Wiley Professional Visual Studio 2005
Contents
1. A Quick Tour of the IDE If you haven t used Visual Studio before you may feel a little overwhelmed at first There are many different components in the very first encounter with the user interface from familiar menus and toolbars to a myriad of windows around the sides of the main development interface space some looking like tabs and others like small forms in their own right The next set of pages introduces you to the basic principles of the Visual Studio 2005 Integrated Development Environment IDE and shows you how the various menus toolbars and windows can be used This chapter serves as a quick tour of the IDE it won t show you how to customize its appearance in any great detail or itemize the various settings you can change Those topics are covered in the following chapters Where to First Visual Studio 2005 commences customizing itself to fit into your own work style before you even get to see the development environment When you first start Visual Studio 2005 it asks you what kind of developer you are see Figure 1 1 This enables it to customize the appearance of the IDE to most closely suit your way of doing things Microsoft has researched the way different pro grammers work and while you may think Visual Basic programmers work in the same way as C developers or C coders there are subtle and sometimes not so subtle differences If you take a moment to review the various options in this list you ll find t2. By default you ll see the Standard toolbar directly underneath the menu This toolbar contains the most commonly used commands for your particular language of choice In the case of Visual Basic there are save functions along with debug and comment commands the usual cut copy and paste buttons and shortcuts to common windows such as the Solution Explorer and Properties window which you ll look at in a moment A Quick Tour of the IDE Za WindowsApplication1 Microsoft Visual Studio Beg Fie Edit View Project Build Debug Data Tools Window Community Help Ee We mca eee JAE i Common Controls a Form1 A Unklabel E3 ListBox 337 ListView 2 MaskedTextBox SE MonthCalendar a eae solution Explorer f Data Sources 13 NumericUpDown ay Pictures y o 0 Properties v ix ED ProgressBar Form1 vb File Properties RadioButton 85 RichTextBox Buld Action Compile ati TextBox Copy to Output Do not copy Ra Toop Custom Tool E TreeView Custom Tool Nar 5 WebBrowser Fie Name Form1 vb i Containers R Pointer 77 FlowLayoutPanel GroupBox E Panel I Spitcontainer Build Action TabControl How the file relates to the buid and f f deployment processes s gt TableLayoutPane iza Ready Figure 1 6 Again as the context changes the toolbars will change with more toolbars being shown when you are performing specific functions and then being removed when you change to a differen
3. see Figure 1 5 and click the middle one which looks like a horizontal pin aX Figure 1 5 The user interface of Visual Studio 2005 will now appear as shown in Figure 1 6 Menus and toolbars are positioned along the top of the environment much like most Windows applica tions and a selection of subwindows or panes appear on the left and right of the main win dow area In the center of the IDE is a graphical representation of the first form in the dummy application you created Basic Layout Starting from the top and moving clockwise around the edges of the Visual Studio 2005 interface you can see the main components that make up the IDE The familiar menus and toolbars are in their regular position at the top of the screen When you first start Visual Studio 2005 the menu bar will have seven entries the number varies depending on which language you choose but once you start creating a solution the menu layout will change to include additional main menu entries This is typical behavior in Visual Studio 2005 the whole interface can change based on the context you are in at the time Therefore in Figure 1 6 you can see that four additional menus Project Build Debug and Data have been added while editing the first form in the project Various menus are added or removed depending on what you are doing editing code changing database structures and modifying graphical elements all produce different sets of menus
4. the IDE Along the top of the Solution Explorer window is its own toolbar containing six commands The first is simply a shortcut to the Properties window so you can easily get to the properties for an individual file rather than the properties for an element on a form The second is labeled Show All Files Clicking this for the sample project will reveal many more associated files for this project see Figure 1 9 The Show All Files button is a toggle button so to hide the additional files that you don t need most of the time simply click the button again to deactivate the functionality The structure and layout of pro jects and solutions is discussed at length in Chapter 8 Solution Explorer aix lf DIS ELL i WindowsApplication1 Gy My Project a DE Application myapp ye AssemblyInfo vb A Resources resx 5 Settings settings jy References 3 System 2 System Data System Deployment System Drawing 2 System Windows Forms 3 System Xml B k bin gt Debug S k obj Debug ES Form1 vb 2 Form1 Designer vb H Form 1 resx Solution Explorer g Pata Sources Figure 1 9 The Refresh button sits next to the Show All Files button and repopulates the Solution Explorer window with the correct file structure While Visual Studio 2005 will automatically keep the project structure cur rent based on what you do within the IDE sometimes additional files are created or added to the project via
