Overview

Foreword by Beth Massi Senior Program Manager, Microsoft Visual Studio   Visual Basic 2010 Unleashed is the most comprehensive, practical reference to modern object-oriented programming with Visual Basic 2010. Written by Visual Basic MVP Alessandro Del Sole, a long-time leader of the global VB community, this book illuminates the core of the VB language and demonstrates its effective use in a wide variety of programming scenarios.   Del Sole covers both Visual Basic 2010 Professional Edition for professional developers and the Express Edition for hobbyists, novices, and students. Writing for VB programmers at all levels of experience, he walks through using VB 2010 for data access, user interface development, networking, communication, and many other tasks. For those moving from structured languages–including VB 6–he offers detailed guidance on building effective object-oriented code. He also demonstrates how to make the most of Microsoft’s underlying .NET platform to write more robust and powerful software.   This book’s broad coverage includes advanced features such as generics and collections; a thorough introduction to the Visual Studio 2010 IDE and Visual Studio Team System; a full section on data access with ADO.NET and LINQ; practical overviews of WPF and WCF; coverage of web and cloud development with Silverlight and Azure; and advanced topics such as multithreading, testing, and deployment.   Understand the Visual Studio 2010 IDE, .NET Framework 4.0, and the anatomy of a VB 2010 application Debug VB applications and implement error handling and exceptions Build efficient object-oriented software with classes, objects, namespaces, and inheritance Work with advanced object-oriented features, including interfaces, generics, delegates, events, and collections Organize, create, and improve classes with the Visual Studio Class Designer Access data with LINQ–including LINQ to Objects, SQL, DataSets, Entities, XML, and Parallel LINQ Build modern Windows applications with WPF controls, brushes, styles, and templates Develop web-centric applications using ASP.NET, Silverlight, and Windows Azure Services cloud computing Create and consume WCF services and WCF Data Services Use advanced .NET 4.0 platform capabilities, including assemblies, multithreading, parallel programming, P/Invoke, and COM interoperability Perform advanced compilations with MSBuild Localize and globalize VB 2010 client applications   Alessandro Del Sole, Microsoft MVP for Visual Basic, is well-known throughout the global VB community. He is community leader on the Italian VB Tips and Tricks website that serves more than 41,000 developers and a frequent contributor and blogger at MSDN’s Visual Basic Developer Center. He is the author of three books about .NET development with Visual Basic.   ON THE WEB: Download all examples and source code presented in this book from informit.com/title/9780672331008   Category: Microsoft Programming Covers: Visual Basic 2010 User Level: Intermediate      

Full Product Details

Author:   Alessandro Del Sole
Publisher:   Pearson Education (US)
Imprint:   Sams Publishing
Dimensions:   Width: 22.80cm , Height: 5.00cm , Length: 17.90cm
Weight:   1.950kg
ISBN:  

9780672331008

ISBN 10:   0672331004
Pages:   1272
Publication Date:   20 May 2010
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Replaced By:   9780672336317
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Out of Print
Availability:   In Print  
Limited stock is available. It will be ordered for you and shipped pending supplier's limited stock.

Table of Contents

Part I Learning the Basics of VB 1 Introducing the .NET Framework 4.0 1 What Is the .NET Framework?........................................................................1     Where Is the .NET Framework ..............................................................2     The .NET Framework Architecture ........................................................2 The Common Language Runtime ..................................................................4     Writing Managed Code .........................................................................4     .NET Assemblies.....................................................................................5 The Base Class Library ....................................................................................5 .NET Languages...............................................................................................6 .NET Framework Tools ....................................................................................7     Windows Software Development Kit ....................................................7 What’s New in .NET Framework 4.0 ..............................................................8 2 Getting Started with the Visual Studio 2010 IDE 11 What’s New in Visual Studio 2010 ...............................................................11 Start Page.......................................................................................................12     Get Started Tab ....................................................................................13     The Guidance and Resources Tab........................................................13     The Latest News Tab ............................................................................14 Working with Projects and Solutions...........................................................15     Creating Visual Basic Projects .............................................................16     Multitargeting......................................................................................17     Accessing Recent and Online Templates.............................................18     Searching for Installed Templates .......................................................20     Creating Reusable Projects and Items Templates................................21     Creating Your First Visual Basic 2010 Project .....................................21     Finding Visual Basic Projects...............................................................23     Working with the Code Editor............................................................24 Working with Tool Windows........................................................................26     The Solution Explorer Window...........................................................27     Error List Window ...............................................................................28     The Properties Window .......................................................................30     Output Window...................................................................................31 My Project .....................................................................................................31     Application Tab....................................................................................33 Compiling Projects .......................................................................................37     Debug and Release Configurations .....................................................38     Other Compile Options.......................................................................41     Advanced Compile Options ................................................................44 Debugging Overview.....................................................................................47     Debugging an Application...................................................................47     Breakpoints and Data Tips ..................................................................49     About Runtime Errors..........................................................................52     Edit and Continue ...............................................................................53 Browsing the Visual Basic and .NET Documentation..................................54     Online Help and the MSDN Library ...................................................55     Object Browser Window......................................................................55 3 The Anatomy of a Visual Basic Project 59 Brief Overview of Types and Members.........................................................59     Classes ..................................................................................................60     Properties .............................................................................................60     Methods ...............................................................................................60     Modules ...............................................................................................61     Structures .............................................................................................61     Inheritance...........................................................................................61     Namespaces..........................................................................................62     Accessing Members..............................................................................63     Imports Directives................................................................................64     #Region..#End Region Directives........................................................64     Attributes .............................................................................................65     A New Feature: Implicit Line Continuation .......................................65 Visual Basic 2010 Reserved Keywords ..........................................................67 Understanding Project Files..........................................................................70     Dissecting My Project ..........................................................................70     Application.MyApp .............................................................................70     AssemblyInfo.vb ..................................................................................72     Resources and the Resources.resx File .................................................73     Application Settings.............................................................................77 Understanding References ............................................................................79     Adding References to COM Libraries ..................................................82     Deploy Without PIAs...........................................................................83     Final Considerations............................................................................84 4 Data Types and Expressions 85 Common Type System..................................................................................85     Everything Is an Object.......................................................................86     Introducing