Lecture Set 3 Introduction to Visual Basic Concepts Part A – User Interfaces and Windows Forms – The Toolbox
Feb 23, 2016
Lecture Set 3
Introduction to Visual Basic Concepts Part A – User Interfaces and Windows
Forms – The Toolbox
Slide 2
Objectives Compare command-line interfaces and forms-
based interfaces – basics of forms-based interfaces
Design user interface for a Windows application
Create Windows Application project using the Visual Studio IDE
Use controls to create the user interface for a Windows Application project
Create code for a Windows Application project
7/30/2013 9:31 PM
Slide 3
Comparing Command-line and Form-based Interfaces
User interfaces can be roughly categorized into two types Command-line interfaces use textual input
and output The end user interacts with an application
by typing commands You just did this
Most Windows user interfaces are form-based visual interfaces
The end user interacts with an application through its visual elements
7/30/2013 9:31 PM
Slide 4
Comparing a Command-line Interface and a Form-based Interface
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Slide 5
Principles of a User Interface Control – The end user should control the
application User-friendliness – The interface should help
the end user accomplish tasks Intuitiveness – The interface should follow a
direct style that proceeds logically (left to right; up and down?)
Consistency – The user interface should have consistent fonts and shapes
Feedback – The interface should provide clear and immediate feedback
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Slide 6
Principles of a User Interface (continued)
Graphics – Avoid use of unnecessary graphics
Color – Pleasant but not overdone Input – Minimize transitions between the
keyboard and mouse where possible User protection – prevent bad input data Screen resolution – The user interface
should adapt to different screen resolutions Users may be visually impaired, requiring
larger fonts 7/30/2013 9:31 PM
Slide 7
Designing a User Interface A user interface should be designed
before it is implemented Design user interface using a tool such as
Visio Pencil and paper works fine too
Name your controls so that you know that you have at all times
Be consistent – see suggestions in text Forms design and the underlying code
will be handled separately (to be explained)
But interface design can be very helpful in structuring and implementing your code
7/30/2013 9:31 PM
Slide 8 8
Designing a User Interface
Slide 9
Principles of Control Design Alignment – Align control instances vertically
or horizontally Balance – Distribute control instances evenly
about the form Color – Use soft colors with adequate contrast
between foreground and background colors Users may be colorblind
Function grouping – Group control instances based on their function
Consistent sizing – Control instances should have the same size
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Slide 10
A Poor User Interface
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Slide 11
An Improved User Interface
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Slide 12
Other “Interesting” Forms Pages Windows versus web forms pages
Amazon Southwest Airlines Your instructor’s web page
Right click on link Open Hyperlink
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Slide 13
Creating a Windows Application Project 1 As indicated earlier, there is a lot to
learn Forms design – sort of fun
Tools – such as Visio Software design
Tools – UML, Data Tables, Behavior modelling
How to use the Visual Studio IDE Tools – tons of on-line and text references Get the right one for your level
C# .NET Tools – tons of on-line and text references
Here we go …01/02/2016 5:01 PM
Slide 14
Anatomy of a Windows Application Project
See next slide The Windows Forms Designer is used to
create a form’s visual interface Controls appearing in the Toolbox are
used to create the visual interface of a form
The Properties window provides a visual way to set properties for the form and control instances created on the form
The region inside a form's border is called the client area 7/30/2013 9:31
PM
Slide 15
Viewing a Form
7/30/2013 10:40PM
Slide 16
Form Methods and Events Methods
The Close method closes the form and unloads it from memory
The Hide method makes a form invisible Events
The Load event fires when a form is loaded into memory for the first time
You will find these in a typical Windows Forms window
7/30/2013 10:34
Slide 17
The Toolbox and Windows Forms Designer
The Toolbox and Windows Forms Designer are used together to create an application’s visual interface
The Toolbox contains controls Controls are part of the FCL class hierarchy
Controls are dragged onto a form Code-behind is generated – the control is
represented as an instance of the class – as an object or control instances
View the Windows Forms Designer by Selecting the form in the Solution Explorer and
clicking View Designer It is instructive to look at this code – it is the other
part of the Partial Class that you are coding.7/30/2013 9:31
PM
Slide 18
Toolbox Tabs The Toolbox contains the controls that can be
drawn on any form, and is divided into tabs The All Windows Forms tab lists all controls The Common Controls tab lists the most frequently
used controls The Containers tab lists controls used to group
other controls The Menus & Toolbars tab contains controls are
used to create a menu system and toolbars You should understand what these tools are Hint – they are OBJECTS – instances of a class We will see more about this in Slide Set 3B When you design your first form, pin the
Toolbox to your design window. Makes things easier. 7/30/2013 9:31
PM
Slide 19
Toolbox Tabs (continued) The Data tab contains controls used to work
with a database The Components tab contains controls used to
work with Windows services (Windows components)
The Printing tab contains controls used to work with a printer
The Dialogs tab contains standard dialog boxes The Crystal Reports tab contains controls used
with the Crystal Reports reporting software
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Slide 20
The Organization of Controls in the Toolbox
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Slide 21
Characteristics of a Form 1 What you see when you open a Form – Code
Mode Examine each of the icons to the right of the
Debug pull down control
1/2/2016 5:15 PM
Slide 22
Characteristics of a Form 2 Specifically, explore
The Properties Window The Object Browser The Error List The Toolbox The Solution Explorer Window
7/30/2013 10:45 PM