Visual Studio Immediate Window

Immediate and Command window in Visual Studio

The Command window is used to execute commands or aliases directly in the Visual Studio integrated development environment (IDE). You can execute both menu commands and commands that do not appear on any menu. To display the Command window, choose Other Windows from the View menu, and select Command Window

The Immediate window is used to debug and evaluate expressions, execute statements, print variable values, and so forth. It allows you to enter expressions to be evaluated or executed by the development language during debugging. To display the Immediate window, open a project for editing, then choose Windows from the Debug menu and select Immediate.

You can use this window to issue individual Visual Studio commands. The available commands include EvaluateStatement, which can be used to assign values to variables. The Immediate window also supports IntelliSense.

The table below contains a list of the pre-defined aliases that come with Visual Studio 2005

Command Name	Alias	Complete Name
Print	?	Debug.Print
Quick Watch	??	Debug.Quickwatch
Add New Project	AddProj	File.AddNewProject
Alias	Alias	Tools.Alias
Autos window	Autos	Debug.Autos
Breakpoints window	bl	Debug.Breakpoints
Toggle Breakpoint	bp	Debug.ToggleBreakPoint
Call Stack window	CallStack	Debug.CallStack
Clear Bookmarks	ClearBook	Edit.ClearBookmarks
Close	Close	File.Close
Close All Documents	CloseAll	Window.CloseAllDocuments
Clear All	cls	Edit.ClearAll
Command mode	cmd	View.CommandWindow
View Code	code	View.ViewCode
List Memory	d	Debug.ListMemory
List Memory as ANSI	da	Debug.ListMemory /Ansi
List Memory One Byte format	db	Debug.ListMemory /Format:OneByte
List Memory as ANSI with Four Byte format	dc	Debug.ListMemory /Format:FourBytes /Ansi
List Memory Four Byte format	dd	Debug.ListMemory /Format:FourBytes
Delete to BOL	DelBOL	Edit.DeleteToBOL
Delete to EOL	DelEOL	Edit.DeleteToEOL
Delete Horizontal Whitespace	DelHSp	Edit.DeleteHorizontalWhitespace
View Designer	designer	View.ViewDesigner
List Memory Float format	df	Debug.ListMemory/Format:Float
Disassembly window	disasm	Debug.Disassembly
List Memory Eight Byte format	dq	Debug.ListMemory /Format:EightBytes
List Memory as Unicode	du	Debug.ListMemory /Unicode
Evaluate Statement	eval	Debug.EvaluateStatement
Exit	Exit	File.Exit
Format Selection	format	Edit.FormatSelection
Full Screen	FullScreen	View.FullScreen
Start	g	Debug.Start
Go To	GotoLn	Edit.GoTo
Go to Brace	GotoBrace	Edit.GotoBrace
F1Help	Help	Help.F1Help
Immediate Mode	immed	Tools.ImmediateMode
Insert File as Text	InsertFile	Edit.InsertFileAsText
List Call Stack	kb	Debug.ListCallStack
Make Lower Case	Lcase	Edit.MakeLowercase
Cut Line	LineCut	Edit.LineCut
Delete Line	LineDel	Edit.LineDelete
List Members	ListMembers	Edit.ListMembers
Locals window	Locals	Debug.Locals
Log Command Window Output	Log	Tools.LogCommandWindowOutput
Command Window Mark Mode	mark	Tools.CommandWindowMarkMode
Memory window	Memory Memory1	Debug.Memory1
Memory Window 2	Memory2	Debug.Memory2
Memory Window 3	Memory3	Debug.Memory3
Memory Window 4	Memory4	Debug.Memory4
Set Radix	n	Debug.SetRadix
ShowWebBrowser	nav navigate	View.ShowWebBrowser
Next Bookmark	NextBook	Edit.NextBookmark
New File	nf	File.NewFile
New Project	np NewProj	File.NewProject
Open File	of Open	File.OpenFile
Open Project	op	File.OpenProject
Collapse to Definitions/Stop Outlining	OutlineDefs StopOutlining	Edit.CollapsetoDefinitions
Step Over	p	Debug.StepOver
Parameter Information	ParamInfo	Edit.ParameterInfo
Step Out	pr	Debug.StepOut
Previous Bookmark	PrevBook	Edit.PreviousBookmark
Print File	print	File.Print
Properties Window	props	View.PropertiesWindow
Stop	q	Debug.StopDebugging
Redo	redo	Edit.Redo
Registers window	registers	Debug.Registers
Run to Cursor	rtc	Debug.RunToCursor
Save Selected Items	save	File.SaveSelectedItems
Save All	SaveAll	File.SaveAll
Save As	SaveAs	File.SaveSelectedItemsAs
Script Only View	ScriptOnly	View.ShowScriptOnly
Shell	shell	Tools.Shell
Stop Find In Files	StopFind	Edit.FindInFiles /stop
Swap Anchor	SwapAnchor	Edit.SwapAnchor
Step Into	t	Debug.StepInto
Tabify Selection	tabify	Edit.TabifySelection
Tasklist window	TaskList	View.TaskList
Threads window	Threads	Debug.Threads
Tile Horizontally	TileH	Window.TileHorizontally
Tile Vertically	TileV	Window.TileVertically
Toggle Bookmark	ToggleBook	Edit.ToggleBookmark
Toolbox window	toolbox	View.Toolbox
List Disassembly	u	Debug.ListDisassembly
Make Uppercase	Ucase	Edit.MakeUppercase
Undo	undo	Edit.Undo
Untabify Selection	Untabify	Edit.UntabifySelection
Watch window	Watch	Debug.WatchN
Toggle Word Wrap	WordWrap	Edit.ToggleWordWrap
List Threads	~	Debug.ListThreads