5. bolt on the toolbar toggle the view between properties and events The Events view acts in a similar way to the Properties view giving you access to the various events associated with the currently selected element Again like properties events can be viewed alphabetically or in logical groupings and are only available for elements that have event processing so if you choose an item that doesn t have events such as a file the Events button will be hidden The last button on the toolbar displays the property pages associated with the currently selected item If the item does not have property pages such as the form in Figure 1 10 this button will be disabled A Quick Tour of the IDE Moving over to the left hand side of the IDE you can see the Toolbox window shown in Figure 1 11 that you pinned open refer back to Figure 1 6 for a full shot of the IDE This window is used to house all of the various elements you can add to your project By default it is populated with the standard windows and NET components that Microsoft provides with Visual Studio 2005 but you can easily add additional third party elements to the Toolbox as well as reposition the existing items change the view and sort the lists A discussion on all of this information can be found in Chapter 3 Just like the various other components of the Visual Studio 2005 IDE the Toolbox is contextual changing its contents based on what you re doing The three main views o
6. d categorized view use the first two buttons on the Properties window toolbar Active settings are highlighted with a colored background by default orange and black border In Figure 1 10 the Properties window is currently sorted alphabetically as evidenced by the black border surrounding the second button Properties wh X Form1 System Windows Forms Forr SAE Padding 0 0 0 0 A RightToLeft No RightToLeftLayo False ShowIcon True ShowInTaskbar True Size 300 300 SizeGripStyle Auto StartPosition WindowsDefaultL Tag Text Form1 TopMost False v Text The text associated with the control Figure 1 10 The currently selected property Text in this case is highlighted and a small description pane at the bot tom explains what the setting is If you are space constrained and know what you re doing you can turn this description pane off by right clicking anywhere in the Properties window and unchecking the Description setting There are many different types of properties but each one can be changed by clicking on the actual value and overtyping the existing information with a new value Some property types have additional editors to make it even easier to change the values For instance properties relating to fonts can display a font chooser dialog window similar to the one you might use in Microsoft Word to change the font settings for a paragraph The third and fourth buttons the icons of a list and lightning
7. dragging its title bar away from the edge to which it is docked More information on this as well as customizing your toolbar layout and appearance can be found in Chapter 5 In step 3 of the previous task you pinned the Toolbox tab open You ll see that each of these windows Solution Explorer Properties and so forth also has the pin button at the top which enables the win dow to automatically slide closed when docked to the side of the form The default setup had the Toolbox automatically hidden and the other windows pinned open Figure 1 8 shows the first of the windows docked to the right hand side of the IDE This is the Solution Explorer where you can manage your current solution looking at individual projects and their associ ated files The Solution Explorer displayed in this example shows a solution containing a single project called IntroProject which has two files My Project and Form1 vb The My Project entry is actually a spe cial section of the project that contains the various settings and projectwide elements such as compila tion and debug parameters The projects and files are presented in a hierarchical fashion similar to the folder list in Windows Explorer with different icons displayed for the various file types to more easily identify what each entry is Solution Explorer 1x See wea anes el IntroProject My Project ES Form1 vb Sl Solution Explorer G Data Sources Figure 1 8 A Quick Tour of
8. e compilation of your application as well as data relating to the debugging of code Figure 1 14 shows the successful compilation of a simple pro gram Both the Output and Error List windows can be shown using the View menu Output ix Show output from Buid Build 1 succeeded or up to date 0 failed 0 skipped 2h Error List Sj Output Figure 1 14 13 Chapter 1 Summary You ve now seen how the various components of Visual Studio 2005 form the complete package for cre ating solutions Reviewing the default layout for Visual Basic programs the following list outlines a typ ical process for creating a solution 14 1 2 A w 8 9 Use the File menu to create a solution Use the Solution Explorer to locate the form that needs editing and click the View Designer but ton to show it in the main workspace area Drag the necessary components onto the form from the Toolbox Select the form and each component in turn and edit the properties in the Properties window Use the Solution Explorer to locate the form and click the View Code button to access the code behind the form s graphical interface Use the main workspace area to write code and design the graphical interface switching between the two via the tabs at the top of the area Use the toolbars to start the program If errors occur review them in the Error List window and Output window Save the project using either toolbar o
9. erred development settings click the Start Visual Studio button to have Visual Studio customize the IDE so that windows toolbars lists menus and a myriad of other options are all appropriate to the generalized developer for that particular language or technology Once it has completed this process Visual Studio will then display the IDE ready for you to start work It will remember this setting so you won t have to select from the list again W Choose Default Environment Settings x gt Mic rosoft A Visual Studio 2005 Before you begin using Visual Studio for the first time you need to specify the type of development activity you engage in the most such as Visual Basic or Visual C Visual Studio uses this information to apply a predefined collection of settings to the development environment that is designed for your development activity You can choose to use a different collection of settings at any time From the Tools menu choose Import and Export Settings and then choose Reset all settings Choose your default environment settings General Development Settings Description T Settings _ Optimizes the environment so you can focus on i evelopment Settings building world class applications This collection of visual C Development Settings settings contains customizations to the window visual C Development Settings layout command menus and keyboard shortcuts visual J Development Settings to make common Visual Bas
