VB.net Developer's Guide (With CD-ROM)

Cameron Wakefield, Syngress

ISBN:1928994482, Edition: 1, 2001-01-15

Price: $49.95

Contents

From the Series Editor ~ xxxi

Chapter 1 New Features in Visual Basic .NET ~ 1
Introduction ~ 2
Examining the New IDE ~ 3
Cosmetic Improvements ~ 3
Development Accelerators ~ 5
.NET Framework ~ 6
A Very Brief and Simplified History ~ 6
.NET Architecture ~ 7
ASP.NET ~ 7
Framework Classes ~ 8
.NET Servers ~ 8
Common Language Runtime ~ 8
History ~ 8
Convergence ~ 9
Object-Oriented Language ~ 10
Object-Oriented Concepts ~ 10
Advantages of Object-Oriented Design ~ 11
History of Object Orientation and VB ~ 13
Namespaces ~ 13
Web Applications ~ 13
Web Applications Overview ~ 13
Web Forms ~ 14
Web Services ~ 15
HyperText Transport Protocol ~ 16
Simple Object Access Protocol ~ 17
Security ~ 17
Type Safety ~ 18
Casting ~ 18
Data Conversion ~ 19
Bitwise Operations ~ 20
New Compiler ~ 20
Compiling an Executable ~ 20
Architecture ~ 21
File Management in Previous Versions of VB ~ 21
File Management ~ 22
Changes from Visual Basic 6.0 ~ 23
Variants ~ 23
Variable Lower Bounds ~ 23
Fixed Length Strings ~ 23
NULL Propagation ~ 23
Other Items Removed ~ 24
Function Values ~ 24
Short Circuits ~ 25
Properties and Variables ~ 25
Variable Lengths ~ 25
Get and Set ~ 26
Date Type ~ 26
Default Properties ~ 27
Summary ~ 28
Solutions Fast Track ~ 28
Frequently Asked Questions ~ 31

Chapter 2 The Microsoft .NET Framework ~ 33
Introduction ~ 34
What Is the .NET Framework? ~ 34
Introduction to the Common Language Runtime ~ 35
Using .NET-Compliant Programming Languages ~ 37
Creating Assemblies ~ 39
Using the Manifest ~ 42
Compiling Assemblies ~ 45
Assembly Cache ~ 45
Locating an Assembly ~ 45
Private Assembly Files ~ 51
Shared Assembly Files ~ 51
Understanding Metadata ~ 51
The Benefits of Metadata ~ 52
Identifying an Assembly with Metadata ~ 53
Types ~ 53
Defining Members ~ 54
Using Contracts ~ 54
Assembly Dependencies ~ 55
Unmanaged Assembly Code ~ 55
Reflection ~ 56
Attributes ~ 57
Ending DLL Hell ~ 58
Side-by-Side Deployment ~ 58
Versioning Support ~ 59
Using System Services ~ 60
Exception Handling ~ 60
StackTrace ~ 61
InnerException ~ 61
Message ~ 61
HelpLink ~ 62
Garbage Collection ~ 62
Console I/O ~ 62
Microsoft Intermediate Language ~ 63
The Just-In-Time Compiler ~ 63
Using the Namespace System to Organize Classes ~ 64
The Common Type System ~ 65
Type Safety ~ 68
Relying on Automatic Resource Management ~ 68
The Managed Heap ~ 69
Garbage Collection and the Managed Heap ~ 71
Assigning Generations ~ 77
Utilizing Weak References ~ 77
Security Services ~ 79
Framework Security ~ 80
Granting Permissions ~ 81
Gaining Representation through a Principal ~ 82
Security Policy ~ 83
Summary ~ 85
Solutions Fast Track ~ 85
Frequently Asked Questions ~ 88