Microsoft XP Style Buttons and Controls on Form in .Net

Change style of Buttons to Microsoft XP Standard using .Net

Visual style is the user-modifiable appearance of the user interface of an application or operating system. By default, Windows XP provides a new visual style. The scroll bars and title bar of a Windows Form will automatically use the new visual style when the form is run on Windows XP. If your application calls the EnableVisualStyles method, most of your Windows Forms controls will automatically use the visual style when your application is run on Windows XP

Private Sub frmDND1Main_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load

Application.EnableVisualStyles()

End Sub

The same can be achieved in the designer :

Preventing multiple instances of .Net Application

Single instance application in VB.Net

If you were creating a Windows application, most often you would be doing some database initialization or some network validation before you show up the form to the user.

The patient user might wait few seconds to let the form show, others might launch the application again. To avoid user launch multiple instances of the application, select the Make single instance application check box to prevent users from running multiple instances of your application. The default setting for this check box is cleared, allowing multiple instances of the application to be run.

You can do this from ProjectàPropertiesàApplication tab

Public Variables in VB.Net

Declaring Public Variables in Visual Studio .Net

Last week when I had a chat with Sharmila Purushotaman, she told that one of the frequent query she gets is about the scope of the variables. She wanted me to share the information (and gave the following hint too). Here we go:


Application Name : Sample

Create a separate module as PublicVariables.VB (This is a Module)

Create a frmSample.vb (This is a form)

In the beginning of frmSample(Code Module) include this statement.

Imports Sample.PublicVariables (Before the statement Public Class frmSample)

All thats needed was to create a separate module (though not mandatory ... it would be a best practice to do so) and declare the variables and use the Imports statement to use the variable in the subsequent classes or modules

StackTrace in Visual Basic .Net

StackTrace in VB.Net

Stack Trace is a string that describes the contents of the call stack, with the most recent method call appearing first.

This is most commontly used to know the place of code that generated an exception

Sub Stack_Trace_Exception_Example()

Try
Dim iVar As Long
iVar = "Assign String"
Catch ex As Exception
MsgBox(ex.StackTrace)
End Try
End Sub

The above example shows the stacktrace in message box when the type mismatch exception is thrown

The execution stack keeps track of all the methods that are in execution at a given instant. A trace of the method calls is called a stack trace. The stack trace listing provides a means to follow the call sequence to the line number in the method where the exception occurs.

StackTrace may not report as many method calls as expected, due to code transformations, such as inlining, that occur during optimization.

The StackTrace property is overridden in classes that require control over the stack trace content or format. By default, the stack trace is captured immediately before an exception object is thrown. Use Environment.StackTrace to get stack trace information when no exception is being thrown as shown below:

Sub Stack_Trace_Environ_Example_Level1()
Console.WriteLine(System.Environment.StackTrace.ToString)
Stack_Trace_Environ_Example_Level2()
End Sub

Sub Stack_Trace_Environ_Example_Level2()
MsgBox(System.Environment.StackTrace)
End Sub

The trace output is shown below:

StackTrace in VB.Net, Exception Handling in VB.Net, Environment.StackTrace

Technorati Profile

Opening & Closing Notepad using .Net

Opening & Closing of Application using .Net / Create New process in .Net / Shell Function in .Net

A program is not Userinterface and database connections alone, it also needs to interact with other applications. Many a times, this interaction happens internally, like updating Word Template, Printing out a document etc, but there are times where one needs to open an document through the Application.

Let us have a sample app that opens a Notepad on click of a command button. We have a sample form with a button (see below).



Now add the process control from the Components Control (see below)





This control has no design features and will be used in run-time and it straightway gets docked in the tray (see below)




Change the following properties of the control.



This can also be changed during run time.