Value Types and Reference Types ...................................86     System.Object and System.ValueType...............................................87 Understanding Value Types..........................................................................89     .NET Framework Primitive Value Types ..............................................90     Using Value Types................................................................................92     Working with BigInteger ...................................................................100     Building Custom Value Types ...........................................................101 Understanding Reference Types .................................................................101     .NET Framework Primitive Reference Types .....................................103 Differences Between Value Types and Reference Types .............................104     Memory Allocation............................................................................104     Object-Oriented Differences..............................................................107     Performance Differences....................................................................109     What Custom Type Should I Choose?..............................................109 Converting Between Value Types and Reference Types.............................110     Understanding Implicit Conversions................................................110     Boxing and Unboxing .......................................................................112     Deep Copy and Shallow Copy ..........................................................114     The GetType Keyword........................................................................118 Conversion Operators.................................................................................119     Widening and Narrowing Conversions ............................................119 Working with .NET Fundamental Types ....................................................124     Working with Strings.........................................................................125     Working with Dates...........................................................................137     Working with Time............................................................................143     Working with TimeZone and TimeZoneInfo ......................................144     Working with GUIDs.........................................................................147     Working with Arrays..........................................................................148 Common Operators ....................................................................................155     Arithmetic Operators.........................................................................155     Assignment Operators .......................................................................157     Logical, Bitwise and Shift Operators .................................................158     Concatenation Operators ..................................................................163     Comparison Operators ......................................................................164 Iterations, Loops, and Conditional Code Blocks .......................................166     Iterations............................................................................................166     Loops..................................................................................................169     Conditional Code Blocks...................................................................171     Constants...........................................................................................174     With..End With statement................................................................175 5 Debugging Visual Basic 2010 Applications 177 Preparing an Example.................................................................................177 Debugging Instrumentation .......................................................................178     Debugging in Steps............................................................................178     Mixed Mode Debugging ....................................................................180     “Just My Code” Debugging ...............................................................180     Working with Breakpoints and Trace Points.....................................182     Locals Window ..................................................................................185     Command Window...........................................................................185     Call Stack Window ............................................................................186     Watch Windows.................................................................................187     Threads Window................................................................................189     Autos Window ...................................................................................190 Debugger Visualizers ...................................................................................191 Debugging in Code .....................................................................................192     The Debug Class .................................................................................192     The Trace Class .................................................................................194     Understanding Trace Listeners ..........................................................195     Using Debug Attributes in Your Code...............................................201 6 Handling Errors and Exceptions 207 Introducing Exceptions...............................................................................207 Handling Exceptions...................................................................................208     Are You Upgrading from Visual Basic 6? ..........................................209     System.Exception, Naming Conventions and Specialization .........209     Try..Catch..Finally........................................................................209     The Throw Keyword ...........................................................................218     The When Keyword .............................................................................222     Catching Exceptions Without a Variable..........................................224 Part II Object-Oriented Programming with Visual Basic 2010 7 Class Fundamentals 225 Declaring Classes.........................................................................................225     Nested Classes....................................................................................226 Fields ...........................................................................................................227     Avoiding Ambiguities with Local Variables ......................................228 Properties.....................................................................................................229     Read-Only Properties .........................................................................231     Write-Only Properties ........................................................................231     Exposing Custom Types ....................................................................232     Accessing Properties...........................................................................232     Default Properties ..............................................................................233 Scope ...........................................................................................................234 Methods ......................................................................................................236     Invoking Methods .............................................................................236     Methods Arguments: ByVal and ByRef .............................................237     Overloading Methods........................................................................242     Exit from Methods.............................................................................245 Partial Classes..............................................................................................246 Partial Methods ...........................................................................................249 Constructors................................................................................................251     Overloading Constructors .................................................................254     Object Initializers...............................................................................256 Shared Members..........................................................................................257     Shared Classes....................................................................................258     Shared Fields ......................................................................................258     Shared Properties ...............................................................................259     Shared Methods .................................................................................259     Shared Constructors ..........................................................................261 Common Language Specification...............................................................262     Where Do I Need to Apply? ..............................................................262     Marking Assemblies and Types as CLS-Compliant ...........................263     Naming Conventions ........................................................................263     Rules About Classes ...........................................................................265     Rules About Properties.......................................................................265     Rules About Methods ........................................................................265     Rules About Arrays.............................................................................266 8 Managing an Object’s Lifetime 267 Understanding Memory Allocation............................................................267 Understanding Garbage Collection............................................................268 Understanding the Finalize Method........................................................269 Understanding Dispose and the IDisposable Interface............................271     Using..End Using Statement.............................................................273     Putting Dispose and Finalize Together...........................................273 Object Resurrection.....................................................................................276 