Chapter 3 Installing and Configuring VB.NET ~ 91
Introduction ~ 92
Editions ~ 92
Installing Visual Studio .NET ~ 93
Exercise 3.1: Installing Visual Studio .NET ~ 94
Installing on Windows 2000 ~ 99
The New IDE ~ 100
Integrated Development Environment Automation Model ~ 100
Add-Ins ~ 104
Exercise 3.2 Creating an Add-In Using the Add-In Wizard ~ 105
Wizards ~ 109
Macros ~ 109
Home Page ~ 110
Project Options ~ 112
Toolbox ~ 116
Child Windows ~ 120
Window Types ~ 122
Arranging Windows ~ 123
Task List ~ 123
Exercise 3.3 Setting Up a Custom Token ~ 124
TaskList Views ~ 124
Locating Code ~ 126
Annotating Code ~ 126
Solution Explorer ~ 127
Properties Window ~ 129
Form Layout Toolbar ~ 130
Hide/Show Code Elements ~ 132
Web Forms ~ 133
Intellisense ~ 134
Customizing the IDE ~ 135
Customizing the Code Editor ~ 135
Customizing Shortcut Keys ~ 135
Customizing the Toolbars ~ 136
Exercise 3.4 Adding a New Toolbar to the Existing Set ~ 136
Exercise 3.5 Adding Commands to Toolbars ~ 137
Customizing Built-In Commands ~ 137
Exercise 3.6 Creating an Alias ~ 138
Customizing the Start Page ~ 139
Accessibility Options ~ 141
Summary ~ 142
Solutions Fast Track ~ 142
Frequently Asked Questions ~ 143

Chapter 4 Common Language Runtime ~ 145
Introduction ~ 146
Component Architecture ~ 148
Managed Code versus Unmanaged Code ~ 150
Interoperability with Managed Code ~ 152
System Namespace ~ 153
File I/O ~ 155
Drawing ~ 156
Printing ~ 157
Common Type System ~ 158
Type Casting ~ 160
Garbage Collection ~ 163
Object Allocation/Deallocation ~ 164
Close/Dispose ~ 165
Summary ~ 166
Solutions Fast Track ~ 167
Frequently Asked Questions ~ 168

Chapter 5 .NET Programming Fundamentals ~ 171
Introduction ~ 172
Variables ~ 173
Constants ~ 175
Structures ~ 176
Program Flow Control ~ 178
If…Then…Else ~ 178
Select Case ~ 182
While Loops ~ 184
For Loops ~ 186
Arrays ~ 187
Declaring an Array ~ 188
Multidimensional Arrays ~ 189
Dynamic Arrays ~ 191
Functions ~ 192
Object Oriented Programming ~ 196
Inheritance ~ 196
Polymorphism ~ 197
Encapsulation ~ 197
Classes ~ 198
Adding Properties ~ 198
Adding Methods ~ 200
System.Object ~ 201
Constructors ~ 201
Overloading ~ 202
Overriding ~ 203
Shared Members ~ 205
String Handling ~ 206
Error Handling ~ 210
Summary ~ 213
Solutions Fast Track ~ 214
Frequently Asked Questions ~ 217

Chapter 6 Advanced Programming Concepts ~ 219
Introduction ~ 220
Using Modules ~ 221
Utilizing Namespaces ~ 222
Creating Namespaces ~ 222
Understanding the Imports Keyword ~ 226
Implementing Interfaces ~ 229
Delegates and Events ~ 232
Simple Delegates ~ 235
Multicast Delegates ~ 236
Event Programming ~ 236
Handles Keyword ~ 236
Language Interoperability ~ 237
File Operations ~ 239
Directory Listing ~ 239
Data Files ~ 241
Text Files ~ 243
Appending to Files ~ 246
Collections ~ 246
The Drawing Namespace ~ 248
Images ~ 253
Printing ~ 256
Understanding Free Threading ~ 262
SyncLock ~ 263
Summary ~ 265
Solutions Fast Track ~ 265
Frequently Asked Questions ~ 267

