enum and reference
types of variables like Class. We will discuss date types and Classes in subsequent
chapters.

Variable Declaration in VB.Net

The Dim statement is used for variable declaration and storage allocation for one or
more variables. The Dim statement is used at module, class, structure, procedure or
block level.
Syntax for variable declaration in VB.Net is −
[ < attributelist > ] [ accessmodifier ] [[ Shared ] [ Shadows ] |
[ Static ]]
[ ReadOnly ] Dim [ WithEvents ] variablelist
Where,
 attributelist is a list of attributes that apply to the variable. Optional.
 accessmodifier defines the access levels of the variables, it has values as -
Public, Protected, Friend, Protected Friend and Private. Optional.

15
  Shared declares a shared variable, which is not associated with any specific
instance of a class or structure, rather available to all the instances of the class
or structure. Optional.
 Shadows indicate that the variable re-declares and hides an identically named
element, or set of overloaded elements, in a base class. Optional.
 Static indicates that the variable will retain its value, even when the after
termination of the procedure in which it is declared. Optional.
 ReadOnly means the variable can be read, but not written. Optional.
 WithEvents specifies that the variable is used to respond to events raised by
the instance assigned to the variable. Optional.
 Variablelist provides the list of variables declared.
Each variable in the variable list has the following syntax and parts −
variablename[ ( [ boundslist ] ) ] [ As [ New ] datatype ] [ =
initializer ]
Where,
 variablename − is the name of the variable
 boundslist − optional. It provides list of bounds of each dimension of an array
variable.
 New − optional. It creates a new instance of the class when the Dim statement
runs.
 datatype − Required if Option Strict is On. It specifies the data type of the
variable.
 initializer − Optional if New is not specified. Expression that is evaluated and
assigned to the variable when it is created.
Some valid variable declarations along with their definition are shown here −
Dim StudentID As Integer
Dim StudentName As String
Dim Salary As Double
Dim count1, count2 As Integer
Dim status As Boolean
Dim exitButton As New System.Windows.Forms.Button
Dim lastTime, nextTime As Date

Variable Initialization in VB.Net

Variables are initialized (assigned a value) with an equal sign followed by a constant
expression. The general form of initialization is −
variable_name = value;
for example,

16
Dim pi As Double
pi = 3.14159

You can initialize a variable at the time of declaration as follows −

Dim StudentID As Integer = 100
Dim StudentName As String = "Bill Smith"

Example
Try the following example which makes use of various types of variables −
Live Demo

Module variablesNdataypes
Sub Main()
Dim a As Short
Dim b As Integer
Dim c As Double

a = 10
b = 20
c = a + b
Console.WriteLine("a = {0}, b = {1}, c = {2}", a, b, c)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
a = 10, b = 20, c = 30
Accepting Values from User
The Console class in the System namespace provides a function ReadLine for
accepting input from the user and store it into a variable. For example,
Dim message As String
message = Console.ReadLine

The following example demonstrates it −

Live Demo

Module variablesNdataypes
Sub Main()
Dim message As String
Console.Write("Enter message: ")
message = Console.ReadLine
Console.WriteLine()
Console.WriteLine("Your Message: {0}", message)
Console.ReadLine()

17
 End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result
(assume the user inputs Hello World) −
Enter message: Hello World
Your Message: Hello World
Lvalues and Rvalues
There are two kinds of expressions −
 lvalue − An expression that is an lvalue may appear as either the left-hand or
right-hand side of an assignment.
 rvalue − An expression that is an rvalue may appear on the right- but not left-
hand side of an assignment.
Variables are lvalues and so may appear on the left-hand side of an assignment.
Numeric literals are rvalues and so may not be assigned and can not appear on the
left-hand side. Following is a valid statement −
Dim g As Integer = 20
But following is not a valid statement and would generate compile-time error −
20 = g

VB.Net - Constants and Enumerations

 Previous Page
Next Page  

The constants refer to fixed values that the program may not alter during its execution.
These fixed values are also called literals.
Constants can be of any of the basic data types like an integer constant, a floating
constant, a character constant, or a string literal. There are also enumeration constants
as well.
The constants are treated just like regular variables except that their values cannot be
modified after their definition.
An enumeration is a set of named integer constants.

Declaring Constants
In VB.Net, constants are declared using the Const statement. The Const statement is
used at module, class, structure, procedure, or block level for use in place of literal
values.

18
The syntax for the Const statement is −
[ < attributelist > ] [ accessmodifier ] [ Shadows ]
Const constantlist
Where,
 attributelist − specifies the list of attributes applied to the constants; you can
provide multiple attributes separated by commas. Optional.
 accessmodifier − specifies which code can access these constants. Optional.
Values can be either of the: Public, Protected, Friend, Protected Friend, or
Private.
 Shadows − this makes the constant hide a programming element of identical
name in a base class. Optional.
 Constantlist − gives the list of names of constants declared. Required.
Where, each constant name has the following syntax and parts −
constantname [ As datatype ] = initializer
 constantname − specifies the name of the constant
 datatype − specifies the data type of the constant
 initializer − specifies the value assigned to the constant
For example,
'The following statements declare constants.'
Const maxval As Long = 4999
Public Const message As String = "HELLO"
Private Const piValue As Double = 3.1415

Example
The following example demonstrates declaration and use of a constant value −
Live Demo

Module constantsNenum
Sub Main()
Const PI = 3.14149
Dim radius, area As Single
radius = 7
area = PI * radius * radius
Console.WriteLine("Area = " & Str(area))
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Area = 153.933

19
Print and Display Constants in VB.Net
VB.Net provides the following print and display constants −

Sr.No Constant & Description

.

1
vbCrLf
Carriage return/linefeed character combination.

2
vbCr
Carriage return character.

3
vbLf
Linefeed character.

4
vbNewLine
Newline character.

5
vbNullChar
Null character.

6
vbNullString
Not the same as a zero-length string (""); used for calling external procedures.

7
vbObjectError
Error number. User-defined error numbers should be greater than this value. For
example: Err.Raise(Number) = vbObjectError + 1000

8
vbTab
Tab character.

9
vbBack

20
 Backspace character.

Declaring Enumerations
An enumerated type is declared using the Enum statement. The Enum statement
declares an enumeration and defines the values of its members. The Enum statement
can be used at the module, class, structure, procedure, or block level.
The syntax for the Enum statement is as follows −
[ < attributelist > ] [ accessmodifier ] [ Shadows ]
Enum enumerationname [ As datatype ]
memberlist
End Enum
Where,
 attributelist − refers to the list of attributes applied to the variable. Optional.
 accessmodifier − specifies which code can access these enumerations.
Optional. Values can be either of the: Public, Protected, Friend or Private.
 Shadows − this makes the enumeration hide a programming element of
identical name in a base class. Optional.
 enumerationname − name of the enumeration. Required
 datatype − specifies the data type of the enumeration and all its members.
 memberlist − specifies the list of member constants being declared in this
statement. Required.
Each member in the memberlist has the following syntax and parts:
[< attribute list >] member name [ = initializer ]
Where,
 name − specifies the name of the member. Required.
 initializer − value assigned to the enumeration member. Optional.
For example,
Enum Colors
red = 1
orange = 2
yellow = 3
green = 4
azure = 5
blue = 6
violet = 7
End Enum

21
Example
The following example demonstrates declaration and use of the Enum
variable Colors −
Live Demo

Module constantsNenum
Enum Colors
red = 1
orange = 2
yellow = 3
green = 4
azure = 5
blue = 6
violet = 7
End Enum

Sub Main()
Console.WriteLine("The Color Red is : " & Colors.red)
Console.WriteLine("The Color Yellow is : " & Colors.yellow)
Console.WriteLine("The Color Blue is : " & Colors.blue)
Console.WriteLine("The Color Green is : " & Colors.green)
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
The Color Red is: 1
The Color Yellow is: 3
The Color Blue is: 6
The Color Green is: 4

VB.Net - Modifiers

 Previous Page
Next Page  

The modifiers are keywords added with any programming element to give some
especial emphasis on how the programming element will behave or will be accessed in
the program.
For example, the access modifiers: Public, Private, Protected, Friend, Protected
Friend, etc., indicate the access level of a programming element like a variable,
constant, enumeration or a class.

22
List of Available Modifiers in VB.Net
The following table provides the complete list of VB.Net modifiers −
Sr.N Modifier Description
o

1 Ansi Specifies that Visual Basic should marshal all strings to American National
Standards Institute (ANSI) values regardless of the name of the external
procedure being declared.

2 Assembly Specifies that an attribute at the beginning of a source file applies to the
entire assembly.

3 Async Indicates that the method or lambda expression that it modifies is

asynchronous. Such methods are referred to as async methods. The caller
of an async method can resume its work without waiting for the async
method to finish.

4 Auto The charsetmodifier part in the Declare statement supplies the character

set information for marshaling strings during a call to the external
procedure. It also affects how Visual Basic searches the external file for
the external procedure name. The Auto modifier specifies that Visual Basic
should marshal strings according to .NET Framework rules.

5 ByRef Specifies that an argument is passed by reference, i.e., the called

procedure can change the value of a variable underlying the argument in
the calling code. It is used under the contexts of −

 Declare Statement
 Function Statement
 Sub Statement
6 ByVal Specifies that an argument is passed in such a way that the called
procedure or property cannot change the value of a variable underlying the
argument in the calling code. It is used under the contexts of −

 Declare Statement
 Function Statement
 Operator Statement
 Property Statement
 Sub Statement
7 Default Identifies a property as the default property of its class, structure, or
interface.
8 Friend
Specifies that one or more declared programming elements are
accessible from within the assembly that contains their declaration,
not only by the component that declares them.

23
 Friend access is often the preferred level for an application's
programming elements, and Friend is the default access level of an
interface, a module, a class, or a structure.
9 In It is used in generic interfaces and delegates.
10 Iterator Specifies that a function or Get accessor is an iterator. An iterator performs
a custom iteration over a collection.
11 Key The Key keyword enables you to specify behavior for properties of
anonymous types.
12 Module Specifies that an attribute at the beginning of a source file applies to the
current assembly module. It is not same as the Module statement.
13 MustInherit Specifies that a class can be used only as a base class and that you
cannot create an object directly from it.
14 MustOverride Specifies that a property or procedure is not implemented in this class and
must be overridden in a derived class before it can be used.
15 Narrowing Indicates that a conversion operator (CType) converts a class or structure
to a type that might not be able to hold some of the possible values of the
original class or structure.
16 NotInheritable Specifies that a class cannot be used as a base class.
17 NotOverridable Specifies that a property or procedure cannot be overridden in a derived
class.
18 Optional Specifies that a procedure argument can be omitted when the procedure is
called.
19 Out For generic type parameters, the Out keyword specifies that the type is
covariant.
20 Overloads Specifies that a property or procedure redeclares one or more existing
properties or procedures with the same name.
21 Overridable Specifies that a property or procedure can be overridden by an identically
named property or procedure in a derived class.
22 Overrides Specifies that a property or procedure overrides an identically named
property or procedure inherited from a base class.
23 ParamArray ParamArray allows you to pass an arbitrary number of arguments to the
procedure. A ParamArray parameter is always declared using ByVal.
24 Partial Indicates that a class or structure declaration is a partial definition of the
class or structure.
25 Private Specifies that one or more declared programming elements are accessible
only from within their declaration context, including from within any
contained types.
26 Protected Specifies that one or more declared programming elements are accessible
only from within their own class or from a derived class.
27 Public Specifies that one or more declared programming elements have no
access restrictions.
28 ReadOnly Specifies that a variable or property can be read but not written.
29 Shadows Specifies that a declared programming element redeclares and hides an
identically named element, or set of overloaded elements, in a base class.
30 Shared Specifies that one or more declared programming elements are associated
with a class or structure at large, and not with a specific instance of the
class or structure.
31 Static Specifies that one or more declared local variables are to continue to exist

24
 and retain their latest values after termination of the procedure in which
they are declared.
32 Unicode Specifies that Visual Basic should marshal all strings to Unicode values
regardless of the name of the external procedure being declared.
33 Widening Indicates that a conversion operator (CType) converts a class or structure
to a type that can hold all possible values of the original class or structure.
34 WithEvents Specifies that one or more declared member variables refer to an instance
of a class that can raise events.
35 WriteOnly Specifies that a property can be written but not read.

VB.Net - Statements

 Previous Page
Next Page  

A statement is a complete instruction in Visual Basic programs. It may contain

keywords, operators, variables, literal values, constants and expressions.
Statements could be categorized as −
 Declaration statements − these are the statements where you name a variable,
constant, or procedure, and can also specify a data type.
 Executable statements − these are the statements, which initiate actions.
These statements can call a method or function, loop or branch through blocks
of code or assign values or expression to a variable or constant. In the last case,
it is called an Assignment statement.

Declaration Statements
The declaration statements are used to name and define procedures, variables,
properties, arrays, and constants. When you declare a programming element, you can
also define its data type, access level, and scope.
The programming elements you may declare include variables, constants,
enumerations, classes, structures, modules, interfaces, procedures, procedure
parameters, function returns, external procedure references, operators, properties,
events, and delegates.
Following are the declaration statements in VB.Net −
Sr.N Statements and Description Example
o

1 Dim number As
Dim Statement
Integer
Declares and allocates storage space for one or more variables. Dim quantity As
Integer = 100

25
 Dim message As
String = "Hello!"
2 Const maximum As
Const Statement
Long = 1000
Declares and defines one or more constants. Const
naturalLogBase As
Object
=
CDec(2.7182818284)
3 Enum CoffeeMugSize
Enum Statement
Jumbo
Declares an enumeration and defines the values of its members. ExtraLarge
Large
Medium
Small
End Enum
4 Class Box
Class Statement
Public length As
Declares the name of a class and introduces the definition of the Double
variables, properties, events, and procedures that the class Public breadth As
comprises. Double
Public height As
Double
End Class
5 Structure Box
Structure Statement
Public length As
Declares the name of a structure and introduces the definition of Double
the variables, properties, events, and procedures that the Public breadth As
structure comprises. Double
Public height As
Double
End Structure
6 Public Module
Module Statement
myModule
Declares the name of a module and introduces the definition of Sub Main()
the variables, properties, events, and procedures that the Dim user As String
module comprises. =
InputBox("What is
your name?")
MsgBox("User name
is" & user)
End Sub
End Module
7 Public Interface
Interface Statement
MyInterface
Declares the name of an interface and introduces the definitions Sub

26
 of the members that the interface comprises. doSomething()
End Interface
8 Function
Function Statement
myFunction
Declares the name, parameters, and code that define a Function (ByVal n As
procedure. Integer) As Double
Return 5.87 * n
End Function
9 Sub mySub(ByVal s
Sub Statement
As String)
Declares the name, parameters, and code that define a Sub Return
procedure. End Sub
10 Declare Function
Declare Statement
getUserName
Declares a reference to a procedure implemented in an external Lib "advapi32.dll"
file. Alias
"GetUserNameA"
(
ByVal lpBuffer
As String,
ByRef nSize As
Integer) As
Integer
11 Public Shared
Operator Statement
Operator +
Declares the operator symbol, operands, and code that define an (ByVal x As obj,
operator procedure on a class or structure. ByVal y As obj) As
obj
Dim r As New
obj
' implemention
code for r = x + y
Return r
End Operator
12 ReadOnly Property
Property Statement
quote() As String
Declares the name of a property, and the property procedures Get
used to store and retrieve the value of the property. Return
quoteString
End Get
End Property
13 Public Event
Event Statement
Finished()
Declares a user-defined event.
14 Delegate Function
Delegate Statement

27
 MathOperator(
ByVal x As
Used to declare a delegate. Double,
ByVal y As
Double
) As Double

Executable Statements
An executable statement performs an action. Statements calling a procedure,
branching to another place in the code, looping through several statements, or
evaluating an expression are executable statements. An assignment statement is a
special case of an executable statement.
Example
The following example demonstrates a decision making statement −
Module decisions
Sub Main()
'local variable definition '
Dim a As Integer = 10

' check the boolean condition using if statement '

If (a < 20) Then
' if condition is true then print the following '
Console.WriteLine("a is less than 20")
End If
Console.WriteLine("value of a is : {0}", a)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
a is less than 20;
value of a is : 10

VB.Net - Directives

 Previous Page
Next Page  

The VB.Net compiler directives give instructions to the compiler to preprocess the
information before actual compilation starts. All these directives begin with #, and only
white-space characters may appear before a directive on a line. These directives are
not statements.

28
VB.Net compiler does not have a separate preprocessor; however, the directives are
processed as if there was one. In VB.Net, the compiler directives are used to help in
conditional compilation. Unlike C and C++ directives, they are not used to create
macros.

Compiler Directives in VB.Net

VB.Net provides the following set of compiler directives −
 The #Const Directive
 The #ExternalSource Directive
 The #If...Then...#Else Directives
 The #Region Directive
The #Const Directive
This directive defines conditional compiler constants. Syntax for this directive is −
#Const constname = expression
Where,
 constname − specifies the name of the constant. Required.
 expression − it is either a literal, or other conditional compiler constant, or a
combination including any or all arithmetic or logical operators except Is.
For example,
#Const state = "WEST BENGAL"
Example
The following code demonstrates a hypothetical use of the directive −
Live Demo

Module mydirectives
#Const age = True
Sub Main()
#If age Then
Console.WriteLine("You are welcome to the Robotics Club")
#End If
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
You are welcome to the Robotics Club

29
The #ExternalSource Directive
This directive is used for indicating a mapping between specific lines of source code
and text external to the source. It is used only by the compiler and the debugger has no
effect on code compilation.
This directive allows including external code from an external code file into a source
code file.
Syntax for this directive is −
#ExternalSource( StringLiteral , IntLiteral )
[ LogicalLine ]
#End ExternalSource
The parameters of #ExternalSource directive are the path of external file, line number
of the first line, and the line where the error occurred.
Example
The following code demonstrates a hypothetical use of the directive −
Module mydirectives
Public Class ExternalSourceTester

Sub TestExternalSource()

#ExternalSource("c:\vbprogs\directives.vb", 5)
Console.WriteLine("This is External Code. ")
#End ExternalSource

End Sub
End Class

Sub Main()
Dim t As New ExternalSourceTester()
t.TestExternalSource()
Console.WriteLine("In Main.")
Console.ReadKey()

End Sub

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
This is External Code.
In Main.
The #If...Then...#Else Directives
This directive conditionally compiles selected blocks of Visual Basic code.
Syntax for this directive is −
#If expression Then
statements

30
[ #ElseIf expression Then
[ statements ]
...
#ElseIf expression Then
[ statements ] ]
[ #Else
[ statements ] ]
#End If
For example,
#Const TargetOS = "Linux"
#If TargetOS = "Windows 7" Then
' Windows 7 specific code
#ElseIf TargetOS = "WinXP" Then
' Windows XP specific code
#Else
' Code for other OS
#End if

Example
The following code demonstrates a hypothetical use of the directive −
Module mydirectives
#Const classCode = 8

Sub Main()
#If classCode = 7 Then
Console.WriteLine("Exam Questions for Class VII")
#ElseIf classCode = 8 Then
Console.WriteLine("Exam Questions for Class VIII")
#Else
Console.WriteLine("Exam Questions for Higher Classes")
#End If
Console.ReadKey()

End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Exam Questions for Class VIII
The #Region Directive
This directive helps in collapsing and hiding sections of code in Visual Basic files.
Syntax for this directive is −
#Region "identifier_string"
#End Region
For example,

31
#Region "StatsFunctions"
' Insert code for the Statistical functions here.
#End Region

VB.Net - Operators
An operator is a symbol that tells the compiler to perform specific mathematical or
logical manipulations. VB.Net is rich in built-in operators and provides following types
of commonly used operators −
 Arithmetic Operators
 Comparison Operators
 Logical/Bitwise Operators
 Bit Shift Operators
 Assignment Operators
 Miscellaneous Operators
This tutorial will explain the most commonly used operators.

Arithmetic Operators
Following table shows all the arithmetic operators supported by VB.Net. Assume
variable A holds 2 and variable B holds 7, then −

VB.Net - Arithmetic Operators

 Previous Page
Next Page  

Following table shows all the arithmetic operators supported by VB.Net. Assume
variable A holds 2 and variable B holds 7, then −

Operato Description Example

r

^ Raises one operand to the power of another B^A will give 49

+ Adds two operands A + B will give 9

32
- Subtracts second operand from the first A - B will give -5

* Multiplies both operands A * B will give 14

/ Divides one operand by another and returns a floating point result B / A will give 3.5

\ Divides one operand by another and returns an integer result B \ A will give 3

MOD Modulus Operator and remainder of after an integer division B MOD A will give 1

Example
Try the following example to understand all the arithmetic operators available in VB.Net
−
Live Demo

Module operators
Sub Main()
Dim a As Integer = 21
Dim b As Integer = 10
Dim p As Integer = 2
Dim c As Integer
Dim d As Single

c = a + b
Console.WriteLine("Line 1 - Value of c is {0}", c)

c = a - b
Console.WriteLine("Line 2 - Value of c is {0}", c)

c = a * b
Console.WriteLine("Line 3 - Value of c is {0}", c)

d = a / b
Console.WriteLine("Line 4 - Value of d is {0}", d)

c = a \ b
Console.WriteLine("Line 5 - Value of c is {0}", c)

c = a Mod b
Console.WriteLine("Line 6 - Value of c is {0}", c)

c = b ^ p

33
 Console.WriteLine("Line 7 - Value of c is {0}", c)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Line 1 - Value of c is 31
Line 2 - Value of c is 11
Line 3 - Value of c is 210
Line 4 - Value of d is 2.1
Line 5 - Value of c is 2
Line 6 - Value of c is 1
Line 7 - Value of c is 100
Operato Description Example
r

^ Raises one operand to the power of another B^A will give 49

+ Adds two operands A + B will give 9

- Subtracts second operand from the first A - B will give -5

* Multiplies both operands A * B will give 14

/ Divides one operand by another and returns a floating point result B / A will give 3.5

\ Divides one operand by another and returns an integer result B \ A will give 3

MOD Modulus Operator and remainder of after an integer division B MOD A will give 1

Comparison Operators
Following table shows all the comparison operators supported by VB.Net. Assume
variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20, then −

VB.Net - Comparison Operators

 Previous Page
Next Page  
Following table shows all the comparison operators supported by VB.Net. Assume
variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20, then −

34
 Operato Description Example
r

= Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not; if yes, then condition (A = B)
becomes true. is not
true.

<> Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not; if values are not (A <> B)
equal, then condition becomes true. is true.

> Checks if the value of left operand is greater than the value of right (A > B)
operand; if yes, then condition becomes true. is not
true.

< Checks if the value of left operand is less than the value of right operand; if (A < B)
yes, then condition becomes true. is true.

>= Checks if the value of left operand is greater than or equal to the value of (A >= B)
right operand; if yes, then condition becomes true. is not
true.

<= Checks if the value of left operand is less than or equal to the value of right (A <= B)
operand; if yes, then condition becomes true. is true.

Try the following example to understand all the relational operators available in VB.Net
−
Live Demo
Module operators
Sub Main()
Dim a As Integer = 21
Dim b As Integer = 10
If (a = b) Then
Console.WriteLine("Line 1 - a is equal to b")
Else
Console.WriteLine("Line 1 - a is not equal to b")
End If

If (a < b) Then

35
 Console.WriteLine("Line 2 - a is less than b")
Else
Console.WriteLine("Line 2 - a is not less than b")
End If

If (a > b) Then
Console.WriteLine("Line 3 - a is greater than b")
Else
Console.WriteLine("Line 3 - a is not greater than b")
End If
' Lets change value of a and b
a = 5
b = 20

If (a <= b) Then
Console.WriteLine("Line 4 - a is either less than or
equal to b")
End If
If (b >= a) Then
Console.WriteLine("Line 5 - b is either greater than or
equal to b")
End If
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Line 1 - a is not equal to b
Line 2 - a is not less than b
Line 3 - a is greater than b
Line 4 - a is either less than or equal to b
Line 5 - b is either greater than or equal to b
Apart from the above, VB.Net provides three more comparison operators, which we will
be using in forthcoming chapters; however, we give a brief description here.
 Is Operator − It compares two object reference variables and determines if two
object references refer to the same object without performing value
comparisons. If object1 and object2 both refer to the exact same object
instance, result is True; otherwise, result is False.
 IsNot Operator − It also compares two object reference variables and
determines if two object references refer to different objects. If object1 and
object2 both refer to the exact same object instance, result is False; otherwise,
result is True.
 Like Operator − It compares a string against a pattern.

36
Operato Description Example
r

= Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not; if yes, then condition (A = B)
becomes true. is not
true.

<> Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not; if values are not equal, then (A <> B)
condition becomes true. is true.

> Checks if the value of left operand is greater than the value of right operand; if yes, (A > B)
then condition becomes true. is not
true.

< Checks if the value of left operand is less than the value of right operand; if yes, then (A < B)
condition becomes true. is true.

>= Checks if the value of left operand is greater than or equal to the value of right (A >= B)
operand; if yes, then condition becomes true. is not
true.

<= Checks if the value of left operand is less than or equal to the value of right operand; (A <= B)
if yes, then condition becomes true. is true.

Apart from the above, VB.Net provides three more comparison operators, which we will
be using in forthcoming chapters; however, we give a brief description here.
 Is Operator − It compares two object reference variables and determines if two
object references refer to the same object without performing value
comparisons. If object1 and object2 both refer to the exact same object
instance, result is True; otherwise, result is False.
 IsNot Operator − It also compares two object reference variables and
determines if two object references refer to different objects. If object1 and
object2 both refer to the exact same object instance, result is False; otherwise,
result is True.
 Like Operator − It compares a string against a pattern.

Logical/Bitwise Operators
Following table shows all the logical operators supported by VB.Net. Assume variable
A holds Boolean value True and variable B holds Boolean value False, then −

VB.Net - Logical/Bitwise Operators

37
 Previous Page
Next Page  

Following table shows all the logical operators supported by VB.Net. Assume variable
A holds Boolean value True and variable B holds Boolean value False, then −

Operato Description Example

r

And It is the logical as well as bitwise AND operator. If both the operands are true, then (A And
condition becomes true. This operator does not perform short-circuiting, i.e., it B) is
evaluates both the expressions. False.

Or It is the logical as well as bitwise OR operator. If any of the two operands is true, (A Or B)
then condition becomes true. This operator does not perform short-circuiting, i.e., it is True.
evaluates both the expressions.

Not It is the logical as well as bitwise NOT operator. Used to reverse the logical state of Not(A
its operand. If a condition is true, then Logical NOT operator will make false. And B) is
True.

Xor It is the logical as well as bitwise Logical Exclusive OR operator. It returns False if A Xor B
both expressions are True or both expressions are False; otherwise, it returns True. is True.
This operator does not perform short-circuiting, it always evaluates both
expressions and there is no short-circuiting counterpart of this operator

AndAlso It is the logical AND operator. It works only on Boolean data. It performs short- (A
circuiting. AndAlso
B) is
False.

OrElse It is the logical OR operator. It works only on Boolean data. It performs short- (A
circuiting. OrElse
B) is
True.

IsFalse It determines whether an expression is False.

38
IsTrue It determines whether an expression is True.

Try the following example to understand all the logical/bitwise operators available in
VB.Net −
Live Demo

Module logicalOp
Sub Main()
Dim a As Boolean = True
Dim b As Boolean = True
Dim c As Integer = 5
Dim d As Integer = 20
'logical And, Or and Xor Checking

If (a And b) Then
Console.WriteLine("Line 1 - Condition is true")
End If
If (a Or b) Then
Console.WriteLine("Line 2 - Condition is true")
End If
If (a Xor b) Then
Console.WriteLine("Line 3 - Condition is true")
End If
'bitwise And, Or and Xor Checking
If (c And d) Then
Console.WriteLine("Line 4 - Condition is true")
End If
If (c Or d) Then
Console.WriteLine("Line 5 - Condition is true")
End If
If (c Or d) Then
Console.WriteLine("Line 6 - Condition is true")
End If
'Only logical operators
If (a AndAlso b) Then
Console.WriteLine("Line 7 - Condition is true")
End If
If (a OrElse b) Then
Console.WriteLine("Line 8 - Condition is true")
End If

' lets change the value of a and b

a = False
b = True
If (a And b) Then
Console.WriteLine("Line 9 - Condition is true")
Else

39
 Console.WriteLine("Line 9 - Condition is not true")
End If
If (Not (a And b)) Then
Console.WriteLine("Line 10 - Condition is true")
End If
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Line 1 - Condition is true
Line 2 - Condition is true
Line 3 - Condition is true
Line 4 - Condition is true
Line 5 - Condition is true
Line 6 - Condition is true
Line 7 - Condition is true
Line 8 - Condition is true
Line 9 - Condition is not true
Line 10 - Condition is true
Operato Description Example
r

And It is the logical as well as bitwise AND operator. If both the operands are true, then (A And
condition becomes true. This operator does not perform short-circuiting, i.e., it B) is
evaluates both the expressions. False.

Or It is the logical as well as bitwise OR operator. If any of the two operands is true, (A Or B)
then condition becomes true. This operator does not perform short-circuiting, i.e., it is True.
evaluates both the expressions.

Not It is the logical as well as bitwise NOT operator. Use to reverses the logical state of Not(A
its operand. If a condition is true, then Logical NOT operator will make false. And B) is
True.

Xor It is the logical as well as bitwise Logical Exclusive OR operator. It returns True if A Xor B
both expressions are True or both expressions are False; otherwise it returns False. is True.
This operator does not perform short-circuiting, it always evaluates both expressions
and there is no short-circuiting counterpart of this operator.

AndAlso It is the logical AND operator. It works only on Boolean data. It performs short- (A
circuiting. AndAlso
B) is
False.

OrElse It is the logical OR operator. It works only on Boolean data. It performs short- (A
circuiting. OrElse
B) is

40
 True.

IsFalse It determines whether an expression is False.

IsTrue It determines whether an expression is True.

Bit Shift Operators

We have already discussed the bitwise operators. The bit shift operators perform the
shift operations on binary values. Before coming into the bit shift operators, let us
understand the bit operations.
Bitwise operators work on bits and perform bit-by-bit operations. The truth tables for &,
|, and ^ are as follows −
p q p&q p|q p^q

0 0 0 0 0

0 1 0 1 1

1 1 1 1 0

1 0 0 1 1

Assume if A = 60; and B = 13; now in binary format they will be as follows −
A = 0011 1100
B = 0000 1101
-----------------
A&B = 0000 1100
A|B = 0011 1101
A^B = 0011 0001
~A  = 1100 0011
We have seen that the Bitwise operators supported by VB.Net are And, Or, Xor and
Not. The Bit shift operators are >> and << for left shift and right shift, respectively.
Assume that the variable A holds 60 and variable B holds 13, then −

VB.Net - Bit Shift Operators

41
 Previous Page
Next Page  

Assume that the variable A holds 60 and variable B holds 13, then −

Operato Description Example

r

And Bitwise AND Operator copies a bit to the result if it exists in both operands. (A AND B)
will give 12,
which is
0000 1100

Or Binary OR Operator copies a bit if it exists in either operand. (A Or B) will

give 61,
which is
0011 1101

Xor Binary XOR Operator copies the bit if it is set in one operand but not both. (A Xor B)
will give 49,
which is
0011 0001

Not Binary Ones Complement Operator is unary and has the effect of 'flipping' bits. (Not A ) will
give -61,
which is
1100 0011
in 2's
complement
form due to
a signed
binary
number.

<< Binary Left Shift Operator. The left operand's value is moved left by the number A << 2 will
of bits specified by the right operand. give 240,
which is
1111 0000

>> Binary Right Shift Operator. The left operand's value is moved right by the A >> 2 will
give 15,

42
 number of bits specified by the right operand. which is
0000 1111

Try the following example to understand all the bitwise operators available in VB.Net −
Live Demo

Module BitwiseOp
Sub Main()
Dim a As Integer = 60 ' 60 = 0011 1100
Dim b As Integer = 13 ' 13 = 0000 1101
Dim c As Integer = 0
c = a And b ' 12 = 0000 1100
Console.WriteLine("Line 1 - Value of c is {0}", c)
c = a Or b ' 61 = 0011 1101

Console.WriteLine("Line 2 - Value of c is {0}", c)

c = a Xor b ' 49 = 0011 0001

Console.WriteLine("Line 3 - Value of c is {0}", c)

c = Not a ' -61 = 1100 0011

Console.WriteLine("Line 4 - Value of c is {0}", c)

c = a << 2 ' 240 = 1111 0000

Console.WriteLine("Line 5 - Value of c is {0}", c)

c = a >> 2 ' 15 = 0000 1111

Console.WriteLine("Line 6 - Value of c is {0}", c)

Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Line 1 - Value of c is 12
Line 2 - Value of c is 61
Line 3 - Value of c is 49
Line 4 - Value of c is -61
Line 5 - Value of c is 240
Line 6 - Value of c is 15
Operato Description Example
r

And Bitwise AND Operator copies a bit to the result if it exists in both operands. (A AND B)
will give 12,
which is
0000 1100

43
Or Binary OR Operator copies a bit if it exists in either operand. (A Or B) will
give 61,
which is
0011 1101

Xor Binary XOR Operator copies the bit if it is set in one operand but not both. (A Xor B)
will give 49,
which is
0011 0001

Not Binary Ones Complement Operator is unary and has the effect of 'flipping' bits. (Not A ) will
give -61,
which is
1100 0011
in 2's
complement
form due to
a signed
binary
number.

