1 Prototyping for HCI Spring 2004 (Week 8) Jorge A. Toro.
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Transcript of 1 Prototyping for HCI Spring 2004 (Week 8) Jorge A. Toro.
HCI430 – J.Toro 3
Custom classes
VB.NET is Object-Oriented So far, you have handled pre-defined classes
(Form, Button, Integer, String, etc…)
-but- You can also create your own classes that
can ease the coding and fit the needs of your prototype
HCI430 – J.Toro 4
Custom classes
How do you know when you need a custom class? You need to do some design decisions on what
kind of classes you will need. There is no golden rule in this, many different
classes can be created and used, it all depends how you want to architect your code.
HCI430 – J.Toro 5
Custom classes
When you are writing the code inside a form, you are actually writing the code for the Form’s class…
HCI430 – J.Toro 7
Custom classes
Creating a custom class Custom classes are created in separate files Same as different forms are in separate files To add a custom class file
1. File -> Add New Item…
2. Select Class, give a name to it
3. Done.
HCI430 – J.Toro 10
3The class file appears in your Solution Explorer window
This code is automatically generated. Here is where you write the code to define the properties and methods of your class.
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Custom classes
Defining properties for the class One way: Declare global variables as Public.
Public Class Member Public p_id As String Public p_lname As String Public p_fname As String Public p_address As String Public p_city As String Public p_state As String Public p_zip As StringEnd Class
Properties
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Custom classes
Using your custom class You create instances (objects) of the class
Use the New keyword, the same way you use it to create forms.
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Custom classes
Everything declared with either Dim or Private will not be accessible from outside the class.
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p_ssn is not declared Public. It will be accessible only inside this class.
Member Class
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p_ssn is not accessible outside the class, it was not declared Public.
x is an instance of Member class
Form1 Class
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Custom classes
Defining methods All the subs and Functions declared Public are
considered methods and are accessible outside the class.
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Custom classes
Sometimes, you want your object to start with some preset values in some of its properties. Constructor
Used to provide values to the properties when an instance is created
You can have different constructors for different situations
A constructor is always declared as Public and it is always named New
HCI430 – J.Toro 25
Modules
Modules are files where you can write code that does not belong to any particular form. Global functions Global Subs Global variables
Global variables declared in a Module are global to all the project.
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The module file appears in your Solution Explorer window
This code is automatically generated. Here is where you write the code.
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Modules
Sub Main You can set the Startup Object of your project to
a special sub named Main You create the Sub Main inside a Module file.
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Modules
In the previous example, if you set your startup object of your project to be the Sub Main, you have to create the instance of Form1 and show it.
This is useful when you have a prototype with many form files.
HCI430 – J.Toro 33
Class libraries
A separate project for creating classes for use in other applications
This is what you will get from me A project with some classes inside
HCI430 – J.Toro 34
Class libraries
Using the library in your prototype (1/2) Add the library into your prototype’s project
HCI430 – J.Toro 38
Class libraries
Using the library in your prototype (2/2) Reference the class library in your project so
you can start using the classes Why do you have to do this?
Because the classes I wrote are inside a separate project, they are not part of yours.