Advanced Garbage Collection ....................................................................277     Interacting with the Garbage Collector ............................................277     Understanding Generations and Operation Modes................................278 9 Organizing Types Within Namespaces 281 Understanding What Namespaces Are.......................................................281 Organizing Types Within Namespaces.......................................................282     Why Are Namespaces So Useful? ......................................................285     Nested Namespaces............................................................................286     Scope ..................................................................................................289     Root Namespace ................................................................................289     Global Keyword.................................................................................290     Imports Directives .............................................................................291     Namespaces and Common Language Specification .........................294 10 Modules 295 Modules Overview ......................................................................................295     Scope ..................................................................................................296 Differences Between Modules and Classes .................................................297     No Constructor..................................................................................297     No Inheritance Support.....................................................................297     No Interface Implementation............................................................297 11 Structures and Enumerations 299 Assignments ................................................................................................302 Passing Structures to Methods....................................................................302 Members’ Visibility .....................................................................................303 Inheritance Limitations and Interfaces Implementation ..........................303 Memory Allocation .....................................................................................303 Organizing Structures .................................................................................304 Overloading Operators................................................................................305     Overloading CType.............................................................................307 Structures and Common Language Specification ......................................308 Enumerations..............................................................................................309     Using Enumerations ..........................................................................310     Useful Methods from System.Enum ...................................................311     Using Enums As Return Values From Methods ................................314     Enum Values As Bit Flags...................................................................315     Enumerations and Common Language Specification ......................315 12 Inheritance 317 Applying Inheritance ..................................................................................318 Illustrating System.Object in Detail ..........................................................321 Introducing Polymorphism ........................................................................323 Overriding Members ...................................................................................325     NotOverridable Keyword..................................................................328     Overloading Derived Members .........................................................328 Conditioning Inheritance...........................................................................328     NotInheritable Keyword..................................................................329     MustInherit and MustOverride Keywords .......................................330 Accessing Base Classes Members ................................................................331     MyBase Keyword.................................................................................332     MyClass Keyword...............................................................................334 Constructors’ Inheritance ...........................................................................335 Shadowing...................................................................................................336 Overriding Shared Members.......................................................................337 Practical Inheritance: Building Custom Exceptions...................................338 13 Interfaces 341 Defining Interfaces......................................................................................341 Implementing and Accessing Interfaces.....................................................343     Passing Interfaces As Method Arguments .........................................345 Interfaces and Polymorphism.....................................................................345 Interfaces Inheritance .................................................................................346 Defining CLS-Compliant Interfaces ...........................................................347 Most Common .NET Interfaces ..................................................................348     The IEnumerable Interface ................................................................348     The IComparable Interface ................................................................351     The IConvertible Interface ..............................................................353     The IFormattable Interface ..............................................................356 14 Generics and Nullable Types 359 Introducing Generics ..................................................................................359 Creating and Consuming Generics ............................................................360     Consuming Generic Types ................................................................362     Implementing Generic Methods .......................................................363     Understanding Constraints ...............................................................363     Overloading Type Parameters............................................................366 Introducing Nullable Types ........................................................................367 15 Delegates and Events 371 Understanding Delegates............................................................................371     Declaring Delegates ...........................................................................372     Combining Delegates: Multicast Delegates.......................................374 Handling Events..........................................................................................375     Registering for events: AddHandler and RemoveHandler...................375     Declaring Objects with the WithEvents Keyword.............................377 Offering Events to the External World.......................................................378     Raising Events....................................................................................378     Creating Custom Events....................................................................381 16 Working with Collections 385 Understanding Collections Architecture....................................................385 Working with Nongeneric Collections.......................................................386     The ArrayList Collection .................................................................386     The Queue Collection.........................................................................389     The Stack Collection.........................................................................390     The HashTable Collection .................................................................390     The ListDictionary Collection ........................................................391     The OrderedDictionary Collection ..................................................391     The SortedList Collection ...............................................................392     The HybridDictionary Collection ....................................................392     The StringCollection Collection ....................................................392     The StringDictionary Collection ....................................................393     The NameValueCollection Collection...............................................393     The BitArray Collection ...................................................................393     The Bitvector32 Collection..............................................................394 Working with Generic Collections .............................................................395     The List(Of T) Collection...................................................................395     Working with Collection Initializers.................................................397     The ReadOnlyCollection(Of T) Collection .......................................398     The Dictionary(Of TKey, TValue) Collection ....................................399     The SortedDictionary(Of TKey, TValue) Collection..........................400     The ObservableCollection(Of T) Collection .....................................400     The ReadonlyObservableCollection(Of T) Collection ......................402     The LinkedList(Of T) Collection .......................................................403     The Queue(Of T) and Stack(Of T) Collections..................................405 Building Custom Collections......................................................................405 Concurrent Collections ..............................................................................406 17 Visually Designing Objects 407 Visual Studio Class Designer.......................................................................407     Enabling the Class Designer..............................................................408     Adding and Designing Objects..........................................................409     Implementing Derived Classes..........................................................413     Creating Multiple Diagrams ..............................................................416     Exporting the Diagram......................................................................416 Class View Window ....................................................................................417 Class Details Window .................................................................................418 18 “Generate From Usage” Coding Techniques 421 Coding New Types ......................................................................................421     Generating Shared Members .............................................................425     On-the-Fly Code and Object Initializers ...........................................425 Generating Complex Objects .....................................................................426     Interfaces Additions...........................................................................428 Part III Advanced VB Language features 19 Manipulating Files and Streams 429 Manipulating Directories and Pathnames..................................................429     The System.IO.Path Class.................................................................430     The System.IO.Directory Class .......................................................431     The System.IO.DirectoryInfo Class................................................434     The System.IO.DriveInfo Class .......................................................434 Handling Exceptions for Directories and Pathnames ................................435 Manipulating Files ......................................................................................436     The System.IO.File Class.................................................................436     The System.IO.FileInfo Class .........................................................438     Handling File Exceptions...................................................................439     Understanding Permissions...............................................................439 Introducing Streams....................................................................................440     Reading and Writing Text Files .........................................................441     Reading and Writing Binary Files......................................................442     Using Memory Streams .....................................................................442     Using Streams with Strings................................................................443     Compressing Data with Streams .......................................................444     Networking with Streams ..................................................................448 20 The My Namespace 451 Introducing My ............................................................................................451 My.Application...........................................................................................452     Retrieving Assembly Information .....................................................452     Working with Cultures ......................................................................453     Deployment and Environment Information ....................................454 My.Computer ................................................................................................456     Working with the File System ...........................................................457     Working with the Clipboard .............................................................458     Playing Audio Files ............................................................................459     Managing the Keyboard ....................................................................460     Working with the Registry ................................................................460     Accessing the Network ......................................................................461     Getting Computer Information ........................................................462 My.Settings ................................................................................................464     My.Settings Events ...........................................................................469 My.Resources ..............................................................................................470     Getting Resources by Name in Code ................................................474 My.User........................................................................................................474 My.WebServices...........................................................................................476 Extending My..............................................................................................476     Extending My.Application and My.Computer...................................478     Extending My.Resources and My.Settings ......................................480 My in Different Applications .......................................................................480     Understanding Application Events ...................................................483 21 Advanced Language Features 485 Local Type Inference...................................................................................485     Option Infer Directive .....................................................................487     Local Type Inference Scope ...............................................................488 Array Literals ...............................................................................................489     Multidimensional and Jagged Arrays ................................................489 Extension Methods .....................................................................................490     Coding Custom Extension Methods.................................................495     Exporting Extension Methods...........................................................497 Anonymous Types ......................................................................................498 Relaxed Delegates........................................................................................500 Lambda Expressions....................................................................................500     Type Inference and Lambda Expressions..........................................503     Multiline Lambdas.............................................................................504     Sub Lambdas......................................................................................505     Lexical Closures .................................................................................506 Ternary If Operator....................................................................................507 Generic Variance .........................................................................................509     Covariance .........................................................................................509     Contra Variance .................................................................................510 Part IV Data Access with ADO.NET and LINQ 22 Introducing ADO.NET and DataSets 513 Introducing ADO.NET ................................................................................513     Data Providers....................................................................................514     Connection Modes ............................................................................515     Understanding Connections and Data Readers................................515 Introducing DataSets ..................................................................................517     Creating DataSets...............................................................................517 23 Introducing LINQ 523 What Is LINQ? ............................................................................................523 LINQ Examples ...........................................................................................525 Language Support .......................................................................................526 Understanding Providers ............................................................................527 Overview of LINQ Architecture ..................................................................528 24 LINQ to Objects 531 Introducing LINQ to Objects......................................................................531 Querying in Memory Objects.....................................................................532     Understanding Deferred Execution...................................................539 Introducing Standard Query Operators......................................................541     Projection Operators..........................................................................542     Restriction Operators.........................................................................543     Aggregation Operators.......................................................................544     Understanding the Let Keyword.......................................................546     Conversion Operators........................................................................546     Generation Operators ........................................................................548     Ordering Operators............................................................................549     Set Operators......................................................................................550     Grouping Operators...........................................................................551     Union Operators................................................................................553     Equality Operators .............................................................................556     Quantifiers .........................................................................................556     Concatenation Operators ..................................................................557     Elements Operators............................................................................557     Partitioning Operators.......................................................................558 25 LINQ to SQL 561 Introducing LINQ to SQL ...........................................................................561     Prerequisites .......................................................................................562     Understanding LINQ to SQL Classes ................................................562     Behind the Scenes of LINQ to SQL Classes.......................................573 Querying Data with LINQ to SQL ..............................................................574 Insert/Update/Delete Operations with LINQ .............................................579     Inserting Entities................................................................................579     Updating Entities...............................................................................583     