VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language

Larger Cover

By Paul Lomax

Publisher: O'Reilly Media

Released: October 1998

Pages: 656

The online documentation of VB/VBA language components seems to follow the 80/20 rule: the basic facts that you need to use a language statement are provided in the documentation. But the additional 20 percent that you need to use it effectively or to apply it to special cases is conspicuously absent. To a professional VB/VBA programmer, though, this missing 20 percent of the language's documentation isn't a luxury, it's a necessity. And inVB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language, it finally is available.

The bulk of the book consists of an alphabetical reference to the statements, procedures, and functions of the VB/VBA language. Each entry has a standardized listing containing the following information:

Its syntax, using standard code conventions
Differences in the operation of the keyword in a macro environment (e.g., in Office) and in Visual Basic, if there are any
A list of arguments accepted by the function or procedure, if any
A description of the data type returned by a function
The finer points of a keyword's usage that are often omitted from or blurred over by the documentation
Tips and gotchas that include undocumented behaviors and practical applications for particular language elements -- a section particularly invaluable for diagnosing or avoiding potential programming problems
A brief, nonobvious example that illustrates the use of the keyword

Also included in VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language is a brief overview of the VB/VBA language, including:

Basic VBA programming concepts, such as its data types and its support for variables, constants, and arrays
Error handling in VBA applications
Object programming with VBA
Using VBA with particular applications. Excel and Project are utilized to show how to work with an application's integrated development environment and to take advantage of its object model Regardless of how much experience you have programming with VBA, this is the book you'll pick up time and time again both as your standard reference guide and as a tool for troubleshooting and identifying programming problems.

VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language is the definitive reference for Visual Basic and VBA developers.

The Basics
1. Chapter 1 Introduction
  1. What Is VBA?
  2. A Brief History of VBA
  3. What Can You Do with VBA?
  4. Object Models: The Power of Programming with VBA
2. Chapter 2 Program Structure
  1. Getting a VB Program to Run
  2. The Structure of a VB Program
  3. Ending Your VB Program
3. Chapter 3 VBA Variables and Data Types
  1. Visual Basic Data Types
  2. Type Conversion
  3. The Variant
  4. Declaring Variables and Constants
  5. Array Variables
  6. User -Defined Types
  7. Variable Scope and Lifetime
  8. Object Variables and Binding
  9. Passing Parameters
  10. Intrinsic Constants
4. Chapter 4 Class Modules
  1. Properties
  2. Enumerated Constants
  3. Class Module Events
  4. Implementing Custom Class Methods
  5. Creating ActiveX Components
  6. Using ActiveX Components in a Project
5. Chapter 5 Automation
  1. Creating Object Model References
  2. Reading the Object Model
  3. Working with the Object Model
  4. Collection Objects
  5. Trapping an Automation Server's Events
  6. Automation Examples
  7. Automation Performance Tips
6. Chapter 6 Error Handling
  1. Building a Robust Application
  2. Error Handling in Procedures
  3. Error Handling in ActiveX Servers
  4. Reporting Errors
Reference
1. Chapter 7 The Language Reference
2. Chapter 8 The Language Reference, Part 1: #Const Directive–Drives Collection Object (VB6)
3. Chapter 9 The Language Reference, Part 2: End... Statement–FV Function
4. Chapter 10 The Language Reference, Part 3: Get Statement–PV Function
5. Chapter 11 The Language Reference, Part 4: QBColor Function–Year Function
Appendixes
1. Appendix A Language Elements by Category
  1. Collection Object
  2. Conditional Compilation
  3. Data Type Conversion Functions
  4. Data Bindings Objects (VB6 only)
  5. Date and Time Functions
  6. Dictionary Object (VB6 Only)
  7. Err Object
  8. FileSystem Objects (VB6 only)
  9. File and Folder Handling
  10. Financial Functions
  11. Formatting Functions
  12. Information Functions
  13. Interaction Functions
  14. Math Functions
  15. Programming and ActiveX Programming
  16. Printer ObjectNot available in hosted versions of VBA
  17. Program Structure and Flow
  18. Registry Functions
  19. String Manipulation
  20. Variable Declaration
2. Appendix B Language Constants
  1. Application Window Style (VbAppWinStyle)
  2. Calendar (VBCalendar)
  3. Call Type (VB6 only)
  4. Compare Method (VbCompareMethod)
  5. Data Binding Update Mode (VB6 Only)
  6. Date Time Format Styles (VB6 Only)
  7. Day of Week (VbDayOfWeek)
  8. Drive Type (VB6 only)
  9. File Attributes (VbFileAttribute)
  10. File System Objects File Attributes (VB6 Only)
  11. First Week of Year (VbFirstWeekOfYear)
  12. IME Status (VbIMEStatus)
  13. Language Constants
  14. Log Event Type Style (LogEventTypeConstants)
  15. Log Mode Constants (VB6 only)
  16. Message Box Result (VbMsgBoxResult)
  17. Message Box Style (VbMsgBoxStyle)
  18. Special Folder Types (VB6 only)
  19. String Conversion (VbStrConv)
  20. TextStream IOMode (VB6 only)
  21. Tristate Constants (VB6 Only)
  22. Variant Type (VbVarType)
3. Appendix C Operators
  1. Arithmetic Operators
  2. String Operator
  3. Comparison Operators
  4. Logical and Bitwise Operators
  5. Operator Precedence
4. Appendix D What's New in VB6?
  1. Create DataSource and Data Consumer Classes
  2. Functions Can Return Arrays
  3. Dynamic Arrays Can Be Assigned
  4. Remote User-Defined Types
  5. New Functions
  6. Enhanced CreateObject Function
  7. New Object Models