Now in the Button Click event write the following code:

Private Sub ButtonNotepad_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles loadNotepadButton.Click
' http://dotnetdud.blogspot.com/
ProcessNotepad.EnableRaisingEvents = True
ProcessNotepad.Start()

End Sub


The EnableRaisingEvents property indicates whether the component should be notified when the operating system has shut down a process. The EnableRaisingEvents property is used in asynchronous processing to notify your application that a process has exited. To force your application to synchronously wait for an exit event (which interrupts processing of the application until the exit event has occurred), use the WaitForExit method.

This will start the Notepad Application. If you want receive the closure of application use the following event

Private Sub ProcessNotepad_Exited(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles ProcessNotepad.Exited
' Coded for http://dotnetdud.blogspot.com/
MessageBox.Show("Notepad has been closed ", "Dot Net Tips & Tricks", MessageBoxButtons.OK)
End Sub

If you want to close the application use the kill method.

Private Sub ButtonClose_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles closeNotepadButton.Click
If ProcessNotepad.HasExited = False Then
ProcessNotepad.Kill()
End If
End Sub


We have used Notepad, as it is simple and easy. Try it with other stuff!!

See Also:

Show All Processes using VBA

Run a VB6.0 Executable from Excel/Word

OpenFileDialog in Visual Basic .Net

List Files in Visual Basic .Net / Visual Basic 2005

The Visual Basic 6.0 DirListBox control has been rendered obsolete by the OpenFileDialog and SaveFileDialog components in Visual Basic 2005.

Conceptual Differences
The Visual Basic 6.0 DirListBox control was typically used to display directories and paths in a File Open or Save dialog box.

In Visual Basic 2005, the Windows Forms OpenFileDialog and SaveFileDialog components provide the ability to create standard Windows dialog boxes for working with files, in most cases eliminating the need for the DirListBox control.


For this example, Let us have a form with a TextBox and a command button. When the command buton is pressed, the folderdialog is shown and then the selected folder is displayed in the textbox

Sample Form:




Add the FolderBrowser Dialog to the form from the Dialogs Collection (see below).




This control will not be placed on the form but on a separate tray at the bottom of the Windows Forms Designer. (see below)




Now in the click event for the Button have the following code:


Private Sub BtnFile_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles BtnFile.Click

Dim MyFileOpen As New System.Windows.Forms.OpenFileDialog
Dim bExOccured As Boolean
Dim retVal As DialogResult
Dim sMyFile As String
Try
' does not add an extension to a file name if the user omits the extension
MyFileOpen.AddExtension = True

'dialog box does not allow multiple files to be selected
MyFileOpen.Multiselect = False

MyFileOpen.Filter = "ASCII files (*.txt;*.log)|*.txt;*.log"

retVal = MyFileOpen.ShowDialog()
If retVal = Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then

If MyFileOpen.CheckFileExists = True And MyFileOpen.CheckPathExists = True Then

sMyFile = MyFileOpen.FileName

End If
End If
Catch ex1 As AccessViolationException
MsgBox(ex1.StackTrace.ToString)
bExOccured = True
Catch ex As Exception
MsgBox(ex.StackTrace.ToString)
bExOccured = True
Finally
If bExOccured = True Then
MsgBox("Program executed with some errors!!!")
End If
End Try
End Sub

You can use filters to restrict the type of files that can be opened. A sample of common filters is given below

'MyFileOpen.Filter = "Microsoft Word Documents (*.doc)|*.doc|Microsoft Word Documents (*.rtf)|*.rtf"
'MyFileOpen.Filter = "Image Files(*.BMP;*.JPG;*.GIF)|*.BMP;*.JPG;*.GIF"
'MyFileOpen.Filter = "Microsoft Word Documents (*.doc;*.rtf)|*.doc;*.rtf"

'MyFileOpen.Filter = "Microsoft Excel Workbooks (*.xls)|*.xls"
'MyFileOpen.Filter = "Microsoft Excel Addins (*.xla;*.xll)|*.xla;*.xll"
'MyFileOpen.Filter = "All files (*.*)|*.*"
'MyFileOpen.Filter = "Text files (*.txt)|*.txt"


This class allows you to check whether a file exists and to open it. The ShowReadOnly property determines whether a read-only check box appears in the dialog box. The ReadOnlyChecked property indicates whether the read-only check box is checked.

Most of the functionality for this class is found in the FileDialog class.



Microsoft recommends that you use the OpenFileDialog and SaveFileDialog components to provide a consistent and familiar user experience. If you find it necessary to create your own file dialog boxes, Visual Basic 2005 does provide a DirListBox control as part of the Microsoft Visual Basic Compatibility Runtime library.


For CommonDialog implementation in VB6.0 refer http://vbadud.blogspot.com/2007/06/visual-basic-common-dialog.html

Upgrade Notes
When a Visual Basic 6.0 application is upgraded to Visual Basic 2005, any existing DirListBox controls are upgraded to the VB6.DirListBox control that is provided as a part of the compatibility library (Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility).