CIS 112 :: Visual Basic Programming

Projects + Topics

 

Project #1 :: Panorama of History

  1. Basic VB IDE

          – Three basic modes

               – Design

               – Run

               – Break

          – Basic windows

          – Important IDE settings

               – Option Explicit

  2. Project components

          – Forms (.frm)

          – Main project file (.vbp)

          – Executable (.exe)

          – Project folder

  3. Naming conventions

          – VB object prefixes (frm, lbl, txt, cmd, etc.)

          – VB file prefixes (frm, exe, prj)

          – self-documenting code via choice of object names

  4. Role of VB objects

          – Basic VB objects

    – form

                     – as primary user interface

                     – as container of other objects

              – command button

                     – as initiator of action

                     – as presenting choices to user

              – label

                     – to display information for the user

                     – to send messages during program execution

                     – resetting to “empty”

              – text box

                     – to receive textual input from user

                     – resetting to “empty”

          – Basic object triad :: object . . .

              – has properties

              – responds to events

              – is acted on by methods

          – Basic object properties

              – height, width, left, top

              – forecolor, backcolor, font

              – visible, enabled

              – Etc.

  5. Event-driven programming

          – Event wait loop

          – Basic VB events

               – Click

               – Double click

               – Load

               – Activate

          – Basic VB methods

               – Show

               – Hide

               – Move

               – SetFocus

  6. Multi-form Projects

          – Adding forms to a project

          – Navigating among forms

          – Resetting form to original condition

  7. Online Help

          – F1 function key

          – Help Index

          – Context Sensitive Help

  8. Project Design Principles

          – Clean

          – Intuitive interface

          – Non-obtrusive

–       Cooper: The Inmates Are Running the Asylum

–       Nielsen: Usability Heuristics

–        Tognazzini: Principles of Interaction Design

 

  9. Project Submission

          – Making an executable

          – Zipping & unzipping

          – Program testing

 

Project #2 :: Say What!

  1. Design strategy

          – What do you want program to do?

          – How to achieve this goal?

          – Breaking into components

               – Identifying natural subroutines

               – Choosing subroutine type

          – Designing each component

          – Initialization

  2. Variables – basic storage

          – Basic idea of data types

          – Declaration

– Initial value

          – Scope

    – Local

    – Module level (“global”)

          – Access

               – Assignment of values

               – Holder of information

               – Retrieval of values

  3. Control arrays

          – same name (generalization)

          – shared code (generalization)

          – differentiated by index (individuation)

          – information supplied by IDE (Index As Integer)

  4. Flow of control

          – subroutines

          – if-then-else

          – loops

  5. Subroutines

          – Basic types

    – Event procedure

              – General procedure

              – Function

          – Pre-defined vs. user defined

          – Purpose

              – perspicuity (reveal program logic)

              – code reuse

          – Triggering – invocation, call

          – flow of program control

  6. If-Then-Else (simple)

– basic flow chart

  7. For-Next (simple)

          – loop counter (loop control variable)

          – operation of loop

          – when is the loop entered?

          – what happens inside the loop?

          – when is the loop exited?

  8. Interface control

          – Clickable labels

          – Making visible/invisible

– Disabling buttons/labels

– Enabling buttons/labels

  9. Extras

          – Choose which first: person or quote

          – Creative representation

– Sounds

 

Project #3 :: My Word!

  1. Design strategy

          – What do you want program to do?

          – How to achieve this goal?

          – Identifying role of storage

               – Long term storage

                    – Advantages

                    – Disadvantages

               – Short term storage

                    – Advantages

                    – Disadvantages

          – Breaking into components

               – Identifying natural subroutines

               – Choosing subroutine type

               – Identifying data flow among program components

                    – To

                    – From

               – Initialization

          – Designing each component

                    – Breaking down complex process

                    – Identifying subtle pitfalls (e.g., double letters)

                    – Leveraging available tools (e.g., replacing counted letter)

  2. Operators (intro)

          – Arithmetic

               – +  –  *  /

          – String operators

               – &

  3. String data type

          – Declaration

          – Varieties

               – Variable length

               – Fixed length

          – VB string functions (intro)

               – Mid

               – Instr

               – Replace

               – Str

               – Ucase

  4. Files – permanent storage

          – Why use files?