<< Binary Left Shift Operator. The left operands value is moved left by the number of A << 2 will
bits specified by the right operand. give 240,
which is
1111 0000

>> Binary Right Shift Operator. The left operands value is moved right by the number A >> 2 will
of bits specified by the right operand. give 15,
which is
0000 1111

Assignment Operators
There are following assignment operators supported by VB.Net −

VB.Net - Assignment Operators

 Previous Page
Next Page  

There are following assignment operators supported by VB.Net −

Operato Description Example

r

44
= Simple assignment operator, Assigns values from right side operands to left side C=A+B
operand will assign
value of A
+ B into C

+= Add AND assignment operator, It adds right operand to the left operand and C += A is
assigns the result to left operand equivalent
to C = C +
A

-= Subtract AND assignment operator, It subtracts right operand from the left operand C -= A is
and assigns the result to left operand equivalent
to C = C -
A

*= Multiply AND assignment operator, It multiplies right operand with the left operand C *= A is
and assigns the result to left operand equivalent
to C = C *
A

/= Divide AND assignment operator, It divides left operand with the right operand and C /= A is
assigns the result to left operand (floating point division) equivalent
to C = C /
A

\= Divide AND assignment operator, It divides left operand with the right operand and C \= A is
assigns the result to left operand (Integer division) equivalent
to C =
C \A

^= Exponentiation and assignment operator. It raises the left operand to the power of C^=A is
the right operand and assigns the result to left operand equivalent
to C = C ^
A

<<= Left shift AND assignment operator C <<= 2

is same
as C = C

45
 << 2

>>= Right shift AND assignment operator C >>= 2

is same
as C = C
>> 2

&= Concatenates a String expression to a String variable or property and assigns the
Str1 &=
result to the variable or property.
Str2 is
same as
Str1 =
Str1 &
Str2

Example
Try the following example to understand all the assignment operators available in
VB.Net −
Module assignment
Sub Main()
Dim a As Integer = 21
Dim pow As Integer = 2
Dim str1 As String = "Hello! "
Dim str2 As String = "VB Programmers"
Dim c As Integer
c = a
Console.WriteLine("Line 1 - = Operator Example, _
Value of c = {0}", c)
c += a
Console.WriteLine("Line 2 - += Operator Example, _
Value of c = {0}", c)
c -= a
Console.WriteLine("Line 3 - -= Operator Example, _
Value of c = {0}", c)
c *= a
Console.WriteLine("Line 4 - *= Operator Example, _
Value of c = {0}", c)
c /= a
Console.WriteLine("Line 5 - /= Operator Example, _
Value of c = {0}", c)
c = 20
c ^= pow
Console.WriteLine("Line 6 - ^= Operator Example, _
Value of c = {0}", c)

46
 c <<= 2
Console.WriteLine("Line 7 - <<= Operator Example,_
Value of c = {0}", c)
c >>= 2
Console.WriteLine("Line 8 - >>= Operator Example,_
Value of c = {0}", c)
str1 &= str2
Console.WriteLine("Line 9 - &= Operator Example,_
Value of str1 = {0}", str1)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Line 1 - = Operator Example, Value of c = 21
Line 2 - += Operator Example, Value of c = 42
Line 3 - -= Operator Example, Value of c = 21
Line 4 - *= Operator Example, Value of c = 441
Line 5 - /= Operator Example, Value of c = 21
Line 6 - ^= Operator Example, Value of c = 400
Line 7 - <<= Operator Example, Value of c = 1600
Line 8 - >>= Operator Example, Value of c = 400
Line 9 - &= Operator Example, Value of str1 = Hello! VB Programmers
Operato Description Example
r

= Simple assignment operator, Assigns values from right side operands to left side C=A+B
operand will assign
value of A
+ B into C

+= Add AND assignment operator, It adds right operand to the left operand and C += A is
assigns the result to left operand equivalent
to C = C +
A

-= Subtract AND assignment operator, It subtracts right operand from the left operand C -= A is
and assigns the result to left operand equivalent
to C = C -
A

*= Multiply AND assignment operator, It multiplies right operand with the left operand C *= A is
and assigns the result to left operand equivalent
to C = C *
A

/= Divide AND assignment operator, It divides left operand with the right operand and C /= A is
equivalent

47
 assigns the result to left operand (floating point division) to C = C /
A

\= Divide AND assignment operator, It divides left operand with the right operand and C \= A is
assigns the result to left operand (Integer division) equivalent
to C =
C \A

^= Exponentiation and assignment operator. It raises the left operand to the power of C^=A is
the right operand and assigns the result to left operand. equivalent
to C = C ^
A

<<= Left shift AND assignment operator C <<= 2

is same
as C = C
<< 2

>>= Right shift AND assignment operator C >>= 2

is same
as C = C
>> 2

&= Concatenates a String expression to a String variable or property and assigns the
result to the variable or property.
Str1 &=
Str2 is
same as
Str1 =
Str1 &
Str2

Miscellaneous Operators
There are few other important operators supported by VB.Net.

VB.Net - Miscellaneous Operators

 Previous Page
Next Page  

There are few other important operators supported by VB.Net.

Operator Description Example

48
AddressOf Returns the address of a procedure. AddHandler Button1.Click,
AddressOf Button1_Click

Await It is applied to an operand in an

asynchronous method or lambda Dim result As res
expression to suspend execution of the = Await
method until the awaited task AsyncMethodThatReturnsResult()
completes. Await AsyncMethod()

GetType It returns a Type object for the specified MsgBox(GetType(Integer).ToString())

type. The Type object provides
information about the type such as its
properties, methods, and events.

Function It declares the parameters and code Dim add5 = Function(num As

Expression that define a function lambda Integer) num + 5
expression. 'prints 10
Console.WriteLine(add5(5))

If It uses short-circuit evaluation to Dim num = 5

conditionally return one of two values. Console.WriteLine(If(num >= 0,
The If operator can be called with three "Positive", "Negative"))
arguments or with two arguments.

Example
The following example demonstrates some of these operators −
Module assignment
Sub Main()
Dim a As Integer = 21
Console.WriteLine(GetType(Integer).ToString())
Console.WriteLine(GetType(Double).ToString())
Console.WriteLine(GetType(String).ToString())

Dim multiplywith5 = Function(num As Integer) num * 5

Console.WriteLine(multiplywith5(5))
Console.WriteLine(If(a >= 0, "Positive", "Negative"))
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
System.Int32
System.Double
System.String

49
25
Positive
Operator Description Example

AddressOf Returns the address of a procedure. AddHandler Button1.Click,

AddressOf Button1_Click
Await It is applied to an operand in an
asynchronous method or lambda Dim result As res
expression to suspend execution of the = Await
method until the awaited task completes. AsyncMethodThatReturnsResult()
Await AsyncMethod()
GetType It returns a Type object for the specified MsgBox(GetType(Integer).ToString())
type. The Type object provides
information about the type such as its
properties, methods, and events.
Function It declares the parameters and code that Dim add5 = Function(num As
Expression define a function lambda expression. Integer) num + 5
'prints 10
Console.WriteLine(add5(5))
If It uses short-circuit evaluation to Dim num = 5
conditionally return one of two values. Console.WriteLine(If(num >= 0,
The If operator can be called with three "Positive", "Negative"))
arguments or with two arguments.
Operators Precedence in VB.Net
Operator precedence determines the grouping of terms in an expression. This affects
how an expression is evaluated. Certain operators have higher precedence than
others; for example, the multiplication operator has higher precedence than the
addition operator −
For example, x = 7 + 3 * 2; here, x is assigned 13, not 20 because operator * has
higher precedence than +, so it first gets multiplied with 3*2 and then adds into 7.
Here, operators with the highest precedence appear at the top of the table, those with
the lowest appear at the bottom. Within an expression, higher precedence operators
will be evaluated first.

VB.Net - Operators Precedence

 Previous Page
Next Page  

Operator precedence determines the grouping of terms in an expression. This affects

how an expression is evaluated. Certain operators have higher precedence than

50
others; for example, the multiplication operator has higher precedence than the
addition operator −
For example, x = 7 + 3 * 2; here, x is assigned 13, not 20 because operator * has
higher precedence than +, so it first get multiplied with 3*2 and then adds into 7.
Here, operators with the highest precedence appear at the top of the table, those with
the lowest appear at the bottom. Within an expression, higher precedence operators
will be evaluated first.

Operator Precedence

Await Highest

Exponentiation (^)

Unary identity and negation (+, -)

Multiplication and floating-point division (*, /)

Integer division (\)

Modulus arithmetic (Mod)

Addition and subtraction (+, -)

Arithmetic bit shift (<<, >>)

All comparison operators (=, <>, <, <=, >, >=, Is, IsNot, Like,
TypeOf...Is)

Negation (Not)

Conjunction (And, AndAlso)

51
 Inclusive disjunction (Or, OrElse)

Exclusive disjunction (Xor) Lowest

Example
The following example demonstrates operator precedence in a simple way −
Live Demo

Module assignment
Sub Main()
Dim a As Integer = 20
Dim b As Integer = 10
Dim c As Integer = 15
Dim d As Integer = 5
Dim e As Integer
e = (a + b) * c / d ' ( 30 * 15 ) / 5

Console.WriteLine("Value of (a + b) * c / d is : {0}", e)
e = ((a + b) * c) / d ' (30 * 15 ) / 5

Console.WriteLine("Value of ((a + b) * c) / d is : {0}", e)

e = (a + b) * (c / d) ' (30) * (15/5)

Console.WriteLine("Value of (a + b) * (c / d) is : {0}", e)
e = a + (b * c) / d ' 20 + (150/5)

Console.WriteLine("Value of a + (b * c) / d is : {0}", e)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Value of (a + b) * c / d is : 90
Value of ((a + b) * c) / d is : 90
Value of (a + b) * (c / d) is : 90
Value of a + (b * c) / d is : 50
Operator Precedence

Await Highest

Exponentiation (^)

Unary identity and negation (+, -)

52
Multiplication and floating-point division (*, /)

Integer division (\)

Modulus arithmetic (Mod)

Addition and subtraction (+, -)

Arithmetic bit shift (<<, >>)

All comparison operators (=, <>, <, <=, >, >=, Is, IsNot, Like,
TypeOf...Is)

Negation (Not)

Conjunction (And, AndAlso)

Inclusive disjunction (Or, OrElse)

Exclusive disjunction (Xor) Lowest

VB.Net - Decision Making

Decision making structures require that the programmer specify one or more conditions
to be evaluated or tested by the program, along with a statement or statements to be
executed if the condition is determined to be true, and optionally, other statements to
be executed if the condition is determined to be false.
Following is the general form of a typical decision making structure found in most of the
programming languages −

53
 VB.Net provides the following types of decision making statements. Click the following
links to check their details.
Statement Description

VB.Net - If...Then Statement An If...Then

statement consists of
a boolean expression
It is the simplest form of control statement, frequently used in decision followed by one or
making and changing the control flow of the program execution. Syntax more statements.
for if-then statement is −
If condition Then
[Statement(s)]
End If
Where, condition is a Boolean or relational condition and Statement(s) is
a simple or compound statement. Example of an If-Then statement is −
If (a <= 20) Then
c= c+1
End If

If the condition evaluates to true, then the block of code inside the If
statement will be executed. If condition evaluates to false, then the first
set of code after the end of the If statement (after the closing End If) will
be executed.

Flow Diagram
54
Example
Live Demo
Module decisions
Sub Main()
'local variable definition
Dim a As Integer = 10

' check the boolean condition using if statement

If (a < 20) Then
' if condition is true then print the following
Console.WriteLine("a is less than 20")
End If
Console.WriteLine("value of a is : {0}", a)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
a is less than 20
value of a is : 10

VB.Net - If...Then...Else Statement An If...Then

statement can be
followed by an
An If statement can be followed by an optional Else statement, which optional Else
executes when the Boolean expression is false. statement, which
executes when the
Syntax boolean expression is

55
The syntax of an If...Then... Else statement in VB.Net is as follows − false.
If(boolean_expression)Then
'statement(s) will execute if the Boolean expression
is true
Else
'statement(s) will execute if the Boolean expression
is false
End If

If the Boolean expression evaluates to true, then the if block of code will
be executed, otherwise else block of code will be executed.

Flow Diagram

Example
Live Demo
Module decisions
Sub Main()
'local variable definition '
Dim a As Integer = 100

' check the boolean condition using if statement

If (a < 20) Then
' if condition is true then print the
following
Console.WriteLine("a is less than 20")
Else
' if condition is false then print the
following

56
 Console.WriteLine("a is not less than 20")
End If
Console.WriteLine("value of a is : {0}", a)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
a is not less than 20
value of a is : 100
The If...Else If...Else Statement
An If statement can be followed by an optional Else if...Else statement,
which is very useful to test various conditions using single If...Else If
statement.
When using If... Else If... Else statements, there are few points to keep
in mind.
 An If can have zero or one Else's and it must come after an Else
If's.
 An If can have zero to many Else If's and they must come before
the Else.
 Once an Else if succeeds, none of the remaining Else If's or
Else's will be tested.

Syntax
The syntax of an if...else if...else statement in VB.Net is as follows −
If(boolean_expression 1)Then
' Executes when the boolean expression 1 is true
ElseIf( boolean_expression 2)Then
' Executes when the boolean expression 2 is true
ElseIf( boolean_expression 3)Then
' Executes when the boolean expression 3 is true
Else
' executes when the none of the above condition is
true
End If
Example
Live Demo
Module decisions
Sub Main()
'local variable definition '
Dim a As Integer = 100

57
 ' check the boolean condition '
If (a = 10) Then
' if condition is true then print the
following '
Console.WriteLine("Value of a is 10") '
ElseIf (a = 20) Then
'if else if condition is true '
Console.WriteLine("Value of a is 20") '
ElseIf (a = 30) Then
'if else if condition is true
Console.WriteLine("Value of a is 30")
Else
'if none of the conditions is true
Console.WriteLine("None of the values is
matching")
End If
Console.WriteLine("Exact value of a is: {0}", a)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
None of the values is matching
Exact value of a is: 100

You can use

VB.Net - Nested If Statements one If or Else
if statement inside
another If or Else
if statement(s).
 Previous Page
Next Page  
It is always legal in VB.Net to nest If-Then-Else statements, which
means you can use one If or ElseIf statement inside another If ElseIf
statement(s).

Syntax
The syntax for a nested If statement is as follows −
If( boolean_expression 1)Then
'Executes when the boolean expression 1 is true
If(boolean_expression 2)Then
'Executes when the boolean expression 2 is true
End If
End If

58
You can nest ElseIf...Else in the similar way as you have nested If
statement.

Example
Live Demo
Module decisions
Sub Main()
'local variable definition
Dim a As Integer = 100
Dim b As Integer = 200
' check the boolean condition

If (a = 100) Then
' if condition is true then check the following
If (b = 200) Then
' if condition is true then print the
following
Console.WriteLine("Value of a is 100 and b
is 200")
End If
End If
Console.WriteLine("Exact value of a is : {0}", a)
Console.WriteLine("Exact value of b is : {0}", b)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
Value of a is 100 and b is 200
Exact value of a is : 100
Exact value of b is : 200

VB.Net - Select Case Statement A Select

Case statement
allows a variable to be
tested for equality
against a list of
 Previous Page
values.
Next Page  
A Select Case statement allows a variable to be tested for equality
against a list of values. Each value is called a case, and the variable
being switched on is checked for each select case.

Syntax
The syntax for a Select Case statement in VB.Net is as follows −

59
Select [ Case ] expression
[ Case expressionlist
[ statements ] ]
[ Case Else
[ elsestatements ] ]
End Select
Where,
 expression − is an expression that must evaluate to any of the
elementary data type in VB.Net, i.e., Boolean, Byte, Char, Date,
Double, Decimal, Integer, Long, Object, SByte, Short, Single,
String, UInteger, ULong, and UShort.
 expressionlist − List of expression clauses representing match
values for expression. Multiple expression clauses are separated
by commas.
 statements − statements following Case that run if the select
expression matches any clause in expressionlist.
 elsestatements − statements following Case Else that run if the
select expression does not match any clause in
the expressionlist of any of the Case statements.

Flow Diagram

Example
60
 Live Demo
Module decisions
Sub Main()
'local variable definition
Dim grade As Char
grade = "B"
Select grade
Case "A"
Console.WriteLine("Excellent!")
Case "B", "C"
Console.WriteLine("Well done")
Case "D"
Console.WriteLine("You passed")
Case "F"
Console.WriteLine("Better try again")
Case Else
Console.WriteLine("Invalid grade")
End Select
Console.WriteLine("Your grade is {0}", grade)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
Well done
Your grade is B

VB.Net - Nested Select Case Statement You can use

one select
case statement inside
another select
case statement(s).
 Previous Page
Next Page  
It is possible to have a select statement as part of the statement
sequence of an outer select statement. Even if the case constants of the
inner and outer select contain common values, no conflicts will arise.

Example
Live Demo
Module decisions
Sub Main()
'local variable definition
Dim a As Integer = 100
Dim b As Integer = 200
Select a

61
 Case 100
Console.WriteLine("This is part of outer
case ")
Select Case b
Case 200
Console.WriteLine("This is part of
inner case ")
End Select
End Select
Console.WriteLine("Exact value of a is : {0}", a)
Console.WriteLine("Exact value of b is : {0}", b)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
This is part of outer case
This is part of inner case
Exact value of a is : 100
Exact value of b is : 200

VB.Net - Loops
There may be a situation when you need to execute a block of code several number of
times. In general, statements are executed sequentially: The first statement in a
function is executed first, followed by the second, and so on.
Programming languages provide various control structures that allow for more
complicated execution paths.
A loop statement allows us to execute a statement or group of statements multiple
times and following is the general form of a loop statement in most of the programming
languages −

62
 VB.Net provides following types of loops to handle looping requirements. Click the
following links to check their details.
Loop Type Description

VB.Net - Do Loop It repeats the

enclosed block of
statements while a
Boolean condition is
True or until the
It repeats the enclosed block of statements while a Boolean condition is condition becomes
True or until the condition becomes True. It could be terminated at any True. It could be
time with the Exit Do statement. terminated at any time
The syntax for this loop construct is − with the Exit Do
statement.
Do { While | Until } condition
[ statements ]
[ Continue Do ]
[ statements ]
[ Exit Do ]
[ statements ]
Loop
-or-
Do
[ statements ]
[ Continue Do ]
[ statements ]
[ Exit Do ]

63
 [ statements ]
Loop { While | Until } condition
Flow Diagram

Example
Module loops
Sub Main()
' local variable definition
Dim a As Integer = 10
'do loop execution
Do
Console.WriteLine("value of a: {0}", a)
a = a + 1
Loop While (a < 20)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
value of a: 10
value of a: 11
value of a: 12
value of a: 13
value of a: 14
value of a: 15
value of a: 16
value of a: 17
value of a: 18

64
value of a: 19
The program would behave in same way, if you use an Until statement,
instead of While −
Module loops
Sub Main()
' local variable definition
Dim a As Integer = 10
'do loop execution

Do
Console.WriteLine("value of a: {0}", a)
a = a + 1
Loop Until (a = 20)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
value of a: 10
value of a: 11
value of a: 12
value of a: 13
value of a: 14
value of a: 15
value of a: 16
value of a: 17
value of a: 18
value of a: 19

VB.Net - For...Next Loop It repeats a group of

statements a specified
number of times and a
loop index counts the
number of loop
It repeats a group of statements a specified number of times and a loop iterations as the loop
index counts the number of loop iterations as the loop executes. executes.
The syntax for this loop construct is −
For counter [ As datatype ] = start To end [ Step step ]
[ statements ]
[ Continue For ]
[ statements ]
[ Exit For ]
[ statements ]
Next [ counter ]
Flow Diagram
65
Example
Module loops
Sub Main()
Dim a As Byte
' for loop execution
For a = 10 To 20
Console.WriteLine("value of a: {0}", a)
Next
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
value of a: 10
value of a: 11
value of a: 12
value of a: 13
value of a: 14

66
value of a: 15
value of a: 16
value of a: 17
value of a: 18
value of a: 19
value of a: 20
If you want to use a step size of 2, for example, you need to display only
even numbers, between 10 and 20 −
Module loops
Sub Main()
Dim a As Byte
' for loop execution
For a = 10 To 20 Step 2
Console.WriteLine("value of a: {0}", a)
Next
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
value of a: 10
value of a: 12
value of a: 14
value of a: 16
value of a: 18
value of a: 20
It repeats a group of
VB.Net - Each...Next Loop statements for each
element in a collection.
This loop is used for
accessing and
manipulating all elements
It repeats a group of statements for each element in a collection. This in an array or a VB.Net
loop is used for accessing and manipulating all elements in an array or a collection.
VB.Net collection.
The syntax for this loop construct is −
For Each element [ As datatype ] In group
[ statements ]
[ Continue For ]
[ statements ]
[ Exit For ]
[ statements ]
Next [ element ]
Example
Live Demo

67
Module loops
Sub Main()
Dim anArray() As Integer = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9}
Dim arrayItem As Integer
'displaying the values

For Each arrayItem In anArray

Console.WriteLine(arrayItem)
Next
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
1
3
5
7
9

VB.Net - While... End While Loop It executes a series of

statements as long as
a given condition is
It executes a series of statements as long as a given condition is True. True.
The syntax for this loop construct is −
While condition
[ statements ]
[ Continue While ]
[ statements ]
[ Exit While ]
[ statements ]
End While
Here, statement(s) may be a single statement or a block of statements.
The condition may be any expression, and true is logical true. The loop
iterates while the condition is true.
When the condition becomes false, program control passes to the line
immediately following the loop.

Flow Diagram

68
Here, key point of the While loop is that the loop might not ever run.
When the condition is tested and the result is false, the loop body will be
skipped and the first statement after the while loop will be executed.

Example
Module loops
Sub Main()
Dim a As Integer = 10
' while loop execution '

While a < 20
Console.WriteLine("value of a: {0}", a)
a = a + 1
End While
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
value of a: 10
value of a: 11
value of a: 12
value of a: 13
value of a: 14

69
value of a: 15
value of a: 16
value of a: 17
value of a: 18
value of a: 19

VB.Net - With... End With Statement It is not exactly a

looping construct. It
executes a series of
It is not exactly a looping construct. It executes a series of statements statements that
that repeatedly refers to a single object or structure. repeatedly refer to a
single object or
The syntax for this loop construct is − structure.
With object
[ statements ]
End With
Example
Module loops
Public Class Book
Public Property Name As String
Public Property Author As String
Public Property Subject As String
End Class
Sub Main()
Dim aBook As New Book
With aBook
.Name = "VB.Net Programming"
.Author = "Zara Ali"
.Subject = "Information Technology"
End With
With aBook
Console.WriteLine(.Name)
Console.WriteLine(.Author)
Console.WriteLine(.Subject)
End With
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
VB.Net Programming
Zara Ali
Information Technology

VB.Net - Nested Loops You can use one or

more loops inside any
another While, For or

70
VB.Net allows using one loop inside another loop. Following section Do loop.
shows few examples to illustrate the concept.

Syntax
The syntax for a nested For loop statement in VB.Net is as follows −
For counter1 [ As datatype1 ] = start1 To end1 [ Step
step1 ]
For counter2 [ As datatype2 ] = start2 To end2 [ Step
step2 ]
...
Next [ counter2 ]
Next [ counter 1]
The syntax for a nested While loop statement in VB.Net is as follows −
While condition1
While condition2
...
End While
End While
The syntax for a nested Do...While loop statement in VB.Net is as
follows −
Do { While | Until } condition1
Do { While | Until } condition2
...
Loop
Loop
A final note on loop nesting is that you can put any type of loop inside of
any other type of loop. For example, a for loop can be inside a while
loop or vice versa.

Example
The following program uses a nested for loop to find the prime numbers
from 2 to 100 −
Live Demo
Module loops
Sub Main()
' local variable definition
Dim i, j As Integer
For i = 2 To 100
For j = 2 To i
' if factor found, not prime
If ((i Mod j) = 0) Then
Exit For
End If

71
 Next j
If (j > (i \ j)) Then
Console.WriteLine("{0} is prime", i)
End If
Next i
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
2 is prime
3 is prime
5 is prime
7 is prime
11 is prime
13 is prime
17 is prime
19 is prime
23 is prime
29 is prime
31 is prime
37 is prime
41 is prime
43 is prime
47 is prime
53 is prime
59 is prime
61 is prime
67 is prime
71 is prime
73 is prime
79 is prime
83 is prime
89 is prime
97 is prime
Loop Control Statements
Loop control statements change execution from its normal sequence. When execution
leaves a scope, all automatic objects that were created in that scope are destroyed.
VB.Net provides the following control statements. Click the following links to check their
details.
Control Statement Description

VB.Net - Exit Statement Terminates

the loop or selec

72
 t case statement
The Exit statement transfers the control from a procedure or block and transfers
immediately to the statement following the procedure call or the block execution to the
definition. It terminates the loop, procedure, try block or the select block from statement
where it is called. immediately
following the loop
If you are using nested loops (i.e., one loop inside another loop), the Exit or select case.
statement will stop the execution of the innermost loop and start executing
the next line of code after the block.

Syntax
The syntax for the Exit statement is −
Exit { Do | For | Function | Property | Select | Sub | Try
| While }
Flow Diagram

Example
Live Demo
Module loops
Sub Main()
' local variable definition
Dim a As Integer = 10
' while loop execution '

While (a < 20)

Console.WriteLine("value of a: {0}", a)
a = a + 1

73
 If (a > 15) Then
'terminate the loop using exit statement
Exit While
End If
End While
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following
result −
value of a: 10
value of a: 11
value of a: 12
value of a: 13
value of a: 14
value of a: 15

VB.Net - Continue Statement Causes the loop

to skip the
remainder of its
The Continue statement causes the loop to skip the remainder of its body body and
and immediately retest its condition prior to reiterating. It works somewhat immediately
like the Exit statement. Instead of forcing termination, it forces the next retest its condition
iteration of the loop to take place, skipping any code in between. prior to
reiterating.
For the For...Next loop, Continue statement causes the conditional test and
increment portions of the loop to execute. For the While and Do...While
loops, continue statement causes the program control to pass to the
conditional tests.

Syntax
The syntax for a Continue statement is as follows −
Continue { Do | For | While }
Flow Diagram

74
Example
Module loops
Sub Main()
' local variable definition
Dim a As Integer = 10
Do
If (a = 15) Then
' skip the iteration '
a = a + 1
Continue Do
End If
Console.WriteLine("value of a: {0}", a)
a = a + 1
Loop While (a < 20)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following
result −
value of a: 10
value of a: 11
value of a: 12
value of a: 13
value of a: 14
value of a: 16
value of a: 17
value of a: 18
value of a: 19

75
 VB.Net - GoTo Statement Transfers control
to the labeled
statement.
The GoTo statement transfers control unconditionally to a specified line in a Though it is not
procedure. advised to use
GoTo statement
The syntax for the GoTo statement is − in your program.
GoTo label
Flow Diagram

Example
Module loops
Sub Main()
' local variable definition
Dim a As Integer = 10
Line1:
Do
If (a = 15) Then
' skip the iteration '
a = a + 1
GoTo Line1
End If
Console.WriteLine("value of a: {0}", a)
a = a + 1
Loop While (a < 20)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following

76
result −
value of a: 10
value of a: 11
value of a: 12
value of a: 13
value of a: 14
value of a: 16
value of a: 17
value of a: 18
value of a: 19

VB.Net - Strings

 Previous Page
Next Page  

In VB.Net, you can use strings as array of characters, however, more common practice
is to use the String keyword to declare a string variable. The string keyword is an alias
for the System.String class.

Creating a String Object

You can create string object using one of the following methods −
 By assigning a string literal to a String variable
 By using a String class constructor
 By using the string concatenation operator (+)
 By retrieving a property or calling a method that returns a string
 By calling a formatting method to convert a value or object to its string
representation
The following example demonstrates this −
Live Demo

Module strings
Sub Main()
Dim fname, lname, fullname, greetings As String
fname = "Rowan"
lname = "Atkinson"
fullname = fname + " " + lname
Console.WriteLine("Full Name: {0}", fullname)

'by using string constructor

77
 Dim letters As Char() = {"H", "e", "l", "l", "o"}
greetings = New String(letters)
Console.WriteLine("Greetings: {0}", greetings)

'methods returning String

Dim sarray() As String = {"Hello", "From", "Tutorials",
"Point"}
Dim message As String = String.Join(" ", sarray)
Console.WriteLine("Message: {0}", message)

'formatting method to convert a value

Dim waiting As DateTime = New DateTime(2012, 12, 12, 17, 58,
1)
Dim chat As String = String.Format("Message sent at {0:t} on
{0:D}", waiting)
Console.WriteLine("Message: {0}", chat)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Full Name: Rowan Atkinson
Greetings: Hello
Message: Hello From Tutorials Point
Message: Message sent at 5:58 PM on Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Properties of the String Class
The String class has the following two properties −

Sr.N Property Name & Description

o

1
Chars
Gets the Char object at a specified position in the current String object.

2
Length
Gets the number of characters in the current String object.

Methods of the String Class

The String class has numerous methods that help you in working with the string
objects. The following table provides some of the most commonly used methods −

78
Sr.N Method Name & Description
o

1
Public Shared Function Compare ( strA As String, strB As String ) As Integer
Compares two specified string objects and returns an integer that indicates their relative
position in the sort order.

2
Public Shared Function Compare ( strA As String, strB As String, ignoreCase As
Boolean ) As Integer
Compares two specified string objects and returns an integer that indicates their relative
position in the sort order. However, it ignores case if the Boolean parameter is true.

3
Public Shared Function Concat ( str0 As String, str1 As String ) As String
Concatenates two string objects.

4
Public Shared Function Concat ( str0 As String, str1 As String, str2 As String ) As
String
Concatenates three string objects.

5
Public Shared Function Concat (str0 As String, str1 As String, str2 As String, str3
As String ) As String
Concatenates four string objects.

6
Public Function Contains ( value As String ) As Boolean
Returns a value indicating whether the specified string object occurs within this string.

7
Public Shared Function Copy ( str As String ) As String
Creates a new String object with the same value as the specified string.

8
pPublic Sub CopyTo ( sourceIndex As Integer, destination As Char(),
destinationIndex As Integer, count As Integer )
Copies a specified number of characters from a specified position of the string object to a
specified position in an array of Unicode characters.

79
9
Public Function EndsWith ( value As String ) As Boolean
Determines whether the end of the string object matches the specified string.

10
Public Function Equals ( value As String ) As Boolean
Determines whether the current string object and the specified string object have the
same value.

11
Public Shared Function Equals ( a As String, b As String ) As Boolean
Determines whether two specified string objects have the same value.

12
Public Shared Function Format ( format As String, arg0 As Object ) As String
Replaces one or more format items in a specified string with the string representation of a
specified object.

13
Public Function IndexOf ( value As Char ) As Integer
Returns the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified Unicode character in
the current string.

14
Public Function IndexOf ( value As String ) As Integer
Returns the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified string in this
instance.

15
Public Function IndexOf ( value As Char, startIndex As Integer ) As Integer
Returns the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified Unicode character in
this string, starting search at the specified character position.

16
Public Function IndexOf ( value As String, startIndex As Integer ) As Integer
Returns the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified string in this
instance, starting search at the specified character position.

17
Public Function IndexOfAny ( anyOf As Char() ) As Integer
Returns the zero-based index of the first occurrence in this instance of any character in a
specified array of Unicode characters.

80
18
Public Function IndexOfAny ( anyOf As Char(), startIndex As Integer ) As Integer
Returns the zero-based index of the first occurrence in this instance of any character in a
specified array of Unicode characters, starting search at the specified character position.

19
Public Function Insert ( startIndex As Integer, value As String ) As String
Returns a new string in which a specified string is inserted at a specified index position in
the current string object.

20
Public Shared Function IsNullOrEmpty ( value As String ) As Boolean
Indicates whether the specified string is null or an Empty string.

21
Public Shared Function Join ( separator As String, ParamArray value As String() )
As String
Concatenates all the elements of a string array, using the specified separator between
each element.

22
Public Shared Function Join ( separator As String, value As String(), startIndex As
Integer, count As Integer ) As String
Concatenates the specified elements of a string array, using the specified separator
between each element.

23
Public Function LastIndexOf ( value As Char ) As Integer
Returns the zero-based index position of the last occurrence of the specified Unicode
character within the current string object.

