Blog seputar belajar komputer

Menjalankan YM 8 lebih dari 1 Account

2008-07-13T20:41:00.000-07:00

Yahoo Messenger (YM) merupakan salah satu messenger yang paling dipakai untuk berkomunikasi via media teks (chat) secara online. Dengan menggunakan YM Anda dapat berkomunikasi dengan teman, saudara atau relasi.

Normalnya Anda hanya dapat menjalankan satu kali YM pada saat bersamaan. Dengan tips berikut ini Anda bisa menjalankan YM beberapa kali sehingga pada saat yang sama Anda dapat login dengan menggunakan beberapa account yahoo Anda.

Caranya adalah sebagai berikut:

Jalankan registry editor dengan cara klik tombol Start - Run. Ketik regedit lalu tekan enter.
Masuk ke key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Yahoo\Pager\Test.
Pada panel sebelah kanan, klik kanan dan pilih menu New - DWord Value.
Ketik Plural.
Klik 2x pada Plural dan isi dengan nilai 1 (satu).
Keluar dari registry editor.

Jika Anda mengikuti langkah di atas dengan benar, maka Anda bisa menjalankan YM beberapa kali.

Selain dengan cara di atas, Anda dapat mendownload file ym8multi.zip dan mengklik 2x pada setting registry di dalamnya. Untuk mengembalikan setting seperti semua Anda dapat mendownload ym8multi_unist.zip.

Di kutip dari klik-kanan.com

Setting internet menggunakan modem hp gsm dan cdma

2008-07-07T23:59:00.000-07:00

Untuk melakukan koneksi internet menggunakan PC berikut langkah-langkah yang perlu dilakukan.

Setting pada PC :

1. Klik star-control panel-phone and modem.
2. klik modem-add
3. beri checklist pada "Don't detect", klik Next
4. klik havedisk, browse ke CD/file driver hasil downloadan.
5. klik pada modem sesuai HP, pilih port sesuai instalan
6. jika berhasil pada modem muncul jenis modem dan port-nya.
7. lalu pada control panel klik network connection
8. klik create new connection-next
9. pilih connent to the internet
10.pilih set up my connection manually-next.
11.pilih connect using a dial-up modem-next
12.pada ISP ketik sesuai kartu (asal juga tidak menjadi masalah)-next
13.phone number sesuai dengan tabel dibawah

*99***1# : Mentari, simpati, XL, halo, matrix, im3
#777 : fren, star one, flexi

14.next
15.untuk user dan password sesuaikan dengan data dibawh ini.

Mentari
user : indosat
password : indosat

Simpati dan Halo
user : wap
password : wap123

matrix
user : kosongkan
password : kosongkan

IM3
user : gprs
password : im3

Fren
user : m8
password : m8

Flexi
user : telkomnet@flexi
password : telkom

Starone
user : starone
password : indosat

XL
user : xlgprs
password : proxl

16.Next
17.cheklist pada "add a shortcut........."
18.klik finish
19.klik 2x shortcut yang muncul dilayar
20.klik Dial

Step by step visual basic

2008-07-04T00:10:00.000-07:00

Visual basic adalah suatu development tool (program untuk membuat) aplikasi pada lingkungan windows. Dalam pengembangan aplikasi Visual basic menggunakan pendekatan Visual dalam membangun user interface (tatap muka pengguna) dalam bentuk form, sedang untuk penulisan koding (pemrograman) menggunkan dialek bahasa basic, yang relatif mudah karena menggunakan bahasa inggris sehari-hari.

Visual Basic atau sering disebut vb telah menjadi tool terkenal bagi para programmer pemula maupun para developer untuk mengembangkan aplikasi baik dalam skala kecil maupun skala besar.

Dalam lingkungan windows, user interface memegang peranan penting, karena dalam aplikasi yang kita buat, pengguna aplikasi senantiasa berinteraksi dengan user interface tanpa menyadari bahwa dibelakangnya terdapat perintah perintah program yang mendukung tampilan dan proses tersebut.

