The running environment of VB

Elements of an integrated development environment

Basic working environments often refer to the integrated development environment or the IDE because it integrates many different functions in a common environment, such as design, editing, compilation, and debugging. In most traditional development tools, each feature is run with a separate program and has its own interface.
In this section, the following topics are discussed:
1. Start (Visual Basic idevbconstartingvisualbasicide) Start and run.
2. The integrated development Environment Element (Vbconintegrateddevelopmentenvironmentelements) describes the different components of the IDE.
3. The Environment option (vbconenvironmentoptions) configures Visual Basic to meet individual needs.

Start the Visual Basic IDE
When you run Visual Basic setup, you allow a program item to be placed in a program group that already exists, or create a new program group and program item for Visual Basic in Windows. You are ready to start Visual Basic from Windows.
To start Visual Basic from Windows, follow these steps:
1. Click Start on the task bar.
2. Select Programs, and then select Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0. -or-click Start on the task bar. Select Programs. Use Windows Explorer to find the Visual Basic executable file.
3. Double-click the Visual Basic icon. You can also create a Visual Basic shortcut key, and double-click the shortcut key. When you first start Visual Basic, you can see the interface for the integrated development environment, as shown in Figure 2.1.

Elements of an integrated development environment

The Visual Basic integrated Development Environment (IDE) consists of the following elements:

Menu bar
Displays the Visual Basic commands that you are using. In addition to providing standard file, edit, view, window, and Help menus, you also provide programming-specific feature menus, such as "Engineering," "Formatting," or "debugging."

Context Menu
A shortcut key that includes frequently performed actions. Click the mouse portals on the object you want to use to open the context menu. The private shortcut list that is valid in the context menu depends on the environment in which the mouse button is clicked. For example, the context menu that appears when the right mouse button is clicked on the Toolbox allows you to choose to display the Parts dialog box, suppress the toolbox, dock or hang up the toolbox, or add a custom tab to the Toolbox.

Tool bar
Provides fast access to commonly used commands in a programming environment. Click the button on the toolbar to perform the action that the button represents. By default, the Standard toolbar is displayed after you start Visual Basic. Additional edit, form design, and debugging toolbars can be moved or moved out of the Toolbars command on the View menu.
The toolbar can be attached to the menu bar, or to the left border with a vertical strip. If you drag it off the menu, it can "hang" in the window.

Toolbox
Provides a set of tools for placing controls in a form at design time. In addition to the default toolbox layout, you can create a custom layout by selecting Add tab from the context menu and adding controls to the Results tab.
For more information about special controls, see chapter III "Forms, controls, and menus" and chapter seventh "using Visual Basic standard controls." For more information about how to add controls to the toolbox, see "Adding Controls in Engineering" in chapter four, "Management of projects."

Project Manager window
Lists the forms and modules in the current project. A project is a collection of files used to create an application.
For more information on engineering, please refer to Chapter Fourth "Management of Works".

Properties window
Lists the property setting values for the selected form and control. An attribute is a feature of an object, such as size, title, or color.
For more information about properties, see chapter III "Properties, methods, and Events Overview" in forms, controls, and menus

Object Browser
Lists the valid objects in the project and provides a quick way to roam in the code. You can use the Object Browser to browse objects and other applications in Visual Basic, view the methods and properties that are valid for those objects, and paste the code process into your own application.
More information For more information about viewing procedures using the Object Browser, see "Finding Object Information" in chapter Nineth, "Programming with objects." For more information about using add-ins to extend the Visual Basic programming environment, see "Using wizards and add-ins" in chapter fourth, "Management of projects."

Form Designer
The interface used as a custom window to design an application. Add controls, graphics, and pictures to your form to create the appearance you want. Each form in the application has its own Form designer window.
For more information about how to add controls to your application, see "First Visual Basic Application" later in this chapter. For more information about interface design, see chapter Sixth, "Creating a user interface."

Code Editor window
is an editor for entering application code. Each form or code module for an application has a separate Code Editor window.
For more information about entering code and using the Code Editor, see chapter Fifth, "Programming basics."

Form Layout window
Form Layout window (Figure 2.2) allows you to lay out the positions of the forms in your application by using small images that represent the screen.

Immediate, local, and monitoring windows
These additional windows are provided for the debugging application. They are only valid when the application is running in the IDE.
For more information about debugging and using the Debugging window, see Chapter 13th "Debugging Code and handling errors."
Note You can also add functionality to the Visual Basic interface by using programs that call add-ins. Add-ins provided by Microsoft and Third-party developers provide features such as source code controls that support group development engineering.

Environment options
Visual Basic has the flexibility to configure the working environment to meet the best needs of your personal style. You can choose between a single or multiple document interface and adjust the size and location of various integrated development environment (IDE) elements. The layout you select will remain between the session period in Visual Basic.

SDI or MDI interface
The Visual Basic IDE has two different types: a single Document interface (SDI) or multiple Document interface (MDI). For the SDI option, all IDE windows are free to move anywhere on the screen, and as long as Visual Basic is the current application, they will reside on other applications. For MDI options, all IDE windows are contained within an adjustable, resizable parent window.
To switch between SDI and MDI mode, follow these steps:
1. From the Tools menu, select Options. Displays the Options dialog box.
2. Select the Advanced tab.
3. Select or do not select the SDI development environment check box. The next time you start Visual Basic, the IDE starts in the mode of the selected mode. -Or-run Visual Basic with a command line with/SDI or/mdi parameters.

Docking window
Many windows in the integrated development environment can be connected to each other or parked on the edge of the screen. Includes: Toolbox, Form Layout window, Project Manager, Properties window, color palette, Immediate window, local window, and watch window.
For MDI options, Windows can be parked on any side of the parent window, and for SDI, the window can only be parked under the menu bar. The "accessible" feature of a given window can be turned on or off by selecting the appropriate check box on the Accessible tab of the Options dialog box, which can be selected from the Options command on the Tools menu.
To dock or move a window, follow these steps:
1. Select the window you want to park or move.
2. Hold down the left mouse button to drag the window to where you want to arrive.
3. The window outline is displayed when you drag.
4. Release the mouse button.