10. external means These files may not be automatically shown without either using the Refresh button or closing and re opening the project which one do you think is easier The remaining three buttons on the toolbar provide quick access to different aspects to an individual file From left to right they display the code window the graphical design of forms and such and the Class Diagram Code view and Design view have been carried over from previous versions of Visual Studio but the Class Diagram is a new addition to Visual Studio 2005 It offers a visual representation of the form or module and its associated classes and is discussed in more detail in Chapter 14 Docked to the right hand side of the IDE directly underneath the Solution Explorer is the Properties window see Figure 1 10 The Properties window gives you easy access to individual settings related to a specific form file or individual class or control Chapter 1 10 Figure 1 10 shows the Properties window displaying properties for the form called Form1 in a project The properties are currently displayed in alphabetical order This can be changed to logically group them into properties that deal with the same category for example form properties can be grouped into nine discrete groups including Appearance for color fonts and text related properties and Layout which incorporates such properties as size and location settings To toggle between alphabetical order an
11. f a typical form Design Code and Class Diagram will produce three completely different sets of items to use Figure 1 11 shows the default layout as shown for the sample project you created There are entries for the commonly used elements such as buttons and TextBox controls as well as Container elements such as Panels and GroupBox components previously known as the Frame control Other default groups of components include menus and toolbars data related elements and system components Toolbox xX All Windows Forms Common Controls h Pointer Button v CheckBox 8 CheckedListBox ES ComboBox TA DateTimePicker A Label A LinkLabel lt ListBox 33 List iew MaskedTextBox MonthCalendar Ta NotifyIcon 2 NumericUpDown jaa PictureBox ProgressBar RadioButton a3 RichTextBox abl TextBox ToolTip gt Treeview Er WebBrowser Containers h Pointer FlowLayoutPanel 1 GroupBox E Panel O SplitContainer TabControl se TableLayoutPanel Figure 1 11 11 Chapter 1 12 The remainder of the IDE is the actual working space in which you ll design your forms and write your code The top of the space contains a row of tabs describing the different files that are currently open Figure 1 12 shows how this area appears after creating the sample project Form1 is being displayed in Design view and there is an additional tab for the Start page that is sh
12. hat the environment settings that will be affected include the position and visibility of various windows menus and toolbars and even keyboard shortcuts For example Figure 1 2 describes the changes that will be applied if you select the Visual Basic Development Settings option as your default preference Don t worry though you can individualize your interface experience to match your own way of doing things exactly so if the default setup doesn t suit you you ll be able to change it Chapter 1 Visual Studio 2005 Before you begin using Visual Studio for the first time you need to specify the type of development activity you engage in the most such as Visual Basic or Visual C Visual Studio uses this information to apply a predefined collection of settings to the development environment that is designed for your development activity You can choose to use a different collection of settings at any time From the Tools menu choose Import and Export Settings and then choose Reset all settings Choose your default environment settings General Development Settings Description Team Test Settings Please select one of the collections of settings Visual Basic Development Settings From the list Visual C Development Settings Visual C Development Settings Visual 3 Development Settings Web Development Settings al Studio Exit Visual Studio Figure 1 1 After selecting your pref
13. ic commands more Web Development Settings accessible Start Visual Studio Exit Visual Studio Figure 1 2 A Quick Tour of the IDE The screenshots in Figures 1 3 and 1 4 illustrate how the general interface can appear visually different depending on the settings you choose The two images in Figure 1 3 show the main interface as it appears for the first time to a Visual Basic developer and to a C developer while Figure 1 4 shows how a default Windows Application project is generated for these two different types of programmer Note how not only do the menus and number and type of windows change but also the default position of certain essential windows for example the Solution Explorer changes depending on what kind of programmer is using Visual Studio a Weresh Vere Same PR EM ce Tes Wee Comte a m P mires Pamer Pawe Figure 1 3 ETE Pk oek Mee Ym Ba ida Tvs ob New Iate e BERTE ool e ano samer Figure 1 4 IDE Structure The next step is to understand how the various components fit together to form the comprehensive tool that is the Visual Studio 2005 Integrated Development Environment The best way to achieve this is by starting Visual Studio 2005 itself picking a specific development environment and then examining the individual elements so in the next few pages you ll do just that Note that the task list that fo
