Project Window  Tool Box    Form Layout WindowProperties Window  Men Bar and Tool Bar
Visual Basic is a Microsoft Windows programming language created in an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) allowing the programmer to create, run and debug programs.  The three versions of Visual Basic are the Learning Edition (providing fundamental programming capabilities), the Professional Edition (providing a much richer set of programming capabilities than the learning edition and is the choice of many programmers), and the Enterprise Edition (used for developing large-scale computing systems that meets the needs of substantial organizations).   The professional and Enterprise edition also allow Visual Basic code to be compiled to native (i.e. machine language) code.

When Visual Basic is loaded, the New Project dialog which allows the programmer to choose what type of Visual Basic Program to create is displayed.  Standard EXE, which is highlighted allows the programmer to create a standard executable (a program that uses the most common Visual Basic features)

The New Project dialog contains three tabs - New for creating a new project, Existing for opening an existing project, and Recent for opening a project that has been previously loaded into the IDE.  This dialog is displayed every time unless the Don't show this dialog in the future checkbox is checked.  A project type is opened by either double clicking its icon with the left mouse button or by single clicking and then pressing Open.  Pressing Cancel closes the New Project dialog.  Pressing Help opens the on-line assistance.

A Standard EXE project contains the following windows:
 

The Project - Form1 (Form) window contains a form named Form1, which is where the program's Graphical Users Interface (GUI) will be displayed.  This is the visual portion of the program (buttons, etc.) where the user enters data (inputs) to the program and where the program displays the results (outputs) for the user.  The form Layout enables the user to specify the form's position on the screen when the program is executed.  The properties - Form1 window displays form attributes or properties (color, font size, style, etc.).  The project - Project1 groups the project's files by type.  The toolbox contains controls for customizing the GUI (the form).  Controls are GUI components such as buttons and checkboxes.
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Project Window.

The Project Window's tool bar contains three buttons, View Code (for writing Visual Basic code), View Object (displays the form.  This can also be achieved by double clicking Form1 (Form1) ), and Toggle Folders (alternately hides or shows the Forms folder)

Toolbox

The toolbox contains controls used to customize forms.  Controls are prepackaged components that are reused to write programs faster.  Boxed descriptions called tool tips are displayed to tell what each icon means.

Form Layout Window

The Form Layout window is an image representing the screen and the form's relative position on the screen.  With the mouse pointer positioned over the form image, drag the form to a new location.  The mouse pointer changes shape when over the image representing the form.

Properties Window

The Properties window displays the properties for a form or control.  Properties are attributes such as size, position, etc.  Each control has its own set of properties.  Width and height are common to both forms and controls.  Properties are listed either alphabetically (by selecting the Alphabetic tab) and is the default or categorically such as Appearance, Behavior, DDE, Font, Misc, etc. (by selecting the Categorized tab).  The scrollbar can be used to scroll through the list of properties (by dragging the scrollbar up or down).

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Menu Bar and Tool Bar

Commands for developing, maintaining, and executing programs are contained in the IDE's menus.  Menus contain groups of related capabilities to select choice.
 
 
Menu Description
File Contains options for opening projects, closing projects, printing projects, etc.
Edit Contains options such as cut, paste, find, undo, delete, etc.
View Contains options for displaying IDE windows and tool bars.
Project Contains options for adding features such as forms to the project.
Format Contains options for aligning and locking a form's controls.
Debug Contains options for identifying and correcting problems in applications. Also contains commands for running applications.
Run Contains options for executing a program, stopping a program, etc.
Query Contains options for manipulating data retrieved from a database.
Diagram Contains options for editing and viewing the design of databases.
Tools Contains options for IDE tools and options for customizing the environment.
Add-Ins Contains options for using, installing, and removing add-ins.  add-ins are typically independent software vendor (ISV) products that extend Visual Basic's features.
Windows Contains options for arranging and displaying windows.
Help Contains options for getting help.
Build Contains commands for compiling a Visual Basic.NET application.
Data Containing commands for interacting with databases, which store the data that an application processes.  [Note:  Database concepts are in tutorial 25, (Page 586), ATM application.

The Properties window contains the Object Box that determines which object's properties are displayed.  The Object Box lists the form and all objects on the form.  A selected object's properties are displayed in the Properties window.  The TabIndex property determines which control gets the focus (becomes the active control).  The control with a TabIndex value of 0 gets the initial focus.  Pressing the Tab key at runtime transfers the focus to the control with a TabIndex of 1.  By default, a control receives a TabIndex value based on the order in which it is added to the form.  This can be changed in the Properties window.

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