Deleting Entities ................................................................................584     Mapping Stored Procedures...............................................................584     Using the Log.....................................................................................587 Advanced LINQ to SQL...............................................................................588 Custom Validations ...........................................................................588     Handling Optimistic Concurrency....................................................590     Using SQL Syntax Against Entities....................................................591 LINQ to SQL with SQL Server Compact Edition........................................592     Writing the Connection String .........................................................593 26 LINQ to DataSets 595 Querying Datasets with LINQ ....................................................................595     Building Complex Queries with Anonymous Types ........................598 LINQ to DataSets’ Extension Methods .......................................................598     Understanding CopyToDataTable ......................................................598     Understanding Field(Of T) and SetField(Of T)...........................600 27 Introducing ADO.NET Entity Framework 603 Introducing Entity Framework ...................................................................603 Understanding Entity Data Models............................................................604     Understanding the ObjectContext class: The Visual Basic Mapping .........612     Entity Designer Tool Windows..........................................................617 Insert/Update/Delete Operations for Entities.............................................620     Instantiating the ObjectContext .......................................................620     Adding Entities ..................................................................................623     Deleting Entities ................................................................................624     Updating Entities...............................................................................625     Handling Optimistic Concurrency....................................................626     Validating Data ..................................................................................627 Querying EDMs with LINQ to Entities.......................................................628 Querying EDMs with Entity SQL................................................................629 Mapping Stored Procedures ........................................................................631 28 Manipulating Xml Documents with LINQ and Xml Literals 635 Introducing LINQ to Xml...........................................................................635     The System.Xml.Linq Namespace.....................................................636 Xml Literals.................................................................................................641     LINQ Queries with Xml Literals........................................................644     Understanding Embedded Expressions.............................................646 Xml Schema Inference................................................................................649 29 Overview of Parallel LINQ 655 Introducing PLINQ .....................................................................................655     Simulating an Intensive Work...........................................................656     Measuring Performances of a Classic LINQ Query...........................656     Measuring Performances of a PLINQ Query .....................................657     Ordering Sequences ...........................................................................659     AsParallel and Binary Operators.....................................................660     Using ParallelEnumerable ...............................................................660     Controlling PLINQ Queries ...............................................................661     Handling Exceptions...................................................................................663 Part V Building Windows Applications 30 Creating Windows Forms 4.0 Applications 665 What Windows Forms Is Today..................................................................665 Creating Windows Forms Applications......................................................666     What’s New in Windows Forms 4.0..................................................667     Available Windows Forms Controls..................................................667 Building Windows Forms Applications with ADO.NET Entity Framework and Chart Control.....668     Providing Custom Validation............................................................674     Understanding Chart Control...........................................................675     Populating the Chart Control ...........................................................677     Running the Sample Application......................................................680 31 Creating WPF Applications 681 What Is WPF?..............................................................................................682     Improvements in WPF 4 ...................................................................682 WPF Architecture ........................................................................................683 Building WPF Applications with Visual Studio 2010.................................685 Understanding the eXtensible Application Markup Language (XAML)....687     Declaring and Using Controls with the Designer and XAML..........689 Understanding Visual Tree and Logical Tree..............................................692 Handling Events in WPF.............................................................................694     A More Thorough Discussion: Introducing the Routed Events .......695 Arranging Controls with Panels .................................................................697     The Grid Panel...................................................................................697     The StackPanel Panel .......................................................................700     The WrapPanel Panel .........................................................................701     The Canvas Panel ...............................................................................703     The DockPanel Panel .........................................................................703     The ViewBox Panel .............................................................................704 Managing Windows....................................................................................704     Instantiating Windows at Runtime...................................................706 Introducing the Application Object .........................................................707 Brief Overview of WPF Browser Applications ............................................710 32 WPF Common Controls 715 Introducing WPF Controls Features ...........................................................715 Understanding the ContentControl...........................................................716 Understanding Common Controls ............................................................717     Border ................................................................................................717     Button ................................................................................................718     Calendar ............................................................................................718     CheckBox ............................................................................................719     ComboBox ............................................................................................720     DataGrid ............................................................................................721     DatePicker.........................................................................................721     DocumentViewer .................................................................................723     Ellipse ..............................................................................................723     Expander ............................................................................................723     Frame ..................................................................................................724     GroupBox ............................................................................................725     Image ..................................................................................................726     Label ..................................................................................................726     ListBox ..............................................................................................727     ListView ............................................................................................728     MediaElement .....................................................................................729     Menu....................................................................................................729     PasswordBox.......................................................................................732     ProgressBar.......................................................................................732     RadioButton.......................................................................................734     Rectangle...........................................................................................734     RichTextBox.......................................................................................734     ScrollBar...........................................................................................735     ScrollViewer .....................................................................................735     Separator...........................................................................................736     Slider ................................................................................................736     StatusBar...........................................................................................737     TabControl..........................................................................................737     TextBlock...........................................................................................738     TextBox ..............................................................................................739     