Chapter 7 Creating Windows Forms ~ 269
Introduction ~ 270
Application Model ~ 270
Properties ~ 271
Manipulating Windows Forms ~ 275
Properties of Windows Forms ~ 275
Methods of Windows Forms ~ 276
Creating Windows Forms ~ 287
Displaying Modal Forms ~ 288
Displaying Modeless Forms ~ 289
Displaying Top-Most Forms ~ 289
Changing the Borders of a Form ~ 289
Resizing Forms ~ 291
Setting Location of Forms ~ 292
Form Events ~ 294
Creating Multiple Document Interface Applications ~ 297
Creating an MDI Parent Form ~ 297
Creating MDI Child Forms ~ 298
Exercise 7.1 Creating an MDI Child Form ~ 298
Determining the Active MDI Child Form ~ 299
Arranging MDI Child Forms ~ 299
Adding Controls to Forms ~ 300
Anchoring Controls on Forms ~ 301
Docking Controls on Forms ~ 303
Layering Objects on Forms ~ 304
Positioning Controls on Forms ~ 304
Dialog Boxes ~ 305
Displaying Message Boxes ~ 306
Common Dialog Boxes ~ 306
The OpenFileDialog Control ~ 306
The SaveFileDialog Control ~ 309
The FontDialog Control ~ 311
The ColorDialog Control ~ 313
The PrintDialog Control ~ 315
The PrintPreviewDialog Control ~ 316
The PageSetupDialog Control ~ 321
Creating Dialog Boxes ~ 322
Creating and Working with Menus ~ 323
Adding Menus to a Form ~ 323
Exercise 7.2 Adding a Menu to a Form at Design Time ~ 323
Dynamically Creating Menus ~ 326
Exercise 7.3 Adding a Menu to a Form at Design Time ~ 326
Adding Status Bars to Forms ~ 328
Adding Toolbars to Forms ~ 330
Data Binding ~ 332
Simple Data Binding ~ 332
Complex Data Binding ~ 333
Data Sources for Data Binding ~ 333
Using the Data Form Wizard ~ 334
Using the Windows Forms Class Viewer ~ 338
Using the Windows Forms ActiveX Control Importer ~ 338
Summary ~ 340
Solutions Fast Track ~ 340
Frequently Asked Questions ~ 344

Chapter 8 Windows Forms Components and Controls ~ 347
Introduction ~ 348
Built-In Controls ~ 348
Label Control ~ 351
LinkLabel Control ~ 354
TextBox Control ~ 357
Button Control ~ 361
CheckBox Control ~ 364
RadioButton Control ~ 365
RichTextBox Control ~ 367
TreeView Control ~ 369
ListBox Control ~ 371
CheckedListBox Control ~ 374
ListView Control ~ 376
ComboBox Control ~ 381
DomainUpDown Control ~ 384
NumericUpDown Control ~ 386
PictureBox Control ~ 388
TrackBar Control ~ 389
DateTimePicker Control ~ 391
Panel Control ~ 394
GroupBox Control ~ 396
TabControl Control ~ 397
Creating Custom Windows Components ~ 399
Exercise 8.1: Creating a Custom Windows Component ~ 399
Creating Custom Windows Controls ~ 403
Exercise 8.2: Creating a Custom Windows Control ~ 404
Summary ~ 407
Solutions Fast Track ~ 407
Frequently Asked Questions ~ 408

