1/29/2017 VisualBasicCh.

6Notes,page1

CIS230,VisualBasic

Ch.6Notes,page1

Objective#1:Createaprojectwithmultipleforms.

Practicallyspeaking,youmustusemultipleformsinaVBprojecttocreateanapplicationthatisnontrivial.Whileyoucouldmakeextensive
useofframestogrouprelatedobjectsandbeverycreativewiththeVisibleproperty,limitingyourselftooneformwouldmakecoding
unnecessarilycomplicated.Creatingapleasinguserinterfacerequiresmultipleformsinaproject.
Youcancreateanewform(moreformallyknownasaformmodule)simplybychoosingthemenucommandProject/AddFormandthen
selectingFormfromtheresultingwindow.
YoucanaddapreexistingformtoaprojectbychoosingthemenucommandProject/AddFormandthenselectingtheExistingtab.Thisdoes
notduplicatetheaddedformwhichmayexistaspartofanotherVBproject.Itsimplylinksthatform(.frmfile)toyourcurrentproject.Ifthe
formisrelocatedinthefuture,theprojectwillnotbeabletoaccesstheform.
Youcanaddasmanyformsasyouwishtoaprojectbutaddingtoomanymaymaketheprojectunmanageable.
Thefirstformthatisdisplayedoractivatedinaprojectiscalledthestartupform.

Objective#2:UsetheShowandHidemethodstodisplayandhideforms.

TheHidemethodofaformmakesitdisappear.Forexample,iftheformfrmLevel2wereplaceddirectlybehindformfrmLevel1,thenthe
statementfrmLevel1.HidewouldcausefrmLevel1todisappearandrevealfrmLevel2.
TheShowmethodofaformmakesitappearonthescreen.
TheShowmethodcanbesetto0formodelessor1formodal.(TheVBconstantsVBModelessandVBModalalsocanbeusedas
constantvalues.)Forexample,thestatement
frmLevel1Show1displaysfrmLevel1inamodalstate.ThedefaultismodelessifthestatementfrmLevel1Showisused
withoutspecifyingavalue.
Displayingaforminmodelessstateallowstheusertoclosethatformorsimplyignorebymakinganotherformactive.
Displayingaformasmodal,yourequiretheusertorespondtotheforminsomeway.Thiscanbemoreeffectivethanusingamessage
box,especiallysinceyoucandomuchmorewithaformthanasimplemessagebox.
Twospecialeventsoccurbehindthesceneseverytimethataformfirstdisplaysinaproject,theFormLoadandFormActivateevents,which
arenotusergenerated.
TheForm_Loadcallstheformmoduleintomemory(RAM).
AsplitsecondlatertheForm_Activateeventoccursandactuallyactivatestheform,passingcontroltoit.IftheformishidwiththeHide
method,onlytheForm_Activatemethodwillbeinvokedwhenitisshownagain.Iftherearetasksorinitializingstepsthatmustbe
performedeverytimetheformisshown,youshouldplacethosetasksandstatementsintheform'sForm_Activateprocedure.
Ifyounolongerneedtouseaformthroughouttheremainderoftheexecutingproject,youshouldconservememorybyunloadingtheform.
ThiscanbedonewiththestatementUnloadfrmLevel1.Simplyhidingaformdoesnotclearthememorythatituseswhichcouldbe
significantonoldercomputersinprojectsthatusemanyforms.
WhiletheShowmethodautomaticallyloadsaform,youcanintentionallyloadaformbeforeyouplantouseitinordertosavetimeandmake
theformappearfaster.ThiscanbedonewiththestatementLoadfrmLevel1

http://www.minich.com/education/racc/visualbasic/cis230ch6/ch6notes1.htm 1/3
1/29/2017 VisualBasicCh.6Notes,page1

TheMekeywordcanbeusedanywhereinyourcodethatyouwouldusetheformnameofthecurrentlyactiveform.IftheformfrmLevel1was
theactiveformthenthestatementUnloadMewouldcleartheformfromthememory.

Objective#3:Createproceduresthatareaccessiblefrommultipleformmodules.

Whenyoucreateanewgeneralprocedureyoumustcarefullydeterminewhetheritwouldbesomethingthatisusefultoanumberofform
modulesoronlyoneformmodule.Ifisisonlyappropriateforoneformmodulethenyoushouldplaceitinthatformmoduleandusethe
keywordPrivateinitsheader.Ifyouthinkthattheprocedurecouldbeusedinnumerousformsthenyoushouldplaceitinastandardcode
moduleandusethekeywordPublicinitsheader.
Astandardcodemodule(.basfile)isnotassociatedwithaparticularformbutispresentwithintheproject.Infact,youshould(butarenot
requiredto)namethecodemodulewiththesamenameastheprojectitself(theextensionwillbe.basinsteadof.vbpthough).
Toaddacodemodule,choosethemenucommandProject/AddModuleandthenselectModuleontheNewtab.Ofcourseyoucanreuse
standardcodemodulesthatbelongtootherprojectsaswell.
Onceyouhavecreatedacodemodule,itwillappearintheProjectExplorerwindow.
Byplacinggeneralprocedureswithinacodemoduleyoucaneasilymakethemaccessibletomultipleformmodules.Anyprocedureina
standardcodemodulecanbecalledbyanyprocedureinanymoduleoftheproject.However,ifyouusethePublickeywordintheheaderofa
procedureinaformmodule,thenthatprocedurecanalsobecalledbyproceduresinothermodules.