24
Public Function LastIndexOf ( value As String ) As Integer
Returns the zero-based index position of the last occurrence of a specified string within
the current string object.

25
Public Function Remove ( startIndex As Integer ) As String
Removes all the characters in the current instance, beginning at a specified position and
continuing through the last position, and returns the string.

26
Public Function Remove ( startIndex As Integer, count As Integer ) As String

81
 Removes the specified number of characters in the current string beginning at a specified
position and returns the string.

27
Public Function Replace ( oldChar As Char, newChar As Char ) As String
Replaces all occurrences of a specified Unicode character in the current string object with
the specified Unicode character and returns the new string.

28
Public Function Replace ( oldValue As String, newValue As String ) As String
Replaces all occurrences of a specified string in the current string object with the specified
string and returns the new string.

29
Public Function Split ( ParamArray separator As Char() ) As String()
Returns a string array that contains the substrings in the current string object, delimited by
elements of a specified Unicode character array.

30
Public Function Split ( separator As Char(), count As Integer ) As String()
Returns a string array that contains the substrings in the current string object, delimited by
elements of a specified Unicode character array. The int parameter specifies the
maximum number of substrings to return.

31
Public Function StartsWith ( value As String ) As Boolean
Determines whether the beginning of this string instance matches the specified string.

32
Public Function ToCharArray As Char()
Returns a Unicode character array with all the characters in the current string object.

33
Public Function ToCharArray ( startIndex As Integer, length As Integer ) As Char()
Returns a Unicode character array with all the characters in the current string object,
starting from the specified index and up to the specified length.

34
Public Function ToLower As String
Returns a copy of this string converted to lowercase.

82
35
Public Function ToUpper As String
Returns a copy of this string converted to uppercase.

36
Public Function Trim As String
Removes all leading and trailing white-space characters from the current String object.

The above list of methods is not exhaustive, please visit MSDN library for the complete
list of methods and String class constructors.

Examples
The following example demonstrates some of the methods mentioned above −
Comparing Strings
Live Demo

Module strings
Sub Main()
Dim str1, str2 As String
str1 = "This is test"
str2 = "This is text"

If (String.Compare(str1, str2) = 0) Then

Console.WriteLine(str1 + " and " + str2 + " are equal.")
Else
Console.WriteLine(str1 + " and " + str2 + " are not
equal.")
End If
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
This is test and This is text are not equal.
String Contains String
Live Demo

Module strings
Sub Main()
Dim str1 As String
str1 = "This is test"

If (str1.Contains("test")) Then
Console.WriteLine("The sequence 'test' was found.")

83
 End If
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
The sequence 'test' was found.
Getting a Substring:
Live Demo

Module strings
Sub Main()
Dim str As String
str = "Last night I dreamt of San Pedro"
Console.WriteLine(str)

Dim substr As String = str.Substring(23)

Console.WriteLine(substr)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Last night I dreamt of San Pedro
San Pedro.
Joining Strings
Live Demo

Module strings
Sub Main()
Dim strarray As String() = {
"Down the way where the nights are gay",
"And the sun shines daily on the mountain top",
"I took a trip on a sailing ship",
"And when I reached Jamaica",
"I made a stop"
}
Dim str As String = String.Join(vbCrLf, strarray)
Console.WriteLine(str)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Down the way where the nights are gay
And the sun shines daily on the mountain top

84
I took a trip on a sailing ship
And when I reached Jamaica
I made a stop

VB.Net - Date & Time

 Previous Page
Next Page  

Most of the softwares you write need implementing some form of date functions
returning current date and time. Dates are so much part of everyday life that it
becomes easy to work with them without thinking. VB.Net also provides powerful tools
for date arithmetic that makes manipulating dates easy.
The Date data type contains date values, time values, or date and time values. The
default value of Date is 0:00:00 (midnight) on January 1, 0001. The equivalent .NET
data type is System.DateTime.
The DateTime structure represents an instant in time, typically expressed as a date
and time of day
'Declaration
<SerializableAttribute> _
Public Structure DateTime _
Implements IComparable, IFormattable, IConvertible,
ISerializable,
IComparable(Of DateTime), IEquatable(Of DateTime)
You can also get the current date and time from the DateAndTime class.
The DateAndTime module contains the procedures and properties used in date and
time operations.
'Declaration
<StandardModuleAttribute> _
Public NotInheritable Class DateAndTime

Note:
Both the DateTime structure and the DateAndTime module contain properties
like Now and Today, so often beginners find it confusing. The DateAndTime class belongs to the
Microsoft.VisualBasic namespace and the DateTime structure belongs to the System namespace.
Therefore, using the later would help you in porting your code to another .Net language like C#.
However, the DateAndTime class/module contains all the legacy date functions available in Visual
Basic.

85
Properties and Methods of the DateTime Structure
The following table lists some of the commonly used properties of
the DateTime Structure −

Sr.N Property Description

o

1 Date Gets the date component of this instance.

2 Day Gets the day of the month represented by this instance.

3 DayOfWeek Gets the day of the week represented by this instance.

4 DayOfYear Gets the day of the year represented by this instance.

5 Hour Gets the hour component of the date represented by this instance.

6 Kind Gets a value that indicates whether the time represented by this instance
is based on local time, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), or neither.

7 Millisecond Gets the milliseconds component of the date represented by this instance.

8 Minute Gets the minute component of the date represented by this instance.

9 Month Gets the month component of the date represented by this instance.

10 Now Gets a DateTime object that is set to the current date and time on this
computer, expressed as the local time.

11 Second Gets the seconds component of the date represented by this instance.

12 Ticks Gets the number of ticks that represent the date and time of this instance.

86
13 TimeOfDay Gets the time of day for this instance.

14 Today Gets the current date.

15 UtcNow Gets a DateTime object that is set to the current date and time on this
computer, expressed as the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

16 Year Gets the year component of the date represented by this instance.

The following table lists some of the commonly used methods of

the DateTime structure −

Sr.N Method Name & Description

o

1
Public Function Add (value As TimeSpan) As DateTime
Returns a new DateTime that adds the value of the specified TimeSpan to the value of
this instance.

2
Public Function AddDays ( value As Double) As DateTime
Returns a new DateTime that adds the specified number of days to the value of this
instance.

3
Public Function AddHours (value As Double) As DateTime
Returns a new DateTime that adds the specified number of hours to the value of this
instance.

4
Public Function AddMinutes (value As Double) As DateTime
Returns a new DateTime that adds the specified number of minutes to the value of this
instance.

5
Public Function AddMonths (months As Integer) As DateTime
Returns a new DateTime that adds the specified number of months to the value of this
instance.

87
6
Public Function AddSeconds (value As Double) As DateTime
Returns a new DateTime that adds the specified number of seconds to the value of this
instance.

7
Public Function AddYears (value As Integer ) As DateTime
Returns a new DateTime that adds the specified number of years to the value of this
instance.

8
Public Shared Function Compare (t1 As DateTime,t2 As DateTime) As Integer
Compares two instances of DateTime and returns an integer that indicates whether the
first instance is earlier than, the same as, or later than the second instance.

9
Public Function CompareTo (value As DateTime) As Integer
Compares the value of this instance to a specified DateTime value and returns an integer
that indicates whether this instance is earlier than, the same as, or later than the specified
DateTime value.

10
Public Function Equals (value As DateTime) As Boolean
Returns a value indicating whether the value of this instance is equal to the value of the
specified DateTime instance.

11
Public Shared Function Equals (t1 As DateTime, t2 As DateTime) As Boolean
Returns a value indicating whether two DateTime instances have the same date and time
value.

12
Public Overrides Function ToString As String
Converts the value of the current DateTime object to its equivalent string representation.

The above list of methods is not exhaustive, please visit Microsoft documentation for

the complete list of methods and properties of the DateTime structure.

Creating a DateTime Object

You can create a DateTime object in one of the following ways −
 By calling a DateTime constructor from any of the overloaded DateTime
constructors.

88
  By assigning the DateTime object a date and time value returned by a property
or method.
 By parsing the string representation of a date and time value.
 By calling the DateTime structure's implicit default constructor.
The following example demonstrates this −
Live Demo

Module Module1
Sub Main()
'DateTime constructor: parameters year, month, day, hour,
min, sec
Dim date1 As New Date(2012, 12, 16, 12, 0, 0)
'initializes a new DateTime value
Dim date2 As Date = #12/16/2012 12:00:52 AM#
'using properties
Dim date3 As Date = Date.Now
Dim date4 As Date = Date.UtcNow
Dim date5 As Date = Date.Today

Console.WriteLine(date1)
Console.WriteLine(date2)
Console.WriteLine(date3)
Console.WriteLine(date4)
Console.WriteLine(date5)
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code was compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
12/16/2012 12:00:00 PM
12/16/2012 12:00:52 PM
12/12/2012 10:22:50 PM
12/12/2012 12:00:00 PM
Getting the Current Date and Time
The following programs demonstrate how to get the current date and time in VB.Net −
Current Time −
Live Demo

Module dateNtime
Sub Main()
Console.Write("Current Time: ")
Console.WriteLine(Now.ToLongTimeString)
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub

89
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Current Time: 11 :05 :32 AM
Current Date −
Live Demo

Module dateNtime
Sub Main()
Console.WriteLine("Current Date: ")
Dim dt As Date = Today
Console.WriteLine("Today is: {0}", dt)
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Today is: 12/11/2012 12:00:00 AM
Formatting Date
A Date literal should be enclosed within hash signs (# #), and specified in the format
M/d/yyyy, for example #12/16/2012#. Otherwise, your code may change depending on
the locale in which your application is running.
For example, you specified Date literal of #2/6/2012# for the date February 6, 2012. It
is alright for the locale that uses mm/dd/yyyy format. However, in a locale that uses
dd/mm/yyyy format, your literal would compile to June 2, 2012. If a locale uses another
format say, yyyy/mm/dd, the literal would be invalid and cause a compiler error.
To convert a Date literal to the format of your locale or to a custom format, use
the Format function of String class, specifying either a predefined or user-defined date
format.
The following example demonstrates this.
Live Demo

Module dateNtime
Sub Main()
Console.WriteLine("India Wins Freedom: ")
Dim independenceDay As New Date(1947, 8, 15, 0, 0, 0)
' Use format specifiers to control the date display.
Console.WriteLine(" Format 'd:' " &
independenceDay.ToString("d"))
Console.WriteLine(" Format 'D:' " &
independenceDay.ToString("D"))
Console.WriteLine(" Format 't:' " &
independenceDay.ToString("t"))

90
 Console.WriteLine(" Format 'T:' " &
independenceDay.ToString("T"))
Console.WriteLine(" Format 'f:' " &
independenceDay.ToString("f"))
Console.WriteLine(" Format 'F:' " &
independenceDay.ToString("F"))
Console.WriteLine(" Format 'g:' " &
independenceDay.ToString("g"))
Console.WriteLine(" Format 'G:' " &
independenceDay.ToString("G"))
Console.WriteLine(" Format 'M:' " &
independenceDay.ToString("M"))
Console.WriteLine(" Format 'R:' " &
independenceDay.ToString("R"))
Console.WriteLine(" Format 'y:' " &
independenceDay.ToString("y"))
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
India Wins Freedom:
Format 'd:' 8/15/1947
Format 'D:' Friday, August 15, 1947
Format 't:' 12:00 AM
Format 'T:' 12:00:00 AM
Format 'f:' Friday, August 15, 1947 12:00 AM
Format 'F:' Friday, August 15, 1947 12:00:00 AM
Format 'g:' 8/15/1947 12:00 AM
Format 'G:' 8/15/1947 12:00:00 AM
Format 'M:' 8/15/1947 August 15
Format 'R:' Fri, 15 August 1947 00:00:00 GMT
Format 'y:' August, 1947
Predefined Date/Time Formats
The following table identifies the predefined date and time format names. These may
be used by name as the style argument for the Format function −

Format Description

General Date, or G Displays a date and/or time. For example, 1/12/2012 07:07:30 AM.

Long Date,Medium Date, or Displays a date according to your current culture's long date format. For
D example, Sunday, December 16, 2012.

91
Short Date, or d Displays a date using your current culture's short date format. For
example, 12/12/2012.

Long Time,Medium Time, orT Displays a time using your current culture's long time format; typically
includes hours, minutes, seconds. For example, 01:07:30 AM.

Short Time or t Displays a time using your current culture's short time format. For
example, 11:07 AM.

f Displays the long date and short time according to your current culture's
format. For example, Sunday, December 16, 2012 12:15 AM.

F Displays the long date and long time according to your current culture's
format. For example, Sunday, December 16, 2012 12:15:31 AM.

g Displays the short date and short time according to your current culture's
format. For example, 12/16/2012 12:15 AM.

M, m Displays the month and the day of a date. For example, December 16.

R, r Formats the date according to the RFC1123Pattern property.

s Formats the date and time as a sortable index. For example, 2012-12-
16T12:07:31.

u Formats the date and time as a GMT sortable index. For example, 2012-
12-16 12:15:31Z.

U Formats the date and time with the long date and long time as GMT. For
example, Sunday, December 16, 2012 6:07:31 PM.

Y, y Formats the date as the year and month. For example, December, 2012.

For other formats like user-defined formats, please consult Microsoft Documentation.

92
Properties and Methods of the DateAndTime Class
The following table lists some of the commonly used properties of
the DateAndTime Class −

Sr.N Property & Description

o

1
Date
Returns or sets a String value representing the current date according to your system.

2
Now
Returns a Date value containing the current date and time according to your system.

3
TimeOfDay
Returns or sets a Date value containing the current time of day according to your system.

4
Timer
Returns a Double value representing the number of seconds elapsed since midnight.

5
TimeString
Returns or sets a String value representing the current time of day according to your
system.

6
Today
Gets the current date.

The following table lists some of the commonly used methods of

the DateAndTime class −

Sr.N Method Name & Description

o

1
Public Shared Function DateAdd (Interval As DateInterval, Number As Double,
DateValue As DateTime) As DateTime

93
 Returns a Date value containing a date and time value to which a specified time interval
has been added.

2
Public Shared Function DateAdd (Interval As String,Number As Double,DateValue
As Object ) As DateTime
Returns a Date value containing a date and time value to which a specified time interval
has been added.

3
Public Shared Function DateDiff (Interval As DateInterval, Date1 As DateTime,
Date2 As DateTime, DayOfWeek As FirstDayOfWeek, WeekOfYear As
FirstWeekOfYear ) As Long
Returns a Long value specifying the number of time intervals between two Date values.

4
Public Shared Function DatePart (Interval As DateInterval, DateValue As DateTime,
FirstDayOfWeekValue As FirstDayOfWeek, FirstWeekOfYearValue As
FirstWeekOfYear ) As Integer
Returns an Integer value containing the specified component of a given Date value.

5
Public Shared Function Day (DateValue As DateTime) As Integer
Returns an Integer value from 1 through 31 representing the day of the month.

6
Public Shared Function Hour (TimeValue As DateTime) As Integer
Returns an Integer value from 0 through 23 representing the hour of the day.

7
Public Shared Function Minute (TimeValue As DateTime) As Integer
Returns an Integer value from 0 through 59 representing the minute of the hour.

8
Public Shared Function Month (DateValue As DateTime) As Integer
Returns an Integer value from 1 through 12 representing the month of the year.

9
Public Shared Function MonthName (Month As Integer, Abbreviate As Boolean) As
String
Returns a String value containing the name of the specified month.

94
10
Public Shared Function Second (TimeValue As DateTime) As Integer
Returns an Integer value from 0 through 59 representing the second of the minute.

11
Public Overridable Function ToString As String
Returns a string that represents the current object.

12
Public Shared Function Weekday (DateValue As DateTime, DayOfWeek As
FirstDayOfWeek) As Integer
Returns an Integer value containing a number representing the day of the week.

13
Public Shared Function WeekdayName (Weekday As Integer, Abbreviate As
Boolean, FirstDayOfWeekValue As FirstDayOfWeek) As String
Returns a String value containing the name of the specified weekday.

14
Public Shared Function Year (DateValue As DateTime) As Integer
Returns an Integer value from 1 through 9999 representing the year.

The above list is not exhaustive. For complete list of properties and methods of the
DateAndTime class, please consult Microsoft Documentation.
The following program demonstrates some of these and methods −
Live Demo

Module Module1
Sub Main()
Dim birthday As Date
Dim bday As Integer
Dim month As Integer
Dim monthname As String
' Assign a date using standard short format.
birthday = #7/27/1998#
bday = Microsoft.VisualBasic.DateAndTime.Day(birthday)
month = Microsoft.VisualBasic.DateAndTime.Month(birthday)
monthname =
Microsoft.VisualBasic.DateAndTime.MonthName(month)

Console.WriteLine(birthday)
Console.WriteLine(bday)
Console.WriteLine(month)
Console.WriteLine(monthname)

95
 Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
7/27/1998 12:00:00 AM
27
7
July

VB.Net - Arrays

 Previous Page
Next Page  

An array stores a fixed-size sequential collection of elements of the same type. An

array is used to store a collection of data, but it is often more useful to think of an array
as a collection of variables of the same type.
All arrays consist of contiguous memory locations. The lowest address corresponds to
the first element and the highest address to the last element.

Creating Arrays in VB.Net

To declare an array in VB.Net, you use the Dim statement. For example,
Dim intData(30) ' an array of 31 elements
Dim strData(20) As String ' an array of 21 strings
Dim twoDarray(10, 20) As Integer 'a two dimensional array of
integers
Dim ranges(10, 100) 'a two dimensional array
You can also initialize the array elements while declaring the array. For example,
Dim intData() As Integer = {12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32}
Dim names() As String = {"Karthik", "Sandhya", _
"Shivangi", "Ashwitha", "Somnath"}
Dim miscData() As Object = {"Hello World", 12d, 16ui, "A"c}
The elements in an array can be stored and accessed by using the index of the array.
The following program demonstrates this −

96
 Live Demo

Module arrayApl
Sub Main()
Dim n(10) As Integer ' n is an array of 11 integers '
Dim i, j As Integer
' initialize elements of array n '

For i = 0 To 10
n(i) = i + 100 ' set element at location i to i + 100
Next i
' output each array element's value '

For j = 0 To 10
Console.WriteLine("Element({0}) = {1}", j, n(j))
Next j
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Element(0) = 100
Element(1) = 101
Element(2) = 102
Element(3) = 103
Element(4) = 104
Element(5) = 105
Element(6) = 106
Element(7) = 107
Element(8) = 108
Element(9) = 109
Element(10) = 110
Dynamic Arrays
Dynamic arrays are arrays that can be dimensioned and re-dimensioned as par the
need of the program. You can declare a dynamic array using the ReDim statement.
Syntax for ReDim statement −
ReDim [Preserve] arrayname(subscripts)
Where,
 The Preserve keyword helps to preserve the data in an existing array, when you
resize it.
 arrayname is the name of the array to re-dimension.
 subscripts specifies the new dimension.
Module arrayApl

97
 Sub Main()
Dim marks() As Integer
ReDim marks(2)
marks(0) = 85
marks(1) = 75
marks(2) = 90

ReDim Preserve marks(10)

marks(3) = 80
marks(4) = 76
marks(5) = 92
marks(6) = 99
marks(7) = 79
marks(8) = 75

For i = 0 To 10
Console.WriteLine(i & vbTab & marks(i))
Next i
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
0 85
1 75
2 90
3 80
4 76
5 92
6 99
7 79
8 75
9 0
10 0
Multi-Dimensional Arrays
VB.Net allows multidimensional arrays. Multidimensional arrays are also called
rectangular arrays.
You can declare a 2-dimensional array of strings as −
Dim twoDStringArray(10, 20) As String
or, a 3-dimensional array of Integer variables −
Dim threeDIntArray(10, 10, 10) As Integer
The following program demonstrates creating and using a 2-dimensional array −
Live Demo

98
Module arrayApl
Sub Main()
' an array with 5 rows and 2 columns
Dim a(,) As Integer = {{0, 0}, {1, 2}, {2, 4}, {3, 6}, {4,
8}}
Dim i, j As Integer
' output each array element's value '

For i = 0 To 4
For j = 0 To 1
Console.WriteLine("a[{0},{1}] = {2}", i, j, a(i, j))
Next j
Next i
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
a[0,0]: 0
a[0,1]: 0
a[1,0]: 1
a[1,1]: 2
a[2,0]: 2
a[2,1]: 4
a[3,0]: 3
a[3,1]: 6
a[4,0]: 4
a[4,1]: 8
Jagged Array
A Jagged array is an array of arrays. The following code shows declaring a jagged
array named scores of Integers −
Dim scores As Integer()() = New Integer(5)(){}
The following example illustrates using a jagged array −
Live Demo

Module arrayApl
Sub Main()
'a jagged array of 5 array of integers
Dim a As Integer()() = New Integer(4)() {}
a(0) = New Integer() {0, 0}
a(1) = New Integer() {1, 2}
a(2) = New Integer() {2, 4}
a(3) = New Integer() {3, 6}
a(4) = New Integer() {4, 8}
Dim i, j As Integer

99
 ' output each array element's value

For i = 0 To 4
For j = 0 To 1
Console.WriteLine("a[{0},{1}] = {2}", i, j, a(i)(j))
Next j
Next i
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
a[0][0]: 0
a[0][1]: 0
a[1][0]: 1
a[1][1]: 2
a[2][0]: 2
a[2][1]: 4
a[3][0]: 3
a[3][1]: 6
a[4][0]: 4
a[4][1]: 8
The Array Class
The Array class is the base class for all the arrays in VB.Net. It is defined in the System
namespace. The Array class provides various properties and methods to work with
arrays.
Properties of the Array Class
The following table provides some of the most commonly used properties of
the Array class −

Sr.N Property Name & Description

o

1
IsFixedSize
Gets a value indicating whether the Array has a fixed size.

2
IsReadOnly
Gets a value indicating whether the Array is read-only.

3
Length

100
 Gets a 32-bit integer that represents the total number of elements in all the dimensions of
the Array.

4
LongLength
Gets a 64-bit integer that represents the total number of elements in all the dimensions of
the Array.

5
Rank
Gets the rank (number of dimensions) of the Array.

Methods of the Array Class

The following table provides some of the most commonly used methods of
the Array class −

Sr.N Method Name & Description

o

1
Public Shared Sub Clear (array As Array, index As Integer, length As Integer)
Sets a range of elements in the Array to zero, to false, or to null, depending on the
element type.

2
Public Shared Sub Copy (sourceArray As Array, destinationArray As Array, length
As Integer)
Copies a range of elements from an Array starting at the first element and pastes them
into another Array starting at the first element. The length is specified as a 32-bit integer.

3
Public Sub CopyTo (array As Array, index As Integer)
Copies all the elements of the current one-dimensional Array to the specified one-
dimensional Array starting at the specified destination Array index. The index is specified
as a 32-bit integer.

4
Public Function GetLength (dimension As Integer) As Integer
Gets a 32-bit integer that represents the number of elements in the specified dimension of
the Array.

101
5
Public Function GetLongLength (dimension As Integer) As Long
Gets a 64-bit integer that represents the number of elements in the specified dimension of
the Array.

6
Public Function GetLowerBound (dimension As Integer) As Integer
Gets the lower bound of the specified dimension in the Array.

7
Public Function GetType As Type
Gets the Type of the current instance (Inherited from Object).

8
Public Function GetUpperBound (dimension As Integer) As Integer
Gets the upper bound of the specified dimension in the Array.

9
Public Function GetValue (index As Integer) As Object
Gets the value at the specified position in the one-dimensional Array. The index is
specified as a 32-bit integer.

10
Public Shared Function IndexOf (array As Array,value As Object) As Integer
Searches for the specified object and returns the index of the first occurrence within the
entire one-dimensional Array.

11
Public Shared Sub Reverse (array As Array)
Reverses the sequence of the elements in the entire one-dimensional Array.

12
Public Sub SetValue (value As Object, index As Integer)
Sets a value to the element at the specified position in the one-dimensional Array. The
index is specified as a 32-bit integer.

13
Public Shared Sub Sort (array As Array)
Sorts the elements in an entire one-dimensional Array using the IComparable
implementation of each element of the Array.

102
14
Public Overridable Function ToString As String
Returns a string that represents the current object (Inherited from Object).

For complete list of Array class properties and methods, please consult Microsoft
documentation.
Example
The following program demonstrates use of some of the methods of the Array class:
Live Demo

Module arrayApl
Sub Main()
Dim list As Integer() = {34, 72, 13, 44, 25, 30, 10}
Dim temp As Integer() = list
Dim i As Integer
Console.Write("Original Array: ")

For Each i In list

Console.Write("{0} ", i)
Next i
Console.WriteLine()
' reverse the array
Array.Reverse(temp)
Console.Write("Reversed Array: ")

For Each i In temp

Console.Write("{0} ", i)
Next i
Console.WriteLine()
'sort the array
Array.Sort(list)
Console.Write("Sorted Array: ")

For Each i In list

Console.Write("{0} ", i)
Next i
Console.WriteLine()
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Original Array: 34 72 13 44 25 30 10
Reversed Array: 10 30 25 44 13 72 34
Sorted Array: 10 13 25 30 34 44 72

103
 VB.Net - Collections
Collection classes are specialized classes for data storage and retrieval. These classes
provide support for stacks, queues, lists, and hash tables. Most collection classes
implement the same interfaces.
Collection classes serve various purposes, such as allocating memory dynamically to
elements and accessing a list of items on the basis of an index, etc. These classes
create collections of objects of the Object class, which is the base class for all data
types in VB.Net.

Various Collection Classes and Their Usage

The following are the various commonly used classes of
the System.Collection namespace. Click the following links to check their details.
Class Description and
Useage

VB.Net - ArrayList It represents

ordered
collection of an
object that can
be indexed ind
It represents an ordered collection of an object that can be ividually.
indexed individually. It is basically an alternative to an array.
However, unlike array, you can add and remove items from a list It is basically
at a specified position using an index and the array resizes itself an alternative
automatically. It also allows dynamic memory allocation, adding, to an array.
searching and sorting items in the list. However,
unlike array,
Properties and Methods of the ArrayList you can add
and remove
Class items from a
The following table lists some of the commonly used properties of list at a
the ArrayList class − specified
position using
Sr.No Property & Description an index and
. the array
resizes itself
automatically.
1 It also allows
Capacity
dynamic
Gets or sets the number of elements that the ArrayList can contain.
memory
allocation, add,
search and

104
2 sort items in
Count
the list.
Gets the number of elements actually contained in the ArrayList.

3
IsFixedSize
Gets a value indicating whether the ArrayList has a fixed size.

4
IsReadOnly
Gets a value indicating whether the ArrayList is read-only.

5
Item
Gets or sets the element at the specified index.

The following table lists some of the commonly used methods of

the ArrayList class −

Sr.No Method Name & Purpose

.

1
Public Overridable Function Add (value As Object) As Integer
Adds an object to the end of the ArrayList.

2
Public Overridable Sub AddRange (c As ICollection)
Adds the elements of an ICollection to the end of the ArrayList.

3
Public Overridable Sub Clear
Removes all elements from the ArrayList.

4
Public Overridable Function Contains (item As Object) As Boolean
Determines whether an element is in the ArrayList.

5
Public Overridable Function GetRange (index As Integer, count As Integer ) As
ArrayList

105
 Returns an ArrayList, which represents a subset of the elements in the source ArrayList.

6
Public Overridable Function IndexOf (value As Object) As Integer
Returns the zero-based index of the first occurrence of a value in the ArrayList or in a
portion of it.

7
Public Overridable Sub Insert (index As Integer, value As Object)
Inserts an element into the ArrayList at the specified index.

8
Public Overridable Sub InsertRange (index As Integer, c As ICollection)
Inserts the elements of a collection into the ArrayList at the specified index.

9
Public Overridable Sub Remove (obj As Object )
Removes the first occurrence of a specific object from the ArrayList.

10
Public Overridable Sub RemoveAt (index As Integer)
Removes the element at the specified index of the ArrayList.

11
Public Overridable Sub RemoveRange (index As Integer, count As Integer)
Removes a range of elements from the ArrayList.

12
Public Overridable Sub Reverse
Reverses the order of the elements in the ArrayList.

13
Public Overridable Sub SetRange (index As Integer, c As ICollection )
Copies the elements of a collection over a range of elements in the ArrayList.

14
Public Overridable Sub Sort
Sorts the elements in the ArrayList.

15
Public Overridable Sub TrimToSize

106
 Sets the capacity to the actual number of elements in the ArrayList.

Example
The following example demonstrates the concept −
Sub Main()
Dim al As ArrayList = New ArrayList()
Dim i As Integer
Console.WriteLine("Adding some numbers:")
al.Add(45)
al.Add(78)
al.Add(33)
al.Add(56)
al.Add(12)
al.Add(23)
al.Add(9)
Console.WriteLine("Capacity: {0} ",
al.Capacity)
Console.WriteLine("Count: {0}", al.Count)
Console.Write("Content: ")

For Each i In al
Console.Write("{0} ", i)
Next i
Console.WriteLine()
Console.Write("Sorted Content: ")
al.Sort()

For Each i In al
Console.Write("{0} ", i)
Next i
Console.WriteLine()
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
Adding some numbers:
Capacity: 8
Count: 7
Content: 45 78 33 56 12 23 9
Content: 9 12 23 33 45 56 78

VB.Net - Hashtable It uses

107
 a key to
The Hashtable class represents a collection of key-and-value access the
pairs that are organized based on the hash code of the key. It elements in the
uses the key to access the elements in the collection. collection.

A hashtable is used when you need to access elements by A hash table is

using key, and you can identify a useful key value. Each item in used when you
the hashtable has a key/value pair. The key is used to access the need to access
items in the collection. elements by
using key, and
Properties and Methods of the Hashtable you can
identify a
Class useful key
The following table lists some of the commonly used properties of value. Each
the Hashtable class − item in the
hash table has
Sr.No Property & Description a key/value pa
. ir. The key is
used to access
the items in the
1 collection.
Count
Gets the number of key-and-value pairs contained in the Hashtable.

2
IsFixedSize
Gets a value indicating whether the Hashtable has a fixed size.

3
IsReadOnly
Gets a value indicating whether the Hashtable is read-only.

4
Item
Gets or sets the value associated with the specified key.

5
Keys
Gets an ICollection containing the keys in the Hashtable.

6
Values
Gets an ICollection containing the values in the Hashtable.

108
The following table lists some of the commonly used methods of
the Hashtable class −

Sr.No Method Name & Purpose

.

1
Public Overridable Sub Add (key As Object, value As Object )
Adds an element with the specified key and value into the Hashtable.

2
Public Overridable Sub Clear
Removes all elements from the Hashtable.

3
Public Overridable Function ContainsKey (key As Object) As Boolean
Determines whether the Hashtable contains a specific key.

4
Public Overridable Function ContainsValue (value As Object) As Boolean
Determines whether the Hashtable contains a specific value.

5
Public Overridable Sub Remove (key As Object)
Removes the element with the specified key from the Hashtable.

Example
The following example demonstrates the concept −
Module collections
Sub Main()
Dim ht As Hashtable = New Hashtable()
Dim k As String
ht.Add("001", "Zara Ali")
ht.Add("002", "Abida Rehman")
ht.Add("003", "Joe Holzner")
ht.Add("004", "Mausam Benazir Nur")
ht.Add("005", "M. Amlan")
ht.Add("006", "M. Arif")
ht.Add("007", "Ritesh Saikia")

If (ht.ContainsValue("Nuha Ali")) Then

Console.WriteLine("This student name is

109
already in the list")
Else
ht.Add("008", "Nuha Ali")
End If
' Get a collection of the keys.
Dim key As ICollection = ht.Keys

For Each k In key

Console.WriteLine(" {0} : {1}", k, ht(k))
Next k
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
006: M. Arif
007: Ritesh Saikia
008: Nuha Ali
003: Joe Holzner
002: Abida Rehman
004: Mausam Banazir Nur
001: Zara Ali
005: M. Amlan

VB.Net - SortedList It uses

a key as well
as an index to
The SortedList class represents a collection of key-and-value pairs access the
that are sorted by the keys and are accessible by key and by items in a list.
index. A sorted list is
A sorted list is a combination of an array and a hashtable. It a combination
contains a list of items that can be accessed using a key or an of an array and
index. If you access items using an index, it is an ArrayList, and if a hash table. It
you access items using a key, it is a Hashtable. The collection of contains a list
items is always sorted by the key value. of items that
can be
Properties and Methods of the SortedList accessed
using a key or
Class an index. If you
The following table lists some of the commonly used properties of access items
the SortedList class − using an index,
it is an
Sr.N Property & Description ArrayList, and
o if you access
items using a
key, it is a

110
1 Hashtable. The
Capacity
collection of
Gets or sets the capacity of the SortedList. items is always
sorted by the
2 key value.
Count
Gets the number of elements contained in the SortedList.

