INTRODUCING VISUAL BASIC AND THE .NET FRAMEWORK in Font

Drawer ECC200 in Font INTRODUCING VISUAL BASIC AND THE .NET FRAMEWORK

3. Select the References tab. This tab shows the external assemblies referenced by the application. Notice that several references have been included by default. The default references depend on the type of project. For example, since this is a Windows Application project, a reference to the System.Windows.Forms namespace is included by default. 4. Explore some of the other tabs in the Project Properties window. Close the window when you are finished by clicking on the x in the upper-right corner of the window. 5. The Form1 class file under the Solution Explorer s project node has a .vb extension to indicate it is written in VB code. By default, the name of the file has been set to the same name as the form. Double-click the file in the Solution Explorer, and the form is shown in Design View. Click the View Code button in the toolbar at the top of the Solution Explorer, and the code editor for the Form1 class will open. 6. Select View Other Windows Class View to launch the Class View window. The top part of the Class View window organizes the project files in terms of the namespace hierarchy. Expanding the DemoChap5 root node reveals two subnodes: a References node and the DemoChap5 namespace node. A namespace node is designated by the { } symbol to the left of the node name.

You can show or hide the various types of nodes shown in the Class View window by altering the setTip

tings in the Class View Settings drop-down list at the top of the Class View window. For this exercise, choose all the options except the Show Hidden Types and Members option.

7. Listed under the namespace node are the classes that belong to the namespace. Currently, there is one class, Form1. Expanding the Form1 node reveals a Base Types folder. Expanding Base Types shows the classes and interfaces inherited and implemented by the Form1 class, as shown in Figure 5-5. You can further expand the nodes to show the classes and interfaces inherited and implemented by the Form base class.

8. The bottom section of the Class View window is a listing of the class s methods, properties, and events. Select the Form node in the top section of the Class View window. Notice the considerable number of methods, properties, and events listed in the bottom section of the window. 9. Right-click the DemoChap5 project node and select Add Class. Name the class DemoClass1 and click the Add button. If the class code is not visible in the code editor, double-click the DemoClass1 node in the Class View window to display it. Wrap the class definition code in a namespace declaration as follows: Namespace MyDemoNamespace Public Class DemoClass1 End Class End Namespace

10. Notice the updated hierarchy in the Class View. DemoClass1 now belongs to the MyDemoNamespace, which belongs to the Demo5 namespace. The fully qualified name of DemoClass1 is now Demo5.MyDemoNamespace.DemoClass1. 11. Add the following code to the DemoClass1 definition: Namespace MyDemoNamespace Public Class DemoClass1 Inherits System.Collections.CaseInsensitiveComparer End Class End Namespace As you add the code, notice the auto selection drop-down list provided (see Figure 5-6). Pressing the Tab key will select the current item on the list.

12. A Bases Types node has been added beneath the DemoClass1 node in the Class View. Expand this node, and you will see the base CaseInsensitiveComparer class node. Select this node, and you will see the methods and properties of the CaseInsensitiveComparer class in the lower section of the Class View window. 13. Right-click the Compare method of the CaseInsensitiveComparer class node and choose Browse Definition. (You can also initiate this step by double-clicking the Compare method node in the Class View.) The Object Browser window is opened as a tab in the main window, and information about the Compare method is displayed. Notice it takes two object arguments, compares them, and returns an integer value based on the result (see Figure 5-7).