Chapter 9 Using ADO.NET ~ 409
Introduction ~ 410
Overview of XML ~ 411
XML Documents ~ 411
XSL ~ 411
XDR ~ 412
XPath ~ 412
Understanding ADO.NET Architecture ~ 412
Differences between ADO and ADO.NET ~ 414
XML Support ~ 414
ADO.NET Configuration ~ 415
Remoting in ADO.NET ~ 415
Maintaining State ~ 415
Using the XML Schema Definition Tool ~ 416
Connected Layer ~ 417
Data Providers ~ 418
Connection Strings ~ 418
Exercise 9.1 Creating a Connection String ~ 419
Command Objects ~ 421
DataReader ~ 425
DataSet ~ 426
Disconnected Layer ~ 427
Using DataSet ~ 428
Relational Schema ~ 428
Collection of Tables ~ 430
Data States ~ 431
Populating with the DataSet Command ~ 432
Populating with XML ~ 433
Populating Programmatically ~ 434
Using the SQL Server Data Provider ~ 435
TDS ~ 436
Exercise 9.2 Using TypedDataSet ~ 437
Remoting ~ 439
Data Controls ~ 440
DataGrid ~ 440
Exercise 9.3 Using TypedDataSet and DataRelation ~ 441
DataList ~ 446
Repeater ~ 450
Summary ~ 454
Solutions Fast Track ~ 454
Frequently Asked Questions ~ 457

Chapter 10 Developing Web Applications ~ 459
Introduction ~ 460
Web Forms ~ 461
A Simple Web Form ~ 462
Exercise 10.1 Creating a Simple Web Form ~ 462
How Web Forms Differ from Windows Forms ~ 464
Why Web Forms Are Better Than Classic ASP ~ 465
Adding Controls to Web Forms ~ 467
Exercise 10.2 Adding Web Controls to a Web Form ~ 468
Code Behind ~ 473
How Web Form Controls Differ from Windows Form Controls ~ 476
ASP.NET Server Controls ~ 476
Intrinsic Controls ~ 476
Bound Controls ~ 478
Exercise 10.3 Using the DataGrid Control ~ 478
Exercise 10.4 Customizing DataGrid Control ~ 482
Custom Controls ~ 487
Validation Controls ~ 488
Exercise 10.5 Using the Validation Controls ~ 489
Creating Custom Web Form Controls ~ 492
Exercise 10.6 A Simple Custom Control ~ 493
Exercise 10.7 Creating a Composite Custom Control ~ 497
Web Services ~ 504
How Web Services Work ~ 505
Developing Web Services ~ 505
Exercise 10.8 Developing Web Services ~ 507
Web Service Utilities ~ 509
Service Description Language ~ 509
Discovery ~ 510
Proxy Class ~ 510
Consuming Web Services from Web Forms ~ 511
Exercise 10.9 Consuming Web Services from Web Forms ~ 511
Using Windows Forms in Distributed Applications ~ 513
Exercise 10.10 Consuming Web Services from Windows Forms ~ 514
Exercise 10.11 Developing a Sample Application ~ 516
Summary ~ 519
Solutions Fast Track ~ 519
Frequently Asked Questions ~ 521

Chapter 11 Optimizing, Debugging, and Testing ~ 523
Introduction ~ 524
Debugging Concepts ~ 524
Debug Menu ~ 528
Watches ~ 529
Breakpoints ~ 531
Exceptions Window ~ 532
Command Window ~ 534
Conditional Compilation ~ 536
Trace ~ 538
Assertions ~ 540
Code Optimization ~ 541
Finalization ~ 542
Transitions ~ 542
Parameter Passing Methods ~ 542
Strings ~ 543
Garbage Collection ~ 544
Compiler Options ~ 544
Optimization Options ~ 544
Output File Options ~ 544
.NET Assembly Options ~ 545
Preprocessor Options ~ 546
Miscellaneous Options ~ 546
Testing Phases and Strategies ~ 546
Unit Testing ~ 547
Integration Testing ~ 547
Beta Testing ~ 547
Regression Testing ~ 548
Stress Testing ~ 548
Monitoring Performance ~ 548
Summary ~ 550
Solutions Fast Track ~ 551
Frequently Asked Questions ~ 552

