Introduction To

Visual Basic 6
Programming language
Programming is writing instructions
for a computer.
Level of programming languages
Machine language 0s and 1s
Intermediate languange assembly
language.
High level language BASIC, C++
Interpreting or compiling
How do computers handle the high
level language?
Read and Interprete the code line by line
with an program called interpreter, e.g.
BASIC.
Translate the language to machine code
(executable files) with a program called
compiler and run the program, e.g. C+
+.

Visual basic has both Interpreter and Compiler.

History of BASIC
Basic --- Beginners' All-purpose
Symbolic Instruction Code (May,
1964)
MS-BASIC 2.0 (July, 1975)
Visual Basic 1.0 (May,1991)
Visual Basic 6.0 (July 1998)
Why do we learn Visual Basic
It shares the same principles with
other programming languages.
It is good when developing small and
handy utility programs.
It is supported by Microsoft.
It is powerful when integrated with
Excel and Word.
Six Steps in Programming
Problem Identification
Solution Design
Coding
Compiling with compiler or running
with interpreter
Debugging
Testing
Step 1 and 2: Problem
Identification and Design
Identify what needs to be solved
Make diagrams, and equations, etc
Design: Analyze the problem and
develop an ALGORITHM and
FLOWCHART
Step 3: Source Code
Creating Source Code
Source Code is the instructions for the
computer written in Visual Basic
programming language
In VB, source code is linked to an object
on the form
Designing user interface is also part of
the coding.
Step 4a:Compiling
Compiling converts Visual Basic
source code to executable machine
language - instructions the processor
can understand (1s and 0s)
Creates .exe file
Advantage:
Fast and small
Disadvantage:
Debugging is inconvenient.
Step 4b: Interpreting
Interpreting reads and runs one line
of code each time.
You can find Grammar errors in this
stage.
Advantage:
Good for debugging
Interpreter is easy to program.
Disadvantage:
Slow
Interpreting and Compiling in VB
Step 5: Debugging
Debugging is removing the
functional errors from your program
Running tells you where there are
errors
Go back to source code and fix errors
Save and re-run
Repeat until errors are gone
Step 6: Testing and Running
Try to run the program by pressing
the start button
If it starts running, enter the answers
and/or click the buttons to test it
Test your program with boundary and
special cases.
Visual Basic Programming
VB is a programming language
that allows you to program in a
Windows environment
You create a Form with several
Objects
You set the properties of objects.
You write event handler to response
to users input.
VB programming

Project

Form 1 Form 2 Form 3

Text box Button Button

Picture box Text box

Objects
Objects
Definitions
Form contains the Main Program
Controls are user interface elements
(text boxes, commands) in the Form
Forms and Controls are referred to as
OBJECTS
Objects have PROPERTIES (features
you can change)
Forms in Visual Basic
You create a form that is your
graphical user interface
Has places to input values
Has buttons to click
Has other user interface elements,
e.g. Menu, scroll bar
Objects in VB
Everything in VB is VB object
objects, forms,
buttons,
Properties (size,
Three elements of Caption)
objects.
Properties Methods (Print)
Methods
Event Handler
Event handlers. (Command1_Click())
Object: Dog
Properties
Height, weight, color, emotion (friendly, hostile)

Methods
Barking, biting, wagging, singing
Event handlers
Owner coming in: call wagging, call singing,
emotion=friendly;
Intruder coming in: call barking, call biting,
emotion=hostile.
Important Controls
Text Boxes area where you enter
text

Command Buttons you click on

them to do something

Picture Boxes Output your results.

Text Boxes
Properties:
Name (of object)
Text (the words)
Alignment (left, right, middle)
Appearance
BackColor (background)
BorderStyle
Font
FontColor
Command Button
Properties:
Name
BackColor
Style (This controls the backcolor)
Caption
Picture Boxes
Properties
Name
Picture

Methods
Print
Definitions

Forms Command
Objects
Button
properties
properties
properties properties
Methods
properties
properties
properties
Methods
Textbox
properties properties
properties properties properties properties
properties properties properties
Handlers properties properties
properties Methods
properties

Picture Box Label

properties properties
properties properties properties properties
properties properties properties properties
properties Methods properties properties
properties properties Methods
properties properties
properties
Design time and Run time
When you design you can use the
property window to set the property of
certain object.
When you run the program, you can
only use code to change the property
of that object.
Just a Bunch of Objects
Q: Now that you have a bunch of
objects, how do you make them react
to your command?
A: Sub Procedures
Sub Procedures are the instructions
Sub Procedures go with Events (Like
clicking a button)
How the test program works
Making It Do Something
Want program to change on an
Event
Events:
MouseDown
MouseUp
Click
Need to create Sub Procedures
Sub Procedure handles Event and
changes Properties of an Object
Sub Procedure
Two Objects: Text1 and Command1
Sub Procedure:
Private Sub Command1_Click()
Text1.FontSize = 18
End Sub
When Command1 is clicked, the
FontSize property of Text1 is
changed to 18
Sub Procedure
Private Sub CommButt_Click()
Text1.FontSize = 18
Text1.BackColor = vbBlue
Command1.Caption = "Get Some Now"
End Sub
 Homework
Read Chapters 1 & 2 in book