Objective#4:Differentiatebetweenvariablesthatareglobaltoaprojectandthosevisibleonlytoaform.

Variablesandconstantscanhavethreedifferentlevelsofscope:local,modulelevel,andglobal.Itiswisetokeepthescopeofavariableas
narrowaspossible.Thatis,youshouldtrytorefrainfromusingmodulelevelandglobalvariables.Youmayhavedifficulttodebugsideeffects
inyourlogicifyouuseglobals.
Ifyoudowishavariabletobeaccessibletomorethanoneformmodule,youmustmakeitaglobal.SimplyusethekeywordPublicinsteadof
Diminitsdeclarationstatement.However,itmayconfusethosewhoreadyourprogramifyou"hide"globalvariablesinformmodulesinthis
way.Youshouldalwaysdeclaresuchglobalvariablesinthegeneraldeclarationssectionoftheproject'sstandardcodemodulesothattheyare
easytofindandidentify.YoustillhavetousethekeywordPublictomakethevariableglobalevenifitisdeclaredinthegeneraldeclarations
sectionofthecodemodule.
Youshouldusethethesingleletterprefixesofgandmwithinidentifiers(i.e.names)ofglobalandmodulelevelvariablesrespectively.
Therefore,thevariablenameforaglobalmightbegcurSalary.Localvariablesdonotneedaprefixsinceitisassumedthatmostofyour
variableswillhavelocalscope.
Besidestheaspectofavariable'sscope,itisimportanttomanageavariable'slifetimeaswell.Localvariablesareonlystoredinmemorywhile
aprocedureisexecuting.Assoonastheprocedureends,itslocalvariablesresettozero(orareactuallyabandonedbythecomputer'smemory.)
Ifyouwishtokeeptrackofarunningtotalforexample,throughouttheexecutionofaform,youshoulddeclarethevariableasStatic.Simply
usethekeywordStaticinsteadofDim.Forexample,StaticintRunningTotalAsIntegerdeclaresintRunningTotalinsuchaway.
ReadtheGuidelinesforDeclaringVariablesandConstantssectiononp.216veryclosely.Youwillberesponsibleforfollowingthoserules
andconventions.

Objective#5:CreateanAboutboxusingaform.

http://www.minich.com/education/racc/visualbasic/cis230ch6/ch6notes1.htm 2/3
1/29/2017 VisualBasicCh.6Notes,page1

MostWindowsapplicationsgivetheusertheopportunitytoseethenameandversionofthesoftwareinanAboutbox.Often"About..."isa
menucommandundertheHelpmenu.Youcaneasilyplacesuchinformationonaformwithlabelsandaddamenuoptionorcommandbutton
thatinvitestheusertoseethisinfo.
VBalsooffersatemplateAboutDialogformthatcanbefoundbychoosingthemenucommandProject/AddForm.

Objective#6:Addasplashscreentoyourproject.

AsplashscreencanbeaddedtoaVBprojecttomakeitlookprofessionalaswell.Asplashscreenloadsassoonasauserexecutesaprogram.
Itoftenmakesitappearasiftheapplicationisloadingfasterthanitreallyis.
YoucancreateyourownsplashscreenoryoucanaddaVBtemplatefoundundertheProject/AddFormmenucommand.Ifyouaddyourown,
youshouldmakesurethatprogramexecutionbeginswiththespecialsubprocedureMainthatislocatedinyour.basstandardcodemodule.

Objective#7:SetthestartupformorSubMaintostartprojectexecution.

YoucanchoosetohaveoneoftheformsinaVBprojectchosenasthestartupform.Thestartupformissimplythefirstformtoloadand
execute.YoucanselectanyforminyourprojectasthestartupformfromtheProject/ProjectProperties...menucommand.Underthegeneral
tabyoucanselectthe"startupobject."
YoucanalsochoosetheMainsubproceduretobethestartupobjectofaproject.Inthiscase,anycodewithintheMainsubprocedurewill
executeimmediately.Inthiscaseifyouwishtoshowasplashscreen,youmustshowthesplashscreenformwithacommandlike
frmSplash.Showsincethatwillactivatethesplashscreen.

CIS230HomePage|Mr.Minich'sEducationHomePage|Minich.comWebDesign

http://www.minich.com/education/racc/visualbasic/cis230ch6/ch6notes1.htm 3/3