1 Table of Contents User Interface Design: Visual Basic Controls and Events .......................................................................................5 3.1 Obtaining Open-Ended Input from the User: Text Box and Masked Text Box ...............................................6 Text Property of the Text Box ................................................................................................................................6 Understanding the Focus ...................................................................................................................................8 The Masked Text Box .............................................................................................................................................9 The Mask Property .......................................................................................................................................... 10 Selecting (Highlighting) a Portion of the Text ..................................................................................................... 11 3.2 Arranging Many VB Controls on a Form: Group Box and Tab Controls ............................................................ 14 The Group Box ..................................................................................................................................................... 14 Design Time Behavior ..................................................................................................................................... 15 Placing Controls in a Group Box ...................................................................................................................... 15 Run Time Behavior, Visible Property, and Enabled Property ......................................................................... 16 The Tab Control ................................................................................................................................................... 17 3.3 Data with Limited Number of Choices: Radio Buttons and Check Boxes .......................................................... 21 The Radio Button ................................................................................................................................................ 21 How Radio Buttons Work in Group ................................................................................................................ 21 Check Boxes for Independent Choices ................................................................................................................ 23 Difference in the Click Event Between the Check Box and the Radio Button ................................................ 25 The CheckState Property ................................................................................................................................ 26 3.4 Longer List of Known Items: List Boxes and Combo Boxes ............................................................................... 26 The List Box ......................................................................................................................................................... 26 Populating the List Box ................................................................................................................................... 27 The Items.RemoveAt Method ........................................................................................................................ 28 The Items.Count Property .............................................................................................................................. 29 2 The SelectionMode Property .......................................................................................................................... 29 The Sorted Property ........................................................................................................................................ 29 Versatility of the List Box ................................................................................................................................ 29 The SelectedItem and SelectedIndex Property .............................................................................................. 29 Identifying the Selected Items ........................................................................................................................ 30 The Checked List Box, a Variant ...................................................................................................................... 31 The Need for the Combo Box .............................................................................................................................. 32 Similar Properties ........................................................................................................................................... 32 Similar Methods .............................................................................................................................................. 33 The DropDownStyle Property ......................................................................................................................... 33 Between the List Box and Combo Box ............................................................................................................ 33 3.5 Graphics in the Visual Interface ................................................................................................................... 35 The Picture Box ................................................................................................................................................... 35 Setting the Image Property ............................................................................................................................. 36 The SizeMode Property .................................................................................................................................. 36 Images for Actions .......................................................................................................................................... 36 3.6 VB Controls in the Design of a Data-Entry Interface: Recapitulation .......................................................... 37 3.7 Naming the Controls and Setting the Tab Order ......................................................................................... 38 Naming Convention: Suggested Name Prefixes .................................................................................................. 38 Setting the Tab Order .......................................................................................................................................... 39 3.8 Some Commonly Used Events ..................................................................................................................... 40 Setting the Initial State at Runtime: The Form Load Event ................................................................................. 40 The Click Event: Buttons and List Boxes .............................................................................................................. 41 The CheckedChanged Event: Radio Buttons and Check Boxes ........................................................................... 42 SelectedIndexChanged and DoubleClick Events: List Box and Combo Box ........................................................ 42 3 Combo Box Events .......................................................................................................................................... 43 Viewing the Key Entered: The KeyPress Event .................................................................................................... 44 Before the User Does Anything in a Control: The Enter Event ........................................................................... 45 As the User Leaves the Field: The Leave Event ................................................................................................... 46 Summary of Events ............................................................................................................................................. 47 3.9 The Environ-Pure Project: An Application Example .................................................................................... 47 The Environ-Pure Project .................................................................................................................................... 48 The Visual Interface............................................................................................................................................. 48 Date of Order .................................................................................................................................................. 49 Distributor Number ........................................................................................................................................ 49 Model Number................................................................................................................................................ 49 Quantity Ordered ............................................................................................................................................ 49 Special Instructions ......................................................................................................................................... 50 Buttons and the Form ....................................................................................................................................