Pada pemrograman visual pengembangan aplikasi dimulai dengan merancang user interface, kemudian mengatur properti dari objek-objek yang digunakan dalam user interface baru dapat menuliskan kode program untuk menginstruksikan pada komputer.  Ok cukup sudah berbasa basi nya, sekarang kita langsung ke materi.

Berkenalan dengan IDE VB

IDE (Integrated Development Environment) adalah lingkungan dimana kita dapat melakukan perancangan user interface,  menulis kode (instruksi), testing, debuging(koreksi), sampai dengan mengkompilasi (membuat exe / executable). Sampai disini anda sudah punya gambaran? jika jawabanya belum maka kita lanjutkan..Panduan step by step vb, password hendrasoewarno untuk belajar VB6.0 lebih lanjut.

Teknik mengetik 10 jari

2008-07-03T23:07:00.000-07:00

Dapat mengetik menggunakan 10 jari merupakan hal yang mengasyikkan (apalagi kalo lagi banyak tugas / kerjaan). Untuk mengoptimal kan 10 jari kita dalam mengetik dibutuhkan latihan serta teknik yang benar. Banyak sekali software dipasaran yang berfungsi untuk melatih / membantu melincahkan jari dalam mengetik, salah satu nya adalah Typing Master.

Typing master adalah program untuk melatih penempatan 10 jari pada papan keyboard, program ini menurut saya cukup interaktif dan efektif dalam melatih kemampuan mengetik 10 jari. Dasarnya adalah penempatan jari tangan kiri (Misal Ki-Kelingking kiri, Mi-Manis kiri, Ti-Tengah kiri, Li-Telunjuk tangan kiri dan Ii-Ibu jari kiri. Ka-Kelingking kanan dan seterusnya)

Ki untuk tombol Q A Z ( pada waktu tidak dalam keadaan mengetik berada di tombol A)
Mi untuk tombol W S X ( pada waktu tidak dalam keadaan mengetik berada di tombol S)
Ti untuk tombol E D C ( pada waktu tidak dalam keadaan mengetik berada di tombol D)
Li untuk tombol R F V T G B ( pada waktu tidak dalam keadaan mengetik berada di tombol F)
Ii dan Ia untuk tombol spasi

Ka untuk tombol : P ? ( pada waktu tidak dalam keadaan mengetik berada di tombol :)
Ma untuk tombol O L > ( pada waktu tidak dalam keadaan mengetik berada di tombol L)
Ta untuk tombol I K < ( pada waktu tidak dalam keadaan mengetik berada di tombol K) La untuk tombol U J M Y H N ( pada waktu tidak dalam keadaan mengetik berada di tombol J) Anda penasaran ??, Typing Master dapat anda coba disini.

Kumpulan Software Bagian 1

2008-07-03T02:02:00.000-07:00

Bagi anda yang ingin belajar mengetik 10 jari dapat menggunakan Typing Master, program dapat di download disini.

Bagi yang suka utak-atik windows pake TuneUp Utilities, disini ada yang portable.

Seperti Tuneup SpeedPC juga bisa untuk doping PC kita, agar lebih kuencenggg download disini

Portable Recover File, cukup powerfull dan bisa jadi obat sakit kepala jika file-file penting kita secara sengaja maupun tidak sengaja terhapus.klik disini

PCMAV 1.4 Build 2 juga ada disini

CAV merupakan program kill vb proses, bisa juga untuk normalisasi file yang di super Hidden (lumayan powerfull) ada disini

ANSAV Antivirus portable bisa juga untuk Fix Registry ada disini

AIDA32 adalah software untuk mengetahui isi & driver jeroan komputer, klik disini

Goldwave potable, software kompresi file mp3 dll mudah, powerfull, portable lagi, klik disini

Format rar adalah format untuk meringkas ukuran file, Winrar ada disini

Dengan menghapus file dalam prefecth (Win XP) dan sedikit modif setingan loading Win XP jadi lebih kuenceng, file bisa di download disini

Hiren's mungkin jd tool yg lumayan powerfull untuk oprek Hardisk, download bagian 1, bagian 2, bagian 3, bagian 4.