14. llows assumes you have already installed Visual Studio 2005 but have not yet started it for the first time Chapter 1 Getting Familiar with the IDE Structure 1 Start Visual Studio 2005 By default the shortcut is installed in All Programs Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 After a moment you ll be presented with the Choose Default Environment Settings dialog window Select Visual Basic Development Settings and click the Start Visual Studio button 2 When the main user interface is presented create a dummy project so that the various menus toolbars and windows will be populated with usable information To create a new project don t worry too much about how this works at the moment you ll come back to this in Part II of the book click the New Project command in the File menu When the New Project dialog appears leave the default option of Windows Application as is and click OK to have Visual Studio 2005 automatically create a new Windows application with a default form ready for editing 3 The last step you need to perform to have the IDE ready for explanation is to pin the Toolbox open Locate the small buttonlike tab in the top left area of the IDE labeled Toolbox and hover over it with your mouse After a moment it will slide open to reveal a series of components that can be added to your forms but it would be nice to keep this open to more easily describe it so locate the button strip at the top of the now visible Toolbox window
15. own when you first start Visual Studio 2005 The first button on the right hand side of the tab row the downward pointing triangle beside the X in Figure 1 12 provides an alternative method for accessing the various files that are currently open by dis playing them in a drop down list This is particularly useful when you have a large number of files active and you don t want to navigate through the tab list The other button closes the currently active file As soon as you make a change to a form file or class the tab will be updated with an asterisk after the text to indicate that there are unsaved changes to that particular component This unsaved marker is also visible in the drop down list described previously The rest of the working space contains the active file In the case of Figure 1 12 this is the basic form design Most of this book deals with using this area to maximize your productivity when creating appli cations but for a few quick references see Chapter 6 for basic form design Chapter 14 for editing class diagrams and Part V for code related techniques Form1 b Design Start Page xX ad Formt Lae a oO m Figure 1 12 A Quick Tour of the IDE Additional Windows While the default layout for Visual Basic projects only has three windows docked to various parts of the IDE many additional windows can be shown at either design time or runtime In fact just like other par
16. r menu commands and exit Visual Studio 2005 While many of these actions can be performed in other ways for instance right click on the design sur face of a form and you ll find the View Code command this simplified process shows how the different sections of the IDE work in conjunction with each other to create a comprehensive application design environment In subsequent chapters you ll learn how to customize the IDE to more closely fit your own working style and how Visual Studio 2005 takes a lot of the guesswork out of form design
17. t situation Edit a database table and additional data specific toolbars will be automatically added to your interface Open an XML file and XML related toolbars are shown In every instance you can manually add or remove toolbars so you have your own preferred layout just as you can in other applications such as Microsoft Outlook or Word Visual Studio 2005 will remember your toolbar choices between sessions Figure 1 7 shows a toolbar area with four additional toolbars in addition to the Standard toolbar Chapter 1 In addition Visual Studio 2005 maintains two separate layouts design time and runtime Menus tool bars and various windows have a default layout for when you are editing a project whereas a different setup is defined for when a project is being executed and debugged You can modify each of these lay outs to suit your own style and Visual Studio 2005 will remember them Moving to the right hand side of the screen shown in Figure 1 6 you can see two smaller windows attached to the side of the main window These are simply known in Visual Studio 2005 terminology as windows and they are used to house self contained subsections of the tools found in the IDE Each of these windows can be resized moved or removed and even detached from the main IDE so they float above the form By default the windows shown in this screenshot are attached to the main form This is known as dock ing You can undock any window by clicking and
18. ts of the IDE when you are debugging a solution additional windows will be shown be default such as the Immediate window In Chapter 5 you ll learn how to customize the appearance of the IDE to include additional windows in the layout However two important windows that do not show by default are the Error List window see Figure 1 13 and the Output window see Figure 1 14 Error List ix Q 0 Errors _ 0 Warnings io Messages Description File Une Column Project Error List F Output Figure 1 13 The Error List as you might have surmised contains a list of issues with your solution When using Visual Basic as the language this Error List is continually updated as you create your code providing instant feedback about what kinds of problems you may be introducing into the application Other lan guages may not populate the list until you attempt to build the solution and the code goes through an active compilation process You can filter the list by toggling the Errors Warnings and Messages buttons at the top of the window and double clicking a particular error to go directly to that section of code By default the Error List window is placed along the bottom of the main IDE space This area is shared among many windows and Figure 1 13 and Figure 1 14 show the tabs along the bottom indicating that the Error List and Output windows are using the same space The Output window contains all the information about th
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