VB04 - Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)
Duration2 Days
AvailabilityCheck course price and availability

Target Audience

This course introduces the Visual Basic For Applications Language. This is a subset of the VB language itself and is used in the Microsoft Office products. This course can be chosen for Word, Excel or PowerPoint 97.

Pre-requisites

The student should be familiar with the host environment - Windows XP/NT/98/2000. Knowledge of any programming language is advantageous but not essential.

Course Objectives

This course provides students with a basic practical knowledge of application development using Visual Basic for Applications. It introduces some of the concepts and syntax of the VB language, while also covering access to Word, Excel or Powerpoint document models. During the course the student will write several applications to ensure that the concepts and statements taught are fully understood and practical experience is gained. On completion of this course the student will be able to:

    use the major concepts of a modern language, such as control flow, function calls and modular programming.
    use windows forms and all the components available to them.
    use the visual basic IDE to layout and build applications.
    use and understand many of the built in functions available to VB.
    understand the underlying object models for Microsoft Applications.

Course Environment

Development will be performed using:

  •     Microsoft Office

Course Details

    WINDOWS PROGRAMMING
    Introduction to Windows Programming
    Overview, Event Driven Programming, Events, Properties, Methods
    DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT
    The Visual Basic IDE
    The IDE Toolbar, Project Explorer Window, Toolbox, Properties Window, Form Layout Window,
    Form Design Window, Code Window, Code Editor
    Where To Start
    Loading VB for the First Time, Placing Controls on a Form, Adding Code to the Project
    VARIABLES
    Defining Variables
    Variable Data Types, Naming Conventions, Dim, Private, Public, Variable Scope
    Static Variables, Static Functions, Const
    Arrays
    Defining Arrays, Redefining Array Sizes
    VB LANGUAGE SYNTAX
    Basic syntax
    Assigning Variables, Arithmetic, Symbol Evaluation, Comments
    Sub and Function Procedures
    Sub Procedures, Function Procedures, By Reference, By Value
    Program Structure
    If..Then..Else, IIf, Select Case, For..Next Loop, Do..While Or Do..Until, For Each Loop, With..EndWith, Exit
    USING FUNCTIONS IN VB
    Built In Functions
    Left$, Right$, Mid$, Replace, Ltrim$, Rtrim$, Trim$, InStr And Len,
    InStrRev, StrReverse, StrConv, Ucase$ And Lcase$, Isdate, Asc And Chr$,
    Msgbox, Inputbox, Rgb, Rnd, Round, Filter, Split And Join
    VB STANDARD FORMS
    Forms, How Forms are Stored
    VB CONTROLS
    Naming Controls, Suggested Prefixes for Controls, Control Arrays
    Controls
    Pointer, Check Box, Combo Box, Command Button, Data, Directory List Box, Drive List Box, File List Box, Frame
    Horizontal Scroll Bar, Image, Label, Line, List Box, OLE, Option Button, Picture Box,
    Shape, Text Box, Timer, Vertical Scroll Bar
    Menus
    COLLECTIONS
    Collections
    Properties and Methods of the Collection Object, Adding Items, Deleting Items, Retrieving Items, Dictionary Object
    SEQUENTIAL FILE ACCESS
    File Access
    File Numbers, Opening/Closing/Reading/Writing files
    Using the TextStream Object
    BOOKMARKS
    Types of Bookmarks,
    Word's Predefined Bookmarks,
    Navigating Bookmarks,
    WORD OBJECT MODEL
    The Application Object
    The Document Object
    The Range Object
    The Shape Object
    EXCEL OBJECT MODEL
    The Application Object
    The Worksheet Object
    The Range Object
    The Chart Object
    COMMON TASKS
    Working With The Document Object
    Working with the Range Object
    Working with the Selection Object
    Working With The Find And Replace Object
    Working With Tables
    Setting the Mouse Pointer
    Toolbars
    Dialog Boxes
    ACCESSING THE REGISTRY
    Accessing the Settings, GetSetting, GetAllSettings, SaveSetting, DeleteSetting
    PERFORMANCE ISSUES
    Minimising OLE References
    With..End With
    For Each...Next
    Keeping Properties and Methods Outside Loops
    Using Collection Index Numbers
    DEBUGGING APPLICATIONS
    The VB Debugging Facilities
    The Debug Toolbar, The Debug Menu, Starting Debugging,
    Using F5 (Run) to Start Testing,
    Using F8 (Step Into) to Step Through Testing,
    Stopping at a Specific Point,
    Using the Immediate Window,
    Run Time Errors
    COMPILING APPLICATIONS
    Testing, Compiling the Application

Course Format

Practical sessions make up a large part of the course, allowing delegates to demonstrate and reinforce the lectures given. During these sessions the delegate will build a simple but complete application. Examples are used extensively, ranging from simple code 'snippets' to full applications with complete ‘real world’ functionality. These are supplied at the start of the course and it is encouraged that the delegates execute and ‘experiment’ with these under the instructor’s guidance as they are introduced. These examples are available to take away, along with the delegate’s own work. The comprehensive Student Guide supplied is fully indexed serving as a useful reference tool long after the course has finished. Delegates will also be able to access a free help-line with technical questions relating to topics covered on the course.