Colophon

Title:

VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language

By:

Paul Lomax

Publisher:

O'Reilly Media

Formats:

Print
Ebook
Safari Books Online

Print:

October 1998

Ebook:

June 2009

Pages:

656

Print ISBN:

978-1-56592-358-4

| ISBN 10:

1-56592-358-8

Ebook ISBN:

978-0-596-10371-2

| ISBN 10:

0-596-10371-9

Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animal on the cover of VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language is a Newfoundland dog, a domesticated breed known for its size and sweet temperament. Newfoundlands, from the island of the same name, are semiaquatic, usually black dogs. They stand about 28 inches tall and weigh around 130-150 pounds.

The Newfoundland, descended from European breeds, has traditionally been used as a working dog, on land and around water, for hunting and fishing. Their large, webbed feet, thick coat, powerful frame, and large lung capacity are well suited for work on ships and around water, as well as for the island's climate. The breed is associated with stories of brave animals making heroic ocean rescues and assisting with shipwrecks. Today, the Newfoundlands' docile nature and calm disposition have made them popular pets. Mary Anne Weeks Mayo was the copy editor and project manager for VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language. Melanie Wang, Ellie Fountain Maden, Clairemarie Fisher O'Leary, and Sheryl Avruch provided quality control. Mike Sierra provided FrameMaker support and Seth Maislin wrote the index.

Edie Freedman designed the cover of this book, using a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive modified in Adobe Photoshop. The cover layout was produced with QuarkXPress 3.32 using the ITC Garamond font. Whenever possible, our books use RepKover?, a durable and flexible lay-flat binding. If the page count exceeds RepKover's limit, perfect binding is used.

The inside layout was designed by Nancy Priest and implemented in FrameMaker 5.5 by Mike Sierra. The text and heading fonts are ITC Garamond Light and Garamond Book. The illustrations that appear in the book were created in Adobe Photoshop 4 and Macromedia FreeHand 7 by Robert Romano. This colophon was written by Nancy Kotary.

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oreilly VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language

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5/6/2010

(1 of 1 customers found this review helpful)

1.0

Q: update...? it is 12 years, eh?