          – When to use files

          – How to use files

          – File referencing conventions

          – Path names

          – App.Path

          – Opening

          – Closing

          – Reading data from file

          – Input # statement

  5. Composing a complex response

          – Recognize textual output is simply a string

          – Advantage gained by concatenation

          – Dealing with numeric values (Str)

  6. Advanced TextBox usage

          – Clearing text box

          – Set Focus

          – Place limits on length of word typed

  7. Boolean data type

          – Boolean variables

          – Boolean Functions

               – Use to simplify code

               – Use within If-Then or While-Wend

  8. Advanced program control

          – General procedures

               – Call

               – Data Flow

               – Execution Flow

               – Parameters

                    – Declaration, data types

                    – Passing values to subroutine

                         – Pass by Value (ByVal)

                         – Pass by Reference (ByRef)

                         – Default

                    – Receiving values from procedure

                – Functions

               – Call

               – Function data type

               – Data Flow, Execution Flow, Parameters

               – Returning values

                    – Function value

                    – ByRef parameter

  9. Random number generation

          – Rnd

          – Randomize

          – Writing a useful function

  10. Extras

          – Count number of moves

          – Limit number of moves

          – Color codes to show which letters are correct, etc.

          – Keep running score

          – Record best scores

 

Project #4 :: 8 Puzzle

  1. Design strategy

          – What do you want program to do?

          – How to achieve this goal?

          – Discover interplay between storage and display

               – Displaying puzzle as it is being solved

               – Storing state of puzzle

               – Storing solution to puzzle

          – Representation issues

               – Solution state

               – Empty tile

               – Updating after a move without losing information

               – Initialization

                    – Storage

                    – Display

                             – Calculating grid and cell size

                    – Useful values (e.g., color array)

          – Breaking into components

               – Identifying natural subroutines

               – Choosing subroutine type

               – Identifying data flow among program components

          – Designing each component

          – Identifying subtle pitfalls

                   – Not all moves are allowed

                    – How to recognize a bad move

                    – Not all puzzles can be solved

– How to process a proposed move

                    – Leveraging representation to process a move

                    – Checking :: is move OK?

                    – Updating

                             – The display

                             – The stored state of the puzzle

                    – Checking to see if puzzle was solved

               – Breaking down complex processes

  2. Two dimensional arrays

          – rows, columns

          – indices

          – processing entire array

          – Accessing individual elements

  3. Nested for loops

          – Loop control variables

          – Use for two-dimensional arrays

  4. The VB Flex Grid

          – Adding to ToolBox

          – Properties

    – Rows, Cols

    – FixedRows, FixedCols

    – Height, Width, Left, Top

    – Font

    – ScrollBars

    – GridLines

          – Rows & columns

    – indexing

              – accessing

              – effect of clicking on

    – indexing

              – properties

                    – RowHeight, ColWidth

          – Cells

              – properties

                    – CellForeColor, CellBackColor

                    – Text

  5. VB color constants

          – Names

          – Accessing a set of colors at will

    – one dimensional array of colors

    – data type of color constant

    – changing color of a FlexGrid cell

  6. Extras

          – Count number of moves

          – Keep running score

          – Record best scores

          – Allow player to back up to previous position

          – Record best moves

 

Project #5 :: Cellular Automata

  1. Design strategy

          – What do you want program to do?

          – How to achieve this goal?

          – Discover interplay between storage and display

               – Displaying CA as it runs

                    – Array of colors

                    – Matching colors to states

               – Storing state of CA

          – Representation issues

               – States (2-d array)

               – Colors (1-d array)

               – Transition function (code)

          – Breaking into components

               – Identifying natural subroutines

               – Choosing subroutine type

               – Identifying data flow among program components

          – Identifying subtle pitfalls

               – Cells cannot be updated until all new states have been calculated

          – Designing each component

               – Initialization

                    – Storage

                    – Display

                    – Useful values (e.g., color array)

               – Running the machine

               – How to calculate a new state for one cell

               – How to store new cell info until all cells are ready

               – Updating CA

                    – Storage

                    – Display

               – Breaking down complex processes

– Overcoming programming language roadblocks

              – Normal updating process is too slow in VB 6.0

  2. Two dimensional arrays (review)

  3. Nested for loops (review)

  4. The VB Flex Grid (review)

  5. Extras

          – Add Conway & Fredkin transitions

          – Allow dynamic resizing of grid using ListBox

          – Allow user to choose initial configuration by clicking on cells

          – Allow user to step through CA run

          – Allow user to store interesting configurations