Belajar Visual Basic

2008-07-03T01:22:00.000-07:00

Bagi anda yang masih awam dan ingin mempelajari VB 6.0 dapat di download disini , password hendrasoewarno. Terima kasih saya haturkan pada Bpk Hendra Soewarno S.T yang telah menulis e-book ini.

Penawaran Perawatan Komputer

2008-07-02T03:27:00.000-07:00

Komputer merupakan sarana pendukung kelancaran pekerjaan, oleh karena rutinitas pemakaian maka diperlukan perawatan yang tepat agar dapat mempertahankan performa.

Dalam banyak hal kerusakan dapat disebabkan oleh korosi dan kesalahan pemakaian (human error).

Dengan perawatan secara tepat dan berkala diharapkan umur pemakaian dari komputer lebih panjang dengan begitu maka optimalisasi peralatan komputer dapat terwujud.

Beserta ini saya sampaikan penawaran kerjasama perawatan komputer dengan rincian sebagai berikut :

PERAWATAN KOMPUTER / MAINTENANCE.

1. Servis kecil.
Perawatan hardware komputer, (Cek kerusakan, pembersihan debu di dalam CPU, monitor, keyboard & mouse yang berarti pencegahan timbulnya korosi pada hardware).

2. Perawatan Sistem Operasi
Perawatan software komputer, (pembersihan file-file sampah, temp, cookies dan virus di dalam system operasi komputer).

Harga perawatan per komputer Rp. 125.000,-
Harga perawatan per komputer > = 5 unit Rp. 100.000,-
Harga perawatan per komputer > = 10 unit Rp. 75.000,-

* Harga berlaku untuk daerah Jakarta dan Bekasi.
* Harga termasuk transport
* Harga diluar penggantian spare part

Demikian penawaran kerjasama perawatan komputer ini saya sampaikan. Atas waktu dan perhatiannya saya sampaikan terima kasih.

Hub : Tera Mandiri
021 889 54989
021 888 55177
021 321 72547

Kiat selamat di saat krisis

2008-06-14T01:31:00.000-07:00

Oleh: Eko Endarto

Dikutip dari Kontan, Mei 2008

Kenaikan BBM dan diikuti dengan kenaikan bahan pangan sepertinya sudah tidak bisa ditahan lagi. Bahan pokok yang menjadi kebutuhan harian itu harus ditebus dengan pengorbanan dana yang tidak lagi sedikit.Bayangkan disaat penghasilan belum mungkin meningkat karena perusahaan sulit akibat kenaikan BBM, kita masih harus menerima kenyataan bahwa uang belanja dan uang transport yang sudah disiapkan ternyata tidak lagi bisa digunakan sebagaimana mestinya.
Dengan keadaan demikian, apa yang mungkin kita lakukan ?

Memulainya dari dalam

Permasalahan keuangan kita terletak pada satu kenyataan yaitu tidak cukupnya penghasilan yang kita peroleh. Dan jawaban yang tepat untuk mengatasinya juga jelas yaitu membuatnya menjadi cukup. Sebagian dari kita akan berkata menapatkan penghasilan tambahan adalah jalan keluarnya. Saya tidak bisa menyalahkan anggapan seperti itu. Tapi apakah selalu penghasilan tambahan menjadi solusi ? Padahal harus diakui mendapatkan penghasilan dari luar tidaklah mudah. Bahkan kadangkala pengorbanan yang harus dilakukan tidak seimbang dengan hasil yang diperoleh. Belum lagi tidak semua orang bisa melakukannya. Untuk itu, sebelum memutuskan untuk mencoba mencari tambahan penghasilan dari luar, mungkin pembenahan di dalam bisa dilakukan terlebih dahulu. Sebab adalah suatu yang sia-sia bila kita menambah penghasilan namun tidak ada perubahan pola dalam menggunakan. Sebab yakinlah masalah keuangan bukan bergantung pada berapa besar yang kita dapatkan tapi bagaimana mempergunakannya.

