Articles Index
The VB.NET Form as a Class
The Form is a special object in VB.NET, but it's still a class. This Quick Tip covers some of the implications of this fact.
Using For-Each to Iterate Through a Multidimensional Array of Different Types
Multidimensional arrays have always been obscure, and they're normally not the "today" way to do things. Today we normally use collections or datastores like a database or XML. I ran into an interesting dark corner of multidimensional arrays: It appears that it is now possible to assign different types to the same multidimensional array and even use a For-Each loop to process them. This article explores those dark corners.
A Fast Introduction to DataSet in VB.NET
DataSet is a fundamental object in dozens of VB.NET technologies. If you need a really quick introduction to complete some other task, this Quick Tip is designed to do just that.
Object Initializers
VB.NET has a quicker way to initialize data objects. This Quick Tip shows you how to do it with both parameter based constructors and anonymous types.
A Quick ListView App
A reader asked a question about using the Dictionary object. Like a lot of questions, this seemed to be more a design question than a syntax question. Using ListView is a better solution. This Quick Tip shows how to solve his problem and also illustrates another use of binary serialization (BinaryFormatter).
Copy a Row in Excel VBA
Copying a row from one worksheet to another is something that you may want to do in Excel. A reader asked how to write the VBA code to do that and this Quick Tip has the answer.
ListBox, Dictionary, and ListView Example
A reader asked how to use a dictionary object to reference a list. This answer explores the different dictionaries and the different lists and ends up showing the difference between a ListBox and a ListView control.
Versions of Your Programs
When it was introduced, .NET provided an easy way to mark each version of your program with a "Major, Minor, Build, and Revision" number. But it seems that every good thing gets complicated and that has happened here too. There are three of these numbers now and they can all be different. And there are at least four places where you will see them. And there are different names for them, depending on where they appear. This Quick Tip explains what they are and how they can effect your system.
The Object Object
The Object object is the root of the entire .NET Framework. That means that the methods and properties of Object are available all the time and in every .NET Framework object because everything inherits from Object. This Quick Tip tells you about it.
VB6 Compatible Printing
There are two different Print statements that date from the DOS era. A question from a reader motivated me to look into them.
Using VBA to Copy Text into an Office document
Copying Text into Word, Excel, or some other Office document is a common requirement. There are a number of variations to this problem. This Quick Tip shows them to you, including using Notepad to do the job.
Framework Collections and Visual Basic Collections
.NET Collections are a very useful way to handle groups of objects in VB.NET, but you may not realize that Visual Basic collections are not exactly the same thing as .NET Framework collections. This Quick Tip explains the difference.
The VB.NET sender and e Event Parameters
The sender and e parameters passed by the system to standard VB.NET event subroutines are key elements in your programming toolkit. This Quick Tip explains how to use them.
Is If Then Else or Select Case Better?
These two structures can do the same things. Which one should you use? A Quick Tip that compares them, including StopWatch and ILDASM analysis.
Run Batch Files (DOS Commands) From Visual Studio
The ability to run a batch file (DOS command file) isn't built into Visual Studio. But it's not hard to add it. This Quick Tip explains how.
Unblock Downloaded Zip Files
Downloaded source code files are normally blocked. That means that a bit tells programs such as Visual Studio that the files have not been authenticated and might contain something dangerous. Usually, this is just an irritation because you actually do know what is in the files. This Quick Tip shows how to unblock the files while unzipping them so you don't have this problem.
Customize Visual Studio
Visual Studio 2010 has an almost infinite number of ways that it can be customized to make the interface work the way you want it to work. This Quick Tip shows you how to get started.
How to save values in a ListBox control after the Form is closed.
Item values in a ListBox control are lost when the Form they are in is closed. This Quick Tip shows two ways to persist them so the Form can be closed and reopened without losing the values.
A Guide to Programming Validation
Validating data entered into controls is built into .NET and it was part of Visual Basic back in VB6 days. There is a whole family of events and properties that can be used. This Quick Tip introduces you to the Validation family.
A Guide to Programming 'Explicit' Validation
Explicit Validation in VB.NET is a concept that is used a lot in Microsoft documentation. But there are no examples and very little explanation of how it's supposed to work. This Quick Tip explains what 'Explicit' validation is.
AutoScrollOffset
AutoScrollOffset, along with a companion method ScrollControlIntoView, are not a part of .NET that programmers are likely to know really well. This Quick Tip looks at how they work and the initial conclusion is: Not very well. If you would like to play with them yourself, the article includes downloadable code to use for your own experimentation.
Need a "Drop Down" Windows Form?
This Quick Tip shows the VB.NET code you need to create Windows forms that maximize the use of desktop space by only showing the title bar until they're selected. Your users won't have to have the contents of forms cluttering up their display and they collapse and expand automatically. If you want forms in some other shape - like a star with a sunflower in it - there's a link to another article that shows how to do that.
A Guide to Programming AutoComplete
AutoComplete is a convenience that nearly any program that uses data - and that's virtually all of them - can use. For Windows forms, it's built into the ComboBox and TextBox controls. This Quick Tip shows how to write the VB.NET code. Bonus: There's a performance killing way to write the code that should be avoided. We tell you what it is.
A Guide to Drag and Drop
Drag and Drop can be programmed relatively easily in VB.NET, but it doesn't work unless all the components involved work together. This Quick Tip shows how it's done with different scenarios, including using a custom cursor and modifying the object being dragged before it's dropped.
Resizing Columns in ListView
There is quite a bit of ability to resize columns in a VB.NET ListView control. Some of it seems to be totally undocumented. Some of it doesn't seem to work at all. This article explains how to do it.