3
IsFixedSize
Gets a value indicating whether the SortedList has a fixed size.

4
IsReadOnly
Gets a value indicating whether the SortedList is read-only.

5
Item
Gets and sets the value associated with a specific key in the SortedList.

6
Keys
Gets the keys in the SortedList.

7
Values
Gets the values in the SortedList.

The following table lists some of the commonly used methods of

the SortedList class −

Sr.No Method Name & Purpose

.

1
Public Overridable Sub Add (key As Object, value As Object)
Adds an element with the specified key and value into the SortedList.

2
Public Overridable Sub Clear
Removes all elements from the SortedList.

111
3
Public Overridable Function ContainsKey (key As Object) As Boolean
Determines whether the SortedList contains a specific key.

4
Public Overridable Function ContainsValue (value As Object) As Boolean
Determines whether the SortedList contains a specific value.

5
Public Overridable Function GetByIndex (index As Integer) As Object
Gets the value at the specified index of the SortedList.

6
Public Overridable Function GetKey (index As Integer) As Object
Gets the key at the specified index of the SortedList.

7
Public Overridable Function GetKeyList As IList
Gets the keys in the SortedList.

8
Public Overridable Function GetValueList As IList
Gets the values in the SortedList.

9
Public Overridable Function IndexOfKey (key As Object) As Integer
Returns the zero-based index of the specified key in the SortedList.

10
Public Overridable Function IndexOfValue (value As Object ) As Integer
Returns the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified value in the
SortedList.

11
Public Overridable Sub Remove (key As Object)
Removes the element with the specified key from the SortedList.

12
Public Overridable Sub RemoveAt (index As Integer)
Removes the element at the specified index of SortedList.

112
13
Public Overridable Sub TrimToSize
Sets the capacity to the actual number of elements in the SortedList.

Example
The following example demonstrates the concept −
Module collections
Sub Main()
Dim sl As SortedList = New SortedList()
sl.Add("001", "Zara Ali")
sl.Add("002", "Abida Rehman")
sl.Add("003", "Joe Holzner")
sl.Add("004", "Mausam Benazir Nur")
sl.Add("005", "M. Amlan")
sl.Add("006", "M. Arif")
sl.Add("007", "Ritesh Saikia")

If (sl.ContainsValue("Nuha Ali")) Then

Console.WriteLine("This student name is
already in the list")
Else
sl.Add("008", "Nuha Ali")
End If
' Get a collection of the keys.
Dim key As ICollection = sl.Keys
Dim k As String

For Each k In key

Console.WriteLine(" {0} : {1}", k, sl(k))
Next k
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
001: Zara Ali
002: Abida Rehman
003: Joe Holzner
004: Mausam Banazir Nur
005: M. Amlan
006: M. Arif
007: Ritesh Saikia
008: Nuha Ali

VB.Net - Stack It represents

a last-in, first

113
 out collection
of object.

 Previous Page It is used when

you need a
Next Page   last-in, first-out
It represents a last-in, first-out collection of objects. It is used when access of
you need a last-in, first-out access of items. When you add an item items. When
in the list, it is called pushing the item, and when you remove it, it you add an
is called popping the item. item in the list,
it is
Properties and Methods of the Stack Class called pushing 
the item, and
The following table lists some of the commonly used properties of when you
the Stack class − remove it, it is
called poppin
Sr.N Property & Description g the item.
o

1
Count
Gets the number of elements contained in the Stack.

The following table lists some of the commonly used methods of

the Stack class −

Sr.No Method Name & Purpose

.

1
Public Overridable Sub Clear
Removes all elements from the Stack.

2
Public Overridable Function Contains (obj As Object) As Boolean
Determines whether an element is in the Stack.

3
Public Overridable Function Peek As Object
Returns the object at the top of the Stack without removing it.

4
Public Overridable Function Pop As Object

114
 Removes and returns the object at the top of the Stack.

5
Public Overridable Sub Push (obj As Object)
Inserts an object at the top of the Stack.

6
Public Overridable Function ToArray As Object()
Copies the Stack to a new array.

Example
The following example demonstrates use of Stack −
Module collections
Sub Main()
Dim st As Stack = New Stack()
st.Push("A")
st.Push("M")
st.Push("G")
st.Push("W")
Console.WriteLine("Current stack: ")
Dim c As Char

For Each c In st
Console.Write(c + " ")
Next c
Console.WriteLine()
st.Push("V")
st.Push("H")
Console.WriteLine("The next poppable value in
stack: {0}", st.Peek())
Console.WriteLine("Current stack: ")

For Each c In st
Console.Write(c + " ")
Next c
Console.WriteLine()
Console.WriteLine("Removing values ")
st.Pop()
st.Pop()
st.Pop()
Console.WriteLine("Current stack: ")

For Each c In st
Console.Write(c + " ")
Next c

115
 Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
Current stack:
W G M A
The next poppable value in stack: H
Current stack:
H V W G M A
Removing values
Current stack:
G M A

VB.Net - Queue It represents

a first-in, first
out collection
of object.
 Previous Page It is used when
you need a
Next Page  
first-in, first-out
It represents a first-in, first-out collection of object. It is used when access of
you need a first-in, first-out access of items. When you add an items. When
item in the list, it is called enqueue, and when you remove an you add an
item, it is called deque. item in the list,
it is
Properties and Methods of the Queue called enqueu
Class e, and when
you remove an
The following table lists some of the commonly used properties of item, it is
the Queue class − called deque.

Sr.N Property & Description

o

1
Count
Gets the number of elements contained in the Queue.

The following table lists some of the commonly used methods of

the Queue class −

116
 Sr.No Method Name & Purpose
.

1
Public Overridable Sub Clear
Removes all elements from the Queue.

2
Public Overridable Function Contains (obj As Object) As Boolean
Determines whether an element is in the Queue.

3
Public Overridable Function Dequeue As Object
Removes and returns the object at the beginning of the Queue.

4
Public Overridable Sub Enqueue (obj As Object)
Adds an object to the end of the Queue.

5
Public Overridable Function ToArray As Object()
Copies the Queue to a new array.

6
Public Overridable Sub TrimToSize
Sets the capacity to the actual number of elements in the Queue.

Example
The following example demonstrates use of Queue −
Module collections
Sub Main()
Dim q As Queue = New Queue()
q.Enqueue("A")
q.Enqueue("M")
q.Enqueue("G")
q.Enqueue("W")
Console.WriteLine("Current queue: ")
Dim c As Char

For Each c In q
Console.Write(c + " ")
Next c

117
 Console.WriteLine()
q.Enqueue("V")
q.Enqueue("H")
Console.WriteLine("Current queue: ")

For Each c In q
Console.Write(c + " ")
Next c
Console.WriteLine()
Console.WriteLine("Removing some values ")
Dim ch As Char
ch = q.Dequeue()
Console.WriteLine("The removed value: {0}",
ch)
ch = q.Dequeue()
Console.WriteLine("The removed value: {0}",
ch)
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
Current queue:
A M G W
Current queue:
A M G W V H
Removing some values
The removed value: A
The removed value: M

VB.Net - BitArray It represents

an array of
the binary
representatio
n using the
 Previous Page
values 1 and 0.
Next Page  
It is used when
The BitArray class manages a compact array of bit values, which you need to
are represented as Booleans, where true indicates that the bit is store the bits
on (1) and false indicates the bit is off (0). but do not
know the
It is used when you need to store the bits but do not know the
number of bits
number of bits in advance. You can access items from the BitArray
in advance.
collection by using an integer index, which starts from zero.
You can
access items
Properties and Methods of the BitArray from the
Class BitArray

118
The following table lists some of the commonly used properties of collection by
the BitArray class − using
an integer
Sr.No Property & Description index, which
. starts from
zero.

1
Count
Gets the number of elements contained in the BitArray.

2
IsReadOnly
Gets a value indicating whether the BitArray is read-only.

3
Item
Gets or sets the value of the bit at a specific position in the BitArray.

4
Length
Gets or sets the number of elements in the BitArray.

The following table lists some of the commonly used methods of

the BitArray class −

Sr.No Method Name & Purpose

.

1
Public Function And (value As BitArray) As BitArray
Performs the bitwise AND operation on the elements in the current BitArray against the
corresponding elements in the specified BitArray.

2
Public Function Get (index As Integer) As Boolean
Gets the value of the bit at a specific position in the BitArray.

3
Public Function Not As BitArray
Inverts all the bit values in the current BitArray, so that elements set to true are changed
to false, and elements set to false are changed to true.

119
4
Public Function Or (value As BitArray) As BitArray
Performs the bitwise OR operation on the elements in the current BitArray against the
corresponding elements in the specified BitArray.

5
Public Sub Set (index As Integer, value As Boolean )
Sets the bit at a specific position in the BitArray to the specified value.

6
Public Sub SetAll (value As Boolean)
Sets all bits in the BitArray to the specified value.

7
Public Function Xor (value As BitArray) As BitArray
Performs the bitwise eXclusive OR operation on the elements in the current BitArray
against the corresponding elements in the specified BitArray.

Example
The following example demonstrates the use of BitArray class −
Module collections
Sub Main()
'creating two bit arrays of size 8
Dim ba1 As BitArray = New BitArray(8)
Dim ba2 As BitArray = New BitArray(8)
Dim a() As Byte = {60}
Dim b() As Byte = {13}
'storing the values 60, and 13 into the bit
arrays
ba1 = New BitArray(a)
ba2 = New BitArray(b)
'content of ba1
Console.WriteLine("Bit array ba1: 60")
Dim i As Integer

For i = 0 To ba1.Count
Console.Write("{0 } ", ba1(i))
Next i
Console.WriteLine()
'content of ba2
Console.WriteLine("Bit array ba2: 13")

For i = 0 To ba2.Count
Console.Write("{0 } ", ba2(i))

120
 Next i
Console.WriteLine()
Dim ba3 As BitArray = New BitArray(8)
ba3 = ba1.And(ba2)
'content of ba3
Console.WriteLine("Bit array ba3 after AND
operation: 12")

For i = 0 To ba3.Count
Console.Write("{0 } ", ba3(i))
Next i
Console.WriteLine()
ba3 = ba1.Or(ba2)
'content of ba3
Console.WriteLine("Bit array ba3 after OR
operation: 61")

For i = 0 To ba3.Count
Console.Write("{0 } ", ba3(i))
Next i
Console.WriteLine()
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −
Bit array ba1: 60
False False True True True True False False
Bit array ba2: 13
True False True True False False False False
Bit array ba3 after AND operation: 12
False False True True False False False False
Bit array ba3 after OR operation: 61
True False True True False False False False

VB.Net - Functions

 Previous Page
Next Page  

121
A procedure is a group of statements that together perform a task when called. After
the procedure is executed, the control returns to the statement calling the procedure.
VB.Net has two types of procedures −
 Functions
 Sub procedures or Subs
Functions return a value, whereas Subs do not return a value.

Defining a Function
The Function statement is used to declare the name, parameter and the body of a
function. The syntax for the Function statement is −
[Modifiers] Function FunctionName [(ParameterList)] As ReturnType
[Statements]
End Function
Where,
 Modifiers − specify the access level of the function; possible values are: Public,
Private, Protected, Friend, Protected Friend and information regarding
overloading, overriding, sharing, and shadowing.
 FunctionName − indicates the name of the function
 ParameterList − specifies the list of the parameters
 ReturnType − specifies the data type of the variable the function returns

Example
Following code snippet shows a function FindMax that takes two integer values and
returns the larger of the two.
Function FindMax(ByVal num1 As Integer, ByVal num2 As Integer) As
Integer
' local variable declaration */
Dim result As Integer

If (num1 > num2) Then

result = num1
Else
result = num2
End If
FindMax = result
End Function

Function Returning a Value

In VB.Net, a function can return a value to the calling code in two ways −
 By using the return statement

122
  By assigning the value to the function name
The following example demonstrates using the FindMax function −
Live Demo

Module myfunctions
Function FindMax(ByVal num1 As Integer, ByVal num2 As Integer)
As Integer
' local variable declaration */
Dim result As Integer

If (num1 > num2) Then

result = num1
Else
result = num2
End If
FindMax = result
End Function
Sub Main()
Dim a As Integer = 100
Dim b As Integer = 200
Dim res As Integer

res = FindMax(a, b)
Console.WriteLine("Max value is : {0}", res)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Max value is : 200
Recursive Function
A function can call itself. This is known as recursion. Following is an example that
calculates factorial for a given number using a recursive function −
Live Demo

Module myfunctions
Function factorial(ByVal num As Integer) As Integer
' local variable declaration */
Dim result As Integer

If (num = 1) Then
Return 1
Else
result = factorial(num - 1) * num
Return result

123
 End If
End Function
Sub Main()
'calling the factorial method
Console.WriteLine("Factorial of 6 is : {0}", factorial(6))
Console.WriteLine("Factorial of 7 is : {0}", factorial(7))
Console.WriteLine("Factorial of 8 is : {0}", factorial(8))
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Factorial of 6 is: 720
Factorial of 7 is: 5040
Factorial of 8 is: 40320
Param Arrays
At times, while declaring a function or sub procedure, you are not sure of the number of
arguments passed as a parameter. VB.Net param arrays (or parameter arrays) come
into help at these times.
The following example demonstrates this −
Live Demo

Module myparamfunc
Function AddElements(ParamArray arr As Integer()) As Integer
Dim sum As Integer = 0
Dim i As Integer = 0

For Each i In arr

sum += i
Next i
Return sum
End Function
Sub Main()
Dim sum As Integer
sum = AddElements(512, 720, 250, 567, 889)
Console.WriteLine("The sum is: {0}", sum)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
The sum is: 2938

124
Passing Arrays as Function Arguments
You can pass an array as a function argument in VB.Net. The following example
demonstrates this −
Live Demo

Module arrayParameter
Function getAverage(ByVal arr As Integer(), ByVal size As
Integer) As Double
'local variables
Dim i As Integer
Dim avg As Double
Dim sum As Integer = 0

For i = 0 To size - 1
sum += arr(i)
Next i
avg = sum / size
Return avg
End Function
Sub Main()
' an int array with 5 elements '
Dim balance As Integer() = {1000, 2, 3, 17, 50}
Dim avg As Double
'pass pointer to the array as an argument
avg = getAverage(balance, 5)
' output the returned value '
Console.WriteLine("Average value is: {0} ", avg)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Average value is: 214.4

VB.Net - Sub Procedures

 Previous Page
Next Page  

As we mentioned in the previous chapter, Sub procedures are procedures that do not
return any value. We have been using the Sub procedure Main in all our examples. We
have been writing console applications so far in these tutorials. When these
applications start, the control goes to the Main Sub procedure, and it in turn, runs any
other statements constituting the body of the program.

125
Defining Sub Procedures
The Sub statement is used to declare the name, parameter and the body of a sub
procedure. The syntax for the Sub statement is −
[Modifiers] Sub SubName [(ParameterList)]
[Statements]
End Sub
Where,
 Modifiers − specify the access level of the procedure; possible values are -
Public, Private, Protected, Friend, Protected Friend and information regarding
overloading, overriding, sharing, and shadowing.
 SubName − indicates the name of the Sub
 ParameterList − specifies the list of the parameters

Example
The following example demonstrates a Sub procedure CalculatePay that takes two
parameters hours and wages and displays the total pay of an employee −
Live Demo

Module mysub
Sub CalculatePay(ByRef hours As Double, ByRef wage As Decimal)
'local variable declaration
Dim pay As Double
pay = hours * wage
Console.WriteLine("Total Pay: {0:C}", pay)
End Sub
Sub Main()
'calling the CalculatePay Sub Procedure
CalculatePay(25, 10)
CalculatePay(40, 20)
CalculatePay(30, 27.5)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Total Pay: $250.00
Total Pay: $800.00
Total Pay: $825.00
Passing Parameters by Value
This is the default mechanism for passing parameters to a method. In this mechanism,
when a method is called, a new storage location is created for each value parameter.

126
The values of the actual parameters are copied into them. So, the changes made to
the parameter inside the method have no effect on the argument.
In VB.Net, you declare the reference parameters using the ByVal keyword. The
following example demonstrates the concept −
Live Demo

Module paramByval
Sub swap(ByVal x As Integer, ByVal y As Integer)
Dim temp As Integer
temp = x ' save the value of x
x = y ' put y into x
y = temp 'put temp into y
End Sub
Sub Main()
' local variable definition
Dim a As Integer = 100
Dim b As Integer = 200
Console.WriteLine("Before swap, value of a : {0}", a)
Console.WriteLine("Before swap, value of b : {0}", b)
' calling a function to swap the values '
swap(a, b)
Console.WriteLine("After swap, value of a : {0}", a)
Console.WriteLine("After swap, value of b : {0}", b)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Before swap, value of a :100
Before swap, value of b :200
After swap, value of a :100
After swap, value of b :200
It shows that there is no change in the values though they had been changed inside
the function.

Passing Parameters by Reference

A reference parameter is a reference to a memory location of a variable. When you
pass parameters by reference, unlike value parameters, a new storage location is not
created for these parameters. The reference parameters represent the same memory
location as the actual parameters that are supplied to the method.
In VB.Net, you declare the reference parameters using the ByRef keyword. The
following example demonstrates this −
Live Demo

127
Module paramByref
Sub swap(ByRef x As Integer, ByRef y As Integer)
Dim temp As Integer
temp = x ' save the value of x
x = y ' put y into x
y = temp 'put temp into y
End Sub
Sub Main()
' local variable definition
Dim a As Integer = 100
Dim b As Integer = 200
Console.WriteLine("Before swap, value of a : {0}", a)
Console.WriteLine("Before swap, value of b : {0}", b)
' calling a function to swap the values '
swap(a, b)
Console.WriteLine("After swap, value of a : {0}", a)
Console.WriteLine("After swap, value of b : {0}", b)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Before swap, value of a : 100
Before swap, value of b : 200
After swap, value of a : 200
After swap, value of b : 100

VB.Net - Classes & Objects

 Previous Page
Next Page  

When you define a class, you define a blueprint for a data type. This doesn't actually
define any data, but it does define what the class name means, that is, what an object
of the class will consist of and what operations can be performed on such an object.
Objects are instances of a class. The methods and variables that constitute a class are
called members of the class.

Class Definition
A class definition starts with the keyword Class followed by the class name; and the
class body, ended by the End Class statement. Following is the general form of a class
definition −

128
[ <attributelist> ] [ accessmodifier ] [ Shadows ] [ MustInherit |
NotInheritable ] [ Partial ] _
Class name [ ( Of typelist ) ]
[ Inherits classname ]
[ Implements interfacenames ]
[ statements ]
End Class

Where,
 attributelist is a list of attributes that apply to the class. Optional.
 accessmodifier defines the access levels of the class, it has values as - Public,
Protected, Friend, Protected Friend and Private. Optional.
 Shadows indicate that the variable re-declares and hides an identically named
element, or set of overloaded elements, in a base class. Optional.
 MustInherit specifies that the class can be used only as a base class and that
you cannot create an object directly from it, i.e., an abstract class. Optional.
 NotInheritable specifies that the class cannot be used as a base class.
 Partial indicates a partial definition of the class.
 Inherits specifies the base class it is inheriting from.
 Implements specifies the interfaces the class is inheriting from.
The following example demonstrates a Box class, with three data members, length,
breadth and height −
Live Demo

Module mybox
Class Box
Public length As Double ' Length of a box
Public breadth As Double ' Breadth of a box
Public height As Double ' Height of a box
End Class
Sub Main()
Dim Box1 As Box = New Box() ' Declare Box1 of type Box
Dim Box2 As Box = New Box() ' Declare Box2 of type Box
Dim volume As Double = 0.0 ' Store the volume of a
box here

' box 1 specification

Box1.height = 5.0
Box1.length = 6.0
Box1.breadth = 7.0

' box 2 specification

Box2.height = 10.0

129
 Box2.length = 12.0
Box2.breadth = 13.0

'volume of box 1
volume = Box1.height * Box1.length * Box1.breadth
Console.WriteLine("Volume of Box1 : {0}", volume)

'volume of box 2
volume = Box2.height * Box2.length * Box2.breadth
Console.WriteLine("Volume of Box2 : {0}", volume)
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Volume of Box1 : 210
Volume of Box2 : 1560
Member Functions and Encapsulation
A member function of a class is a function that has its definition or its prototype within
the class definition like any other variable. It operates on any object of the class of
which it is a member and has access to all the members of a class for that object.
Member variables are attributes of an object (from design perspective) and they are
kept private to implement encapsulation. These variables can only be accessed using
the public member functions.
Let us put above concepts to set and get the value of different class members in a
class −
Live Demo

Module mybox
Class Box
Public length As Double ' Length of a box
Public breadth As Double ' Breadth of a box
Public height As Double ' Height of a box
Public Sub setLength(ByVal len As Double)
length = len
End Sub

Public Sub setBreadth(ByVal bre As Double)

breadth = bre
End Sub

Public Sub setHeight(ByVal hei As Double)

height = hei
End Sub

130
 Public Function getVolume() As Double
Return length * breadth * height
End Function
End Class
Sub Main()
Dim Box1 As Box = New Box() ' Declare Box1 of type Box
Dim Box2 As Box = New Box() ' Declare Box2 of type Box
Dim volume As Double = 0.0 ' Store the volume of a
box here

' box 1 specification

Box1.setLength(6.0)
Box1.setBreadth(7.0)
Box1.setHeight(5.0)

'box 2 specification
Box2.setLength(12.0)
Box2.setBreadth(13.0)
Box2.setHeight(10.0)

' volume of box 1

volume = Box1.getVolume()
Console.WriteLine("Volume of Box1 : {0}", volume)

'volume of box 2
volume = Box2.getVolume()
Console.WriteLine("Volume of Box2 : {0}", volume)
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Volume of Box1 : 210
Volume of Box2 : 1560
Constructors and Destructors
A class constructor is a special member Sub of a class that is executed whenever we
create new objects of that class. A constructor has the name New and it does not have
any return type.
Following program explains the concept of constructor −
Live Demo

Class Line
Private length As Double ' Length of a line
Public Sub New() 'constructor
Console.WriteLine("Object is being created")
End Sub

131
 Public Sub setLength(ByVal len As Double)
length = len
End Sub

Public Function getLength() As Double

Return length
End Function
Shared Sub Main()
Dim line As Line = New Line()
'set line length
line.setLength(6.0)
Console.WriteLine("Length of line : {0}", line.getLength())
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Class

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Object is being created
Length of line : 6
A default constructor does not have any parameter, but if you need, a constructor can
have parameters. Such constructors are called parameterized constructors. This
technique helps you to assign initial value to an object at the time of its creation as
shown in the following example −
Live Demo

Class Line
Private length As Double ' Length of a line
Public Sub New(ByVal len As Double) 'parameterised constructor
Console.WriteLine("Object is being created, length = {0}",
len)
length = len
End Sub
Public Sub setLength(ByVal len As Double)
length = len
End Sub

Public Function getLength() As Double

Return length
End Function
Shared Sub Main()
Dim line As Line = New Line(10.0)
Console.WriteLine("Length of line set by constructor : {0}",
line.getLength())
'set line length
line.setLength(6.0)

132
 Console.WriteLine("Length of line set by setLength : {0}",
line.getLength())
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Class

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Object is being created, length = 10
Length of line set by constructor : 10
Length of line set by setLength : 6
A destructor is a special member Sub of a class that is executed whenever an object
of its class goes out of scope.
A destructor has the name Finalize and it can neither return a value nor can it take
any parameters. Destructor can be very useful for releasing resources before coming
out of the program like closing files, releasing memories, etc.
Destructors cannot be inherited or overloaded.
Following example explains the concept of destructor −
Live Demo

Class Line
Private length As Double ' Length of a line
Public Sub New() 'parameterised constructor
Console.WriteLine("Object is being created")
End Sub

Protected Overrides Sub Finalize() ' destructor

Console.WriteLine("Object is being deleted")
End Sub

Public Sub setLength(ByVal len As Double)

length = len
End Sub

Public Function getLength() As Double

Return length
End Function

Shared Sub Main()

Dim line As Line = New Line()
'set line length
line.setLength(6.0)
Console.WriteLine("Length of line : {0}", line.getLength())
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Class

133
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Object is being created
Length of line : 6
Object is being deleted
Shared Members of a VB.Net Class
We can define class members as static using the Shared keyword. When we declare a
member of a class as Shared, it means no matter how many objects of the class are
created, there is only one copy of the member.
The keyword Shared implies that only one instance of the member exists for a class.
Shared variables are used for defining constants because their values can be retrieved
by invoking the class without creating an instance of it.
Shared variables can be initialized outside the member function or class definition. You
can also initialize Shared variables inside the class definition.
You can also declare a member function as Shared. Such functions can access only
Shared variables. The Shared functions exist even before the object is created.
The following example demonstrates the use of shared members −
Live Demo

Class StaticVar
Public Shared num As Integer
Public Sub count()
num = num + 1
End Sub
Public Shared Function getNum() As Integer
Return num
End Function
Shared Sub Main()
Dim s As StaticVar = New StaticVar()
s.count()
s.count()
s.count()
Console.WriteLine("Value of variable num: {0}",
StaticVar.getNum())
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Class

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Value of variable num: 3
Inheritance
One of the most important concepts in object-oriented programming is that of
inheritance. Inheritance allows us to define a class in terms of another class which

134
makes it easier to create and maintain an application. This also provides an opportunity
to reuse the code functionality and fast implementation time.
When creating a class, instead of writing completely new data members and member
functions, the programmer can designate that the new class should inherit the
members of an existing class. This existing class is called the base class, and the new
class is referred to as the derived class.

Base & Derived Classes

A class can be derived from more than one class or interface, which means that it can
inherit data and functions from multiple base classes or interfaces.
The syntax used in VB.Net for creating derived classes is as follows −
<access-specifier> Class <base_class>
...
End Class
Class <derived_class>: Inherits <base_class>
...
End Class
Consider a base class Shape and its derived class Rectangle −
Live Demo

' Base class

Class Shape
Protected width As Integer
Protected height As Integer
Public Sub setWidth(ByVal w As Integer)
width = w
End Sub
Public Sub setHeight(ByVal h As Integer)
height = h
End Sub
End Class
' Derived class
Class Rectangle : Inherits Shape
Public Function getArea() As Integer
Return (width * height)
End Function
End Class
Class RectangleTester
Shared Sub Main()
Dim rect As Rectangle = New Rectangle()
rect.setWidth(5)
rect.setHeight(7)
' Print the area of the object.
Console.WriteLine("Total area: {0}", rect.getArea())
Console.ReadKey()

135
 End Sub
End Class

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Total area: 35
Base Class Initialization
The derived class inherits the base class member variables and member methods.
Therefore, the super class object should be created before the subclass is created.
The super class or the base class is implicitly known as MyBase in VB.Net
The following program demonstrates this −
Live Demo

' Base class

Class Rectangle
Protected width As Double
Protected length As Double
Public Sub New(ByVal l As Double, ByVal w As Double)
length = l
width = w
End Sub
Public Function GetArea() As Double
Return (width * length)
End Function
Public Overridable Sub Display()
Console.WriteLine("Length: {0}", length)
Console.WriteLine("Width: {0}", width)
Console.WriteLine("Area: {0}", GetArea())
End Sub
'end class Rectangle
End Class

'Derived class
Class Tabletop : Inherits Rectangle
Private cost As Double
Public Sub New(ByVal l As Double, ByVal w As Double)
MyBase.New(l, w)
End Sub
Public Function GetCost() As Double
Dim cost As Double
cost = GetArea() * 70
Return cost
End Function
Public Overrides Sub Display()
MyBase.Display()
Console.WriteLine("Cost: {0}", GetCost())
End Sub

136
 'end class Tabletop
End Class
Class RectangleTester
Shared Sub Main()
Dim t As Tabletop = New Tabletop(4.5, 7.5)
t.Display()
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Class

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Length: 4.5
Width: 7.5
Area: 33.75
Cost: 2362.5

VB.Net - Exception Handling

 Previous Page
Next Page  

An exception is a problem that arises during the execution of a program. An exception

is a response to an exceptional circumstance that arises while a program is running,
such as an attempt to divide by zero.
Exceptions provide a way to transfer control from one part of a program to another.
VB.Net exception handling is built upon four keywords
- Try, Catch, Finally and Throw.
 Try − A Try block identifies a block of code for which particular exceptions will be
activated. It's followed by one or more Catch blocks.
 Catch − A program catches an exception with an exception handler at the place
in a program where you want to handle the problem. The Catch keyword
indicates the catching of an exception.
 Finally − The Finally block is used to execute a given set of statements, whether
an exception is thrown or not thrown. For example, if you open a file, it must be
closed whether an exception is raised or not.
 Throw − A program throws an exception when a problem shows up. This is
done using a Throw keyword.

Syntax
Assuming a block will raise an exception, a method catches an exception using a
combination of the Try and Catch keywords. A Try/Catch block is placed around the

137
code that might generate an exception. Code within a Try/Catch block is referred to as
protected code, and the syntax for using Try/Catch looks like the following −
Try
[ tryStatements ]
[ Exit Try ]
[ Catch [ exception [ As type ] ] [ When expression ]
[ catchStatements ]
[ Exit Try ] ]
[ Catch ... ]
[ Finally
[ finallyStatements ] ]
End Try
You can list down multiple catch statements to catch different type of exceptions in
case your try block raises more than one exception in different situations.

Exception Classes in .Net Framework

In the .Net Framework, exceptions are represented by classes. The exception classes
in .Net Framework are mainly directly or indirectly derived from
the System.Exception class. Some of the exception classes derived from the
System.Exception class are
the System.ApplicationException and System.SystemException classes.
The System.ApplicationException class supports exceptions generated by
application programs. So the exceptions defined by the programmers should derive
from this class.
The System.SystemException class is the base class for all predefined system
exception.
The following table provides some of the predefined exception classes derived from the
Sytem.SystemException class −

Exception Class Description

System.IO.IOException Handles I/O errors.

System.IndexOutOfRangeException Handles errors generated when a method refers to an array index

out of range.

System.ArrayTypeMismatchException Handles errors generated when type is mismatched with the array
type.

System.NullReferenceException Handles errors generated from deferencing a null object.

138
System.DivideByZeroException Handles errors generated from dividing a dividend with zero.

System.InvalidCastException Handles errors generated during typecasting.

System.OutOfMemoryException Handles errors generated from insufficient free memory.

System.StackOverflowException Handles errors generated from stack overflow.

Handling Exceptions
VB.Net provides a structured solution to the exception handling problems in the form of
try and catch blocks. Using these blocks the core program statements are separated
from the error-handling statements.
These error handling blocks are implemented using
the Try, Catch and Finally keywords. Following is an example of throwing an
exception when dividing by zero condition occurs −
Live Demo

Module exceptionProg
Sub division(ByVal num1 As Integer, ByVal num2 As Integer)
Dim result As Integer
Try
result = num1 \ num2
Catch e As DivideByZeroException
Console.WriteLine("Exception caught: {0}", e)
Finally
Console.WriteLine("Result: {0}", result)
End Try
End Sub
Sub Main()
division(25, 0)
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Exception caught: System.DivideByZeroException: Attempted to divide
by zero.
at ...

139
Result: 0
Creating User-Defined Exceptions
You can also define your own exception. User-defined exception classes are derived
from the ApplicationException class. The following example demonstrates this −
Live Demo

Module exceptionProg
Public Class TempIsZeroException : Inherits ApplicationException
Public Sub New(ByVal message As String)
MyBase.New(message)
End Sub
End Class
Public Class Temperature
Dim temperature As Integer = 0
Sub showTemp()
If (temperature = 0) Then
Throw (New TempIsZeroException("Zero Temperature
found"))
Else
Console.WriteLine("Temperature: {0}", temperature)
End If
End Sub
End Class
Sub Main()
Dim temp As Temperature = New Temperature()
Try
temp.showTemp()
Catch e As TempIsZeroException
Console.WriteLine("TempIsZeroException: {0}", e.Message)
End Try
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
TempIsZeroException: Zero Temperature found
Throwing Objects
You can throw an object if it is either directly or indirectly derived from the
System.Exception class.
You can use a throw statement in the catch block to throw the present object as −
Throw [ expression ]
The following program demonstrates this −
Module exceptionProg

140
 Sub Main()
Try
Throw New ApplicationException("A custom exception _ is
being thrown here...")
Catch e As Exception
Console.WriteLine(e.Message)
Finally
Console.WriteLine("Now inside the Finally Block")
End Try
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
A custom exception is being thrown here...
Now inside the Finally Block

VB.Net - File Handling

 Previous Page
Next Page  

A file is a collection of data stored in a disk with a specific name and a directory path.
When a file is opened for reading or writing, it becomes a stream.
The stream is basically the sequence of bytes passing through the communication
path. There are two main streams: the input stream and the output stream.
The input stream is used for reading data from file (read operation) and the output
stream is used for writing into the file (write operation).

