Lecture Set 2

Part B – Configuring Visual Studio; Configuration Options

and The Help System(scan quickly for future reference)

Slide 2

Objectives

Describe the Visual Studio IDE and configure Visual Studio for use with Visual Basic

Intro to the Options Dialog Box Describe the organization of the Visual

Studio Help system Navigate the Visual Studio Help system

Slide 3

Objectives (continued)

Work with Visual Studio solutions and projects

Explore the Visual Studio IDE and its windows

Use Visual Studio to create and compile a Visual Basic project

Create application comments and work with the My object

Slide 4

How to Approach this Lecture Set

You will find that almost all options are set the way we want them to be

So … don’t try to memorize or learn this material all at once

For the options, just become familiar with the dialog boxes so that you have some idea where to find things and change the set up if you need to

“Help” is a bit different – the more you use it, the more you investigate, the more you will learn and the more proficient you will become

Slide 5

Introduction to Visual Studio

Visual Studio simplifies the process of creating, compiling, and testing applications

Visual Studio can create applications in Visual C++, C#, J#, and Visual Basic

The same development environment is used regardless of the programming language

Here we provide some tips as to a reasonable, convenient configuration for your VS setup

Visual Studio windows we will see and use

Slide 6

Solution Explorer

Slide 7

Configuring Visual Studio for use with Visual Basic

Visual Studio has extensive configuration options

Use the Options dialog box to configure Visual Studio The Options dialog box has a drill down

interface Click the plus (+) and minus (-) signs to

expand or collapse the folders appearing in the left pane

Configuration options appear in the right pane

Slide 8

Options Dialog Box – General Subfolder

Use to set common environment options Use to set development modes

Tabbed documents mode is the newer and preferred developer interface

Multiple Document Interface (MDI) mode is the older developer interface

It was used by VB 6 and older Visual Basic versions

You should not have to deal with this box for a while

Slide 9

Options Dialog Box – General Subfolder

Slide 10

Options Dialog Box – Help Subfolder

Slide 11

Options Dialog Box – Build and Run subfolder

These options control how Visual Basic compiles and executes a project

Set thing up to provide reasonable level of information and, above all, to SAVE YOU FROM YOURSELF Before building, save all changes so that

the most recent program version will be compiled when you do the build

Always build projects before running

Slide 12

Options Dialog Box – Build and Run subfolder

Slide 13

Options Dialog Box – Basic General and Basic Tabs Subfolders

Use to configure the Visual Basic editing environment Enable statement completion options to

enable Intellisense technology Use smart indenting to indent program

code automatically Enable the VB Specific options to enable

other helpful editing features

Slide 14

Options Dialog Box – Basic, General Subfolder

Slide 15

Options Dialog Box – Basic, Tabs subfolder

Slide 16

Options Dialog Box – VB Specific subfolder

Slide 17

Introduction to the Visual Studio Help System

The Help system encompasses Visual Studio The .NET Framework class library The different Visual Studio languages

The Help system for the Visual Basic Express edition is simplified

Slide 18

Types of Help Pages

Language Help pages relate to the statements that make up Visual Basic or other Visual Studio language

Class Help pages describe the purpose of a class or other type

Members Help pages list a type’s members, organized hierarchically

Each category of Help page is made up of sections with common names Sections can be expanded or collapsed

Slide 19

Help Settings

The Help system may be configured to use Online Help as the primary Help source

Use online Help for the most up to date Help files

Online Help will perform poorly with a dial-up Internet connection

Local Help as the primary Help source and online Help as the backup Help source

Local Help only

Slide 20

Online Help Settings Dialog Box

Slide 21

Language Help Pages

Used to describe the purpose of a Visual Basic statement or other language element

Sections Statement syntax describes the syntax of a

language element The Parts section describes the syntax in detail The Remarks section contains technical and usage

notes The Example section contains simple examples

These examples can be copied and pasted into programs

The See Also section contains links to other Help pages

Slide 22

Language Help Page

Slide 23

Members Help Pages

Most classes (and other types) have a Members Help page

Lists the members of the class or other type hierarchically by Property Method Event

Each item has a link to another Help page

Slide 24

Console Members Help Page

Slide 25

Class Help Pages

A Class Help page describes the purpose of a particular class

Sections Syntax Remarks Example Inheritance Hierarchy Thread Safety Platforms Version Information See Also

Slide 26

Class Help Page for the System.Console Class

Slide 27

Class Help Pages (Syntax Section)

The Syntax section shows the declaration for a class or other type

The Syntax section contains keywords for the declaration

Sample keywords Public denotes that the type is publicly

accessible Class denotes the type is a class NotInheritable denotes the class cannot

be inherited

Slide 28

Console Class Help Page – Syntax