Evaluasi penggunaan Dana
Langkah awal untuk menstabilkan keuangan adalah membuat evaluasi terhadap keuangan kita. Coba lakukan pencatatan bulan ini apa saja pengeluaran yang keluarga telah lakukan untuk memenuhi seluruh kebutuhannya. Sebuah keluarga pernah melakukan konsultasi untuk mengelola pengeluaran bulanannya yang katanya selalu di atas target yang telah ditentukan. Setelah dilakukan evaluasi secara bersama-sama, maka diketahui bahwa biaya belanja keluarga selalu melebihi dari anggaran tiap bulan. Ini terjadi karena pada saat belanja, keluarga tersebut selalu melakukannya bersama-sama dan selalu mengeluarkan uang lebih untuk acara sarapan yang tidak dianggarkan sebelumnya. Masalahnya dana ini selalu diambil dari anggaran belanja sehingga uang belanja selalu melebihi target.
Untuk itu mulai saat ini pisahkan pengeluaran yang memang utama dengan pengeluaran yang pengikutnya. Dengan demikian akan diketahui berapa besar pengeluaran riil keluarga tiap bulan.
Buat Prioritas pengeluaran
Keluarkan yang harus dikeluarkan, dan tahan untuk yang belum dibutuhkan. Kadangkala kita merasa telah berusaha untuk mengeluarkan hanya yang dibutuhkan, dan telah meninggalkan yang diinginkan. Tapi bila ditanya apa kriteria butuh dan ingin ? bagaimana membedakannya ? mungkin tidak semua bisa menjawabnya secara pasti. Butuh adalah pengeluaran yang harus dilakukan, dan ingin adalah pengeluaran yang masih bisa ditunda. Jadi dengan definisi sederhana ini kita seharusnya bisa membuat dengan jelas apa saja prioritas dalam pengeluaran keluarga. Coba tanyakan ke diri Anda pada saat mengeluarkan uang.
“Apakah pengeluaran ini bisa ditunda ? apa akibatnya bila ditunda?”
bila jawabannya adalah tidak bisa ditunda atau bila ditunda akan mengakibatkan efek negatif yang lebih tinggi, maka itu adalah kebutuhan. Namun bila dari pertanyaan pada diri Anda tadi terjawab bahwa ditundapun tidak menjadi masalah, atau kalau ditunda tidak memberikan efek negatif terlalu besar, maka itu adalah keinginan.
Saat ini komunikasi adalah suatu kebutuhan. Dan membeli pulsa otomatis adalah kebutuhan. Bila dengan ditundanya membeli pulsa akan berakibat fatal kepada diri Anda dan keluarga misalnya akan mengganggu usaha keluarga, maka membeli pulsa adalah kebutuhan. tapi bila penundaan membeli pulsa hanya berakibat Anda tidak bisa menghubungi rekan arisan atau rekan nongkrong Anda, maka itu adalah keinginan.
Redam pengeluaran tidak terdeteksi
Salah satu kegagalan dalam keuangan keluarga adalah terjadinya pemborosan. Sebuah keluarga pernah melakukan konsultasi tentang hal tersebut. Pengeluaran telah dianggarkan semua, dan secara hitam di atas putih kelebihan dana terdeteksi ada. tapi kenapa di akhir bulan uang tersebut selalu habis bahkan kurang ? Walaupun saya tahu bahwa kita bisa saja melakukan penyusuran satu persatu, tapi saya rasa hal itu akan membosankan. Jadi kenapa tidak kita rubah polanya. Saya menyarankan kepada keluarga itu untuk menambahkan 1 hal yang tidak pernah mereka lakukan sebelumnya yaitu menyelamatkan kelebihan dana mereka. Tiap awal bulan, setelah menghitung dan membuat anggaran, keluarga tersebut biasanya membiarkan kelebihan dana mereka di dalam tabungan sebagai dana tak terduga. Maka mulai saat setelah konsultasi, mereka harus meletakkan kelebihan dana tersebut dalam bentuk barang produktif, dalam hal ini keluarga tersebut setuju untuk membeli emas koin. Apa yang terjadi ? setelah session konsultasi , tiap bulan keluarga tersebut selalu bisa membeli mas koin dan selalu bertambah terus jumlahnya tiap bulan. Bagaimana dengan dana tak terduga ? saya sarankan untuk menggunakan kartu kredit untuk hal tersebut. Tapi tentu saja dengan konsekuensi harus membayarnya setelah di tagih. Dananya ? ya dari menjual emas. Tapi entah mengapa sampai saat ini kartu tersebut belum pernah digunakan.
Kadangkala sadar atau tidak , kalau kita menyisakan uang untuk sesuatu yang tak terduga, maka hal tak terduga itu tersebut bisa terjadi. Untuk itu jangan mengharapkan untuk terjadi, caranya pisahkan dulu kelebihan dana Anda dimuka, agar tidak menjadi pengeluaran tak terduga dan tak terdeteksi