ToolBar ..............................................................................................740     TreeView ............................................................................................741     WebBrowser.........................................................................................742     WindowsFormsHost..............................................................................742 Using Common Dialogs .............................................................................743 xx Visual Basic 2010 Unleashed 33 Brushes, Styles, Templates, and Animations in WPF 745 Introducing Brushes....................................................................................745     Applying a SolidColorBrush.............................................................747     Applying a LinearGradientBrush .....................................................748     Applying a RadialGradientBrush .....................................................749     Applying an ImageBrush....................................................................751     Applying SelectionBrush and CaretBrush ......................................753     Applying a VisualBrush ....................................................................754     Applying a DrawingBrush ..................................................................755     Applying a BitmapCacheBrush...........................................................757 Introducing Styles .......................................................................................759     Styles Inheritance ..............................................................................761     Understanding Triggers .....................................................................761 Introducing Control Templates ..................................................................763 Introducing Transformations......................................................................766     Applying RotateTransform ...............................................................767     Applying ScaleTransform .................................................................767     Applying SkewTransform ...................................................................768     Applying TranslateTransform..........................................................768     Applying Multiple Transforms ..........................................................769 Introducing Animations .............................................................................770     Applying DoubleAnimation ...............................................................771     Applying ColorAnimation .................................................................773     Working with Animation Events ......................................................775     Creating Animations with Visual Basic.............................................776 34 Manipulating Documents and Media 781 Viewing Images ...........................................................................................781 Playing Media .............................................................................................783 Manipulating Documents...........................................................................786     Understanding the RichTextBox Control .........................................795 Viewing XPS Documents ............................................................................796 35 Introducing Data-Binding 799 Introducing the Data-Binding ....................................................................799     Binding UI Elements with the Binding Markup Extension..............800     Understanding the DataGrid and the ObservableCollection.........802 Discussing the New Drag’n’Drop Data-Binding.........................................806     Creating Tabular Data Forms.............................................................807     Creating Master-Details Forms ..........................................................813     Understanding Views and Binding Lists ...........................................818     Implementing String Formatters and Value Converters...................822 36 Localizing Applications 829 Introducing .NET Localization ...................................................................829 Windows Forms Localization .....................................................................830 WPF Localization ........................................................................................832     Preparing the LocBaml tool...............................................................832     Localizing a WPF Application ...........................................................833 Part VI Building Web Applications 37 Building ASP.NET Web Applications 839 Introducing the ASP.NET Model.................................................................839     Understanding Page Requests ...........................................................840     Scalability and Performances.............................................................840     Available Project Templates...............................................................841 Web Forms and Master Pages .....................................................................842     Web Forms .........................................................................................842 ASP.NET Controls........................................................................................845     Server Controls ..................................................................................845     HTML Controls..................................................................................847 Handling Events..........................................................................................848 Understanding State Management.............................................................848     The Application State.......................................................................849     The Cache State..................................................................................849     The Context State ..............................................................................850     Using Cookies for Saving Information..............................................850     The Session State ..............................................................................851     The ViewState State ..........................................................................851     Creating a Web Application with VB 2010 with Navigation and Data-Binding .....851     Master Pages.......................................................................................852     Adding the Data Model .....................................................................855     Adding a New Web Form ..................................................................855     Adding Data Controls........................................................................857     Adding Filtering Capabilities.............................................................860     Adding Navigation Controls .............................................................861     Running the Application...................................................................861 Configuring a Web Application for Security..............................................863 38 Publishing ASP.NET Web Applications 865 Deployment Overview................................................................................865     The 1-Click Deployment ...................................................................866 Classic Publishing .......................................................................................866 MSDeploy Publish.......................................................................................868     Understanding Packages....................................................................868     Deploy with MSDeploy .....................................................................868 39 Building Rich Internet Applications with Silverlight 871 Introducing Silverlight................................................................................871 Creating Silverlight Projects with Visual Basic 2010 .................................872 Adding Controls and Handling Events ......................................................875     How Silverlight Applications Are Packaged ......................................876 Playing Media .............................................................................................876 Animating UI Elements ..............................................................................880 Introducing Navigation Applications.........................................................882 Introducing WCF RIA Services ...................................................................886     Adding the Data Source.....................................................................887     Adding the Domain Service Class .....................................................887     Data-Binding to Controls ..................................................................891     Running the Application...................................................................893 “Out of Browser” Applications ...................................................................894 40 Building and Deploying Applications for Windows Azure 899 About Windows Azure Platform.................................................................899 Registering for the Windows Azure Developer Portal................................901 Downloading and Installing Tools for Visual Studio .................................901     Additional Tools.................................................................................902 Creating a Demo Project.............................................................................902     Understanding Web Roles and Web Configuration .........................902     Adding a Silverlight 3 Project............................................................905     Testing the Application Locally.........................................................911 Deploying Applications to Windows Azure ...............................................913 Activating the Storage Account ..................................................................921     Using the Windows Azure Management Console Snap-In ..............922 Part VII Networking and Exposing Data Through Networks 41 Creating and Consuming WCF Services 927 Introducing Windows Communication Foundation.................................928     Understanding Endpoints .................................................................928     Address, Binding, Contract: The ABC of WCF .................................928 Implementing WCF Services ......................................................................929     Implementing Custom Logic for the WCF Service...........................933 Consuming WCF Services...........................................................................937     Creating the Client and Adding a Service Reference........................938     Understanding the Proxy Class.........................................................938     Invoking Members from the Service.................................................939 Handling Exceptions in WCF .....................................................................943 Hosting WCF Services in Internet Information Services ...........................944 Configuring Services with the Configuration Editor .................................945 42 Implementing and Consuming WCF Data Services 949 What Are Data Services? .............................................................................949     Querying Data via Http Requests......................................................950 Implementing WCF Data Services..............................................................951     Deploying WCF Data Services to Internet Information Services .....957 Consuming WCF Data Services ..................................................................957     Creating a Client Application ...........................................................957     Querying Data ...................................................................................962 Implementing Service Operations ..............................................................963 Implementing Query Interceptors..............................................................965     Understanding Query Interceptors ...................................................965     Understanding Change Interceptors.................................................967 Understanding Server-Driven Paging .........................................................968 Part VIII Advanced .NET Framework with VB 2010 43 Serialization 971 Objects Serialization ...................................................................................972     Binary Serialization............................................................................972     Soap Serialization...............................................................................975     Providing Serialization for Custom Objects......................................976     NonSerialized events .........................................................................978 XML Serialization........................................................................................979     Customizing Xml Serialization .........................................................980 Custom Serialization...................................................................................982     Serialization Events............................................................................983 Serialization with XAML.............................................................................984 Serialization in Windows Communication Foundation............................987     JSON Serialization..............................................................................989 Serialization in the ADO.NET Entity Framework.......................................990 44 Processes and Multithreading 993 Managing Processes ....................................................................................994     Querying Existing Processes ..............................................................995 Introducing Multithreading .......................................................................996     Creating Threads................................................................................996     Passing Parameters.............................................................................997 Understanding the .NET Thread Pool ........................................................997     Getting and Setting Information in the Thread Pool.......................998 Threads Synchronization............................................................................999     The SyncLock..End SyncLock Statement .......................................1000     Synchronization with the Monitor Class........................................1001     Read/Write Locks .............................................................................1001 45 Parallel Programming 1005 Introducing Parallel Computing...............................................................1006     Introducing Parallel Classes.............................................................1006 Understanding and Using Tasks ...............................................................1007     What Is a Task? ................................................................................1007     Running Tasks with Parallel.Invoke ............................................1008     Creating, Running, and Managing Tasks: The Task Class..............1009     Creating Tasks That Return Values..................................................1009     Exception Handling.........................................................................1011     Cancelling Tasks ..............................................................................1012     The Barrier Class............................................................................1014 Parallel Loops ............................................................................................1015     Parallel.For Loop..........................................................................1017     Parallel.ForEach Loop ..................................................................1018 Debugging Tools For Parallel Tasks...........................................................1021 Concurrent Collections ............................................................................1022     ConcurrentBag(Of T)......................................................................1023     ConcurrentQueue(Of T) ..................................................................1024     ConcurrentStack(Of T) ..................................................................1024     ConcurrentDictionary(Of TKey, TValue) ....................................1025     BlockingCollection(Of T) ............................................................1026 46 Working with Assemblies 1029 Assembly Overview...................................................................................1029     Information Stored Within Assemblies...........................................1030     Assembly Location...........................................................................1030     Signing Assemblies ..........................................................................1031     Assembly Information and Attributes.............................................1031 Understanding Application Domains.......................................................1031     Creating Application Domains and Executing Assemblies ............1031 Overview of Security Changes in .NET 4.0 ..............................................1034     Permissions ......................................................................................1035     The Transparency Level 2................................................................1036     Sandboxing ......................................................................................1038     Conditional APTCA .........................................................................1041     Migrating from Old CAS-Based Code..............................................1041 47 Reflection 1043 Introducing Reflection..............................................................................1043 Understanding Assemblies’ Metadata.......................................................1044     Preparing a Sample Assembly..........................................................1045 Getting Assembly Information.................................................................1046 Reflecting Types ........................................................................................1048     Reflecting a Single Type...................................................................1053 Invoking Code Dynamically.....................................................................1055 Generating Code at Runtime with Reflection.Emit ..............................1057     Late Binding Concepts ....................................................................1062 48 Coding Attributes 1065 Applying Attributes...................................................................................1065 Coding Custom Attributes........................................................................1068     Applying Custom Attributes............................................................1070     Applying Attributes Multiple Times................................................1071     Defining Inheritance .......................................................................1071 Reflecting Attributes .................................................................................1073 49 Platform Invokes and Interoperability with the COM Architecture 1075 Importing and Using COM Objects .........................................................1075     Importing COM Components into Visual Studio ..........................1076     Using COM Objects in Code...........................................................1077     Catching Exceptions........................................................................1078     Releasing COM Objects ...................................................................1078 Exposing .NET Objects to the COM World..............................................1078 P/Invokes and Unmanaged Code.............................................................1081     Understanding P/Invokes ................................................................1081     Encapsulating P/Invokes..................................................................1082     Converting Types to Unmanaged ...................................................1084     The StructLayout Attribute ............................................................1085     The VBFixedString attribute...........................................................1087     Handling Exceptions .......................................................................1087 References to the Win32 API calls............................................................1089 50 Documenting the Source Code 1091 Understanding XML Documents..............................................................1091     Enabling XML Comments...............................................................1092 Implementing XML Comments ...............................................................1093     Defining Complex Code Documentation.......................................1095 Generating Compiled Help Files ..............................................................1102 51 Advanced Compilations with MSBuild 1105 Introducing MSBuild.................................................................................1105     Introducing Projects ........................................................................1107     Understanding Tasks and Creating Targets.....................................1111 Advanced MSBuild Features......................................................................1114     Batching...........................................................................................1114     Logging ............................................................................................1116     Transformations...............................................................................1116 52 Building Customizations for Microsoft Office 1119 Introducing the Visual Studio Tools for Office ........................................1120     Understanding Application-Level Solutions and Document-Level Solutions..1120     What Are Office Business Applications? .........................................1121 Creating an Application-Level Add-In for Microsoft Word .....................1121 Creating a Document-Level Add-In for Microsoft Excel..........................1126     Designing the Add-In ......................................................................1129     Interacting with Documents via Visual Basic 2010 Code ..............1130     Running the Customized Document ..............................................1132 Deploying VSTO Add-Ins..........................................................................1132 Part IX Applications Deployment 53 Understanding the Global Assembly Cache 1137 The Dll Hell Problem ................................................................................1137     XCopy Deployment.........................................................................1138 The Global Assembly Cache .....................................................................1139     Installing and Uninstalling Assemblies...........................................1140     Signing Assemblies with Strong Names ..........................................1141     Top Reasons for Installing (or Not) Assemblies to the GAC...........1143     Adding References from Visual Studio to Your Own Assemblies ...1143 54 Setup & Deployment Projects for Windows Installer 1145 Windows Installer Overview.....................................................................1145 Creating a Setup Project ...........................................................................1146 Configuring the Setup Project ..................................................................1149     Editing the File System ....................................................................1150     Editing Registry Values ....................................................................1152     Customizing Dialogs........................................................................1152     Creating File Types ..........................................................................1153     Providing Custom Actions ..............................................................1154     Specifying Launch Conditions ........................................................1155     Package Configuration and Prerequisites........................................1156 Building and Deploying the Windows Installer Package.........................1158 55 Deploying Applications with ClickOnce 1159 Introducing ClickOnce .............................................................................1159     How ClickOnce Handles Applications ............................................1160     When Should I Use ClickOnce? ......................................................1160 Deploying Applications with ClickOnce..................................................1161     Structure of a ClickOnce Deployment ............................................1164 Configuring ClickOnce.............................................................................1165     Application Files ..............................................................................1166     Prerequisites .....................................................................................1166     Updates ............................................................................................1167     Options ............................................................................................1168 Security Considerations ............................................................................1169     Providing Certificates ......................................................................1170 Programmatically Accessing ClickOnce ...................................................1171 Registration-Free COM..............................................................................1172 Part X Mastering the Visual Studio 2010 IDE Online Chapters (available at www.informit.com/title/9780672331008) 56 Advanced IDE Features Web: 1175 Exporting Templates........................................................................Web: 1175     Exporting Project Templates ..................................................Web: 1175     Exporting Item Templates ......................................................Web: 1178 Customizing Visual Studio 2010 .....................................................Web: 1181     Customizing the Tools Menu.................................................Web: 1181     Customizing Commands and Toolbars .................................Web: 1182 Managing User Settings ...................................................................Web: 1185     Exporting Settings ..................................................................Web: 1185     Importing Settings..................................................................Web: 1186 Customizing the Toolbox................................................................Web: 1189 Using, Creating, and Managing Reusable Code Snippets...............Web: 1190     Consuming Code Snippets.....................................................Web: 1190     The Code Snippet Manager....................................................Web: 1192     Creating and Consuming Custom Code Snippets ................Web: 1193 57 Introducing the Visual Studio Extensibility Web: 1199 Introducing Visual Studio Extensibility ..........................................Web: 1199     What’s New in the Extensibility with Visual Studio 2010 ....Web: 1200     The Visual Studio 2010 SDK ..................................................Web: 1201 Building a Visual Studio Package ....................................................Web: 1201 Deploying Visual Studio Extensions ...............................................Web: 1212 Managing Extensions with the Extension Manager.......................Web: 1214 Managing Add-Ins with the Add-In Manager.................................Web: 1216 Extending the Code Editor..............................................................Web: 1217 58 Advanced Analysis Tools Web: 1223 Introducing Analysis Tools ..............................................................Web: 1224 Performing Code Analysis ...............................................................Web: 1224 Calculating Code Metrics ................................................................Web: 1230 Profiling Applications......................................................................Web: 1231     Profiling External Executables ...............................................Web: 1241 IntelliTrace, the Historical Debugger...............................................Web: 1242     IntelliTrace Options................................................................Web: 1242     Creating a Sample Application ..............................................Web: 1243     Tracking Application Events and Exceptions with IntelliTrace....Web: 1245     Analyzing IntelliTrace Logs ....................................................Web: 1247     Using IntelliTrace for Unit Tests ............................................Web: 1248 Generating Dependency Graphs.....................................................Web: 1248 59 Testing Code with Unit Tests, Test-Driven Development, and Code Contracts Web: 1251 Testing Code with Unit Tests ..........................................................Web: 1251     Creating Unit Tests.................................................................Web: 1252     Running Unit Tests.................................................................Web: 1256     Enabling Code Coverage........................................................Web: 1257     Unit Tests and IntelliTrace .....................................................Web: 1259 Introducing Test-Driven Development ...........................................Web: 1261     Creating a Test Project............................................................Web: 1261     Creating Unit Tests.................................................................Web: 1263     Refactoring Code ....................................................................Web: 1266 Understanding Code Contracts.......................................................Web: 1267     Setting Up the Environment..................................................Web: 1267     Setting Contracts Properties...................................................Web: 1268     Tools for Code Contracts .......................................................Web: 1269     Preconditions..........................................................................Web: 1269     Post-Conditions......................................................................Web: 1271     Invariants................................................................................Web: 1272     Assertions and Assumptions ..................................................Web: 1273     Contract Events ......................................................................Web: 1273 Appendixes A Installing Visual Studio 2010 1175 B Useful Resources and Tools for Visual Basic 1181 TOC, 9780672311008, 4/20/10  

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Alessandro Del Sole, Microsoft MVP for Visual Basic, is well-known throughout the global VB community. He is community leader on the Italian VB Tips and Tricks website that serves more than 41,000 developers and a frequent contributor and blogger at MSDN’s Visual Basic Developer Center. He is the author of three books about .NET development with Visual Basic.

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