Beginning Visual Basic 2005 Thearon Willis, Bryan Newsome TEAM LinG wrOx UpdatessourecodeandWroxtechnicalsupportatwww.wrox.com
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Beginning Visual Basic 2005
Beginning Visual Basic® 2005 01_574019 ffirs.qxd 9/16/05 9:31 PM Page i
Beginning Visual Basic 2005 Thearon Willis and Bryan Newsome WILEY Wiley Publishing, Inc
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Beginning visual Basic@ 2005 wiley Publishing, Inc. 10475 Crosspoint boulevard Indianapolis, IN 46256 Copyright C 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc, Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada ISBN-10:07645-74019 ISBN-13:978-0-76457401-6 Manufactured in the United States of america 7654321 IMA/QV/RQ/QV/IN Willis. Theron. Beginning Visual Basic 2005/Thearon Willis and Bryan Newsome. ISBN-13: 978-0-7645-7401-6(paper/website) ISBN-10:0-7645-7401-9(p 1. Microsoft Visual basiC. 2 Computer program language)I Newsome, Bryan, 1971-II. Title. QA76.73.B3W55732005 2005010385 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or tra electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permissi through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978)750-8400, fax(978)646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc, 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256,(317)572-3447, fax(317)572-4355,or nline at www LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRI SENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTSO THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WAR LANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDE SIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HERE- FROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEB SITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ES THE INFORMATION THE OI LATION OR WEB SITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOM- MENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEB SITES LISTED IN HIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ For general information on our other products and services please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at(800)762-2974, outside the United States at (317)572-3993 or fax(317)572-4002 Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley logo, Wrox, the Wrox logo, Programmer to Programmer, and related tra marks or regist trademarks of John wiley Sons, Inc and/or its affiliates, in the United States and not be used without written nVisual Basic is a registered trademark of Microsoft C United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective on 动 nc, is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available
Beginning Visual Basic®2005 Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 10475 Crosspoint Boulevard Indianapolis, IN 46256 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada ISBN-10: 0-7645-7401-9 ISBN-13: 978-0-7645-7401-6 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1MA/QV/RQ/QV/IN Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Willis, Thearon. Beginning Visual Basic 2005 / Thearon Willis and Bryan Newsome. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-7645-7401-6 (paper/website) ISBN-10: 0-7645-7401-9 (paper/website) 1. Microsoft Visual BASIC. 2. BASIC (Computer program language) I. Newsome, Bryan, 1971- II. Title. QA76.73.B3W5573 2005 005.2'768--dc22 2005010385 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions. LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEB SITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEB SITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEB SITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ. For general information on our other products and services please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley logo, Wrox, the Wrox logo, Programmer to Programmer, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission.Visual Basic is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. 01_574019 ffirs.qxd 9/16/05 9:31 PM Page iv
About the authors Thearon Willis is a Senior Consultant with over 20 years of programming experience. He started writing applications using the BASIC language in 1980 and later moved on to Visual Basic and finally to Visual Basic net Thearon began working with databases in 1987 and has been hooked on writing database applications every since. He has experience with SQL Server, Oracle, and DB2 but works with SQL Server on a daily basis. Thearon has programmed in several other languages, some of which include C++, assembly lan- guage, Pascal, and COBOL. However, he enjoys Visual Basic NET the best because it provides the fea- tures needed to quickly build Windows and Web applications, as well as components and Web Services Thearon currently develops intranet applications, Web Services, and server-side and client-side utilities using Visual Basic. NET. Most of these applications and utilities are database-driven and make use of XML and XSL. Thearon lives with his wife Margie and daughter Stephanie in the Raleigh, North Bryan Newsome works in Charlotte, North Carolina, as a custom software project manager specializing in Microsoft solutions. He leads a team of developers focused on meeting the needs of each client and project using the latest technologies. Each day, he helps provide clients with solutions and mentoring on leading-edge Microsoft technologies. Bryan is a Microsoft Certified Application Developer for . NET
About the Authors Thearon Willis is a Senior Consultant with over 20 years of programming experience. He started writing applications using the BASIC language in 1980 and later moved on to Visual Basic and finally to Visual Basic .NET. Thearon began working with databases in 1987 and has been hooked on writing database applications every since. He has experience with SQL Server, Oracle, and DB2 but works with SQL Server on a daily basis. Thearon has programmed in several other languages, some of which include C++, assembly language, Pascal, and COBOL. However, he enjoys Visual Basic .NET the best because it provides the features needed to quickly build Windows and Web applications, as well as components and Web Services. Thearon currently develops intranet applications, Web Services, and server-side and client-side utilities using Visual Basic .NET. Most of these applications and utilities are database-driven and make use of XML and XSL. Thearon lives with his wife Margie and daughter Stephanie in the Raleigh, North Carolina, area. Bryan Newsome works in Charlotte, North Carolina, as a custom software project manager specializing in Microsoft solutions. He leads a team of developers focused on meeting the needs of each client and project using the latest technologies. Each day, he helps provide clients with solutions and mentoring on leading-edge Microsoft technologies. Bryan is a Microsoft Certified Application Developer for .NET. 01_574019 ffirs.qxd 9/16/05 9:31 PM Page v
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Credits Katie mohr Ryan Steffen Development Editor Graphics and Production Specialists Technical Editor Lynsey Osborn Production edito William A. barton Quality Control Technicians Copy Editor Carl William Pierce Publication Services, Inc. Editorial Manager Angela Denny Mary Beth Wakefield Kit malone Travis Silvers Vice President& Executive Group Publisher Richard Wadley Proofreading and Indexing TECHBOOKS Production Services Vice President and Publisher Joseph B Likert
Credits Acquisitions Editor Katie Mohr Development Editor Sydney Jones Technical Editor Todd Meister Production Editor William A. Barton Copy Editor Publication Services, Inc. Editorial Manager Mary Beth Wakefield Vice President & Executive Group Publisher Richard Swadley Vice President and Publisher Joseph B. Wikert Project Coordinator Ryan Steffen Graphics and Production Specialists Andrea Dahl Lauren Goddard Lynsey Osborn Alicia South Julie Trippetti Quality Control Technicians Leeann Harney Carl William Pierce Media Development Specialists Angela Denny Kit Malone Travis Silvers Proofreading and Indexing TECHBOOKS Production Services 01_574019 ffirs.qxd 9/16/05 9:31 PM Page vii
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As always, I want to thank my wife Margie and my daughter Stephanie for the patience they have shown while I write another book. Without their love and support, none of this would be possible Theron willis To all of the friends and family that make my life special in the past, present, and future: Jennifer(love you, honey), Katelyn, Mom(I miss you), Dad, Ashley and Leslie, Judy and Tony, Jennifer S and Stever All my love and happiness to each of you Bryan Newsome
As always, I want to thank my wife Margie and my daughter Stephanie for the patience they have shown while I write another book. Without their love and support, none of this would be possible. —Thearon Willis To all of the friends and family that make my life special in the past, present, and future: Jennifer (love you, honey), Katelyn, Mom (I miss you), Dad, Ashley and Leslie, Judy and Tony, Jennifer S. and Steven. All my love and happiness to each of you. —Bryan Newsome 01_574019 ffirs.qxd 9/16/05 9:31 PM Page ix