Menyelesaikannya dari luar

Di atas kita sudah membahas bagaimana kita harus bertindak dari dalam untuk menghadapi kemungkinan kenaikan harga-harga. Sekarang saatnya untuk menyelesaikannya dari luar. Sebab pada dasarnya keuangan keluarga bergantung pada dua aspek yang mempengaruhi yaitu dari dalam bagaimana seseorang mengatur dan mengelola uangnya dan dari luar yaitu bagaimana seseorang mengatur dan mengelola semua godaan dan tawaran yang bisa mempengaruhi keuangan keluarga secara keseluruhan.

Menghindari Utang Baru
Kalau tidak terpaksa, hindari untuk membentuk utang baru terlebih bila utang tersebut adalah utang konsumtif. Ingat pengeluaran Anda saat ini akan terus meningkat, dan memang sepertinya tambahan dana dari luar adalah salah satu jalan yang bisa ditempuh. Tapi utang bukanlah tambahan dana melainkan tambahan kewajiban yang mau tidak mau harus kita selesaikan. Terlebih dengan kenaikan harga, tidak menutup kemungkinan akan naik juga suku bunga pinjaman yang menjadi kewajiban Anda.
Diskon tidak selalu menjadi jawaban
Kalau bicara diskon, biasanya kita mengasumsikannya dengan penyelamat. Bayangkan disaat semua harga tinggi, masih ada yang mau member harga rendah.
Tapi kalau saya boleh member saran dalam mengeluarkan dana, yang terpenting bukan berapa besar yang yang Anda keluarkan, tapi untuk apa Anda mengeluarkannya. Daripada mengeluarkan dana sedikit untuk barang yang tidak dibutuhkan atau malah barang yang hanya membuat Anda menjdai lebih konsumtif; mungkin lebih baik membeli barang dengan harga sedikit lebih mahal tetapi memang kita butuhkan.
Menghindari Spekulasi Investasi
Satu lagi yang harus dihindari adalah spekulasi investasi. Dengan makin sulitnya keadaan ekonomi, makin banyak orang yang menawarkan alternative penyelesaian yang salah satunya dari sisi investasi.Pada saat demikian, biasanya jenis investasi yang memberikan hasil maksimal dianggap sebagai jalan keluar. Namun bila kita tidak mengerti dan menguasainya, jangan pernah masuk di dalamnya.
Buat perlindungan
Salah satu cara untuk melakukan penghematan dan membantu keuangan adalah dengan memindahkan biaya yang mungkin terjadi kepada pihak lain. Dan hal itu bisa dilakukan oleh pihak asuransi. Bila dulu kita terbiasa dengan menyelesaikan semua masalah melalui uang pribadi, mungkin sudah saatnya Anda menyerahkan masalah yang besar-besar kepada pihak asuansi. Biaya kesehatan, perbaikan kendaraan dan perlindungan rumah, bisa sebagai permulaan langkah. Ingat dengan naiknya biaya BBM maka otomatis biaya lainnya juga naik termasuk kesehatan, perbaikan dan pembangunan.
Mencoba menambah penghasilan
Terakhir, memang tidak ada jalan lain selain mencoba menambah penghasilan. Mulailah berusaha mengali potensi diri, kenali kondisi lingkungan dan selalu cari alternative adalah salah satu cara untuk mendapatkan tambahan penghasilan. Tidak perlu besar, tapi buatlah itu menjadi suatu yang rutin. Sehingga diantara semua biaya yang naik tadi, ada sedikit tambahan penghasilan untuk sekedar bisa menambah investasi kita