By HOWARD NYC

from 10003

About Me Developer, Educator, Maker

Pros

Accurate
Lend itsself to updating

Cons

Older than five years

Best Uses

Comments about oreilly VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language:

USEFUL BUT OLD

12/10/2004

5.0

Excellent Reference

By Thomas B.

from Undisclosed

Comments about oreilly VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language:

I've had this book in my collection for well over a year now and it makes for a great reference when programming in VB6. It is organized in a manner that makes looking up the formatting of particular methods quick and easy. It provides examples and programming gotchas that help when implementing a method you haven't previously used or rarely use.

3/3/2003

(2 of 2 customers found this review helpful)

5.0

VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language Review

By kt

from Undisclosed

Comments about oreilly VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language:

This book worked quite well for me as I needed a reference for writing VBA code in MS Access, Word, and Excel. It fills in the large gap where Microsoft help leaves you.

I would definitely recommend this book if you already have learned the basics of Visual Basic. The chapters before the reference section are quite good and it answered many questions I had regarding the use of VBA in the MS Office apps.

6/23/2002

(1 of 1 customers found this review helpful)

5.0

VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language Review

By Jose Benitez

from Undisclosed

Comments about oreilly VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language:

This book has never let me down. I would have paid 3 times as much for a book like this. A classic reference work.

6/21/2002

5.0

VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language Review

By Charles McAuley

from Undisclosed

Comments about oreilly VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language:

I'm a C++ programmer with lots of experience. I have resisted VB for years until recently when I inherited a very poorly written VB app that needed to be fixed and updated. I understood OOP, what I wanted was quick and dirty straight facts. Give me syntax and no fluff, give the the real world experience and the all the gotchas so I would not pulled the hair out of my head. This book gave me that and much more, in short it saved my skin. I fixed the bad VB app and now I'm the company hero. This book travels everywhere with me and my laptop. It's worth its weight in gold. As much as I hate to admit it I actually like VB now that I have had to dig in. Don't get me wrong I still like C++ as well and now there is room in my life for both. Cannot rate this book highly enough an off the positive side of the scale of truly useful.

Charles :-)

7/30/2001

5.0

VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language Review

By Joe Federico

from Undisclosed

Comments about oreilly VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language:

Fantastic book! It bridges the gap between beginner and intermediate/advanced programmer by cutting right to the chase. Excellent reference book! If you learn/find only 1 solution, you'll undoubtedly find many, it would have already paid for itself over and over. When I'm looking for a computer book I always check if O'Reilly has one on the subject before considering any other publisher. Keep up the great work!

11/18/2000

5.0

VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language Review

By Mike

from Undisclosed

Comments about oreilly VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language:

This is without a doubt an excellent book on VB/VBA.

It summarized the language in a very concise and

efficient manner. It addresses such vital and

crucial topics as COM/DCOM, error handling, and

function usage.

I recommend this book to anyone who needs to

make use of VB/VBA in a production environment. The

only subject it does not address is calling Win32

API from VB.

9/23/2000

5.0

VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language Review

By Bob Heckel

from Undisclosed

Comments about oreilly VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language:

Great book, supplements VB's Help very well, especially "Gotcha" issues and code samples. Unfortuntely, the code samples are not online.

7/27/2000

5.0

VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language Review

By Anonymous

from Undisclosed

Comments about oreilly VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language:

As a VB client-server programmer, I hardly have the time to wait for VB's HTML help to appear,much less search through it! This book is really in a class by itself as far as VB references go. It's the perfect size to keep right at hand, yet it contains the answer to virtually every question I've asked it.

The encyclopedia-type language reference is preceded by exceptional discussions of VB data types, classes, object models, and error handling, and also includes several interesting and useful

appendices. About the only thing I've not found in it is an ASCII chart. The language element entries are peppered with sidebars on relevant topics, all entries are discussed with remote automation issues in mind, and great examples abound (the entry for the Format function runs to 9 pages, mostly examples). If you program VB for a living, you've got to have this book close by.

5/15/2000

5.0

VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language Review

By Michael.Welter

from Undisclosed

Comments about oreilly VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language:

I find this book is good for learning new techniques, or as a reference guide. I can find many, many examples of excellent code in this book. It's an excellent resource.

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