VB.Net I/O Classes

The System.IO namespace has various classes that are used for performing various
operations with files, like creating and deleting files, reading from or writing to a file,
closing a file, etc.
The following table shows some commonly used non-abstract classes in the System.IO
namespace −

I/O Class Description

BinaryReader Reads primitive data from a binary stream.

BinaryWriter Writes primitive data in binary format.

141
BufferedStream A temporary storage for a stream of bytes.

Directory Helps in manipulating a directory structure.

DirectoryInfo Used for performing operations on directories.

DriveInfo Provides information for the drives.

File Helps in manipulating files.

FileInfo Used for performing operations on files.

FileStream Used to read from and write to any location in a file.

MemoryStream Used for random access of streamed data stored in memory.

Path Performs operations on path information.

StreamReader Used for reading characters from a byte stream.

StreamWriter Is used for writing characters to a stream.

StringReader Is used for reading from a string buffer.

StringWriter Is used for writing into a string buffer.

The FileStream Class

The FileStream class in the System.IO namespace helps in reading from, writing to
and closing files. This class derives from the abstract class Stream.

142
You need to create a FileStream object to create a new file or open an existing file.
The syntax for creating a FileStream object is as follows −
Dim <object_name> As FileStream = New FileStream(<file_name>,
<FileMode Enumerator>, <FileAccess Enumerator>, <FileShare
Enumerator>)
For example, for creating a FileStream object F for reading a file named sample.txt −
Dim f1 As FileStream = New FileStream("sample.txt",
FileMode.OpenOrCreate, FileAccess.ReadWrite)
Parameter Description

FileMode
The FileMode enumerator defines various methods for opening files. The
members of the FileMode enumerator are −
 Append − It opens an existing file and puts cursor at the end of file, or
creates the file, if the file does not exist.
 Create − It creates a new file.
 CreateNew − It specifies to the operating system that it should create a
new file.
 Open − It opens an existing file.
 OpenOrCreate − It specifies to the operating system that it should open a
file if it exists, otherwise it should create a new file.
 Truncate − It opens an existing file and truncates its size to zero bytes.

FileAccess
FileAccess enumerators have members: Read, ReadWrite and Write.

FileShare
FileShare enumerators have the following members −
 Inheritable − It allows a file handle to pass inheritance to the child
processes
 None − It declines sharing of the current file
 Read − It allows opening the file for reading
 ReadWrite − It allows opening the file for reading and writing
 Write − It allows opening the file for writing

Example
The following program demonstrates use of the FileStream class −
Live Demo

143
 Imports System.IO
Module fileProg
Sub Main()
Dim f1 As FileStream = New FileStream("sample.txt", _
FileMode.OpenOrCreate, FileAccess.ReadWrite)
Dim i As Integer

For i = 0 To 20
f1.WriteByte(CByte(i))
Next i
f1.Position = 0

For i = 0 To 20
Console.Write("{0} ", f1.ReadByte())
Next i
f1.Close()
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 -1
Advanced File Operations in VB.Net
The preceding example provides simple file operations in VB.Net. However, to utilize
the immense powers of System.IO classes, you need to know the commonly used
properties and methods of these classes.
We will discuss these classes and the operations they perform in the following
sections. Please click the links provided to get to the individual sections −
Sr.N Topic and Description
o.

1
Reading from and Writing to Text Files

 Previous Page
Next Page  
The StreamReader and StreamWriter classes are used for reading from and writing data
to text files. These classes inherit from the abstract base class Stream, which supports
reading and writing bytes into a file stream.

The StreamReader Class

The StreamReader class also inherits from the abstract base class TextReader that

144
represents a reader for reading series of characters. The following table describes some of
the commonly used methods of the StreamReader class −

Sr.No Method Name & Purpose

.

1
Public Overrides Sub Close
It closes the StreamReader object and the underlying stream and releases any system
resources associated with the reader.

2
Public Overrides Function Peek As Integer
Returns the next available character but does not consume it.

3
Public Overrides Function Read As Integer
Reads the next character from the input stream and advances the character position by
one character.

Example
The following example demonstrates reading a text file named Jamaica.txt. The file reads
−
Down the way where the nights are gay
And the sun shines daily on the mountain top
I took a trip on a sailing ship
And when I reached Jamaica
I made a stop
Imports System.IO
Module fileProg
Sub Main()
Try
' Create an instance of StreamReader to read from a file.
' The using statement also closes the StreamReader.
Using sr As StreamReader = New StreamReader("e:/jamaica.txt")
Dim line As String
' Read and display lines from the file until the end of
' the file is reached.
line = sr.ReadLine()
While (line <> Nothing)
Console.WriteLine(line)
line = sr.ReadLine()
End While
End Using

145
 Catch e As Exception
' Let the user know what went wrong.
Console.WriteLine("The file could not be read:")
Console.WriteLine(e.Message)
End Try
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

Guess what it displays when you compile and run the program!

The StreamWriter Class

The StreamWriter class inherits from the abstract class TextWriter that represents a
writer, which can write a series of character.
The following table shows some of the most commonly used methods of this class −

Sr.No Method Name & Purpose

.

1
Public Overrides Sub Close
Closes the current StreamWriter object and the underlying stream.

2
Public Overrides Sub Flush
Clears all buffers for the current writer and causes any buffered data to be written to the
underlying stream.

3
Public Overridable Sub Write (value As Boolean)
Writes the text representation of a Boolean value to the text string or stream. (Inherited
from TextWriter.)

4
Public Overrides Sub Write (value As Char)
Writes a character to the stream.

5
Public Overridable Sub Write (value As Decimal)
Writes the text representation of a decimal value to the text string or stream.

6
Public Overridable Sub Write (value As Double)

146
 Writes the text representation of an 8-byte floating-point value to the text string or stream.

7
Public Overridable Sub Write (value As Integer)
Writes the text representation of a 4-byte signed integer to the text string or stream.

8
Public Overrides Sub Write (value As String)
Writes a string to the stream.

9
Public Overridable Sub WriteLine
Writes a line terminator to the text string or stream.

The above list is not exhaustive. For complete list of methods please visit Microsoft's
documentation

Example
The following example demonstrates writing text data into a file using the StreamWriter
class −
Live Demo
Imports System.IO
Module fileProg
Sub Main()
Dim names As String() = New String() {"Zara Ali", _
"Nuha Ali", "Amir Sohel", "M Amlan"}
Dim s As String
Using sw As StreamWriter = New StreamWriter("names.txt")
For Each s In names
sw.WriteLine(s)
Next s
End Using
' Read and show each line from the file.
Dim line As String
Using sr As StreamReader = New StreamReader("names.txt")
line = sr.ReadLine()
While (line <> Nothing)
Console.WriteLine(line)
line = sr.ReadLine()
End While
End Using
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub

147
 End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Zara Ali
Nuha Ali
Amir Sohel
M Amlan
It involves reading from and writing into text files.
The StreamReader and StreamWriter classes help to accomplish it.
2
VB.Net - Binary Files

 Previous Page
Next Page  
The BinaryReader and BinaryWriter classes are used for reading from and writing to a
binary file.

The BinaryReader Class

The BinaryReader class is used to read binary data from a file. A BinaryReader object is
created by passing a FileStream object to its constructor.
The following table shows some of the commonly used methods of
the BinaryReader class.

Sr.No Method Name & Purpose

.

1
Public Overridable Sub Close
It closes the BinaryReader object and the underlying stream.

2
Public Overridable Function Read As Integer
Reads the characters from the underlying stream and advances the current position of
the stream.

3
Public Overridable Function ReadBoolean As Boolean
Reads a Boolean value from the current stream and advances the current position of the
stream by one byte.

148
4
Public Overridable Function ReadByte As Byte
Reads the next byte from the current stream and advances the current position of the
stream by one byte.

5
Public Overridable Function ReadBytes (count As Integer) As Byte()
Reads the specified number of bytes from the current stream into a byte array and
advances the current position by that number of bytes.

6
Public Overridable Function ReadChar As Char
Reads the next character from the current stream and advances the current position of
the stream in accordance with the Encoding used and the specific character being read
from the stream.

7
Public Overridable Function ReadChars (count As Integer) As Char()
Reads the specified number of characters from the current stream, returns the data in a
character array, and advances the current position in accordance with the Encoding used
and the specific character being read from the stream.

8
Public Overridable Function ReadDouble As Double
Reads an 8-byte floating point value from the current stream and advances the current
position of the stream by eight bytes.

9
Public Overridable Function ReadInt32 As Integer
Reads a 4-byte signed integer from the current stream and advances the current position
of the stream by four bytes.

10
Public Overridable Function ReadString As String
Reads a string from the current stream. The string is prefixed with the length, encoded as
an integer seven bits at a time.

The BinaryWriter Class

The BinaryWriter class is used to write binary data to a stream. A BinaryWriter object is
created by passing a FileStream object to its constructor.
The following table shows some of the commonly used methods of the BinaryWriter class.

149
Sr.No Function Name & Description
.

1
Public Overridable Sub Close
It closes the BinaryWriter object and the underlying stream.

2
Public Overridable Sub Flush
Clears all buffers for the current writer and causes any buffered data to be written to the
underlying device.

3
Public Overridable Function Seek (offset As Integer, origin As SeekOrigin ) As
Long
Sets the position within the current stream.

4
Public Overridable Sub Write (value As Boolean)
Writes a one-byte Boolean value to the current stream, with 0 representing false and 1
representing true.

5
Public Overridable Sub Write (value As Byte)
Writes an unsigned byte to the current stream and advances the stream position by one
byte.

6
Public Overridable Sub Write (buffer As Byte())
Writes a byte array to the underlying stream.

7
Public Overridable Sub Write (ch As Char )
Writes a Unicode character to the current stream and advances the current position of
the stream in accordance with the Encoding used and the specific characters being
written to the stream.

8
Public Overridable Sub Write (chars As Char())
Writes a character array to the current stream and advances the current position of the
stream in accordance with the Encoding used and the specific characters being written to

150
 the stream.

9
Public Overridable Sub Write (value As Double )
Writes an eight-byte floating-point value to the current stream and advances the stream
position by eight bytes.

10
Public Overridable Sub Write (value As Integer )
Writes a four-byte signed integer to the current stream and advances the stream position
by four bytes.

11
Public Overridable Sub Write (value As String )
Writes a length-prefixed string to this stream in the current encoding of the BinaryWriter
and advances the current position of the stream in accordance with the encoding used
and the specific characters being written to the stream.

For complete list of methods, please visit Microsoft's documentation.

Example
The following example demonstrates reading and writing binary data −
Live Demo
Imports System.IO
Module fileProg
Sub Main()
Dim bw As BinaryWriter
Dim br As BinaryReader
Dim i As Integer = 25
Dim d As Double = 3.14157
Dim b As Boolean = True
Dim s As String = "I am happy"
'create the file

Try
bw = New BinaryWriter(New FileStream("mydata",
FileMode.Create))
Catch e As IOException
Console.WriteLine(e.Message + "\n Cannot create file.")
Return
End Try
'writing into the file

Try

151
 bw.Write(i)
bw.Write(d)
bw.Write(b)
bw.Write(s)
Catch e As IOException
Console.WriteLine(e.Message + "\n Cannot write to file.")
Return
End Try
bw.Close()
'reading from the file

Try
br = New BinaryReader(New FileStream("mydata",
FileMode.Open))
Catch e As IOException
Console.WriteLine(e.Message + "\n Cannot open file.")
Return
End Try

Try
i = br.ReadInt32()
Console.WriteLine("Integer data: {0}", i)
d = br.ReadDouble()
Console.WriteLine("Double data: {0}", d)
b = br.ReadBoolean()
Console.WriteLine("Boolean data: {0}", b)
s = br.ReadString()
Console.WriteLine("String data: {0}", s)
Catch e As IOException
Console.WriteLine(e.Message + "\n Cannot read from file.")
Return
End Try
br.Close()
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Integer data: 25
Double data: 3.14157
Boolean data: True
String data: I am happy
It involves reading from and writing into binary files.
The BinaryReader and BinaryWriter classes help to accomplish this.
3
VB.Net - Windows File System

152
 Previous Page
Next Page  
VB.Net allows you to work with the directories and files using various directory and file-
related classes like, the DirectoryInfo class and the FileInfo class.

The DirectoryInfo Class

The DirectoryInfo class is derived from the FileSystemInfo class. It has various methods
for creating, moving, and browsing through directories and subdirectories. This class
cannot be inherited.
Following are some commonly used properties of the DirectoryInfo class −

Sr.No Property Name & Description

.

1
Attributes
Gets the attributes for the current file or directory.

2
CreationTime
Gets the creation time of the current file or directory.

3
Exists
Gets a Boolean value indicating whether the directory exists.

4
Extension
Gets the string representing the file extension.

5
FullName
Gets the full path of the directory or file.

6
LastAccessTime
Gets the time the current file or directory was last accessed.

7
Name

153
 Gets the name of this DirectoryInfo instance.

Following are some commonly used methods of the DirectoryInfo class −

Sr.No Method Name & Purpose

.

1
Public Sub Create
Creates a directory.

2
Public Function CreateSubdirectory (path As String ) As DirectoryInfo
Creates a subdirectory or subdirectories on the specified path. The specified path can be
relative to this instance of the DirectoryInfo class.

3
Public Overrides Sub Delete
Deletes this DirectoryInfo if it is empty.

4
Public Function GetDirectories As DirectoryInfo()
Returns the subdirectories of the current directory.

5
Public Function GetFiles As FileInfo()
Returns a file list from the current directory.

For complete list of properties and methods please visit Microsoft's documentation.

The FileInfo Class

The FileInfo class is derived from the FileSystemInfo class. It has properties and
instance methods for creating, copying, deleting, moving, and opening of files, and helps in
the creation of FileStream objects. This class cannot be inherited.
Following are some commonly used properties of the FileInfo class −

Sr.No Property Name & Description

.

154
1
Attributes
Gets the attributes for the current file.

2
CreationTime
Gets the creation time of the current file.

3
Directory
Gets an instance of the directory, which the file belongs to.

4
Exists
Gets a Boolean value indicating whether the file exists.

5
Extension
Gets the string representing the file extension.

6
FullName
Gets the full path of the file.

7
LastAccessTime
Gets the time the current file was last accessed.

8
LastWriteTime
Gets the time of the last written activity of the file.

9
Length
Gets the size, in bytes, of the current file.

10
Name
Gets the name of the file.

Following are some commonly used methods of the FileInfo class −

155
Sr.No Method Name & Purpose
.

1
Public Function AppendText As StreamWriter
Creates a StreamWriter that appends text to the file represented by this instance of the
FileInfo.

2
Public Function Create As FileStream
Creates a file.

3
Public Overrides Sub Delete
Deletes a file permanently.

4
Public Sub MoveTo (destFileName As String )
Moves a specified file to a new location, providing the option to specify a new file name.

5
Public Function Open (mode As FileMode) As FileStream
Opens a file in the specified mode.

6
Public Function Open (mode As FileMode, access As FileAccess ) As FileStream
Opens a file in the specified mode with read, write, or read/write access.

7
Public Function Open (mode As FileMode, access As FileAccess, share As
FileShare ) As FileStream
Opens a file in the specified mode with read, write, or read/write access and the specified
sharing option.

8
Public Function OpenRead As FileStream
Creates a read-only FileStream

9
Public Function OpenWrite As FileStream
Creates a write-only FileStream.

156
 For complete list of properties and methods, please visit Microsoft's documentation

Example
The following example demonstrates the use of the above-mentioned classes −
Imports System.IO
Module fileProg
Sub Main()
'creating a DirectoryInfo object
Dim mydir As DirectoryInfo = New DirectoryInfo("c:\Windows")
' getting the files in the directory, their names and size
Dim f As FileInfo() = mydir.GetFiles()
Dim file As FileInfo

For Each file In f

Console.WriteLine("File Name: {0} Size: {1} ", file.Name,
file.Length)
Next file
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When you compile and run the program, it displays the names of files and their size in the
Windows directory.
It gives a VB.Net programmer the ability to browse and locate Windows files and
directories.

VB.Net - Basic Controls

 Previous Page
Next Page  

An object is a type of user interface element you create on a Visual Basic form by
using a toolbox control. In fact, in Visual Basic, the form itself is an object. Every Visual
Basic control consists of three important elements −
 Properties which describe the object,
 Methods cause an object to do something and
 Events are what happens when an object does something.

157
Control Properties
All the Visual Basic Objects can be moved, resized or customized by setting their
properties. A property is a value or characteristic held by a Visual Basic object, such as
Caption or Fore Color.
Properties can be set at design time by using the Properties window or at run time by
using statements in the program code.
Object. Property = Value

Where
 Object is the name of the object you're customizing.
 Property is the characteristic you want to change.
 Value is the new property setting.
For example,
Form1.Caption = "Hello"

You can set any of the form properties using Properties Window. Most of the properties
can be set or read during application execution. You can refer to Microsoft
documentation for a complete list of properties associated with different controls and
restrictions applied to them.

Control Methods
A method is a procedure created as a member of a class and they cause an object to
do something. Methods are used to access or manipulate the characteristics of an
object or a variable. There are mainly two categories of methods you will use in your
classes −
 If you are using a control such as one of those provided by the Toolbox, you can
call any of its public methods. The requirements of such a method depend on
the class being used.
 If none of the existing methods can perform your desired task, you can add a
method to a class.
For example, the MessageBox control has a method named Show, which is called in
the code snippet below −
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e
As System.EventArgs)
Handles Button1.Click
MessageBox.Show("Hello, World")
End Sub
End Class

158
 Control Events
An event is a signal that informs an application that something important has occurred.
For example, when a user clicks a control on a form, the form can raise a Click event
and call a procedure that handles the event. There are various types of events
associated with a Form like click, double click, close, load, resize, etc.
Following is the default structure of a form Load event handler subroutine. You can
see this code by double clicking the code which will give you a complete list of the all
events associated with Form control −
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles
MyBase.Load
'event handler code goes here
End Sub

Here, Handles MyBase.Load indicates that Form1_Load() subroutine

handles Load event. Similar way, you can check stub code for click, double click. If you
want to initialize some variables like properties, etc., then you will keep such code
inside Form1_Load() subroutine. Here, important point to note is the name of the event
handler, which is by default Form1_Load, but you can change this name based on your
naming convention you use in your application programming.

Basic Controls
VB.Net provides a huge variety of controls that help you to create rich user interface.
Functionalities of all these controls are defined in the respective control classes. The
control classes are defined in the System.Windows.Forms namespace.
The following table lists some of the commonly used controls −
Sr.N Widget & Description
o.

1
VB.Net - Forms

 Previous Page
Next Page  
Let's start with creating a Window Forms Application by following the following steps in
Microsoft Visual Studio - File → New Project → Windows Forms Applications
Finally, select OK, Microsoft Visual Studio creates your project and displays following
window Form with a name Form1.

159
Visual Basic Form is the container for all the controls that make up the user interface.
Every window you see in a running visual basic application is a form, thus the terms form
and window describe the same entity. Visual Studio creates a default form for you when
you create a Windows Forms Application.
Every form will have title bar on which the form's caption is displayed and there will be
buttons to close, maximize and minimize the form shown below −

160
If you click the icon on the top left corner, it opens the control menu, which contains the
various commands to control the form like to move control from one place to another
place, to maximize or minimize the form or to close the form.

Form Properties
Following table lists down various important properties related to a form. These properties
can be set or read during application execution. You can refer to Microsoft documentation
for a complete list of properties associated with a Form control −

S. Properties Description
N

1
AcceptButton The button that's automatically activated when you press Enter, no
matter which control has the focus at the time. Usually the OK
button on a form is set as AcceptButton for a form.

2
CancelButton The button that's automatically activated when you hit the Esc key.
Usually, the Cancel button on a form is set as CancelButton for a

161
 form.

3
AutoScale This Boolean property determines whether the controls you place on
the form are automatically scaled to the height of the current font.
The default value of this property is True. This is a property of the
form, but it affects the controls on the form.

4
AutoScroll This Boolean property indicates whether scroll bars will be
automatically attached to the form if it is resized to a point that not all
its controls are visible.

5
AutoScrollMinSize This property lets you specify the minimum size of the form, before
the scroll bars are attached.

6
AutoScrollPositio The AutoScrollPosition is the number of pixels by which the two
n scroll bars were displaced from their initial locations.

7
BackColor Sets the form background color.

8
BorderStyle The BorderStyle property determines the style of the form's border
and the appearance of the form −
 None − Borderless window that can't be resized.
 Sizable − This is default value and will be used for resizable
window that's used for displaying regular forms.
 Fixed3D − Window with a visible border, "raised" relative to
the main area. In this case, windows can't be resized.
 FixedDialog − A fixed window, used to create dialog boxes.
 FixedSingle − A fixed window with a single line border.
 FixedToolWindow − A fixed window with a Close button only.
It looks like the toolbar displayed by the drawing and imaging
applications.
 SizableToolWindow − Same as the FixedToolWindow but
resizable. In addition, its caption font is smaller than the
usual.

9
ControlBox By default, this property is True and you can set it to False to hide

162
 the icon and disable the Control menu.

10
Enabled If True, allows the form to respond to mouse and keyboard events; if
False, disables form.

11
Font This property specify font type, style, size

12
HelpButton Determines whether a Help button should be displayed in the
caption box of the form.

13
Height This is the height of the Form in pixels.

14
MinimizeBox By default, this property is True and you can set it to False to hide
the Minimize button on the title bar.

15
MaximizeBox By default, this property is True and you can set it to False to hide
the Maximize button on the title bar.

16
MinimumSize This specifies the minimum height and width of the window you can
minimize.

17
MaximumSize This specifies the maximum height and width of the window you
maximize.

18
Name This is the actual name of the form.

19
StartPosition This property determines the initial position of the form when it's first
displayed. It will have any of the following values −
 CenterParent − The form is centered in the area of its parent
form.
 CenterScreen − The form is centered on the monitor.
 Manual − The location and size of the form will determine its
starting position.
 WindowsDefaultBounds − The form is positioned at the

163
164
165
 Performs scaling of the form.

15
Select
Activates the control.

16
SendToBack
Sends the control to the back of the z-order.

17
SetAutoScrollMargin
Sets the size of the auto-scroll margins.

18
SetDesktopBounds
Sets the bounds of the form in desktop coordinates.

19
SetDesktopLocation
Sets the location of the form in desktop coordinates.

20
SetDisplayRectLocation
Positions the display window to the specified value.

21
Show
Displays the control to the user.

22
ShowDialog
Shows the form as a modal dialog box.

Form Events
Following table lists down various important events related to a form. You can refer to
Microsoft documentation for a complete list of events associated with forms control −

Sr.No Event Description

.

166
1
Activated Occurs when the form is activated in code or by the user.

2
Click Occurs when the form is clicked.

3
Closed Occurs before the form is closed.

4
Closing Occurs when the form is closing.

5
DoubleClick Occurs when the form control is double-clicked.

6
DragDrop Occurs when a drag-and-drop operation is completed.

7
Enter Occurs when the form is entered.

8
GotFocus Occurs when the form control receives focus.

9
HelpButtonClicke Occurs when the Help button is clicked.
d

10
KeyDown Occurs when a key is pressed while the form has focus.

11
KeyPress Occurs when a key is pressed while the form has focus.

12
KeyUp Occurs when a key is released while the form has focus.

13
Load Occurs before a form is displayed for the first time.

14
LostFocus Occurs when the form loses focus.

15
MouseDown Occurs when the mouse pointer is over the form and a mouse
button is pressed.

167
16
MouseEnter Occurs when the mouse pointer enters the form.

17
MouseHover Occurs when the mouse pointer rests on the form.

18
MouseLeave Occurs when the mouse pointer leaves the form.

19
MouseMove Occurs when the mouse pointer is moved over the form.

20
MouseUp Occurs when the mouse pointer is over the form and a mouse
button is released.

21
MouseWheel Occurs when the mouse wheel moves while the control has focus.

22
Move Occurs when the form is moved.

23
Resize Occurs when the control is resized.

24
Scroll Occurs when the user or code scrolls through the client area.

25
Shown Occurs whenever the form is first displayed.

26
VisibleChanged Occurs when the Visible property value changes.

Example
Following is an example, which shows how we create two buttons at the time of form load
event and different properties are being set at the same time.
Because Form1 is being referenced within its own event handler, so it will be written
as Me instead of using its name, but if we access the same form inside any other control's
event handler, then it will be accessed using its name Form1.
Let's double click on the Form and put the follow code in the opened window.
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles
MyBase.Load
' Create two buttons to use as the accept and cancel buttons.

168
 Dim button1 As New Button()
Dim button2 As New Button()
' Set the text of button1 to "OK".

button1.Text = "OK"
' Set the position of the button on the form.
button1.Location = New Point(10, 10)
' Set the text of button2 to "Cancel".

button2.Text = "Cancel"
' Set the position of the button based on the location of
button1.
button2.Location = _
New Point(button1.Left, button1.Height + button1.Top + 10)
' Set the caption bar text of the form.

Me.Text = "tutorialspoint.com"
' Display a help button on the form.
Me.HelpButton = True
' Define the border style of the form to a dialog box.

Me.FormBorderStyle = FormBorderStyle.FixedDialog
' Set the MaximizeBox to false to remove the maximize box.
Me.MaximizeBox = False
' Set the MinimizeBox to false to remove the minimize box.

Me.MinimizeBox = False
' Set the accept button of the form to button1.
Me.AcceptButton = button1
' Set the cancel button of the form to button2.

Me.CancelButton = button2
' Set the start position of the form to the center of the
screen.
Me.StartPosition = FormStartPosition.CenterScreen
' Set window width and height

Me.Height = 300
Me.Width = 560
' Add button1 to the form.

Me.Controls.Add(button1)
' Add button2 to the form.
Me.Controls.Add(button2)
End Sub
End Class

When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the Microsoft
Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window −

169
 The container for all the controls that make up the user interface.
2
VB.Net - TextBox Control

 Previous Page
Next Page  
Text box controls allow entering text on a form at runtime. By default, it takes a single line
of text, however, you can make it accept multiple texts and even add scroll bars to it.
Let's create a text box by dragging a Text Box control from the Toolbox and dropping it on
the form.

170
The Properties of the TextBox Control
The following are some of the commonly used properties of the TextBox control −

Sr.No Property & Description

.

1
AcceptsReturn
Gets or sets a value indicating whether pressing ENTER in a multiline TextBox control
creates a new line of text in the control or activates the default button for the form.

2
AutoCompleteCustomSource
Gets or sets a custom System.Collections.Specialized.StringCollection to use when the
AutoCompleteSourceproperty is set to CustomSource.

3
AutoCompleteMode
Gets or sets an option that controls how automatic completion works for the TextBox.

4
AutoCompleteSource
Gets or sets a value specifying the source of complete strings used for automatic
completion.

171
5
CharacterCasing
Gets or sets whether the TextBox control modifies the case of characters as they are
typed.

6
Font
Gets or sets the font of the text displayed by the control.

7
FontHeight
Gets or sets the height of the font of the control.

8
ForeColor
Gets or sets the foreground color of the control.

9
Lines
Gets or sets the lines of text in a text box control.

10
Multiline
Gets or sets a value indicating whether this is a multiline TextBox control.

11
PasswordChar
Gets or sets the character used to mask characters of a password in a single-line
TextBox control.

12
ReadOnly
Gets or sets a value indicating whether text in the text box is read-only.

13
ScrollBars
Gets or sets which scroll bars should appear in a multiline TextBox control. This property
has values −

 None
 Horizontal
 Vertical

172
173
3
Copy
Copies the current selection in the text box to the Clipboard.

4
Cut
Moves the current selection in the text box to the Clipboard.

5
Paste
Replaces the current selection in the text box with the contents of the Clipboard.

6
Paste(String)
Sets the selected text to the specified text without clearing the undo buffer.

7
ResetText
Resets the Text property to its default value.

8
ToString
Returns a string that represents the TextBoxBase control.

9
Undo
Undoes the last edit operation in the text box.

Events of the TextBox Control

The following are some of the commonly used events of the Text control −

Sr.No Event & Description

.

1
Click
Occurs when the control is clicked.

2
DoubleClick

174
 Occurs when the control is double-clicked.

3
TextAlignChanged
Occurs when the TextAlign property value changes.

Example
In this example, we create three text boxes and use the Click event of a button to display
the entered text using a message box. Take the following steps −
 Drag and drop three Label controls and three TextBox controls on the form.
 Change the texts on the labels to: Name, Organization and Comments, respectively.
 Change the names of the text boxes to txtName, txtOrg and txtComment,
respectively.
 Drag and drop a button control on the form. Set its name to btnMessage and its text
property to 'Send Message'.
 Click the button to add the Click event in the code window and add the following
code.
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _
Handles MyBase.Load
' Set the caption bar text of the form.
Me.Text = "tutorialspont.com"
End Sub

Private Sub btnMessage_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _

Handles btnMessage.Click
MessageBox.Show("Thank you " + txtName.Text + " from " +
txtOrg.Text)
End Sub
End Class

When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the Microsoft
Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window −

175
 Clicking the Send Message button would show the following message box −

It represents a Windows text box control.

3
VB.Net - Label Control

 Previous Page
Next Page  
The Label control represents a standard Windows label. It is generally used to display
some informative text on the GUI which is not changed during runtime.
Let's create a label by dragging a Label control from the Toolbox and dropping it on the
form.

176
Properties of the Label Control
The following are some of the commonly used properties of the Label control −

Sr.No Property & Description

.

1
Autosize
Gets or sets a value specifying if the control should be automatically resized to display all
its contents.

2
BorderStyle
Gets or sets the border style for the control.

3
FlatStyle
Gets or sets the flat style appearance of the Label control

4
Font
Gets or sets the font of the text displayed by the control.

5
FontHeight
Gets or sets the height of the font of the control.

177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
6
KeyDown
Occurs when a key is pressed when the control has focus.

7
KeyPress
Occurs when a key is pressed when the control has focus.

8
KeyUp
Occurs when a key is released when the control has focus.

9
Leave
Occurs when input focus leaves the PictureBox.

10
LoadCompleted
Occurs when the asynchronous image-load operation is completed, been canceled, or
raised an exception.

11
LoadProgressChanged
Occurs when the progress of an asynchronous image-loading operation has changed.

12
Resize
Occurs when the control is resized.

13
RightToLeftChanged
Occurs when the value of the RightToLeft property changes.

14
SizeChanged
Occurs when the Size property value changes.

15
SizeModeChanged
Occurs when SizeMode changes.

223
16
TabIndexChanged
Occurs when the value of the TabIndex property changes.

17
TabStopChanged
Occurs when the value of the TabStop property changes.

18
TextChanged
Occurs when the value of the Text property changes.

Example
In this example, let us put a picture box and a button control on the form. We set the image
property of the picture box to logo.png, as we used before. The Click event of the button
named Button1 is coded to stretch the image to a specified size −
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles
MyBase.Load
' Set the caption bar text of the form.
Me.Text = "tutorialspoint.com"
End Sub

Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles

Button1.Click
PictureBox1.ClientSize = New Size(300, 300)
PictureBox1.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage
End Sub
End Class

Design View −

224
When the application is executed, it displays −

Clicking on the button results in −

225
 It represents a Windows picture box control for displaying an image.
10
VB.Net - ProgressBar Control

 Previous Page
Next Page  
It represents a Windows progress bar control. It is used to provide visual feedback to your
users about the status of some task. It shows a bar that fills in from left to right as the
operation progresses.
Let's click on a ProgressBar control from the Toolbox and place it on the form.

226
The main properties of a progress bar are Value, Maximum and Minimum. The Minimum
and Maximum properties are used to set the minimum and maximum values that the
progress bar can display. The Value property specifies the current position of the progress
bar.
The ProgressBar control is typically used when an application performs tasks such as
copying files or printing documents. To a user the application might look unresponsive if
there is no visual cue. In such cases, using the ProgressBar allows the programmer to
provide a visual status of progress.

Properties of the ProgressBar Control

The following are some of the commonly used properties of the ProgressBar control −

Sr.No Property & Description

.

1
AllowDrop
Overrides Control.AllowDrop.

2
BackgroundImage
Gets or sets the background image for the ProgressBar control.

3
BackgroundImageLayout
Gets or sets the layout of the background image of the progress bar.

227
4
CausesValidation
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the control, when it receives focus, causes
validation to be performed on any controls that require validation.

5
Font
Gets or sets the font of text in the ProgressBar.

6
ImeMode
Gets or sets the input method editor (IME) for the ProgressBar.

7
ImeModeBase
Gets or sets the IME mode of a control.

8
MarqueeAnimationSpeed
Gets or sets the time period, in milliseconds, that it takes the progress block to scroll
across the progress bar.

9
Maximum
Gets or sets the maximum value of the range of the control.v

10
Minimum
Gets or sets the minimum value of the range of the control.

11
Padding
Gets or sets the space between the edges of a ProgressBar control and its contents.

12
RightToLeftLayout
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the ProgressBar and any text it contains is
displayed from right to left.

13
Step

228
 Gets or sets the amount by which a call to the PerformStep method increases the current
position of the progress bar.