Visual Basic Dictionary 2

2008-06-14T01:11:00.000-07:00

String-Handling Functions

VBScript supports all the string-handling functions of Visual Basic. Atypical script, similar to a Visual Basic application, spends much of its execution time manipulating strings (validity tests, parsing), and VBScript provides numerous functions for that purpose. Asc(character), AscB(string), AscW(string) The Asc() function returns the

character code corresponding to the character argument, and it works on all systems,

regardless of whether they support Unicode characters.

The AscB() function is similar, except that instead of returning the character code for the first character, it returns the first byte.

The AscW() function returns the Unicode character code except on platforms that do not support Unicode, in which case, the behavior is identical to that of the Asc() function. If you call the Asc() function with a string instead of a character, the character

code of the string’s first character is returned. Chr(number), ChrB(number), ChrW(number) The Chr() function is the inverse of the Asc() function and returns the character associated with the specified character code. Use this function to print characters that don’t appear on the keyboard (such as line feeds or special symbols). The ChrB() function is used with byte data contained in a string. Instead of returning a character, which may be one or two bytes, ChrB() always returns a single byte.

The ChrW() function returns a string containing the Unicode character except on platforms that don’t support Unicode, in which case, the behavior is identical to that of the Chr() function.

LCase(string), UCase(string) The LCase() function accepts a string as an argument and converts it to lowercase; the Ucase() function accepts a string as an argument and converts it to uppercase. After the following statements are executed: Title = ÒMastering Visual BasicÓ

LTitle = LCase(Title)

UTitle = UCase(Title)

the variable LTitle contains the string “mastering visual basic”, and the variable UTitle contains the string “MASTERING VISUAL BASIC”. Auseful function, which is missing from VBScript, is one that converts a string to “lower caps.” In other words, a function that converts all the characters in the string to lowercase and then converts the first character of each word to uppercase. Now that you’ve seen all the string manipulation functions, you can write a

LowerCaps() function as follows:

Function LowerCaps(str As String) As String position = InStr(str, Ò Ò) Ô Locate first space

While position Ô while there are spaces in the string

newWord = Left$(str, position) Ô extract word Ô and convert its first character to upper case

newStr = newStr & UCase$(Left$(newWord, 1)) & Mid$(newWord, 2)

str = Right$(str, Len(str) - position)Ô remove word from string

position = InStr(str, Ò Ò)

Wend

newWord = str Ô convert the last word in the string

newStr = newStr & UCase$(Left$(newWord, 1)) & Mid$(newWord, 2)

LowerCaps = newStr Ô return string in Lower Caps

End Function

The LowerCaps() function uses the Instr() function to locate successive instances

of the space character in the string. It then isolates the words between spaces,

changes their first character to uppercase and the rest of the word to lowercase, and

appends them to the NewStr string. When the function exits, its value is the original

string formatted in lower caps. If you call the LowerCaps() function with the

following argument:

CompanyName = ÒABC industrial, inc.Ó

UCString = LowerCaps(CompanyName)

the UCString variable’s value will be:

