1. Lecture Set 1 Part C: Understanding Visual Studio and.NET – Applications, Solutions, Projects (no longer used – embedded in Lecture Set 2A)

2. Slide 2 Objectives Understand basic terminology – Visual Studio,.NET. Solutions, Projects, Applications, etc. Learn how to create new Solutions, new Applications/Projects General navigation around the Solution Explorer and Forms and applications windows in the Visual Studio IDE Compiling and running programs 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

3. Slide 3 Console Applications Visual Studio supports the creation of a number of different types of Applications  Each different type of Application has a different structure and automatically provides support for different applications code Types of Applications we will work with in this course Console Applications Windows Applications Web-based, Client-Server Applications 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

4. Slide 4 Types of Applications 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

5. Slide 5 The Console Class Console is System class (it is in the System Namespace) – it is part of the mscorlib* library which as we have seen is one of the library DLLs that is automatically loaded with the execution of ALL VS applications. This Console class supports a number of methods, including methods performing actions related to keyboard input (Read and ReadLine) and screen output (Write and WriteLine) * mscorlib will briefly be discussed later 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

6. Slide 6 The Console Class (in the flesh) 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

7. Slide 7 Comments re Console Applications Recall that Visual Studio 2005 provides us with a convenient interface for applications development. We now examine the VS 2005 interface for a Console Application. VS interfaces are different depending on the application you are writing.  The Console Application provides a Module for you to write code (a Windows App provides by default a Form for the insertion of tools). You have a minimal set of referenced namespaces (classes from the FCL) For example, there are no classes to support Forms or Drawing, etc because these are not relevant to console applications 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

8. Slide 8 VS Interface for a Console Application 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

9. Slide 9 Windows Applications We now move on to examine (more thoroughly) Windows Applications We begin with a look at the Visual Studio 2005 interface for a sample Windows Application. It is similar to the Console interface but not identical  Note the default list of References and the Form (as distinguished from what we saw in the Console interface) To get full views of information )all files, etc. click on “Show All Files” (top of Solution Explorer window) More solution information shows up after you do a Build 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

10. Slide 10 VS 2005 Interface for Windows Application 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

11. Slide 11 Solutions and Applications Look again at the VS 2005 Interface for a Windows Application (one slide back) What do we see? Applications? Solutions Projects Other “stuff” Look at the files associated with solution 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

12. Slide 12 Introduction to Visual Studio Solutions and Projects A solution is a container for all your work on an application A solution contains several folders that define an application’s structure Solution files have a file suffix of.sln A solution contains one or more projects The project file is used to create an executable application A project file has a suffix of.vbproj Project properties are set using the project's property pages

13. Slide 13 Project Property Page – Application tab

14. Slide 14 Sample Show

15. Slide 15 Solution with Two Projects 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

16. Slide 16 What are these things? Solution Each Application that you create is organized by Visual Studio into a Solution The Solution file is the heart of an Application’s structure – it is the container for all that you do A Solution in turn consists of numerous files and folders, including one or more Projects Multiple folders – look at slide 11  The is also a Solution File (.sln) (not to be monkeyed with) 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

17. Slide 17 A Visual Studio Solution 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

18. Slide 18 A Solution – As Seen in Your Files System 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

19. Slide 19 Project Characteristics Again, refer back to Slide 11 A project contains one or more namespaces Every project has one root namespace But projects can have many other Namespaces Every project has a type (Console, Windows, Web etc.) Each project gets compiled into an Assembly Every project has an entry point A Sub procedure named Main or a form Forms apply only to Windows Application projects 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

20. Slide 20 A Project (continued) 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

21. Slide 21 Project References A project has references to.NET Framework class library namespaces  (next 2 slides).NET automatically adds references to commonly used namespaces based on the type of project template Use the References tab of the project property page to add additional namespace references 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

22. Slide 22 Project Property Page – References tab 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

23. Slide 23 Some FCL Namespaces That Can Be Referenced 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

24. Slide 24 Creating a New Solution (You might want to get Visual Studio 2005 running on your computer while reading this) Click on VS 2005 Icon on your desktop.  Click on Create New Project to display the New Project dialog box Specify the project template and the project file name OR pull down the File menu and follow the same directions Different templates appear based on the installed Visual Studio edition  8/10/2008 6:34 PM

25. Slide 25 New Project Dialog Box 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

26. Slide 26 Creating a New Project A new project does not exist in a vacuum – it must be part of an application In VS, you begin with the application you wish to create, and VS organizes everything you do into a Solution (with one or more Projects) The Application, and everything related to it is encapsulated in a Visual Studio solution There may be multiple projects inside a solution The solution takes on the name of the first Project created 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

27. Slide 27 View of a new project (in a solution) Solution with Three Projects 27

28. Slide 28 Solutions and Projects HangmanGame is the name of the solution – the name of the container for everything you do A new solution is created from a project template This solution contains three Projects (Note – pick your solution, projects, and components names carefully.) Each allows you to rename – DO IT – in a meaningful way before you do your first save. The solution file has a suffix.sln. Do not change this extension Template  Application  Solution (with one or more projects) 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

29. Slide 29 Saving a Visual Studio Project Click File, Save All to save the solution the first time Specify the solution name and the folder where the solution will be created By default, a new folder is created for a new solution Again – pick all names carefully 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

30. Slide 30 Save Project Dialog Box 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

31. Slide 31 Organization of a Visual Studio Solution The Solution Explorer is used to manage the elements of a solution The folder named My Project contains configuration information common to all projects The file AssemblyInfo.vb contains assembly metadata The References folder contains references to other assemblies The bin folder contains the executable file produced as a result of compiling the application A project contains one or more parts 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

32. Slide 32 Solution Explorer with All Folders Expanded 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

33. Slide 33 Using the Solution Explorer The Solution Explorer is a tool window as opposed to a document window Use the drill-down interface to expand and collapse folders Icons appear to identify different file types File names appear to the right of the file type icon Use the Solution Explorer to rename files rather than Windows Explorer 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

34. Slide 34 The Solution Explorer Toolbar The Properties button displays the Properties window The View Code button displays the Code Editor for a module The View Designer button displays a visual designer The visual designer varies based on the file’s contents Not all files have an associated visual designer The Refresh button synchronizes files The Show All Files button displays all folders and files The View in Diagram button displays a class in a hierarchical view 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

35. Slide 35 Windows of the Visual Studio IDE Windows are of two types Tool windows are common to all applications Tool windows are used for development in all Visual Studio languages Document windows are used to create the visual interface and code for an application 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

36. Slide 36 Tool Windows The Solution Explorer groups the elements of a solution The Properties window is used to set properties for objects The Toolbox contains controls that are created on a form Several tool windows exist for debugging Refer to Appendix A The Error List window displays syntax errors The Output window displays information as a project is compiled 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

37. Slide 37 Displaying Tool Windows Tool windows can be anchored along an edge of the IDE The process is called docking Docked windows can be Auto Hidden Auto Hidden windows appear when the mouse is positioned over the hidden window tab Floating windows appear anywhere on the desktop Some tool windows can be configured to appear as document windows 8/10/2008 6:34 PM

38. Slide 38 Appearance of Windows in the Visual Studio IDE 8/10/2008 6:34 PM