14
Style
Gets or sets the manner in which progress should be indicated on the progress bar.

15
Value
Gets or sets the current position of the progress bar.v

Methods of the ProgressBar Control

The following are some of the commonly used methods of the ProgressBar control −

Sr.No Method Name & Description

.

1
Increment
Increments the current position of the ProgressBar control by specified amount.

2
PerformStep
Increments the value by the specified step.

3
ResetText
Resets the Text property to its default value.

4
ToString
Returns a string that represents the progress bar control.

Events of the ProgressBar Control

The following are some of the commonly used events of the ProgressBar control −

Sr.No Event & Description

.

229
1
BackgroundImageChanged
Occurs when the value of the BackgroundImage property changes.

2
BackgroundImageLayoutChanged
Occurs when the value of the BackgroundImageLayout property changes.

3
CausesValidationChanged
Occurs when the value of the CausesValidation property changes.

4
Click
Occurs when the control is clicked.

5
DoubleClick
Occurs when the user double-clicks the control.

6
Enter
Occurs when focus enters the control.

7
FontChanged
Occurs when the value of the Font property changes.

8
ImeModeChanged
Occurs when the value of the ImeMode property changes.

9
KeyDown
Occurs when the user presses a key while the control has focus.

10
KeyPress
Occurs when the user presses a key while the control has focus.

11
KeyUp

230
 Occurs when the user releases a key while the control has focus.

12
Leave
Occurs when focus leaves the ProgressBar control.

13
MouseClick
Occurs when the control is clicked by the mouse.

14
MouseDoubleClick
Occurs when the user double-clicks the control.

15
PaddingChanged
Occurs when the value of the Padding property changes.

16
Paint
Occurs when the ProgressBar is drawn.

17
RightToLeftLayoutChanged
Occurs when the RightToLeftLayout property changes.

18
TabStopChanged
Occurs when the TabStop property changes.

19
TextChanged
Occurs when the Text property changes.

Example
In this example, let us create a progress bar at runtime. Let's double click on the Form and
put the follow code in the opened window.
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _

231
 Handles MyBase.Load
'create two progress bars
Dim ProgressBar1 As ProgressBar
Dim ProgressBar2 As ProgressBar
ProgressBar1 = New ProgressBar()
ProgressBar2 = New ProgressBar()
'set position
ProgressBar1.Location = New Point(10, 10)
ProgressBar2.Location = New Point(10, 50)
'set values
ProgressBar1.Minimum = 0
ProgressBar1.Maximum = 200
ProgressBar1.Value = 130
ProgressBar2.Minimum = 0
ProgressBar2.Maximum = 100
ProgressBar2.Value = 40
'add the progress bar to the form
Me.Controls.Add(ProgressBar1)
Me.Controls.Add(ProgressBar2)
' Set the caption bar text of the form.
Me.Text = "tutorialspoint.com"
End Sub
End Class

When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the Microsoft
Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window −

It represents a Windows progress bar control.

11
VB.Net - ScrollBar Control

 Previous Page

232
Next Page  
The ScrollBar controls display vertical and horizontal scroll bars on the form. This is used
for navigating through large amount of information. There are two types of scroll bar
controls: HScrollBar for horizontal scroll bars and VScrollBar for vertical scroll bars.
These are used independently from each other.
Let's click on HScrollBar control and VScrollBar control from the Toolbox and place them
on the form.

Properties of the ScrollBar Control

The following are some of the commonly used properties of the ScrollBar control −

Sr.No Property & Description

.

1
AutoSize
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the ScrollBar is automatically resized to fit its
contents.

2
BackColor
Gets or sets the background color for the control.

3
ForeColor

233
 Gets or sets the foreground color of the scroll bar control.

4
ImeMode
Gets or sets the Input Method Editor (IME) mode supported by this control.

5
LargeChange
Gets or sets a value to be added to or subtracted from the Value property when the scroll
box is moved a large distance.

6
Maximum
Gets or sets the upper limit of values of the scrollable range.

7
Minimum
Gets or sets the lower limit of values of the scrollable range.

8
SmallChange
Gets or sets the value to be added to or subtracted from the Value property when the
scroll box is moved a small distance.

9
Value
Gets or sets a numeric value that represents the current position of the scroll box on the
scroll bar control.

Methods of the ScrollBar Control

The following are some of the commonly used methods of the ScrollBar control −

Sr.No Method Name & Description

.

1
OnClick
Generates the Click event.

234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
 Gets the previous visible tree node.

20
Tag
Gets or sets the object that contains data about the tree node.

21
Text
Gets or sets the text displayed in the label of the tree node.

22
ToolTipText
Gets or sets the text that appears when the mouse pointer hovers over a TreeNode.

23
TreeView
Gets the parent tree view that the tree node is assigned to.

Methods of the TreeNode Class

The following are some of the commonly used methods of the TreeNode class −

Sr.No Method Name & Description

.

1
Collapse
Collapses the tree node.

2
Expand
Expands the tree node.

3
ExpandAll
Expands all the child tree nodes.

4
GetNodeCount

252
 Returns the number of child tree nodes.

5
Remove
Removes the current tree node from the tree view control.

6
Toggle
Toggles the tree node to either the expanded or collapsed state.

7
ToString
Returns a string that represents the current object.

Example
In this example, let us create a tree view at runtime. Let's double click on the Form and put
the follow code in the opened window.
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles
MyBase.Load
'create a new TreeView
Dim TreeView1 As TreeView
TreeView1 = New TreeView()
TreeView1.Location = New Point(10, 10)
TreeView1.Size = New Size(150, 150)

Me.Controls.Add(TreeView1)
TreeView1.Nodes.Clear()
'Creating the root node
Dim root = New TreeNode("Application")
TreeView1.Nodes.Add(root)
TreeView1.Nodes(0).Nodes.Add(New TreeNode("Project 1"))
'Creating child nodes under the first child

For loopindex As Integer = 1 To 4

TreeView1.Nodes(0).Nodes(0).Nodes.Add(New _
TreeNode("Sub Project" & Str(loopindex)))
Next loopindex
' creating child nodes under the root
TreeView1.Nodes(0).Nodes.Add(New TreeNode("Project 6"))
'creating child nodes under the created child node

For loopindex As Integer = 1 To 3

TreeView1.Nodes(0).Nodes(1).Nodes.Add(New _

253
 TreeNode("Project File" & Str(loopindex)))
Next loopindex
' Set the caption bar text of the form.
Me.Text = "tutorialspoint.com"
End Sub
End Class

When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the Microsoft
Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window −

You can expand the nodes to see the child nodes −

It displays a hierarchical collection of labeled items, each represented by a TreeNode.

14
VB.Net - ListView Control

254
 Previous Page
Next Page  
The ListView control is used to display a list of items. Along with the TreeView control, it
allows you to create a Windows Explorer like interface.
Let's click on a ListView control from the Toolbox and place it on the form.

The ListView control displays a list of items along with icons. The Item property of the
ListView control allows you to add and remove items from it. The SelectedItem property
contains a collection of the selected items. The MultiSelect property allows you to set
select more than one item in the list view. The CheckBoxes property allows you to set
check boxes next to the items.

Properties of the ListView Control

The following are some of the commonly used properties of the ListView control −

Sr.N Property & Description

o

1
Alignment
Gets or sets the alignment of items in the control.

2
AutoArrange

255
 Gets or sets whether icons are automatically kept arranged.

3
BackColor
Gets or sets the background color.

4
CheckBoxes
Gets or sets a value indicating whether a check box appears next to each item in the
control.

5
CheckedIndices
Gets the indexes of the currently checked items in the control.

6
CheckedItems
Gets the currently checked items in the control.

7
Columns
Gets the collection of all column headers that appear in the control.

8
GridLines
Gets or sets a value indicating whether grid lines appear between the rows and columns
containing the items and subitems in the control.

9
HeaderStyle
Gets or sets the column header style.

10
HideSelection
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the selected item in the control remains
highlighted when the control loses focus.

11
HotTracking
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the text of an item or subitem has the appearance
of a hyperlink when the mouse pointer passes over it.

256
12
HoverSelection
Gets or sets a value indicating whether an item is automatically selected when the mouse
pointer remains over the item for a few seconds.

13
InsertionMark
Gets an object used to indicate the expected drop location when an item is dragged within
a ListView control.

14
Items
Gets a collection containing all items in the control.

15
LabelWrap
Gets or sets a value indicating whether item labels wrap when items are displayed in the
control as icons.

16
LargeImageList
Gets or sets the ImageList to use when displaying items as large icons in the control.

17
MultiSelect
Gets or sets a value indicating whether multiple items can be selected.

18
RightToLeftLayout
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the control is laid out from right to left.

19
Scrollable
Gets or sets a value indicating whether a scroll bar is added to the control when there is
not enough room to display all items.

20
SelectedIndices
Gets the indexes of the selected items in the control.

21
SelectedItems

257
 Gets the items that are selected in the control.

22
ShowGroups
Gets or sets a value indicating whether items are displayed in groups.

23
ShowItemToolTips
Gets or sets a value indicating whether ToolTips are shown for the ListViewItem objects
contained in theListView.

24
SmallImageList
Gets or sets the ImageList to use when displaying items as small icons in the control.

25
Sorting
Gets or sets the sort order for items in the control.

26
StateImageList
Gets or sets the ImageList associated with application-defined states in the control.

27
TopItem
Gets or sets the first visible item in the control.

28
View
Gets or sets how items are displayed in the control. This property has the following
values:

 LargeIcon − displays large items with a large 32 x 32 pixels icon.

 SmallIcon − displays items with a small 16 x 16 pixels icon
 List − displays small icons always in one column
 Details − displays items in multiple columns with column headers and fields
 Tile − displays items as full-size icons with item labels and sub-item information.

29
VirtualListSize
Gets or sets the number of ListViewItem objects contained in the list when in virtual mode.

258
30
VirtualMode
Gets or sets a value indicating whether you have provided your own data-management
operations for the ListView control.

Methods of the ListView Control

The following are some of the commonly used methods of the ListView control −

Sr.No Method Name & Description

.

1
Clear
Removes all items from the ListView control.

1
ToString
Returns a string containing the string representation of the control.

Events of the ListView Control

The following are some of the commonly used events of the ListView control −

Sr.No Event & Description

.

1
ColumnClick
Occurs when a column header is clicked.

2
ItemCheck
Occurs when an item in the control is checked or unchecked.

3
SelectedIndexChanged
Occurs when the selected index is changed.

4
TextChanged
Occurs when the Text property is changed.

259
Example
In this example, let us create a list view at runtime. Let's double click on the Form and put
the follow code in the opened window.
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles
MyBase.Load
'create a new ListView
Dim ListView1 As ListView
ListView1 = New ListView()
ListView1.Location = New Point(10, 10)
ListView1.Size = New Size(150, 150)

Me.Controls.Add(ListView1)
'Creating the list items
Dim ListItem1 As ListViewItem
ListItem1 = ListView1.Items.Add("Item 1")

Dim ListItem2 As ListViewItem

ListItem2 = ListView1.Items.Add("Item 2")

Dim ListItem3 As ListViewItem

ListItem3 = ListView1.Items.Add("Item 3")

Dim ListItem4 As ListViewItem

ListItem4 = ListView1.Items.Add("Item 4")
'set the view property

ListView1.View = View.SmallIcon
' Set the caption bar text of the form.
Me.Text = "tutorialspoint.com"
End Sub
End Class

When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the Microsoft
Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window −

260
 It represents a Windows list view control, which
displays a collection of items that can be displayed using one of four different views.

VB.Net - Dialog Boxes

 Previous Page
Next Page  
There are many built-in dialog boxes to be used in Windows forms for various tasks
like opening and saving files, printing a page, providing choices for colors, fonts, page
setup, etc., to the user of an application. These built-in dialog boxes reduce the
developer's time and workload.
All of these dialog box control classes inherit from the CommonDialog class and
override the RunDialog() function of the base class to create the specific dialog box.
The RunDialog() function is automatically invoked when a user of a dialog box calls
its ShowDialog() function.
The ShowDialog method is used to display all the dialog box controls at run-time. It
returns a value of the type of DialogResult enumeration. The values of DialogResult
enumeration are −
 Abort − returns DialogResult.Abort value, when user clicks an Abort button.
 Cancel − returns DialogResult.Cancel, when user clicks a Cancel button.
 Ignore − returns DialogResult.Ignore, when user clicks an Ignore button.
 No − returns DialogResult.No, when user clicks a No button.
 None − returns nothing and the dialog box continues running.

261
  OK − returns DialogResult.OK, when user clicks an OK button
 Retry − returns DialogResult.Retry , when user clicks an Retry button
 Yes − returns DialogResult.Yes, when user clicks an Yes button
The following diagram shows the common dialog class inheritance −

All these above-mentioned classes have corresponding controls that could be added
from the Toolbox during design time. You can include relevant functionality of these
classes to your application, either by instantiating the class programmatically or by
using relevant controls.
When you double click any of the dialog controls in the toolbox or drag the control onto
the form, it appears in the Component tray at the bottom of the Windows Forms
Designer, they do not directly show up on the form.
The following table lists the commonly used dialog box controls. Click the following
links to check their detail −

Sr.No Control & Description

.

1
VB.Net - ColorDialog Control

 Previous Page
Next Page  

The ColorDialog control class represents a common dialog box that displays available colo

262
with controls that enable the user to define custom colors. It lets the user select a color.
The main property of the ColorDialog control is Color, which returns a Color object.
Following is the Color dialog box −

Properties of the ColorDialog Control

The following are some of the commonly used properties of the ColorDialog control −

Sr.No Property & Description

.

1
AllowFullOpen
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the user can use the dialog box to define
colors.

2
AnyColor
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box displays all available color
set of basic colors.

3
CanRaiseEvents

263
 Gets a value indicating whether the component can raise an event.

4
Color
Gets or sets the color selected by the user.

5
CustomColors
Gets or sets the set of custom colors shown in the dialog box.

6
FullOpen
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the controls used to create custom col
visible when the dialog box is opened.

7
ShowHelp
Gets or sets a value indicating whether a Help button appears in the color dialog b

8
SolidColorOnly
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box will restrict users to selectin
colors only.

Methods of the ColorDialog Control

The following are some of the commonly used methods of the ColorDialog control −

Sr.No Method Name & Description

.

1
Reset
Resets all options to their default values, the last selected color to black, and the
colors to their default values.

2
RunDialog
When overridden in a derived class, specifies a common dialog box.

264
3
ShowDialog
Runs a common dialog box with a default owner.

Events of the ColorDialog Control

The following are some of the commonly used events of the ColorDialog control −

Sr.No Event & Description

.

1
HelpRequest
Occurs when the user clicks the Help button on a common dialog box.

Example
In this example, let's change the forecolor of a label control using the color dialog box. T
following steps −
 Drag and drop a label control, a button control and a ColorDialog control on the form.
 Set the Text property of the label and the button control to 'Give me a new Color' and
Color', respectively.
 Change the font of the label as per your likings.
 Double-click the Change Color button and modify the code of the Click event.
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles
Button1.Click
If ColorDialog1.ShowDialog <> Windows.Forms.DialogResult.Cancel Then
Label1.ForeColor = ColorDialog1.Color
End If
End Sub

When the application is compiled and run using Start button available at the Microsoft Visu
tool bar, it will show the following window −

265
 Clicking on the Change Color button, the color dialog appears, select a color and click
button. The selected color will be applied as the forecolor of the text of the label.
It represents a common dialog box that displays available colors along with controls that en
user to define custom colors.

2
VB.Net - FontDialog Control

 Previous Page
Next Page  

It prompts the user to choose a font from among those installed on the local computer and
user select the font, font size, and color. It returns the Font and Color objects.
Following is the Font dialog box −

266
By default, the Color ComboBox is not shown on the Font dialog box. You sho
the ShowColor property of the FontDialog control to be True.

Properties of the FontDialog Control

The following are some of the commonly used properties of the FontDialog control −

Sr.No Property & Description

.

1
AllowSimulations
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box allows graphics device in
(GDI) font simulations.

2
AllowVectorFonts
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box allows vector font selections

3
AllowVerticalFonts
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box displays both vertic
horizontal fonts, or only horizontal fonts.

267
4
Color
Gets or sets the selected font color.

5
FixedPitchOnly
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box allows only the selection o
pitch fonts.

6
Font
Gets or sets the selected font.

7
FontMustExist
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box specifies an error conditio
user attempts to select a font or style that does not exist.

8
MaxSize
Gets or sets the maximum point size a user can select.

9
MinSize
Gets or sets the minimum point size a user can select.

10
ScriptsOnly
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box allows selection of fonts for
OEM and Symbol character sets, as well as the ANSI character set.

11
ShowApply
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box contains an Apply
button.

12
ShowColor
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box displays the color choice.

268
13
ShowEffects
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box contains controls that al
user to specify strikethrough, underline, and text color options.

14
ShowHelp
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box displays a Help button.

Methods of the FontDialog Control

The following are some of the commonly used methods of the FontDialog control −

Sr.No Method Name & Description

.

1
Reset
Resets all options to their default values.

2
RunDialog
When overridden in a derived class, specifies a common dialog box.

3
ShowDialog
Runs a common dialog box with a default owner.

Events of the FontDialog Control

The following are some of the commonly used events of the FontDialog control −

Sr.No. Event & Description

1
Apply
Occurs when the Apply button on the font dialog box is clicked.

Example
In this example, let's change the font and color of the text from a rich text control using
dialog box. Take the following steps −

269
  Drag and drop a RichTextBox control, a Button control and a FontDialog control on th
 Set the Text property of the button control to 'Change Font'.
 Set the ShowColor property of the FontDialog control to True.
 Double-click the Change Color button and modify the code of the Click event −
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles
Button1.Click
If FontDialog1.ShowDialog <> Windows.Forms.DialogResult.Cancel Then
RichTextBox1.ForeColor = FontDialog1.Color
RichTextBox1.Font = FontDialog1.Font
End If
End Sub

When the application is compiled and run using Start button available at the Microsoft Visu
tool bar, it will show the following window −

Enter some text and Click on the Change Font button.

270
 The Font dialog appears, select a font and a color and click the OK button. The selected
color will be applied as the font and fore color of the text of the rich text box.

It prompts the user to choose a font from amon

installed on the local computer and lets the user select the font, font size, and color.

3
VB.Net - OpenFileDialog Control

 Previous Page
Next Page  

The OpenFileDialog control prompts the user to open a file and allows the user to select
open. The user can check if the file exists and then open it. The OpenFileDialog cont
inherits from the abstract class FileDialog.
If the ShowReadOnly property is set to True, then a read-only check box appears in the dia
You can also set the ReadOnlyChecked property to True, so that the read-only check box
checked.
Following is the Open File dialog box −

271
Properties of the OpenFileDialog Control
The following are some of the commonly used properties of the OpenFileDialog control −

Sr.No Property & Description

.

1
AddExtension
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box automatically adds an exten
a file name if the user omits the extension.

2
AutoUpgradeEnabled
Gets or sets a value indicating whether this FileDialog instance should autom
upgrade appearance and behavior when running on Windows Vista.

3
CheckFileExists
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box displays a warning if th
specifies a file name that does not exist.

4
CheckPathExists

272
273
274
275
 Click on the Load Image File button to load an image stored in your computer.

It prompts the user to open a file an

the user to select a file to open.

4
VB.Net - SaveFileDialog Control

 Previous Page
Next Page  

The SaveFileDialog control prompts the user to select a location for saving a file and al
user to specify the name of the file to save data. The SaveFileDialog control class inherits
abstract class FileDialog.

276
Following is the Save File dialog box −

Properties of the SaveFileDialog Control

The following are some of the commonly used properties of the SaveFileDialog control −

Sr.No Property & Description

.

1
AddExtension
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box automatically adds an exten
a file name if the user omits the extension.

2
CheckFileExists
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box displays a warning if th
specifies a file name that does not exist.

3
CheckPathExists
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the dialog box displays a warning if th

277
278
279
Example
In this example, let's save the text entered into a rich text box by the user using the save fi
box. Take the following steps −
 Drag and drop a Label control, a RichTextBox control, a Button control and a SaveF
control on the form.
 Set the Text property of the label and the button control to 'We appreciate your co
and 'Save Comments', respectively.
 Double-click the Save Comments button and modify the code of the Click event as sh
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles
Button1.Click
SaveFileDialog1.Filter = "TXT Files (*.txt*)|*.txt"
If SaveFileDialog1.ShowDialog = Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK _
Then
My.Computer.FileSystem.WriteAllText _
(SaveFileDialog1.FileName, RichTextBox1.Text, True)
End If
End Sub

When the application is compiled and run using Start button available at the Microsoft Visu
tool bar, it will show the following window −

We have set the Filter property of the SaveFileDialog control to display text file types
extensions only.
Write some text in the text box and click on the Save Comment button to save the text as a
in your computer.
It prompts the user to select a location for saving a file and allows the user to specify the
the file to save data.

280
5
VB.Net - PrintDialog Control

 Previous Page
Next Page  

The PrintDialog control lets the user to print documents by selecting a printer and choosin
sections of the document to print from a Windows Forms application.
There are various other controls related to printing of documents. Let us have a brief look
controls and their purpose. These other controls are −
 The PrintDocument control − it provides support for actual events and operations o
in Visual Basic and sets the properties for printing.
 The PrinterSettings control − it is used to configure how a document is printed by s
the printer.
 The PageSetUpDialog control − it allows the user to specify page-related print
including page orientation, paper size and margin size.
 The PrintPreviewControl control − it represents the raw preview part of print preview
a Windows Forms application, without any dialog boxes or buttons.
 The PrintPreviewDialog control − it represents a dialog box form that con
PrintPreviewControl for printing from a Windows Forms application.
Following is the Print dialog box −

281
Properties of the PrintDialog Control
The following are some of the commonly used properties of the PrintDialog control −

Sr.No Property & Description

.

1
AllowCurrentPage
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the Current Page option button is displaye

2
AllowPrintToFile
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the Print to file check box is enabled.

3
AllowSelection
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the Selection option button is enabled.

282
4
AllowSomePages
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the Pages option button is enabled.

5
Document
Gets or sets a value indicating the PrintDocument used to obtain PrinterSettings.

6
PrinterSettings
Gets or sets the printer settings the dialog box modifies.

7
PrintToFile
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the Print to file check box is selected.

8
ShowHelp
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the Help button is displayed.

9
ShowNetwork
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the Network button is displayed.

Methods of the PrintDialog Control

The following are some of the commonly used methods of the PrintDialog control −

Sr.No Method Name & Description

.

1
Reset
Resets all options to their default values.

2
RunDialog
When overridden in a derived class, specifies a common dialog box.

3
ShowDialog

283
 Runs a common dialog box with a default owner.

Example
In this example, let us see how to show a Print dialog box in a form. Take the following steps
 Add a PrintDocument control, a PrintDialog control and a Button control on the fo
PrintDocument and the PrintDialog controls are found on the Print category of the
toolbox.
 Change the text of the button to 'Print'.
 Double-click the Print button and modify the code of the Click event as shown −
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles
Button1.Click
PrintDialog1.Document = PrintDocument1
PrintDialog1.PrinterSettings = PrintDocument1.PrinterSettings
PrintDialog1.AllowSomePages = True

If PrintDialog1.ShowDialog = DialogResult.OK Then

PrintDocument1.PrinterSettings = PrintDialog1.PrinterSettings
PrintDocument1.Print()
End If
End Sub

When the application is compiled and run using Start button available at the Microsoft Visu
tool bar, it will show the following window −

Click the Print button to make the Print dialog box appear.
It lets the user to print documents by selecting a printer and choosing which section
document to print from a Windows Forms application.

284
 VB.Net - Advanced Form

In this chapter, let us study the following concepts −

 Adding menus and sub menus in an application
 Adding the cut, copy and paste functionalities in a form
 Anchoring and docking controls in a form
 Modal forms

Adding Menus and Sub Menus in an Application

Traditionally, the Menu, MainMenu, ContextMenu, and MenuItem classes were used
for adding menus, sub-menus and context menus in a Windows application.
Now, the MenuStrip,
the ToolStripMenuItem, ToolStripDropDown and ToolStripDropDownMenu control
s replace and add functionality to the Menu-related controls of previous versions.
However, the old control classes are retained for both backward compatibility and
future use.
Let us create a typical windows main menu bar and sub menus using the old version
controls first since these controls are still much used in old applications.
Following is an example, which shows how we create a menu bar with menu items:
File, Edit, View and Project. The File menu has the sub menus New, Open and Save.
Let's double click on the Form and put the following code in the opened window.
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles
MyBase.Load
'defining the main menu bar
Dim mnuBar As New MainMenu()
'defining the menu items for the main menu bar
Dim myMenuItemFile As New MenuItem("&File")
Dim myMenuItemEdit As New MenuItem("&Edit")
Dim myMenuItemView As New MenuItem("&View")
Dim myMenuItemProject As New MenuItem("&Project")

'adding the menu items to the main menu bar

mnuBar.MenuItems.Add(myMenuItemFile)
mnuBar.MenuItems.Add(myMenuItemEdit)
mnuBar.MenuItems.Add(myMenuItemView)
mnuBar.MenuItems.Add(myMenuItemProject)

' defining some sub menus

285
 Dim myMenuItemNew As New MenuItem("&New")
Dim myMenuItemOpen As New MenuItem("&Open")
Dim myMenuItemSave As New MenuItem("&Save")

'add sub menus to the File menu

myMenuItemFile.MenuItems.Add(myMenuItemNew)
myMenuItemFile.MenuItems.Add(myMenuItemOpen)
myMenuItemFile.MenuItems.Add(myMenuItemSave)

'add the main menu to the form

Me.Menu = mnuBar

' Set the caption bar text of the form.

Me.Text = "tutorialspoint.com"
End Sub
End Class

When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the Microsoft
Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window −

Windows Forms contain a rich set of classes for creating your own custom menus with
modern appearance, look and feel.
The MenuStrip, ToolStripMenuItem, ContextMenuStrip controls are used to create
menu bars and context menus efficiently.
Click the following links to check their details −
Sr.N Control & Description
o.

1
VB.Net - MenuStrip Control

286
The MenuStrip control represents the container for the menu structure.
The MenuStrip control works as the top-level container for the menu structure. The
ToolStripMenuItem class and the ToolStripDropDownMenu class provide the
functionalities to create menu items, sub menus and drop-down menus.
The following diagram shows adding a MenuStrip control on the form −

Properties of the MenuStrip Control

The following are some of the commonly used properties of the MenuStrip control −

Sr.No Property & Description

.

1
CanOverflow
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the MenuStrip supports overflow functionality.

2
GripStyle

287
 Gets or sets the visibility of the grip used to reposition the control.

3
MdiWindowListItem
Gets or sets the ToolStripMenuItem that is used to display a list of Multiple-document
interface (MDI) child forms.

4
ShowItemToolTips
Gets or sets a value indicating whether ToolTips are shown for the MenuStrip.

5
Stretch
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the MenuStrip stretches from end to end in its
container.

Events of the MenuStrip Control

The following are some of the commonly used events of the MenuStrip control −

Sr.No. Event & Description

1
MenuActivate
Occurs when the user accesses the menu with the keyboard or mouse.

2
MenuDeactivate
Occurs when the MenuStrip is deactivated.

Example
In this example, let us add menu and sub-menu items.
Take the following steps −
 Drag and drop or double click on a MenuStrip control, to add it to the form.
 Click the Type Here text to open a text box and enter the names of the menu items
or sub-menu items you want. When you add a sub-menu, another text box with
'Type Here' text opens below it.
 Complete the menu structure shown in the diagram above.
 Add a sub menu Exit under the File menu.

288
  Double-Click the Exit menu created and add the following code to the Click event
of ExitToolStripMenuItem −
Private Sub ExitToolStripMenuItem_Click(sender As Object, e As
EventArgs) _
Handles ExitToolStripMenuItem.Click
End
End Sub

When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the Microsoft
Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window:

Click on the File -> Exit to exit from the application −

289
 It provides a menu system for a form.
2
VB.Net - StripMenuItem Control
The ToolStripMenuItem class supports the menus and menu items in a menu system.
You handle these menu items through the click events in a menu system.

Properties of the ToolStripMenuItem Control

The following are some of the commonly used properties of the ToolStripMenuItem control
−

Sr.No Property & Description

.

1
Checked
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the ToolStripMenuItem is checked.

2
CheckOnClick
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the ToolStripMenuItem should automatically
appear checked and unchecked when clicked.

3
CheckState
Gets or sets a value indicating whether a ToolStripMenuItem is in the checked,
unchecked, or indeterminate state.

4
Enabled

290
 Gets or sets a value indicating whether the control is enabled.

5
IsMdiWindowListEntry
Gets a value indicating whether the ToolStripMenuItem appears on a multiple document
interface (MDI) window list.

6
ShortcutKeyDisplayString
Gets or sets the shortcut key text.

7
ShortcutKeys
Gets or sets the shortcut keys associated with the ToolStripMenuItem.

8
ShowShortcutKeys
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the shortcut keys that are associated with the
ToolStripMenuItem are displayed next to the ToolStripMenuItem.

Events of the ToolStripMenuItem Control

The following are some of the commonly used events of the ToolStripMenuItem control −

Sr.No. Event & Description

1
CheckedChanged
Occurs when the value of the Checked property changes.

2
CheckStateChanged
Occurs when the value of the CheckState property changes.

Example
In this example, let us continue with the example from the chapter 'VB.Net - MenuStrip
control'. Let us −

 Hide and display menu items.

 Disable and enable menu items.
 Set access keys for menu items

291
  Set shortcut keys for menu items.
Hide and Display Menu Items
The Visible property of the ToolStripMenuItem class allows you to hide or show a menu
item. Let us hide the Project Menu on the menu bar.
 Add the following code snippet to the Form1_Load event −
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _
Handles MyBase.Load
' Hide the project menu
ProjectToolStripMenuItem1.Visible = False
' Set the caption bar text of the form.
Me.Text = "tutorialspoint.com"
End Sub

 Add a button control on the form with text 'Show Project'.

 Add the following code snippet to the Button1_Click event −
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _
Handles Button1.Click
ProjectToolStripMenuItem1.Visible = True
End Sub

When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the Microsoft
Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window:

Clicking on the Show Project button displays the project menu −

292
Disable and Enable Menu Items
The Enabled property allows you to disable or gray out a menu item. Let us disable the
Project Menu on the menu bar.
 Add the following code snippet to the Form1_Load event −
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _
Handles MyBase.Load
' Disable the project menu
ProjectToolStripMenuItem1.Enabled = False
' Set the caption bar text of the form.
Me.Text = "tutorialspoint.com"
End Sub

 Add a button control on the form with text 'Enable Project'.

 Add the following code snippet to the Button1_Click event −
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _
Handles Button1.Click
ProjectToolStripMenuItem1.Enabled = True
End Sub

When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the Microsoft
Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window −

293
Clicking on the Enable Project button enables the project menu −

Set Access Keys for Menu Items

Setting access keys for a menu allows a user to select it from the keyboard by using the
ALT key.
For example, if you want to set an access key ALT + F for the file menu, change
its Text with an added & (ampersand) preceding the access key letter. In other words, you
change the text property of the file menu to &File.

294
Set Shortcut Keys for Menu Items
When you set a shortcut key for a menu item, user can press the shortcut from the
keyboard and it would result in occurrence of the Click event of the menu.
A shortcut key is set for a menu item using the ShortcutKeys property. For example, to set
a shortcut key CTRL + E, for the Edit menu −
 Select the Edit menu item and select its ShortcutKeys property in the properties
window.
 Click the drop down button next to it.
 Select Ctrl as Modifier and E as the key.

It represents a selectable option displayed

295
 on a MenuStrip or ContextMenuStrip. The ToolStripMenuItem control replaces and adds
functionality to the MenuItem control of previous versions.
3
VB.Net - ContextMenuStrip Control

 Previous Page
Next Page  
The ContextMenuStrip control represents a shortcut menu that pops up over controls,
usually when you right click them. They appear in context of some specific controls, so are
called context menus. For example, Cut, Copy or Paste options.
This control associates the context menu with other menu items by setting that menu
item's ContextMenuStrip property to the ContextMenuStrip control you designed.
Context menu items can also be disabled, hidden or deleted. You can also show a context
menu with the help of the Show method of the ContextMenuStrip control.
The following diagram shows adding a ContextMenuStrip control on the form −

Properties of the ContextMenuStrip Control

The following are some of the commonly used properties of the ContextMenuStrip control
−

296
 Sr.No Property & Description
.

1
SourceControl
Gets the last control that displayed the ContextMenuStrip control.

Example
In this example, let us add a content menu with the menu items Cut, Copy and Paste.
Take the following steps −
 Drag and drop or double click on a ControlMenuStrip control to add it to the form.
 Add the menu items, Cut, Copy and Paste to it.
 Add a RichTextBox control on the form.
 Set the ContextMenuStrip property of the rich text box to ContextMenuStrip1 using
the properties window.
 Double the menu items and add following codes in the Click event of these menus −
Private Sub CutToolStripMenuItem_Click(sender As Object, e As
EventArgs) _
Handles CutToolStripMenuItem.Click
RichTextBox1.Cut()
End Sub

Private Sub CopyToolStripMenuItem_Click(sender As Object, e As

EventArgs) _
Handles CopyToolStripMenuItem.Click
RichTextBox1.Copy()
End Sub

Private Sub PasteToolStripMenuItem_Click(sender As Object, e As

EventArgs) _
Handles PasteToolStripMenuItem.Click
RichTextBox1.Paste()
End Sub

When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the Microsoft
Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window −

297
 Enter some text in the rich text box, select it and right-click to get the context menu appear
−

Now, you can select any menu items and perform cut, copy or paste on the text box.
It represents a shortcut menu.

Adding the Cut, Copy and Paste Functionalities in a

Form
The methods exposed by the ClipBoard class are used for adding the cut, copy and
paste functionalities in an application. The ClipBoard class provides methods to place
data on and retrieve data from the system Clipboard.
It has the following commonly used methods −

Sr.No Method Name & Description

.

298
1
Clear
Removes all data from the Clipboard.

2
ContainsData
Indicates whether there is data on the Clipboard that is in the specified format or can be
converted to that format.

3
ContainsImage
Indicates whether there is data on the Clipboard that is in the Bitmap format or can be
converted to that format.

4
ContainsText
Indicates whether there is data on the Clipboard in the Text or UnicodeText format,
depending on the operating system.

5
GetData
Retrieves data from the Clipboard in the specified format.

6
GetDataObject
Retrieves the data that is currently on the system Clipboard.

7
GetImage
Retrieves an image from the Clipboard.

8
GetText
Retrieves text data from the Clipboard in the Text or UnicodeText format, depending on
the operating system.

9
GetText(TextDataFormat)
Retrieves text data from the Clipboard in the format indicated by the specified
TextDataFormat value.

299
10
SetData
Clears the Clipboard and then adds data in the specified format.

11
SetText(String)
Clears the Clipboard and then adds text data in the Text or UnicodeText format,
depending on the operating system.

Following is an example, which shows how we cut, copy and paste data using methods
of the Clipboard class. Take the following steps −
 Add a rich text box control and three button controls on the form.
 Change the text property of the buttons to Cut, Copy and Paste, respectively.
 Double click on the buttons to add the following code in the code editor −
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _
Handles MyBase.Load
' Set the caption bar text of the form.
Me.Text = "tutorialspoint.com"
End Sub

Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _

Handles Button1.Click
Clipboard.SetDataObject(RichTextBox1.SelectedText)
RichTextBox1.SelectedText = ""
End Sub

Private Sub Button2_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _

Handles Button2.Click
Clipboard.SetDataObject(RichTextBox1.SelectedText)
End Sub

Private Sub Button3_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _

Handles Button3.Click
Dim iData As IDataObject
iData = Clipboard.GetDataObject()
If (iData.GetDataPresent(DataFormats.Text)) Then
RichTextBox1.SelectedText =
iData.GetData(DataFormats.Text)
Else
RichTextBox1.SelectedText = " "
End If
End Sub
End Class

300
When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the Microsoft
Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window −

Enter some text and check how the buttons work.

Anchoring and Docking Controls in a Form

Anchoring allows you to set an anchor position for a control to the edges of its
container control, for example, the form. The Anchor property of the Control class
allows you to set values of this property. The Anchor property gets or sets the edges of
the container to which a control is bound and determines how a control is resized with
its parent.
When you anchor a control to a form, the control maintains its distance from the edges
of the form and its anchored position, when the form is resized.
You can set the Anchor property values of a control from the Properties window −

301
For example, let us add a Button control on a form and set its anchor property to
Bottom, Right. Run this form to see the original position of the Button control with
respect to the form.

Now, when you stretch the form, the distance between the Button and the bottom right
corner of the form remains same.

302
Docking of a control means docking it to one of the edges of its container. In docking,
the control fills certain area of the container completely.
The Dock property of the Control class does this. The Dock property gets or sets which
control borders are docked to its parent control and determines how a control is resized
with its parent.
You can set the Dock property values of a control from the Properties window −

For example, let us add a Button control on a form and set its Dock property to Bottom.
Run this form to see the original position of the Button control with respect to the form.

303
Now, when you stretch the form, the Button resizes itself with the form.

Modal Forms
Modal Forms are those forms that need to be closed or hidden before you can
continue working with the rest of the application. All dialog boxes are modal forms. A
MessageBox is also a modal form.
You can call a modal form by two ways −
 Calling the ShowDialog method
 Calling the Show method
Let us take up an example in which we will create a modal form, a dialog box. Take the
following steps −
 Add a form, Form1 to your application, and add two labels and a button control
to Form1
 Change the text properties of the first label and the button to 'Welcome to
Tutorials Point' and 'Enter your Name', respectively. Keep the text properties of
the second label as blank.

304
  Add a new Windows Form, Form2, and add two buttons, one label, and a text
box to Form2.
 Change the text properties of the buttons to OK and Cancel, respectively.
Change the text properties of the label to 'Enter your name:'.
 Set the FormBorderStyle property of Form2 to FixedDialog, for giving it a dialog
box border.
 Set the ControlBox property of Form2 to False.
 Set the ShowInTaskbar property of Form2 to False.
 Set the DialogResult property of the OK button to OK and the Cancel button to
Cancel.

Add the following code snippets in the Form2_Load method of Form2 −

Private Sub Form2_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _
Handles MyBase.Load
AcceptButton = Button1
CancelButton = Button2

305
End Sub

Add the following code snippets in the Button1_Click method of Form1 −

Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _
Handles Button1.Click
Dim frmSecond As Form2 = New Form2()

If frmSecond.ShowDialog() = DialogResult.OK Then

Label2.Text = frmSecond.TextBox1.Text
End If
End Sub

When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the Microsoft
Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window −

Clicking on the 'Enter your Name' button displays the second form −

Clicking on the OK button takes the control and information back from the modal form
to the previous form −

306
 VB.Net - Event Handling

 Previous Page
Next Page  

Events are basically a user action like key press, clicks, mouse movements, etc., or
some occurrence like system generated notifications. Applications need to respond to
events when they occur.
Clicking on a button, or entering some text in a text box, or clicking on a menu item, all
are examples of events. An event is an action that calls a function or may cause
another event. Event handlers are functions that tell how to respond to an event.
VB.Net is an event-driven language. There are mainly two types of events −
 Mouse events
 Keyboard events

Handling Mouse Events

Mouse events occur with mouse movements in forms and controls. Following are the
various mouse events related with a Control class −
 MouseDown − it occurs when a mouse button is pressed
 MouseEnter − it occurs when the mouse pointer enters the control
 MouseHover − it occurs when the mouse pointer hovers over the control
 MouseLeave − it occurs when the mouse pointer leaves the control
 MouseMove − it occurs when the mouse pointer moves over the control

307
  MouseUp − it occurs when the mouse pointer is over the control and the mouse
button is released
 MouseWheel − it occurs when the mouse wheel moves and the control has
focus
The event handlers of the mouse events get an argument of type MouseEventArgs.
The MouseEventArgs object is used for handling mouse events. It has the following
properties −
 Buttons − indicates the mouse button pressed
 Clicks − indicates the number of clicks
 Delta − indicates the number of detents the mouse wheel rotated
 X − indicates the x-coordinate of mouse click
 Y − indicates the y-coordinate of mouse click

Example
Following is an example, which shows how to handle mouse events. Take the following
steps −
 Add three labels, three text boxes and a button control in the form.
 Change the text properties of the labels to - Customer ID, Name and Address,
respectively.
 Change the name properties of the text boxes to txtID, txtName and txtAddress,
respectively.
 Change the text property of the button to 'Submit'.
 Add the following code in the code editor window −
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles
MyBase.Load
' Set the caption bar text of the form.
Me.Text = "tutorialspont.com"
End Sub

Private Sub txtID_MouseEnter(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)_

Handles txtID.MouseEnter
'code for handling mouse enter on ID textbox
txtID.BackColor = Color.CornflowerBlue
txtID.ForeColor = Color.White
End Sub

Private Sub txtID_MouseLeave(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _

Handles txtID.MouseLeave
'code for handling mouse leave on ID textbox
txtID.BackColor = Color.White

308
 txtID.ForeColor = Color.Blue
End Sub

Private Sub txtName_MouseEnter(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)

_
Handles txtName.MouseEnter
'code for handling mouse enter on Name textbox
txtName.BackColor = Color.CornflowerBlue
txtName.ForeColor = Color.White
End Sub

Private Sub txtName_MouseLeave(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)

_
Handles txtName.MouseLeave
'code for handling mouse leave on Name textbox
txtName.BackColor = Color.White
txtName.ForeColor = Color.Blue
End Sub

Private Sub txtAddress_MouseEnter(sender As Object, e As

EventArgs) _
Handles txtAddress.MouseEnter
'code for handling mouse enter on Address textbox
txtAddress.BackColor = Color.CornflowerBlue
txtAddress.ForeColor = Color.White
End Sub

Private Sub txtAddress_MouseLeave(sender As Object, e As

EventArgs) _
Handles txtAddress.MouseLeave
'code for handling mouse leave on Address textbox
txtAddress.BackColor = Color.White
txtAddress.ForeColor = Color.Blue
End Sub

Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _

Handles Button1.Click
MsgBox("Thank you " & txtName.Text & ", for your kind
cooperation")
End Sub
End Class

When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the Microsoft
Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window −

309
Try to enter text in the text boxes and check the mouse events −

Handling Keyboard Events

Following are the various keyboard events related with a Control class −
 KeyDown − occurs when a key is pressed down and the control has focus
 KeyPress − occurs when a key is pressed and the control has focus
 KeyUp − occurs when a key is released while the control has focus
The event handlers of the KeyDown and KeyUp events get an argument of
type KeyEventArgs. This object has the following properties −
 Alt − it indicates whether the ALT key is pressed
310
  Control − it indicates whether the CTRL key is pressed
 Handled − it indicates whether the event is handled
 KeyCode − stores the keyboard code for the event
 KeyData − stores the keyboard data for the event
 KeyValue − stores the keyboard value for the event
 Modifiers − it indicates which modifier keys (Ctrl, Shift, and/or Alt) are pressed
 Shift − it indicates if the Shift key is pressed
The event handlers of the KeyDown and KeyUp events get an argument of
type KeyEventArgs. This object has the following properties −
 Handled − indicates if the KeyPress event is handled
 KeyChar − stores the character corresponding to the key pressed

Example
Let us continue with the previous example to show how to handle keyboard events.
The code will verify that the user enters some numbers for his customer ID and age.
 Add a label with text Property as 'Age' and add a corresponding text box named
txtAge.
 Add the following codes for handling the KeyUP events of the text box txtID.
Private Sub txtID_KeyUP(sender As Object, e As KeyEventArgs) _
Handles txtID.KeyUp

If (Not Char.IsNumber(ChrW(e.KeyCode))) Then

MessageBox.Show("Enter numbers for your Customer ID")
txtID.Text = " "
End If
End Sub

 Add the following codes for handling the KeyUP events of the text box txtID.
Private Sub txtAge_KeyUP(sender As Object, e As KeyEventArgs) _
Handles txtAge.KeyUp

If (Not Char.IsNumber(ChrW(e.keyCode))) Then

MessageBox.Show("Enter numbers for age")
txtAge.Text = " "
End If
End Sub

When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the Microsoft
Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window −

311
If you leave the text for age or ID as blank or enter some non-numeric data, it gives a
warning message box and clears the respective text −

VB.Net - Regular Expressions

A regular expression is a pattern that could be matched against an input text. The
.Net framework provides a regular expression engine that allows such matching. A
pattern consists of one or more character literals, operators, or constructs.

312
Constructs for Defining Regular Expressions
There are various categories of characters, operators, and constructs that lets you to
define regular expressions. Click the following links to find these constructs.

VB.Net - Character Escapes

 Previous Page
Next Page  

These are basically the special characters or escape characters. The backslash
character (\) in a regular expression indicates that the character that follows it either is
a special character or should be interpreted literally.
The following table lists the escape characters −

Escaped Description Pattern Matches

characte
r

\a Matches a bell character, \u0007. \a "\u0007" in "Warning!"

+ '\u0007'

\b In a character class, matches a backspace, [\b]{3,} "\b\b\b\b" in "\b\b\b\b"

\u0008.

\t Matches a tab, \u0009. (\w+)\t "Name\t", "Addr\t" in

"Name\tAddr\t"

\r Matches a carriage return, \u000D. (\r is not \r\n(\w+) "\r\nHello" in

equivalent to the newline character, \n.) "\r\Hello\nWorld."

\v Matches a vertical tab, \u000B. [\v]{2,} "\v\v\v" in "\v\v\v"

\f Matches a form feed, \u000C. [\f]{2,} "\f\f\f" in "\f\f\f"

\n Matches a new line, \u000A. \r\n(\w+) "\r\nHello" in

313
 "\r\Hello\nWorld."

\e Matches an escape, \u001B. \e "\x001B" in "\x001B"

\ nnn Uses octal representation to specify a character \w\040\w "a b", "c d" in "a bc d"
(nnn consists of up to three digits).

\x nn Uses hexadecimal representation to specify a \w\x20\w "a b", "c d" in "a bc d"
character (nn consists of exactly two digits).

\c X\c x Matches the ASCII control character that is \cC "\x0003" in "\x0003"
specified by X or x, where X or x is the letter of (Ctrl-C)
the control character.

\u nnnn Matches a Unicode character by using \w\u0020\w "a b", "c d" in "a bc d"
hexadecimal representation (exactly four digits,
as represented by nnnn).

\ When followed by a character that is not \d+[\+-x\*]\d+\d+ "2+2" and "3*9" in

recognized as an escaped character, matches [\+-x\*\d+ "(2+2) * 3*9"
that character.

VB.Net - Character Classes

A character class matches any one of a set of characters. The following table
describes the character classes −

Character class Description Pattern Matches

[character_group] Matches any single character in character_group. [mn] "m" in "mat" "m", "n"
By default, the match is case-sensitive. in "moon"

[^character_group Negation: Matches any single character that is not [^aei] "v", "l" in "avail"
] in character_group. By default, characters
incharacter_group are case-sensitive.

314
[ first - last ] Character range: Matches any single character in (\w+)\t "Name\t", "Addr\t" in
the range from first to last. "Name\tAddr\t"

. Wildcard: Matches any single character except \n. a.e "ave" in "have" "ate"
in "mate"

\p{ name } Matches any single character in the Unicode \p{Lu} "C", "L" in "City
general category or named block specified Lights"
by name.

\P{ name } Matches any single character that is not in the \P{Lu} "i", "t", "y" in "City"
Unicode general category or named block
specified by name.

\w Matches any word character. \w "R", "o", "m" and "1"

in "Room#1"

\W Matches any non-word character. \W "#" in "Room#1"

\s Matches any white-space character. \w\s "D " in "ID A1.3"

\S Matches any non-white-space character. \s\S " _" in "int __ctr"

\d Matches any decimal digit. \d "4" in "4 = IV"

\D Matches any character other than a decimal digit. \D " ", "=", " ", "I", "V" in
"4 = IV"

VB.Net - Anchors
Anchors allow a match to succeed or fail depending on the current position in the
string. The following table lists the anchors −

315
 Assertio Description Pattern Matches
n

^ The match must start at the beginning of the string ^\d{3} "567" in "567-777-"
or line.

$ The match must occur at the end of the string or -\d{4}$ "-2012" in "8-12-2012"
before \n at the end of the line or string.

\A The match must occur at the start of the string. \A\w{3} "Code" in "Code-007-"

\Z The match must occur at the end of the string or -\d{3}\Z "-007" in "Bond-901-007"
before \n at the end of the string.

\z The match must occur at the end of the string. -\d{3}\z "-333" in "-901-333"

\G The match must occur at the point, where the \\G\(\d\) "(1)", "(3)", "(5)" in "(1)(3)
previous match ended. (5)[7](9)"

\b The match must occur on a boundary between a \w \w "R", "o", "m" and "1" in
(alphanumeric) and a \W (non-alphanumeric) "Room#1"
character.

\B The match must not occur on a \b boundary. \Bend\w*\b "ends", "ender" in "end
sends endure lender"

VB.Net - Grouping Constructs

Grouping constructs delineate sub-expressions of a regular expression and capture
substrings of an input string. The following table lists the grouping constructs −

Grouping construct Description Pattern Matches

( subexpression ) Captures the (\w)\1 "ee" in "deep"

matched

316
 subexpression and
assigns it a zero-
based ordinal
number.

(?< name Captures the (?< double>\w)\k< double> "ee" in "deep"

>subexpression) matched
subexpression into a
named group.

(?< name1 -name2 Defines a balancing (((?'Open'\()[^\(\)]*)+((?'Close- "((1-3)*(3-1))" in

>subexpression) group definition. Open'\))[^\(\)]*)+)*(?(Open)(?!))$ "3+2^((1-3)*(3-1))"

(?: subexpression) Defines a Write(?:Line)? "WriteLine" in

noncapturing group. "Console.WriteLine()"

(?imnsx- Applies or disables A\d{2}(?i:\w+)\b "A12xl", "A12XL" in

imnsx:subexpression) the specified options "A12xl A12XL a12xl"
within subexpression.

(?= subexpression) Zero-width positive \w+(?=\.) "is", "ran", and "out"

lookahead assertion. in "He is. The dog
ran. The sun is out."

(?! subexpression) Zero-width negative \b(?!un)\w+\b "sure", "used" in

lookahead assertion. "unsure sure unity
used"

(?< =subexpression) Zero-width positive (?< =19)\d{2}\b "51", "03" in "1851

lookbehind assertion. 1999 1950 1905
2003"

(?< ! subexpression) Zero-width negative (?< !19)\d{2}\b "ends", "ender" in

lookbehind assertion. "end sends endure
lender"

(?> subexpression) Nonbacktracking (or [13579](?>A+B+) "1ABB", "3ABB", and

317
 "greedy") "5AB" in "1ABB
subexpression. 3ABBC 5AB 5AC"

VB.Net - Quantifiers
Quantifiers specify how many instances of the previous element (which can be a
character, a group, or a character class) must be present in the input string for a match
to occur.

Quantifie Description Pattern Matches

r

* Matches the previous element zero or \d*\.\d ".0", "19.9", "219.9"

more times.

+ Matches the previous element one or "be+" "bee" in "been", "be" in "bent"
more times.

? Matches the previous element zero or one "rai?n" "ran", "rain"

time.

{n} Matches the previous element exactly n ",\d{3}" ",043" in "1,043.6", ",876", ",543",
times. and ",210" in "9,876,543,210"

{ n ,} Matches the previous element at least n "\d{2,}" "166", "29", "1930"

times.

{n,m} Matches the previous element at least n "\d{3,5}" "166", "17668" "19302" in "193024"
times, but no more than m times.

*? Matches the previous element zero or \d*?\.\d ".0", "19.9", "219.9"

more times, but as few times as possible.

+? Matches the previous element one or "be+?" "be" in "been", "be" in "bent"
more times, but as few times as possible.

318
?? Matches the previous element zero or one "rai??n" "ran", "rain"
time, but as few times as possible.

{ n }? Matches the preceding element exactly n ",\d{3}?" ",043" in "1,043.6", ",876", ",543",
times. and ",210" in "9,876,543,210"

{ n ,}? Matches the previous element at least n "\d{2,}?" "166", "29", "1930"
times, but as few times as possible.

{ n , m }? Matches the previous element between n "\d{3,5}?" "166", "17668" "193", "024" in
and m times, but as few times as possible. "193024"

VB.Net - Backreference Constructs

Backreference constructs allow a previously matched sub-expression to be identified
subsequently in the same regular expression.
The following table lists these constructs −

Backreferenc Description Pattern Matches

e construct

\ number Backreference. Matches the value of a numbered (\w)\1 "ee" in

subexpression. "seek"

\k< name > Named backreference. Matches the value of a (?< char>\w)\k< "ee" in
named expression. char> "seek"

VB.Net - Alternation Constructs

Alternation constructs modify a regular expression to enable either/or matching. The
following table lists the alternation constructs −

Alternation Description Pattern Matches

construct

319
| Matches any one element th(e|is|at) "the", "this" in "this
separated by the vertical bar (|) is the day. "
character.

(? Matches yes if expression (?(A)A\d{2}\b|\b\d{3}\b) "A10", "910" in

( expression matches; otherwise, matches the "A10 C103 910"
)yes | no ) optional no part. Expression is
interpreted as a zero-width
assertion.

(?( name ) Matches yes if the named (?< quoted>")?(?(quoted). Dogs.jpg, "Yiska

yes | no ) capture name has a match; +?"|\S+\s) playing.jpg" in
otherwise, matches the "Dogs.jpg "Yiska
optional no. playing.jpg""

VB.Net - Substitutions
Substitutions are used in replacement patterns. The following table lists the
substitutions −

Characte Description Pattern Replacement Input string Result string

r pattern

$number Substitutes the \b(\w+)(\s)(\w+)\b $3$2$1 "one two" "two one"

substring matched
by group number.

${name} Substitutes the \b(?< word1>\w+) ${word2} $ "one two" "two one"
substring matched (\s)(?< {word1}
by the word2>\w+)\b
named groupname.

$$ Substitutes a literal \b(\d+)\s?USD $$$1 "103 USD" "$103"

"$".

$& Substitutes a copy (\$*(\d*(\.+\d+)?){1}) **$& "$1.30" "**$1.30**"

of the whole match.

320
 $` Substitutes all the B+ $` "AABBCC" "AAAACC"
text of the input
string before the
match.

$' Substitutes all the B+ $' "AABBCC" "AACCCC"

text of the input
string after the
match.

$+ Substitutes the last B+(C+) $+ "AABBCCDD" AACCDD

group that was
captured.

$_ Substitutes the B+ $_ "AABBCC" "AAAABBCCCC"

entire input string.

VB.Net - Miscellaneous Constructs

Following are various miscellaneous constructs −

Construct Definition Example

(?imnsx- Sets or disables options such as case insensitivity \bA(?i)b\w+\b matches "ABA", "Able"
imnsx) in the middle of a pattern. in "ABA Able Act"

(?#comment) In-line comment. The comment ends at the first \bA(?#Matches words starting with
closing parenthesis. A)\w+\b

# [to end of X-mode comment. The comment starts at an (?x)\bA\w+\b#Matches words starting
line] unescaped # and continues to the end of the line. with A

The Regex Class

The Regex class is used for representing a regular expression.
The Regex class has the following commonly used methods −
Sr.No Methods & Description

321
 .

1
Public Function IsMatch (input As String) As Boolean
Indicates whether the regular expression specified in the Regex constructor finds a match
in a specified input string.
2
Public Function IsMatch (input As String, startat As Integer ) As Boolean
Indicates whether the regular expression specified in the Regex constructor finds a match
in the specified input string, beginning at the specified starting position in the string.
3
Public Shared Function IsMatch (input As String, pattern As String ) As Boolean
Indicates whether the specified regular expression finds a match in the specified input
string.
4
Public Function Matches (input As String) As MatchCollection
Searches the specified input string for all occurrences of a regular expression.
5
Public Function Replace (input As String, replacement As String) As String
In a specified input string, replaces all strings that match a regular expression pattern with
a specified replacement string.
6
Public Function Split (input As String) As String()
Splits an input string into an array of substrings at the positions defined by a regular
expression pattern specified in the Regex constructor.

For the complete list of methods and properties, please consult Microsoft
documentation.

Example 1
The following example matches words that start with 'S' −
Live Demo

Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions
Module regexProg
Sub showMatch(ByVal text As String, ByVal expr As String)
Console.WriteLine("The Expression: " + expr)
Dim mc As MatchCollection = Regex.Matches(text, expr)
Dim m As Match

For Each m In mc
Console.WriteLine(m)
Next m

322
 End Sub

Sub Main()
Dim str As String = "A Thousand Splendid Suns"
Console.WriteLine("Matching words that start with 'S': ")
showMatch(str, "\bS\S*")
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Matching words that start with 'S':
The Expression: \bS\S*
Splendid
Suns
Example 2
The following example matches words that start with 'm' and ends with 'e' −
Live Demo

Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions
Module regexProg
Sub showMatch(ByVal text As String, ByVal expr As String)
Console.WriteLine("The Expression: " + expr)
Dim mc As MatchCollection = Regex.Matches(text, expr)
Dim m As Match

For Each m In mc
Console.WriteLine(m)
Next m
End Sub

Sub Main()
Dim str As String = "make a maze and manage to measure it"
Console.WriteLine("Matching words that start with 'm' and
ends with 'e': ")
showMatch(str, "\bm\S*e\b")
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Matching words start with 'm' and ends with 'e':
The Expression: \bm\S*e\b
make
maze
manage
measure

323
Example 3
This example replaces extra white space −
Live Demo

Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions
Module regexProg
Sub Main()
Dim input As String = "Hello World "
Dim pattern As String = "\\s+"
Dim replacement As String = " "
Dim rgx As Regex = New Regex(pattern)
Dim result As String = rgx.Replace(input, replacement)

Console.WriteLine("Original String: {0}", input)

Console.WriteLine("Replacement String: {0}", result)
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Original String: Hello World
Replacement String: Hello World

VB.Net - Database Access

 Previous Page
Next Page  

Applications communicate with a database, firstly, to retrieve the data stored there and
present it in a user-friendly way, and secondly, to update the database by inserting,
modifying and deleting data.
Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects.Net (ADO.Net) is a model, a part of the .Net framework
that is used by the .Net applications for retrieving, accessing and updating data.

ADO.Net Object Model

ADO.Net object model is nothing but the structured process flow through various
components. The object model can be pictorially described as −

324
The data residing in a data store or database is retrieved through the  data provider.
Various components of the data provider retrieve data for the application and update
data.
An application accesses data either through a dataset or a data reader.
 Datasets store data in a disconnected cache and the application retrieves data
from it.
 Data readers provide data to the application in a read-only and forward-only
mode.

Data Provider
A data provider is used for connecting to a database, executing commands and
retrieving data, storing it in a dataset, reading the retrieved data and updating the
database.
The data provider in ADO.Net consists of the following four objects −

Sr.No Objects & Description

.

1
Connection
This component is used to set up a connection with a data source.

2
Command
A command is a SQL statement or a stored procedure used to retrieve, insert, delete or

325
 modify data in a data source.

3
DataReader
Data reader is used to retrieve data from a data source in a read-only and forward-only
mode.

4
DataAdapter
This is integral to the working of ADO.Net since data is transferred to and from a
database through a data adapter. It retrieves data from a database into a dataset and
updates the database. When changes are made to the dataset, the changes in the
database are actually done by the data adapter.

There are following different types of data providers included in ADO.Net

 The .Net Framework data provider for SQL Server - provides access to Microsoft
SQL Server.
 The .Net Framework data provider for OLE DB - provides access to data sources
exposed by using OLE DB.
 The .Net Framework data provider for ODBC - provides access to data sources
exposed by ODBC.
 The .Net Framework data provider for Oracle - provides access to Oracle data
source.
 The EntityClient provider - enables accessing data through Entity Data Model
(EDM) applications.

DataSet
DataSet is an in-memory representation of data. It is a disconnected, cached set of
records that are retrieved from a database. When a connection is established with the
database, the data adapter creates a dataset and stores data in it. After the data is
retrieved and stored in a dataset, the connection with the database is closed. This is
called the 'disconnected architecture'. The dataset works as a virtual database
containing tables, rows, and columns.
The following diagram shows the dataset object model −

326
The DataSet class is present in the System.Data namespace. The following table
describes all the components of DataSet −

Sr.No Components & Description

.

1
DataTableCollection
It contains all the tables retrieved from the data source.

2
DataRelationCollection
It contains relationships and the links between tables in a data set.

3
ExtendedProperties
It contains additional information, like the SQL statement for retrieving data, time of
retrieval, etc.

4
DataTable
It represents a table in the DataTableCollection of a dataset. It consists of the DataRow
and DataColumn objects. The DataTable objects are case-sensitive.

327
5
DataRelation
It represents a relationship in the DataRelationshipCollection of the dataset. It is used to
relate two DataTable objects to each other through the DataColumn objects.

6
DataRowCollection
It contains all the rows in a DataTable.

7
DataView
It represents a fixed customized view of a DataTable for sorting, filtering, searching,
editing and navigation.

8
PrimaryKey
It represents the column that uniquely identifies a row in a DataTable.

9
DataRow
It represents a row in the DataTable. The DataRow object and its properties and methods
are used to retrieve, evaluate, insert, delete, and update values in the DataTable. The
NewRow method is used to create a new row and the Add method adds a row to the
table.

10
DataColumnCollection
It represents all the columns in a DataTable.

11
DataColumn
It consists of the number of columns that comprise a DataTable.

Connecting to a Database
The .Net Framework provides two types of Connection classes −
 SqlConnection − designed for connecting to Microsoft SQL Server.
 OleDbConnection − designed for connecting to a wide range of databases, like
Microsoft Access and Oracle.

328
Example 1
We have a table stored in Microsoft SQL Server, named Customers, in a database
named testDB. Please consult 'SQL Server' tutorial for creating databases and
database tables in SQL Server.
Let us connect to this database. Take the following steps −
 Select TOOLS → Connect to Database

 Select a server name and the database name in the Add Connection dialog box.

329
 Click on the Test Connection button to check if the connection succeeded.

330
 Add a DataGridView on the form.

 Click on the Choose Data Source combo box.

 Click on the Add Project Data Source link.

 This opens the Data Source Configuration Wizard.

 Select Database as the data source type

331
 Choose DataSet as the database model.

 Choose the connection already set up.

332
 Save the connection string.

 Choose the database object, Customers table in our example, and click the
Finish button.

333
  Select the Preview Data link to see the data in the Results grid −

When the application is run using Start button available at the Microsoft Visual Studio
tool bar, it will show the following window −

334
Example 2
In this example, let us access data in a DataGridView control using code. Take the
following steps −
 Add a DataGridView control and a button in the form.
 Change the text of the button control to 'Fill'.
 Double click the button control to add the required code for the Click event of the
button, as shown below −
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _
Handles MyBase.Load
'TODO: This line of code loads data into the
'TestDBDataSet.CUSTOMERS' table.
You can move, or remove it, as needed.

Me.CUSTOMERSTableAdapter.Fill(Me.TestDBDataSet.CUSTOMERS)
' Set the caption bar text of the form.
Me.Text = "tutorialspoint.com"
End Sub

Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)

Handles Button1.Click
Dim connection As SqlConnection = New sqlconnection()
connection.ConnectionString = "Data Source=KABIR-DESKTOP; _
Initial Catalog=testDB;Integrated Security=True"
connection.Open()
Dim adp As SqlDataAdapter = New SqlDataAdapter _
("select * from Customers", connection)

335
 Dim ds As DataSet = New DataSet()
adp.Fill(ds)
DataGridView1.DataSource = ds.Tables(0)
End Sub
End Class

 When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the
Microsoft Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window −

 Clicking the Fill button displays the table on the data grid view control −

336
Creating Table, Columns and Rows
We have discussed that the DataSet components like DataTable, DataColumn and
DataRow allow us to create tables, columns and rows, respectively.
The following example demonstrates the concept −

Example 3
So far, we have used tables and databases already existing in our computer. In this
example, we will create a table, add columns, rows and data into it and display the
table using a DataGridView object.
Take the following steps −
 Add a DataGridView control and a button in the form.
 Change the text of the button control to 'Fill'.
 Add the following code in the code editor.
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles
MyBase.Load
' Set the caption bar text of the form.
Me.Text = "tutorialspont.com"
End Sub

Private Function CreateDataSet() As DataSet

'creating a DataSet object for tables
Dim dataset As DataSet = New DataSet()
' creating the student table
Dim Students As DataTable = CreateStudentTable()
dataset.Tables.Add(Students)
Return dataset
End Function

Private Function CreateStudentTable() As DataTable

Dim Students As DataTable
Students = New DataTable("Student")
' adding columns
AddNewColumn(Students, "System.Int32", "StudentID")
AddNewColumn(Students, "System.String", "StudentName")
AddNewColumn(Students, "System.String", "StudentCity")
' adding rows
AddNewRow(Students, 1, "Zara Ali", "Kolkata")
AddNewRow(Students, 2, "Shreya Sharma", "Delhi")
AddNewRow(Students, 3, "Rini Mukherjee", "Hyderabad")
AddNewRow(Students, 4, "Sunil Dubey", "Bikaner")
AddNewRow(Students, 5, "Rajat Mishra", "Patna")
Return Students

337
 End Function

Private Sub AddNewColumn(ByRef table As DataTable, _

ByVal columnType As String, ByVal columnName As String)
Dim column As DataColumn = _
table.Columns.Add(columnName, Type.GetType(columnType))
End Sub

'adding data into the table

Private Sub AddNewRow(ByRef table As DataTable, ByRef id As
Integer,_
ByRef name As String, ByRef city As String)
Dim newrow As DataRow = table.NewRow()
newrow("StudentID") = id
newrow("StudentName") = name
newrow("StudentCity") = city
table.Rows.Add(newrow)
End Sub

Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)

Handles Button1.Click
Dim ds As New DataSet
ds = CreateDataSet()
DataGridView1.DataSource = ds.Tables("Student")
End Sub
End Class

 When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the
Microsoft Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window −

 Clicking the Fill button displays the table on the data grid view control −

338
 VB.Net - Excel Sheet

 Previous Page
Next Page  

VB.Net provides support for interoperability between the COM object model of
Microsoft Excel 2010 and your application.
To avail this interoperability in your application, you need to import the
namespace Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel in your Windows Form Application.