ÒABC Industrial, Inc.Ó

InStr([startPos,] string1, string2[, compare]) The InStr() function returnsthe position of string2 within string1. The first argument, which is optional, determines where in string1 the search begins. If the startPos argument is omitted, the search begins at the first character of string1. If you execute the following statements:

str1 = ÒThe quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogÓ

str2 = ÒtheÓ

Pos = Instr(str1, str2)

the variable Pos will have the value 33. If you search for the string “he” by setting:

str2 = ÒheÓ

the Pos variable’s value will be 2. If the search begins at the third character in the string, the first instance of the string “he” after the third character will be located:

Pos = Instr(3, str1, str2)

This time the Pos variable will be 34.

The search is by default case-sensitive. To locate “the”, “The”, or “THE” in the string, specify the last optional argument whose value is 0 (default) for a casesensitive search and 1 for a case-insensitive search. The following statement locates the first occurrence of “the” in the string, regardless of case:

str1 = ÒThe quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogÓ

str2 = ÒtheÓ

Pos = Instr(1, str1, str2, 1)

The value of Pos will be 1. If you set the last argument to 0, the Pos variable becomes 33. If you want to use the last optional argument of the Instr() function, you must also specify the first argument. The InStrB() function is used with byte data contained in a string. Instead of returning the character position of the first occurrence of one string within another, InStrB() returns the byte position.

InStrRev(string1, string2, start, compare) This function returns the position of one string within another (as does the InStr() function), but it starts from the end of the string. The string1 argument is the string being searched, and the string2 argument is the string being searched for. The other two arguments are optional. The start argument is the starting position for the search. If it is omitted, the search begins at the last character. The compare argument indicates the kind of comparison to be used in locating the substrings, and its values are explained in the Filter entry. If compare is omitted, a binary comparison is performed.

StrComp(string1, string2 [, compare]) This function compares two strings and returns a value indicating the result, according to Table A.9.

TA B L E A . 9 : The Values That the StrComp() Function Returns

VALUE DESCRIPTION

-1 string1 is less than string2

0 string2 is equal to string2

1 string1 is greater than string2

Null string1 and/or string2 is Null

The last argument of the StrComp() function determines whether the comparison will be case-sensitive. If compare is 0 (or omitted), the comparison is case-sensitive. If it’s 1, the comparison is case-insensitive. The following function:

StrComp(ÒSybexÓ, ÒSYBEXÓ) returns 1 (“Sybex” is greater than “SYBEX”, because the lowercase y character is after the uppercase Y in the ASCII sequence). The following function:

StrComp(ÒSybexÓ, ÒSYBEXÓ, 1) returns 0.

Left(string, number), LeftB(string, number) This function returns a number of characters from the beginning of a string. It accepts two arguments: the string and the number of characters to extract. If the string date1 starts with the month name, the following Left() function can extract the month’s abbreviation from the string, as follows:

date1 = ÒDecember 25, 1995Ó

MonthName = Left(date1, 3)

The value of the MonthName variable is “Dec”.Use the LeftB() function with byte data contained in a string. Instead of specifying the number of characters, the arguments specify numbers of bytes.

Right(string, number), RightB(srting, number) This function is similar to the Left function, except that it returns a number of characters from the end of a string. The following statement:

Yr = Right(date1, 4)

assigns to the Yr variable the value “1995”.

Use the RightB() function with byte data contained in a string. Instead of specifying the number of characters, the arguments specify numbers of bytes.

Mid(string, start, [length]), MidB(string, start[, length]) The Mid() function returns a section of a string of length characters, starting at position start. The following function:

Mid(Ò09 February, 1957Ó, 4, 8)

extracts the name of the month from the specified string.If you omit the length argument, the Mid() function returns all the characters from the starting position to the end of the string. If the specified length exceeds the number of characters in the string after the start position, the remaining string from the start location is returned. Use the MidB() function with byte data contained in a string. Instead of specifying the number of characters, the arguments specify numbers of bytes.