Chapter 12 Security ~ 553
Introduction ~ 554
Security Concepts ~ 555
Permissions ~ 555
Principal ~ 556
Authentication ~ 557
Authorization ~ 557
Security Policy ~ 558
Type Safety ~ 558
Code Access Security ~ 558
.NET Code Access Security Model ~ 559
Stack Walking ~ 559
Code Identity ~ 561
Code Groups ~ 562
Declarative and Imperative Security ~ 564
Requesting Permissions ~ 565
Demanding Permissions ~ 570
Overriding Security Checks ~ 572
Custom Permissions ~ 576
Role-Based Security ~ 578
Principals ~ 578
WindowsPrincipal ~ 579
GenericPrincipal ~ 580
Manipulating Identity ~ 581
Role-Based Security Checks ~ 583
Security Policies ~ 585
Creating a New Permission Set ~ 588
Modifying the Code Group Structure ~ 593
Remoting Security ~ 600
Cryptography ~ 600
Security Tools ~ 603
Summary ~ 606
Solutions Fast Track ~ 607
Frequently Asked Questions ~ 611

Chapter 13 Application Deployment ~ 615
Introduction ~ 616
Packaging Code ~ 617
Configuring the .NET Framework ~ 622
Creating Configuration Files ~ 622
Machine/Administrator Configuration Files ~ 623
Application Configuration Files ~ 625
Security Configuration Files ~ 626
Deploying the Application ~ 629
Common Language Runtime ~ 629
Windows Installer ~ 630
CAB Files ~ 631
Internet Explorer 5.5 ~ 632
Resource Files ~ 633
Deploying Controls ~ 637
Summary ~ 639
Solutions Fast Track ~ 640
Frequently Asked Questions ~ 642

Chapter 14 Upgrading Visual Basic Applications to .NET ~ 647
Introduction ~ 648
Considerations Before Upgrading ~ 648
Early Binding of Variables ~ 649
Avoiding Null Propagation ~ 650
Using ADO ~ 651
Using Date Data Type ~ 652
Using Constants ~ 652
Considering Architecture Before Migration ~ 653
Intranet/Internet Applications ~ 653
Internet Information Server (IIS) Applications ~ 654
DHTML Applications ~ 655
ActiveX Documents ~ 655
Client/Server and Multi-Tier Applications ~ 655
Single-Tier Applications ~ 656
Data Access Applications ~ 656
Data Types ~ 657
Variants ~ 657
Integers ~ 658
Dates ~ 658
Boolean ~ 659
Arrays ~ 659
Fixed-Length Strings ~ 660
Windows API Data Types ~ 661
Converting VB Forms to Windows Forms ~ 662
Control Anchoring ~ 664
Keyword Changes ~ 665
Goto ~ 666
GoSub ~ 666
Option Base ~ 666
AND/OR ~ 666
Lset ~ 666
VarPtr ~ 667
StrPtr ~ 667
Def ~ 667
Programming Differences ~ 668
Method Implementation ~ 668
Optional Parameters ~ 668
Static Modifier ~ 669
Return Statement ~ 669
Procedure Calls ~ 670
External Procedure Declaration ~ 671
Passing Parameters ~ 672
ParamArray ~ 672
Overloading ~ 674
References to Unmanaged Libraries ~ 677
Metadata ~ 679
Runtime Callable Wrapper ~ 681
COM Callable Wrapper ~ 682
Properties ~ 684
Working with Property Procedures ~ 684
Control Property Name Changes ~ 685
Default Property ~ 687
Null Usage ~ 690
Understanding Error Handling ~ 690
Exercise 14.1: Using Error Handling ~ 692
Data Access Changes in Visual Basic .NET ~ 693
Dataset and Recordset ~ 694
Application Interoperability ~ 694
Cursor Location ~ 695
Disconnected Access ~ 695
Data Navigation ~ 695
Lock Implementation ~ 696
Upgrading Interfaces ~ 696
Upgrading Interfaces from Visual Basic 6.0 ~ 699
Using the Upgrade Tool ~ 703
Exercise 14.2 Using the Upgrade Wizard ~ 703
Summary ~ 708
Solutions Fast Track ~ 709
Frequently Asked Questions ~ 712

Index ~ 713