Creating an Excel Application from VB.Net

Let's start with creating a Window Forms Application by following the following steps in
Microsoft Visual Studio: File → New Project → Windows Forms Applications
Finally, select OK, Microsoft Visual Studio creates your project and displays
following Form1.
Insert a Button control Button1 in the form.
Add a reference to Microsoft Excel Object Library to your project. To do this −
 Select Add Reference from the Project Menu.

339
  On the COM tab, locate Microsoft Excel Object Library and then click Select.

 Click OK.
Double click the code window and populate the Click event of Button1, as shown
below.
' Add the following code snippet on top of Form1.vb
Imports Excel = Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel

340
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
Handles Button1.Click
Dim appXL As Excel.Application
Dim wbXl As Excel.Workbook
Dim shXL As Excel.Worksheet
Dim raXL As Excel.Range

' Start Excel and get Application object.

appXL = CreateObject("Excel.Application")
appXL.Visible = True

' Add a new workbook.

wbXl = appXL.Workbooks.Add
shXL = wbXl.ActiveSheet

' Add table headers going cell by cell.

shXL.Cells(1, 1).Value = "First Name"
shXL.Cells(1, 2).Value = "Last Name"
shXL.Cells(1, 3).Value = "Full Name"
shXL.Cells(1, 4).Value = "Specialization"

' Format A1:D1 as bold, vertical alignment = center.

With shXL.Range("A1", "D1")
.Font.Bold = True
.VerticalAlignment = Excel.XlVAlign.xlVAlignCenter
End With

' Create an array to set multiple values at once.

Dim students(5, 2) As String
students(0, 0) = "Zara"
students(0, 1) = "Ali"
students(1, 0) = "Nuha"
students(1, 1) = "Ali"
students(2, 0) = "Arilia"
students(2, 1) = "RamKumar"
students(3, 0) = "Rita"
students(3, 1) = "Jones"
students(4, 0) = "Umme"
students(4, 1) = "Ayman"

' Fill A2:B6 with an array of values (First and Last Names).
shXL.Range("A2", "B6").Value = students

' Fill C2:C6 with a relative formula (=A2 & " " & B2).
raXL = shXL.Range("C2", "C6")
raXL.Formula = "=A2 & "" "" & B2"

' Fill D2:D6 values.

With shXL

341
 .Cells(2, 4).Value = "Biology"
.Cells(3, 4).Value = "Mathmematics"
.Cells(4, 4).Value = "Physics"
.Cells(5, 4).Value = "Mathmematics"
.Cells(6, 4).Value = "Arabic"
End With

' AutoFit columns A:D.

raXL = shXL.Range("A1", "D1")
raXL.EntireColumn.AutoFit()

' Make sure Excel is visible and give the user control
' of Excel's lifetime.
appXL.Visible = True
appXL.UserControl = True

' Release object references.

raXL = Nothing
shXL = Nothing
wbXl = Nothing
appXL.Quit()
appXL = Nothing
Exit Sub
Err_Handler:
MsgBox(Err.Description, vbCritical, "Error: " & Err.Number)
End Sub
End Class

When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the Microsoft
Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window −

342
Clicking on the Button would display the following excel sheet. You will be asked to
save the workbook.

VB.Net - Send Email

 Previous Page
Next Page  

VB.Net allows sending e-mails from your application.

The System.Net.Mail namespace contains classes used for sending e-mails to a
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server for delivery.
The following table lists some of these commonly used classes −

Sr.No Class & Description

.

1
Attachment
Represents an attachment to an e-mail.

2
AttachmentCollection
Stores attachments to be sent as part of an e-mail message.

3
MailAddress
Represents the address of an electronic mail sender or recipient.

343
4
MailAddressCollection
Stores e-mail addresses that are associated with an e-mail message.

5
MailMessage
Represents an e-mail message that can be sent using the SmtpClient class.

6
SmtpClient
Allows applications to send e-mail by using the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).

7
SmtpException
Represents the exception that is thrown when the SmtpClient is not able to complete a
Send or SendAsync operation.

The SmtpClient Class

The SmtpClient class allows applications to send e-mail by using the Simple Mail
Transfer Protocol (SMTP).
Following are some commonly used properties of the SmtpClient class −

Sr.No Property & Description

.

1
ClientCertificates
Specifies which certificates should be used to establish the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
connection.

2
Credentials
Gets or sets the credentials used to authenticate the sender.

3
EnableSsl
Specifies whether the SmtpClient uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to encrypt the
connection.

4
Host

344
 Gets or sets the name or IP address of the host used for SMTP transactions.

5
Port
Gets or sets the port used for SMTP transactions.

6
Timeout
Gets or sets a value that specifies the amount of time after which a synchronous Send
call times out.

7
UseDefaultCredentials
Gets or sets a Boolean value that controls whether the DefaultCredentials are sent with
requests.

Following are some commonly used methods of the SmtpClient class −

Sr.No Method & Description

.

1
Dispose
Sends a QUIT message to the SMTP server, gracefully ends the TCP connection, and
releases all resources used by the current instance of the SmtpClient class.

2
Dispose(Boolean)
Sends a QUIT message to the SMTP server, gracefully ends the TCP connection,
releases all resources used by the current instance of the SmtpClient class, and
optionally disposes of the managed resources.

3
OnSendCompleted
Raises the SendCompleted event.

4
Send(MailMessage)
Sends the specified message to an SMTP server for delivery.

345
5
Send(String, String, String, String)
Sends the specified e-mail message to an SMTP server for delivery. The message
sender, recipients, subject, and message body are specified using String objects.

6
SendAsync(MailMessage, Object)
Sends the specified e-mail message to an SMTP server for delivery. This method does
not block the calling thread and allows the caller to pass an object to the method that is
invoked when the operation completes.

7
SendAsync(String, String, String, String, Object)
Sends an e-mail message to an SMTP server for delivery. The message sender,
recipients, subject, and message body are specified using String objects. This method
does not block the calling thread and allows the caller to pass an object to the method
that is invoked when the operation completes.

8
SendAsyncCancel
Cancels an asynchronous operation to send an e-mail message.

9
SendMailAsync(MailMessage)
Sends the specified message to an SMTP server for delivery as an asynchronous
operation.

10
SendMailAsync(String, String, String, String)
Sends the specified message to an SMTP server for delivery as an asynchronous
operation. . The message sender, recipients, subject, and message body are specified
using String objects.

11
ToString
Returns a string that represents the current object.

The following example demonstrates how to send mail using the SmtpClient class.
Following points are to be noted in this respect −
 You must specify the SMTP host server that you use to send e-mail.
The Host and Port properties will be different for different host server. We will
be using gmail server.

346
  You need to give the Credentials for authentication, if required by the SMTP
server.
 You should also provide the email address of the sender and the e-mail address
or addresses of the recipients using
the MailMessage.From and MailMessage.To properties, respectively.
 You should also specify the message content using
the MailMessage.Body property.

Example
In this example, let us create a simple application that would send an e-mail. Take the
following steps −
 Add three labels, three text boxes and a button control in the form.
 Change the text properties of the labels to - 'From', 'To:' and 'Message:'
respectively.
 Change the name properties of the texts to txtFrom, txtTo and txtMessage
respectively.
 Change the text property of the button control to 'Send'
 Add the following code in the code editor.
Imports System.Net.Mail
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles
MyBase.Load
' Set the caption bar text of the form.
Me.Text = "tutorialspoint.com"
End Sub

Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)

Handles Button1.Click
Try
Dim Smtp_Server As New SmtpClient
Dim e_mail As New MailMessage()
Smtp_Server.UseDefaultCredentials = False
Smtp_Server.Credentials = New
Net.NetworkCredential("[email protected]", "password")
Smtp_Server.Port = 587
Smtp_Server.EnableSsl = True
Smtp_Server.Host = "smtp.gmail.com"

e_mail = New MailMessage()

e_mail.From = New MailAddress(txtFrom.Text)
e_mail.To.Add(txtTo.Text)
e_mail.Subject = "Email Sending"
e_mail.IsBodyHtml = False

347
 e_mail.Body = txtMessage.Text
Smtp_Server.Send(e_mail)
MsgBox("Mail Sent")

Catch error_t As Exception

MsgBox(error_t.ToString)
End Try
End Sub

 You must provide your gmail address and real password for credentials.
 When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the
Microsoft Visual Studio tool bar, it will show the following window, which you will
use to send your e-mails, try it yourself.

VB.Net - XML Processing

 Previous Page
Next Page  

The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language much like HTML or
SGML. This is recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium and available as an
open standard.
The System.Xml namespace in the .Net Framework contains classes for processing
XML documents. Following are some of the commonly used classes in the System.Xml
namespace.

Sr.No Class & Description

.

348
1
XmlAttribute
Represents an attribute. Valid and default values for the attribute are defined in a
document type definition (DTD) or schema.

2
XmlCDataSection
Represents a CDATA section.

3
XmlCharacterData
Provides text manipulation methods that are used by several classes.

4
XmlComment
Represents the content of an XML comment.

5
XmlConvert
Encodes and decodes XML names and provides methods for converting between
common language runtime types and XML Schema definition language (XSD) types.
When converting data types, the values returned are locale independent.

6
XmlDeclaration
Represents the XML declaration node <?xml version='1.0'...?>.

7
XmlDictionary
Implements a dictionary used to optimize Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)'s
XML reader/writer implementations.

8
XmlDictionaryReader
An abstract class that the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) derives from
XmlReader to do serialization and deserialization.

9
XmlDictionaryWriter
Represents an abstract class that Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) derives
from XmlWriter to do serialization and deserialization.

349
10
XmlDocument
Represents an XML document.

11
XmlDocumentFragment
Represents a lightweight object that is useful for tree insert operations.

12
XmlDocumentType
Represents the document type declaration.

13
XmlElement
Represents an element.

14
XmlEntity
Represents an entity declaration, such as <!ENTITY... >.

15
XmlEntityReference
Represents an entity reference node.

16
XmlException
Returns detailed information about the last exception.

17
XmlImplementation
Defines the context for a set of XmlDocument objects.

18
XmlLinkedNode
Gets the node immediately preceding or following this node.

19
XmlNode
Represents a single node in the XML document.

20
XmlNodeList

350
 Represents an ordered collection of nodes.

21
XmlNodeReader
Represents a reader that provides fast, non-cached forward only access to XML data in
an XmlNode.

22
XmlNotation
Represents a notation declaration, such as <!NOTATION... >.

23
XmlParserContext
Provides all the context information required by the XmlReader to parse an XML
fragment.

24
XmlProcessingInstruction
Represents a processing instruction, which XML defines to keep processor-specific
information in the text of the document.

25
XmlQualifiedName
Represents an XML qualified name.

26
XmlReader
Represents a reader that provides fast, noncached, forward-only access to XML data.

27
XmlReaderSettings
Specifies a set of features to support on the XmlReader object created by the Create
method.

28
XmlResolver
Resolves external XML resources named by a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI).

29
XmlSecureResolver
Helps to secure another implementation of XmlResolver by wrapping the XmlResolver

351
 object and restricting the resources that the underlying XmlResolver has access to.

30
XmlSignificantWhitespace
Represents white space between markup in a mixed content node or white space within
an xml:space= 'preserve' scope. This is also referred to as significant white space.

31
XmlText
Represents the text content of an element or attribute.

32
XmlTextReader
Represents a reader that provides fast, non-cached, forward-only access to XML data.

33
XmlTextWriter
Represents a writer that provides a fast, non-cached, forward-only way of generating
streams or files containing XML data that conforms to the W3C Extensible Markup
Language (XML) 1.0 and the Namespaces in XML recommendations.

34
XmlUrlResolver
Resolves external XML resources named by a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI).

35
XmlWhitespace
Represents white space in element content.

36
XmlWriter
Represents a writer that provides a fast, non-cached, forward-only means of generating
streams or files containing XML data.

37
XmlWriterSettings
Specifies a set of features to support on the XmlWriter object created by the
XmlWriter.Create method.

352
XML Parser APIs
The two most basic and broadly used APIs to XML data are the SAX and DOM
interfaces.
 Simple API for XML (SAX) − Here, you register callbacks for events of interest
and then let the parser proceed through the document. This is useful when your
documents are large or you have memory limitations, it parses the file as it
reads it from disk, and the entire file is never stored in memory.
 Document Object Model (DOM) API − This is World Wide Web Consortium
recommendation wherein the entire file is read into memory and stored in a
hierarchical (tree-based) form to represent all the features of an XML document.
SAX obviously can't process information as fast as DOM can when working with large
files. On the other hand, using DOM exclusively can really kill your resources,
especially if used on a lot of small files.
SAX is read-only, while DOM allows changes to the XML file. Since these two different
APIs literally complement each other there is no reason why you can't use them both
for large projects.
For all our XML code examples, let's use a simple XML file movies.xml as an input −
<?xml version = "1.0"?>

<collection shelf = "New Arrivals">

<movie title = "Enemy Behind">
<type>War, Thriller</type>
<format>DVD</format>
<year>2003</year>
<rating>PG</rating>
<stars>10</stars>
<description>Talk about a US-Japan war</description>
</movie>

<movie title = "Transformers">

<type>Anime, Science Fiction</type>
<format>DVD</format>
<year>1989</year>
<rating>R</rating>
<stars>8</stars>
<description>A schientific fiction</description>
</movie>

<movie title = "Trigun">

<type>Anime, Action</type>
<format>DVD</format>
<episodes>4</episodes>
<rating>PG</rating>

353
 <stars>10</stars>
<description>Vash the Stampede!</description>
</movie>

<movie title = "Ishtar">

<type>Comedy</type>
<format>VHS</format>
<rating>PG</rating>
<stars>2</stars>
<description>Viewable boredom</description>
</movie>
</collection>

Parsing XML with SAX API

In SAX model, you use the XmlReader and XmlWriter classes to work with the XML
data.
The XmlReader class is used to read XML data in a fast, forward-only and non-cached
manner. It reads an XML document or a stream.

Example 1
This example demonstrates reading XML data from the file movies.xml.
Take the following steps −
 Add the movies.xml file in the bin\Debug folder of your application.
 Import the System.Xml namespace in Form1.vb file.
 Add a label in the form and change its text to 'Movies Galore'.
 Add three list boxes and three buttons to show the title, type and description of a
movie from the xml file.
 Add the following code using the code editor window.
Imports System.Xml
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles
MyBase.Load
' Set the caption bar text of the form.
Me.Text = "tutorialspoint.com"
End Sub

Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)

Handles Button1.Click
ListBox1().Items.Clear()
Dim xr As XmlReader = XmlReader.Create("movies.xml")
Do While xr.Read()
If xr.NodeType = XmlNodeType.Element AndAlso xr.Name =
"movie" Then

354
 ListBox1.Items.Add(xr.GetAttribute(0))
End If
Loop
End Sub

Private Sub Button2_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)

Handles Button2.Click
ListBox2().Items.Clear()
Dim xr As XmlReader = XmlReader.Create("movies.xml")
Do While xr.Read()
If xr.NodeType = XmlNodeType.Element AndAlso xr.Name =
"type" Then
ListBox2.Items.Add(xr.ReadElementString)
Else
xr.Read()
End If
Loop
End Sub

Private Sub Button3_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)

Handles Button3.Click
ListBox3().Items.Clear()
Dim xr As XmlReader = XmlReader.Create("movies.xml")
Do While xr.Read()
If xr.NodeType = XmlNodeType.Element AndAlso xr.Name =
"description" Then
ListBox3.Items.Add(xr.ReadElementString)
Else
xr.Read()
End If
Loop
End Sub
End Class

Execute and run the above code using Start button available at the Microsoft Visual
Studio tool bar. Clicking on the buttons would display, title, type and description of the
movies from the file.

355
The XmlWriter class is used to write XML data into a stream, a file or a TextWriter
object. It also works in a forward-only, non-cached manner.

Example 2
Let us create an XML file by adding some data at runtime. Take the following steps −
 Add a WebBrowser control and a button control in the form.
 Change the Text property of the button to Show Authors File.
 Add the following code in the code editor.
Imports System.Xml
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles
MyBase.Load
' Set the caption bar text of the form.
Me.Text = "tutorialspoint.com"
End Sub
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
Handles Button1.Click
Dim xws As XmlWriterSettings = New XmlWriterSettings()
xws.Indent = True
xws.NewLineOnAttributes = True
Dim xw As XmlWriter = XmlWriter.Create("authors.xml", xws)
xw.WriteStartDocument()
xw.WriteStartElement("Authors")
xw.WriteStartElement("author")
xw.WriteAttributeString("code", "1")
xw.WriteElementString("fname", "Zara")
xw.WriteElementString("lname", "Ali")
xw.WriteEndElement()

356
 xw.WriteStartElement("author")
xw.WriteAttributeString("code", "2")
xw.WriteElementString("fname", "Priya")
xw.WriteElementString("lname", "Sharma")
xw.WriteEndElement()
xw.WriteStartElement("author")
xw.WriteAttributeString("code", "3")
xw.WriteElementString("fname", "Anshuman")
xw.WriteElementString("lname", "Mohan")
xw.WriteEndElement()
xw.WriteStartElement("author")
xw.WriteAttributeString("code", "4")
xw.WriteElementString("fname", "Bibhuti")
xw.WriteElementString("lname", "Banerjee")
xw.WriteEndElement()
xw.WriteStartElement("author")
xw.WriteAttributeString("code", "5")
xw.WriteElementString("fname", "Riyan")
xw.WriteElementString("lname", "Sengupta")
xw.WriteEndElement()
xw.WriteEndElement()
xw.WriteEndDocument()
xw.Flush()
xw.Close()
WebBrowser1.Url = New
Uri(AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory + "authors.xml")
End Sub
End Class

 Execute and run the above code using Start button available at the Microsoft
Visual Studio tool bar. Clicking on the Show Author File would display the newly
created authors.xml file on the web browser.

357
Parsing XML with DOM API
According to the Document Object Model (DOM), an XML document consists of nodes
and attributes of the nodes. The XmlDocument class is used to implement the XML
DOM parser of the .Net Framework. It also allows you to modify an existing XML
document by inserting, deleting or updating data in the document.
Following are some of the commonly used methods of the XmlDocument class −

Sr.No Method Name & Description

.

1
AppendChild
Adds the specified node to the end of the list of child nodes, of this node.

2
CreateAttribute(String)
Creates an XmlAttribute with the specified Name.

3
CreateComment

358
 Creates an XmlComment containing the specified data.

4
CreateDefaultAttribute
Creates a default attribute with the specified prefix, local name and namespace URI.

5
CreateElement(String)
Creates an element with the specified name.

6
CreateNode(String, String, String)
Creates an XmlNode with the specified node type, Name, and NamespaceURI.

7
CreateNode(XmlNodeType, String, String)
Creates an XmlNode with the specified XmlNodeType, Name, and NamespaceURI.

8
CreateNode(XmlNodeType, String, String, String)
Creates a XmlNode with the specified XmlNodeType, Prefix, Name, and NamespaceURI.

9
CreateProcessingInstruction
Creates an XmlProcessingInstruction with the specified name and data.

10
CreateSignificantWhitespace
Creates an XmlSignificantWhitespace node.

11
CreateTextNode
Creates an XmlText with the specified text.

12
CreateWhitespace
Creates an XmlWhitespace node.

13
CreateXmlDeclaration
Creates an XmlDeclaration node with the specified values.

359
14
GetElementById
Gets the XmlElement with the specified ID.

15
GetElementsByTagName(String)
Returns an XmlNodeList containing a list of all descendant elements that match the
specified Name.

16
GetElementsByTagName(String, String)
Returns an XmlNodeList containing a list of all descendant elements that match the
specified LocalName and NamespaceURI.

17
InsertAfter
Inserts the specified node immediately after the specified reference node.

18
InsertBefore
Inserts the specified node immediately before the specified reference node.

19
Load(Stream)
Loads the XML document from the specified stream.

20
Load(String)
Loads the XML document from the specified URL.

21
Load(TextReader)
Loads the XML document from the specified TextReader.

22
Load(XmlReader)
Loads the XML document from the specified XmlReader.

23
LoadXml
Loads the XML document from the specified string.

360
24
PrependChild
Adds the specified node to the beginning of the list of child nodes for this node.

25
ReadNode
Creates an XmlNode object based on the information in the XmlReader. The reader must
be positioned on a node or attribute.

26
RemoveAll
Removes all the child nodes and/or attributes of the current node.

27
RemoveChild
Removes specified child node.

28
ReplaceChild
Replaces the child node oldChild with newChild node.

29
Save(Stream)
Saves the XML document to the specified stream.

30
Save(String)
Saves the XML document to the specified file.

31
Save(TextWriter)
Saves the XML document to the specified TextWriter.

32
Save(XmlWriter)
Saves the XML document to the specified XmlWriter.

Example 3
In this example, let us insert some new nodes in the xml document authors.xml and
then show all the authors' first names in a list box.
Take the following steps −

361
  Add the authors.xml file in the bin/Debug folder of your application( it should be
there if you have tried the last example)
 Import the System.Xml namespace
 Add a list box and a button control in the form and set the text property of the
button control to Show Authors.
 Add the following code using the code editor.
Imports System.Xml
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles
MyBase.Load
' Set the caption bar text of the form.
Me.Text = "tutorialspoint.com"
End Sub

Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)

Handles Button1.Click
ListBox1.Items.Clear()

Dim xd As XmlDocument = New XmlDocument()

xd.Load("authors.xml")

Dim newAuthor As XmlElement = xd.CreateElement("author")

newAuthor.SetAttribute("code", "6")

Dim fn As XmlElement = xd.CreateElement("fname")

fn.InnerText = "Bikram"
newAuthor.AppendChild(fn)

Dim ln As XmlElement = xd.CreateElement("lname")

ln.InnerText = "Seth"
newAuthor.AppendChild(ln)
xd.DocumentElement.AppendChild(newAuthor)

Dim tr As XmlTextWriter = New XmlTextWriter("movies.xml",

Nothing)
tr.Formatting = Formatting.Indented
xd.WriteContentTo(tr)
tr.Close()

Dim nl As XmlNodeList = xd.GetElementsByTagName("fname")

For Each node As XmlNode In nl

ListBox1.Items.Add(node.InnerText)
Next node
End Sub
End Class

362
  Execute and run the above code using Start button available at the Microsoft
Visual Studio tool bar. Clicking on the Show Author button would display the first
names of all the authors including the one we have added at runtime.

VB.Net - Web Programming

 Previous Page
Next Page  

A dynamic web application consists of either or both of the following two types of
programs −
 Server-side scripting − these are programs executed on a web server, written
using server-side scripting languages like ASP (Active Server Pages) or JSP
(Java Server Pages).
 Client-side scripting − these are programs executed on the browser, written
using scripting languages like JavaScript, VBScript, etc.
ASP.Net is the .Net version of ASP, introduced by Microsoft, for creating dynamic web
pages by using server-side scripts. ASP.Net applications are compiled codes written
using the extensible and reusable components or objects present in .Net framework.
These codes can use the entire hierarchy of classes in .Net framework.
The ASP.Net application codes could be written in either of the following languages −
 Visual Basic .Net
 C#

363
  Jscript
 J#
In this chapter, we will give a very brief introduction to writing ASP.Net applications
using VB.Net. For detailed discussion, please consult the ASP.Net Tutorial.

ASP.Net Built-in Objects

ASP.Net has some built-in objects that run on a web server. These objects have
methods, properties and collections that are used in application development.
The following table lists the ASP.Net built-in objects with a brief description −

Sr.No Object & Description

.

1
Application
Describes the methods, properties, and collections of the object that stores information
related to the entire Web application, including variables and objects that exist for the
lifetime of the application.
You use this object to store and retrieve information to be shared among all users of an
application. For example, you can use an Application object to create an e-commerce
page.

2
Request
Describes the methods, properties, and collections of the object that stores information
related to the HTTP request. This includes forms, cookies, server variables, and
certificate data.
You use this object to access the information sent in a request from a browser to the
server. For example, you can use a Request object to access information entered by a
user in an HTML form.

3
Response
Describes the methods, properties, and collections of the object that stores information
related to the server's response. This includes displaying content, manipulating headers,
setting locales, and redirecting requests.
You use this object to send information to the browser. For example, you use a
Response object to send output from your scripts to a browser.

4
Server

364
 Describes the methods and properties of the object that provides methods for various
server tasks. With these methods you can execute code, get error conditions, encode
text strings, create objects for use by the Web page, and map physical paths.
You use this object to access various utility functions on the server. For example, you
may use the Server object to set a time out for a script.

5
Session
Describes the methods, properties, and collections of the object that stores information
related to the user's session, including variables and objects that exist for the lifetime of
the session.
You use this object to store and retrieve information about particular user sessions. For
example, you can use Session object to keep information about the user and his
preference and keep track of pending operations.

ASP.Net Programming Model

ASP.Net provides two types of programming models −
 Web Forms − this enables you to create the user interface and the application
logic that would be applied to various components of the user interface.
 WCF Services − this enables you to remote access some server-side
functionalities.
For this chapter, you need to use Visual Studio Web Developer, which is free. The IDE
is almost same as you have already used for creating the Windows Applications.

Web Forms
Web forms consists of −

365
  User interface
 Application logic
User interface consists of static HTML or XML elements and ASP.Net server controls.
When you create a web application, HTML or XML elements and server controls are
stored in a file with .aspx extension. This file is also called the page file.
The application logic consists of code applied to the user interface elements in the
page. You write this code in any of .Net language like, VB.Net, or C#. The following
figure shows a Web Form in Design view −

Example
Let us create a new web site with a web form, which will show the current date and
time, when a user clicks a button. Take the following steps −
 Select File → New → Web Site. The New Web Site Dialog Box appears.

366
 Select the ASP.Net Empty Web Site templates. Type a name for the web site
and select a location for saving the files.
 You need to add a Default page to the site. Right click the web site name in the
Solution Explorer and select Add New Item option from the context menu. The
Add New Item dialog box is displayed −

 Select Web Form option and provide a name for the default page. We have kept
it as Default.aspx. Click the Add button.
 The Default page is shown in Source view

367
  Set the title for the Default web page by adding a value to the <Title> tag of the
page, in the Source view −
 To add controls on the web page, go to the design view. Add three labels, a text
box and a button on the form.

 Double-click the button and add the following code to the Click event of the
button −
Protected Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _
Handles Button1.Click
Label2.Visible = True
Label2.Text = "Welcome to Tutorials Point: " + TextBox1.Text
Label3.Text = "You visited us at: " + DateTime.Now.ToString()
End Sub

When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the Microsoft
Visual Studio tool bar, the following page opens in the browser −

368
Enter your name and click on the Submit button −

Web Services
A web service is a web application, which is basically a class consisting of methods
that could be used by other applications. It also follows a code-behind architecture like
the ASP.Net web pages, although it does not have an user interface.
The previous versions of .Net Framework used this concept of ASP.Net Web Service,
which had .asmx file extension. However, from .Net Framework 4.0 onwards, the
Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) technology has evolved as the new
successor of Web Services, .Net Remoting and some other related technologies. It has
rather clubbed all these technologies together. In the next section, we will provide a
brief introduction to Windows Communication Foundation(WCF).
If you are using previous versions of .Net Framework, you can still create traditional
web services. Please consult ASP.Net - Web Services tutorial for detailed description.

369
Windows Communication Foundation
Windows Communication Foundation or WCF provides an API for creating distributed
service-oriented applications, known as WCF Services.
Like Web services, WCF services also enable communication between applications.
However, unlike web services, the communication here is not limited to HTTP only.
WCF can be configured to be used over HTTP, TCP, IPC, and Message Queues.
Another strong point in favour of WCF is, it provides support for duplex communication,
whereas with web services we could achieve simplex communication only.
From beginners' point of view, writing a WCF service is not altogether so different from
writing a Web Service. To keep the things simple, we will see how to −
 Create a WCF Service
 Create a Service Contract and define the operations
 Implement the contract
 Test the Service
 Utilize the Service

Example
To understand the concept let us create a simplistic service that will provide stock price
information. The clients can query about the name and price of a stock based on the
stock symbol. To keep this example simple, the values are hardcoded in a two-
dimensional array. This service will have two methods −
 GetPrice Method − it will return the price of a stock, based on the symbol
provided.
 GetName Method − it will return the name of the stock, based on the symbol
provided.
Creating a WCF Service
Take the following steps −
 Open VS Express for Web 2012
 Select New Web Site to open the New Web Site dialog box.
 Select WCF Service template from list of templates −

370
  Select File System from the Web location drop-down list.
 Provide a name and location for the WCF Service and click OK.
 A new WCF Service is created.
Creating a Service Contract and Defining the Operations
A service contract defines the operation that a service performs. In the WCF Service
application, you will find two files automatically created in the App_Code folder in the
Solution Explorer
 IService.vb − this will have the service contract; in simpler words, it will have the
interface for the service, with the definitions of methods the service will provide,
which you will implement in your service.
 Service.vb − this will implement the service contract.

 Replace the code of the IService.vb file with the given code −
Public Interface IService
<OperationContract()>
Function GetPrice(ByVal symbol As String) As Double

<OperationContract()>

371
 Function GetName(ByVal symbol As String) As String
End Interface
Implementing the Contract
In the Service.vb file, you will find a class named Service which will implement the
Service Contract defined in the IService interface.
Replace the code of IService.vb with the following code −
' NOTE: You can use the "Rename" command on the context menu to
change the class name "Service" in code, svc and config file
together.
Public Class Service
Implements IService
Public Sub New()
End Sub
Dim stocks As String(,) =
{
{"RELIND", "Reliance Industries", "1060.15"},
{"ICICI", "ICICI Bank", "911.55"},
{"JSW", "JSW Steel", "1201.25"},
{"WIPRO", "Wipro Limited", "1194.65"},
{"SATYAM", "Satyam Computers", "91.10"}
}

Public Function GetPrice(ByVal symbol As String) As Double _

Implements IService.GetPrice

Dim i As Integer
'it takes the symbol as parameter and returns price
For i = 0 To i = stocks.GetLength(0) - 1

If (String.Compare(symbol, stocks(i, 0)) = 0) Then

Return Convert.ToDouble(stocks(i, 2))
End If
Next i
Return 0
End Function

Public Function GetName(ByVal symbol As String) As String _

Implements IService.GetName

' It takes the symbol as parameter and

' returns name of the stock
Dim i As Integer
For i = 0 To i = stocks.GetLength(0) - 1

If (String.Compare(symbol, stocks(i, 0)) = 0) Then

Return stocks(i, 1)

372
 End If
Next i
Return "Stock Not Found"
End Function
End Class
Testing the Service
To run the WCF Service, so created, select the Debug → Start Debugging option from
the menu bar. The output would be −

For testing the service operations, double click the name of the operation from the tree
on the left pane. A new tab will appear on the right pane.
Enter the value of parameters in the Request area of the right pane and click the
'Invoke' button.
The following diagram displays the result of testing the GetPrice operation −

373
The following diagram displays the result of testing the GetName operation −

374
Utilizing the Service
Let us add a default page, a ASP.NET web form in the same solution from which we
will be using the WCF Service we have just created.
Take the following steps −
 Right click on the solution name in the Solution Explorer and add a new web
form to the solution. It will be named Default.aspx.
 Add two labels, a text box and a button on the form.

 We need to add a service reference to the WCF service we just created. Right
click the website in the Solution Explorer and select Add Service Reference
option. This opens the Add Service Reference Dialog box.
 Enter the URL(location) of the Service in the Address text box and click the Go
button. It creates a service reference with the default name ServiceReference1.
Click the OK button.

375
Adding the reference does two jobs for your project −
 Creates the Address and Binding for the service in the web.config file.
 Creates a proxy class to access the service.
 Double click the Get Price button in the form, to enter the following code snippet
on its Click event −
Partial Class _Default
Inherits System.Web.UI.Page

Protected Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _

Handles Button1.Click
Dim ser As ServiceReference1.ServiceClient = _
New ServiceReference1.ServiceClient
Label2.Text = ser.GetPrice(TextBox1.Text).ToString()
End Sub
End Class

 When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the
Microsoft Visual Studio tool bar, the following page opens in the browser −

376
 Enter a symbol and click the Get Price button to get the hard-coded price −

377