Status Bars, Progress Bars, Sliders, Tabs, Rich Text

Welcome to Visual Basic Beginner 107. In this course you will learn how to work with a variety of Visual Basic controls, including the Status Bar, Progress Bar, AVI animation, Up Down, Slider, Date Time Picker, Month View, Tab Strip, and Rich Text controls. We will build a word processor together, covering core features like file saving and loading, text selection and formatting, and font customization. You will also receive an overview of course resources, recommended prerequisites, and practical tips to help you follow along as you develop your Visual Basic skills.

Lessons

•  00. Introduction (2:09)
•  01. Status Bar (6:33)
•  02. Progress Bars & Animation (8:08)
•  03. Change Value (5:25)
•  04. Calendar Controls (15:37)
•  05. Tab Controls (4:16)
•  06. Word Processor (11:32)
•  07. Word Processor 2 (8:00)
•  08. Review & What's Next (3:12)
• Total Runtime: 1 hour 4 minutes

Resources

• Full Course Outline
•  Video ZIP File (27 MB)
•  PDF Handbook
• Certificate of Completion
• Post-Class Survey

Lesson Summary

Welcome! Status, Slider, Tab, Rich Text - Welcome to Visual Basic 107. In this course we will talk about a variety of Visual Basic controls, including the Status Bar, Progress Bar, AVI, Up Down, Slider, Date Time Picker, Month View, Tab Strip, and Rich Text controls. We will build a word processor together, learning how to save and load files, select and format text, and customize fonts and colors. I will also discuss course resources and provide guidance on how to follow along, with recommendations on class prerequisites and tips for best learning practices.

Lesson 1: Add & Customize Status Bar - In Lesson 1, we will walk through how to add a status bar control to your forms by including the Windows Common Controls components in your project. I will show you how to add and configure a basic status bar, including inserting panels to display information such as text, the current time, or the date. We will also discuss modifying the status bar both in the design interface and through code, and explore the difference between using multiple panels and a simple status bar style, highlighting some of the customization options available.

Lesson 2: Progress Bars & Animation Tips - In Lesson 2, we will look at some controls you can display for the user while you wait for a process to complete. I will show you how to use the progress bar control to visually indicate the status of a task, and the animation control to play AVI files for added feedback during lengthy operations. We will walk through creating a progress bar that updates as a shape moves on the screen, and demonstrate how to load and control animations, as well as briefly discuss debugging and customizing these controls to improve the user experience while waiting.

Lesson 3: Up Down & Slider Controls for Forms - In this lesson we will explore how to change values on a form using the Up Down Control and the Slider Control. We will walk through adding an Up Down Control next to a text box, configuring its properties for alignment, orientation, and buddy control, and enabling auto sync to change values without programming. I will also show you how to adjust the increment rate and use the control to modify properties like width in addition to text. Finally, we will discuss the Slider Control, its value settings, tick marks, and how to synchronize its value with a text box using a simple code event.

Lesson 4: Date Picker & Calendar Controls - In this lesson, we will explore calendar controls by working with the Date Time Picker and Month View control in BB. I will show you how to add these controls to your form, set their properties, limit date ranges, change display formats, and utilize features like the checkbox and up-down options. We will walk through retrieving values from both controls, handling null values, and using multi-select in the Month View control. We will also discuss how to link selected dates to text boxes and cover a few useful tricks for managing user interaction with calendar controls.

Lesson 5: Using Tab Controls & Tabbed Dialogs - In this lesson we will explore tab controls in detail, focusing on the differences between the tab strip control and the Microsoft Tab Dialog Control. I will show you why the tab strip control is not ideal for placing objects within tabs and explain its limitations. We will then walk through how to add and use the Microsoft Tab Dialog Control, adjust its properties such as captions, tab count, orientation, and appearance, and demonstrate how to place and manage controls within individual tabs for building functional tabbed interfaces on your forms.

Lesson 6: Word Processor: Rich Text & Save - In this lesson, we will walk through how to build your own word processor using the Microsoft Rich Text Box Control in VB. I will show you how to add the control to your form, save and load RTF and text files, and use custom properties such as margins, scroll bars, and colors. We will discuss how to implement features like bold, underline, font name, and font size changes through simple button controls. I will also point out how formatting information is stored in RTF files and how to give your users additional formatting options.

Lesson 7: Rich Text: Bold, Indent, Color - In this lesson, we continue building our word processor and explore how to detect if selected text is bolded, updating the bold button's appearance accordingly. We walk through adding indent and reverse indent buttons using the RTF control properties, and discuss additional formatting options such as right margin, hanging indent, bullets, and tabs, though these are not demonstrated in detail. Finally, I show you how to use the common dialog control to add a color picker for changing font colors in your word processor.

Lesson 8: Status Bars, Sliders & More - In this course we learned about several different controls including the status bar, progress bar, AVI control, up-down, slider control, date time picker, month view control, tab strip control, and how to build a word processor using the rich text control. We also discussed what is coming up next, such as working with text files, breaking up delimited strings, using string functions, managing the tab index property, and sending parameters to subroutines. Information was provided on how to get help, submit questions, offer feedback, and join the mailing list for updates on future topics.

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