Integrated Development Environment

Integrated Development Environment

Applications in Visual Basic are developed in the Integrated Development Environment (IDE).

Components of IDE :

• Menu Bar

• Toolbox Window - displays the controls.

• Form Window - displays the form that holds the controls and which is useful for developing the user interface.

• Properties Window - has list of all the properties for a control.

• Project Explorer Window - has list of all the forms and modules.

• Standard Toolbar displays the frequently used commands in the form of buttons.

• Code Editor Window - where code is written.

• Form Layout Window - allows to visually position the form at design time

• Object Browser - has list of all the objects,their methods and properties.

• Context Menus - a shortcut menu with frequently performed actions. It can be displayed by right clicking on the object.

• Immediate, Locals, and Watch Windows - These additional windows are provided for use in debugging your application. They are only available when you are running your application within the IDE.

       Note : You can customize the IDE using the Tools --> Options command.

Menu Bar

The Visual Basic menu bar contains the names of the menus you can use in the active window. You can modify the menu bar using the Commands Tab of the Customize dialog box.

File

Edit

View

Project

Format

Debug

Run

Query

Diagram

Tools

Add-Ins

Window

Help

Form Window

The form window allows you to create the windows, dialog boxes, and controls in your application. You draw and view controls on a Form. A form is a window or dialog box. Forms are containers for controls. A multiple document interface (MDI) form can also act as a container for child forms and some controls.

Each form window has a Maximize, Minimize and Close Button. You can create either fixed or movable forms.

Properties Window

The Properties window lists the design-time properties for selected objects and their current settings. You can change these properties at design time. When you select multiple controls, the Properties window contains a list of the properties common to all the selected controls. The properties window has a object box that lists the currently selected object; the properties list tabs which has an alphabetic listing of properties in the Alphabetic Tab and categorized listing of properties in the Categorized Tab ; The Description Pane that shows the property type and a short description of the property.

Shortcut Key : F4

Project Explorer

The Project Explorer displays a hierarchical list of the Projects and all the items contained in a project.The elements of your project Explorer window are as follows:

• View Code displays the Code Window where code is written and edited.

• View Object displays the Object Window for the selected item,an existing form, module ActiveX object.

• Toggle Folders that hides and shows the Object folders while still showing the individual items contained within them.

Shortcut Key: CTRL + R

Standard Toolbar

The Standard Toolbar contains buttons that are shortcuts to some commonly use menu items.

Code Window

The Code Window is used to write, display, and edit Visual Basic code. The different code window elements are as follows:

• Object Box —Displays the name of the selected object.

• Procedures / Events Box — Lists all the events recognized by Visual Basic for a form or control displayed in the Object Box. When you select an event, the event procedure associated With that ever name is displayed in the Code Window.

Shortcut Key : F7

Form Layout Window

The Form Layout Window allows you to visually position your forms at design time. All forms that are visibile in the environment are displayed. When you place your cursor over a form, it changes to a

If you press the mouse button you can position the form where you want it to appear at runtime.

Object Browser

A dialog box you can use to examine the contents of an object library to get information about the objects provided. Displays the classes, properties, methods, events, and constants available from object libraries and the procedures in you project.

Shortcut Key : F2

Context Menus

Context Menus / Shortcut Menus are menus containing frequently used commands that appear when you click the right mouse button or press SHIFT + F10.

Immediate, Locals, and INatch Windows

The Immediate Window automatically opens in break mode and is empty. The Locals window automatically displays all of the declared variables in the current procedure and their values. The Watch Window appears automatically when watch expressions are defined in the project.