Visual Basic 2005 Jumpstart

Book description

Okay, all you VB6 developers--time's up. As of March 2005, Microsoft no longer supports this version of Visual Basic. And you can't blame them. Three years ago, they introduced the .NET Framework--an elegant, powerful platform--along with the new component-based VB.NET language. But roughly five million of you decided to stick with VB6, mostly to maintain legacy Windows and COM projects.

Now, with the upcoming release of VB 2005, Microsoft has several attractive reasons to upgrade that you'll find hard to resist, including the return of some VB6 features. And we have the perfect book to help you make the conversion: Visual Basic 2005 Jumpstart. Now, you can test-drive the beta version of VB 2005 with three hands-on projects that enable you to learn the syntax of this new language quickly.

VB 2005 not only lets you convert the bulk of your existing VB6 code, but offers several familiar features, such as compile-and-run debugging, new MyClasses that simplify use of .NET libraries and frameworks, lots of IDE support for Windows, web and mobile GUI development, and data access controls that closely resemble what you use now. The real plus is that you'll be using these features with the .NET platform, which is more secure, less complex than COM, and offers OneClick deployment.

Visual Basic 2005 Jumpstart lets you get the feel of this platform for building smart/rich Windows Forms clients, ASP.NET web applications, and web services. Author Wei-Meng Lee, a Microsoft .NET MVP, veteran O'Reilly author and frequent contributor to the O'Reilly Network, has put together three useful test-drive projects, complete with code samples, that let you develop:

  • A personal library Windows application
  • A Web-based shopping cart application
  • A stock enquiry Web Service
Our jumpstart guide is the quick, painless way to migrate from VB6 to VB 2005, and the perfect training manual for moving your organization to the more robust, dynamic and secure world of .NET.

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Table of contents

  1. A Note Regarding Supplemental Files
  2. Copyright
  3. About the Author
  4. Foreword
  5. Preface
    1. Who This Book Is For
      1. How This Book Is Organized
    2. What You Need to Use This Book
    3. Conventions Used in This Book
    4. Using Code Examples
    5. Safari Enabled
    6. I’d Like to Hear from You
    7. Comments and Questions
    8. Acknowledgments
  6. 1. Introducing Visual Basic 2005
    1. 1.1. Create the Application and Its Main Window
    2. 1.2. Add a Menu and Toolbar
    3. 1.3. Connect to a Database and Browse Records
    4. 1.4. Create an Exit Dialog Box
    5. 1.5. Handle Exit and Close Events
    6. 1.6. Run and Debug the Application
    7. 1.7. Inspect an Object at Runtime
    8. 1.8. Add an About Box
    9. 1.9. Configure the Application
    10. 1.10. Summary
  7. 2. Programming with Visual Basic
    1. 2.1. Data Types
    2. 2.2. Variables
    3. 2.3. Constants
      1. 2.3.1. Literals
      2. 2.3.2. Enumerations
    4. 2.4. Strings
    5. 2.5. Arrays
    6. 2.6. Type Conversion
    7. 2.7. Operators
    8. 2.8. Statements
      1. 2.8.1. Decision-Making (Branching) Statements
        1. 2.8.1.1. If-Then-Else
        2. 2.8.1.2. Select…Case
      2. 2.8.2. Looping (Iteration) Statements
    9. 2.9. Functions and Subroutines
      1. 2.9.1. Function
      2. 2.9.2. Subroutine
      3. 2.9.3. Passing Arguments
        1. 2.9.3.1. Passing by value
        2. 2.9.3.2. Passing by reference
        3. 2.9.3.3. Optional parameters
    10. 2.10. Error Handling
      1. 2.10.1. Try-Catch-Finally
      2. 2.10.2. Throwing Exceptions
    11. 2.11. My Namespace
    12. 2.12. Summary
  8. 3. Putting Object-Oriented Programming to Work
    1. 3.1. Working with Classes and Objects
      1. 3.1.1. Using the .NET Classes
      2. 3.1.2. Creating Objects
      3. 3.1.3. Comparing Objects
    2. 3.2. Reusing and Customizing Classes
      1. 3.2.1. Using Inheritance
      2. 3.2.2. Customizing a Method
      3. 3.2.3. Adding Alternate Versions of a Method to a Class
      4. 3.2.4. Adding a New Method
      5. 3.2.5. Customizing Initialization
      6. 3.2.6. Adding Properties
      7. 3.2.7. Weakly Typed Versus Strongly Typed Variables
      8. 3.2.8. Using a Generic Class
      9. 3.2.9. Splitting Up the Physical Implementation of a Class
    3. 3.3. Designing Your Own Classes
      1. 3.3.1. Defining a Class
      2. 3.3.2. Controlling Access to Class Members
      3. 3.3.3. Aggregating Data Types Using a Structure
    4. 3.4. Controlling How Classes Are Implemented
      1. 3.4.1. Allowing or Preventing Overridable Methods
      2. 3.4.2. Specifying Implementation Details with Abstract Classes and Methods
      3. 3.4.3. Creating Contracts with Implementers Using Interfaces
      4. 3.4.4. Controlling the Destruction of Objects
      5. 3.4.5. Tagging Objects with Attributes
    5. 3.5. Summary
  9. 4. Developing a Windows Application
    1. 4.1. Creating the Windows Application and Building the Main Window
      1. 4.1.1. Creating a Database to Store Books Information
      2. 4.1.2. Binding Library Data to the Form
      3. 4.1.3. Adding a Web Reference to Amazon.com
      4. 4.1.4. Accessing the Amazon.com Web Services
      5. 4.1.5. Displaying Book Information and Covers
      6. 4.1.6. Saving Book Information
      7. 4.1.7. Testing the Application
    2. 4.2. Viewing Book Information Offline
      1. 4.2.1. Create the Books Catalog Window
      2. 4.2.2. Binding Library Data to the Books Catalog Form
      3. 4.2.3. Testing the Application
    3. 4.3. Deploying the Application
      1. 4.3.1. Publishing the Application
    4. 4.4. Automatic Updating
      1. 4.4.1. Accessing the Web Services Asynchronously
      2. 4.4.2. Republishing the Application
    5. 4.5. Summary
  10. 5. Building Web Applications
    1. 5.1. Building the Storefront
      1. 5.1.1. Building a Site Template Using a Master Page
      2. 5.1.2. Building the Storefront Using a Content Page
    2. 5.2. Creating a Shopping Cart
    3. 5.3. Members Area
      1. 5.3.1. Creating New User Accounts
      2. 5.3.2. Creating a Login Page
      3. 5.3.3. Restrict Unauthorized Access to Pages
      4. 5.3.4. Checking Out from the Store
    4. 5.4. Testing the Application
    5. 5.5. Summary
  11. 6. Moving from VB 6 to VB 2005
    1. 6.1. Migrate, Replace, Rewrite, or Reuse?
      1. 6.1.1. Making the Right Decision
        1. 6.1.1.1. Migrate
        2. 6.1.1.2. Reuse
        3. 6.1.1.3. Rewrite
        4. 6.1.1.4. Replace
    2. 6.2. Using COM Objects in VB 2005
    3. 6.3. Upgrading VB 6 Applications
      1. 6.3.1. Using Code Advisor for VB 6
      2. 6.3.2. Using the Upgrade Wizard
    4. 6.4. Summary
  12. About the Author
  13. Colophon
  14. Copyright

Product information

  • Title: Visual Basic 2005 Jumpstart
  • Author(s): Wei-Meng Lee
  • Release date: September 2005
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9780596100711