Acknowledgments
About the Author
Arrays and Array Manipulation
Creating and Using Arrays in Visual Basic
Sorting Arrays
Working with Sorted Arrays
Finding an Element with a Specific Value in a Sorted Array
Inserting an Element into a Sorted Array
Deleting an Element from a Sorted Array
Working with Data in an Array
Finding Maximum and Minimum Values in an Array Range
Array Arithmetic
More on Array Arithmetic
Copying a Range from One Array to Another
Persisting Array Data
Performance Hints
Strings and String Handling
What Isa String?
Examining Strings
Parsing Strings
Changing Strings
Fun with Numbers, Numeric Processing, and Logic
Binary Analysis of Numbers
Negative Numbers
Binary Digits in Visual Basic Numbers
Hexadecimal Hocus Pocus
More on Bit Flags
Bytes from Words
Words from Longs
Binary-Coded Decimal
Next Steps for Working with BCD Strings
Metrics
Spelling Out Numbers
Working with Dates and Times
Date Arithmetic
Leap Years
Calculating Days
Formatting Dates
Julian Dates
Next Steps
Working with Time
Summary
Data Structures: Versatile Vehicles for Data Storage
Data Structures in Visual Basic
Arrays
User-Defined Types
Enumerated Types
Classes
Key-Item Pairs
Hashing
Creating the Data Structures Needed for Hashing
Hashing the Data
Searching the Hash Table
Testing the Hashing Solution
Windows Files, Directories, and Drives
Files, Directories, and Drives
Windows Application Programming Interface
Files
File Existence
Finding a File
Getting a Unique Temporary Filename
Changing a File's Date and Time Stamp
Retrieving a Short Filename
Recycling Instead of Deleting
Windows Directories
Windows System Directory
Windows Directory
Temporary File Directory
Windows Disk Drives
Determining the Number of Drives
Detecting Drive Type
Drive Space
Drives Larger Than 2 GB
Drive Serial Number
Reading and Writing the Drive Name
Persistence: Remembering What You Can't Afford to Forget
Persistence
INI Files
Reading a String Value from an INI File
Reading a Numeric Value from an INI File
Writing INI File Data
Deleting INI Entries
The Windows Registry
Reading from and Writing to the Registry
Localization: The Art of Talking Like a Native
Localization
Acti Vex Components that Adapt
From Visual Basic to Self-Localizing ActiveX Controls
Creating Resource Files
Creating Self-Localizing ActiveX DLLs and Documents
Implementing Language DLLs
Setting Default Fonts
Handling Other Languages
Working with Networks
Accessing a Network
Determining Whether a Network Is Present
Reading the Username
Reading the Computer Name
Setting the Computer Name
Finding the Next Free Network Drive
Connecting to a Network Resource
Disconnecting from a Network Resource
Network Dialogs
The Internet Explorer Api: Access to the Internet Without a Browser
Installing the Run-Time Files
Opening an Internet Channel
Connecting to the Internet Server
Connecting to the Data Sink
Posting Form Data
Reading the Response
Closing All the Handles
Putting the Pieces Together: A Complete Data-Source Program
Reliable and Flexible Data Validation
Validation of Numeric Data
IsNumeric
TypeName
VarType
Validation of Dates
IsDate
Validation of Text Entries
Text Length
Text Content
Validating Other Types of Data
Putting it all Together
Building the Data-Entry Form
Setting Essential Properties
Enforcing Character Validation
Reformatting Input Data
Credit Card Validation
Wrapping Up
Working with the Operating System
Retrieving System Information
Determining the Amount of Memory
Determining How Windows Started
Getting and Setting Environment Variables
Getting an Environment Variable
Setting an Environment Variable
Deleting an Environment Variable
Shutting Down and Restarting Windows
Shutting Down Windows
Restarting Windows
Retrieving Hardware Information
Determining the CPU Type
Determining the Number of CPUs
Determining CPU Performance Capabilities
Retrieving the Flavor of Windows and the Operating System Version
Identifying Windows 95/98
Identifying Windows NT
Identifying the Operating System Version
Windows Help Systems-From the Inside
Winhelp
Displaying a Help Page
Closing a Help Window
Context-Sensitive Help
Showing a Specific Help Page
Displaying Help in a Pop-up Window
Searching Help
Making Sure Your Help File is the One that's Visible
Displaying the Help Window Where You Want.
Putting it all Together
Multiple Document Interface Forms
Mdi form Basics
Sharing System Resources
Sharing in the Real World
Managing Menus
Shared Menu Items
Semishared Menu Items
Custom Menu Items
Database Programming
Database Features in Visual Basic
OLE DB Support
Active Data Objects (ADO)
The Data Environment
The ADO Data Control
Enhanced Data Binding
The Query and Database Designer
The Data Report Designer
Data Sources
The Data View Window
The DataRepeater Control
Data Form Wizard Enhancements
The Data Object Wizard
ADO-Aware Data Controls
Using the Data Environment Designer
Creating the Data Environment
Adding a Query
Binding a Data Grid to the Data Environment
Binding a Record Viewer to the Data Environment
Binding a Data Report to the Data Environment
Using the Datalist and Datac0mbo Controls
Building a Database Analyzer
Active Data Objects
Microsoft's Universal Data Access Strategy
More on OLE DB ODBC
Remote Data Service
Active Data Objects
The Connection Object
The Recordset and Field Objects
The Command and Parameter Objects
The Errors Collection
Advanced ADO Techniques
Passing Recordsets
Using Output Parameters
Objects, Objects, and More Objects
Creating Service Objects
Creating a Network Services Object
Retrieving the Username
Connecting a Network Drive
Disconnecting a Network Drive
Putting It All Together
Creating a Registry Services Object
Understanding the Windows Registry
Adding the WinAPI Declarations to the Registry Service Object
Adding the Class Properties
Adding the Class Methods
Putting It All Together
WebClasses: A New Way to Program for the Web
Introduction to Webclasses
Building a Webclass Application
Using an HTML Template
Creating Webitems and Custom Events
Using WebItems
Using Custom Events
Combining Webclasses with Active Data Objects
Creating Dynamic Webclass Event Procedures
The Upside and Downside of Webclasses
Index