Len(string), LenB(string) The Len() function returns the length of a string. After the following statements execute:

Name = InputBox(ÒEnter your first NameÓ)

NameLen = Len(Name)

the variable NameLen contains the length of the string entered by the user in the Input Box. The Len() function is frequently used as a first test for invalid input, as in the following lines:

If Len(Name) = 0 Then

MsgBox ÒNAME field canÕt be emptyÓ

Else

MsgBox ÒThank you for registering with usÓ

EndIf

Use the LenB() function with byte data contained in a string. Instead of returning the number of characters in a string, LenB() returns the number of bytes used to represent that string.

LTrim(string), RTrim(string), Trim(string) These functions trim the spaces in front of, after, and on either side of a string. The are frequently used in validating user input, as in the following.

If EMail <> ÒÓ Then

MsgBox ÒApplications without an e-mail address wonÕt be processedÓ

End If

The preceding won’t, however, catch a string that only has spaces. To detect empty strings, use the Trim() function instead:

If Trim(EMail) = ÒÓ Then

MsgBox ÒInvalid Entry!Ó

End If

Space(number) This function returns a string consisting of the specified number

of spaces. The number argument is the number of spaces you want in the string. This function is useful for formatting output and clearing data in fixed-length strings.

String(number, character) This function returns a string of number characters,

all of which are character. The following function:

String(12, Ò*Ó)

returns the string “************”. Use the String() function to create long patterns of

special symbols.

StrConv(string, conversion) This function returns a string variable converted

as specified by the conversion argument, whose values as shown in

CONSTANT VALUE DESCRIPTION

vbUpperCase 1 Converts the string to uppercase characters.

vbLowerCase 2 Converts the string to lowercase characters.

vbProperCase 3 Converts the first letter of every word in string to uppercase.

vbWide* 4* Converts narrow (single-byte) characters in string to wide (double-byte) characters.

vbNarrow* 8* Converts wide (double-byte) characters in string to narrow (single-byte) characters.

vbKatakana* 16* Converts Hiragana characters in string to Katakana characters.

vbHiragana* 32* Converts Katakana characters in string to Hiragana characters.

vbUnicode 64 Converts the string to Unicode using the default code page of the system.

VbFromUnicode 128 Converts the string from Unicode to the default code page of the system.

*Applies to Far East locales.

To perform multiple conversions, add the corresponding values. To convert a string to lowercase and to Unicode format, use a statement such as the following:

newString = StrConv(txt, vbLowerCase + vbUnicode)

StrReverse(string) This function reverses the character order of its argument. Its syntax is:

StrReverse(string1)

The string1 argument is the string whose characters will be reversed.

Filter(InputStrings, Value, Include, Compare) This function returns a zero-based array containing part of a string array, based on specified filter criteria.

The InputStrings argument is a one-dimensional array of the strings to be searched, and the Value argument is the string to search for. The last two arguments are optional, and they indicate whether the function should contain substrings that include or exclude the specified value. If True, the Filter() function returns the subset of the array that contains Value as a substring. If False, the Filter() function returns the subset of the array that does not contain Value as a substring. The Compare argument indicates the kind of string comparison to be used and it can be any of the values in

Value What It Does

vbBinaryCompare Performs a binary (case sensitive) comparison.

VbTextCompare Performs a textual (case insensitive) comparison.

VbDatabaseCompare Performs a comparison based on information contained in the database in which the comparison is to be performed.

The array returned by the Filter() function contains only enough elements to contain

the number of matched items. To use the Filter() function, you must declare an

array without specifying the number of elements. Let’s say you have declare the

Names array as follows:

Dim Names

Names = Array(ÒAbeÓ,ÓJohnÓ, ÒJohnÓ, ÒRonÓ,ÓJimmyÓ)

You can find out if the name stored in the variable myName is in the Names array

by calling the Filter() function as follows:

b = Filter(a, myName)

If the name stored in the variable myName isn’t part of the Names array, b is an

array with no elements. The function:

UBbound(b)

will return -1. If the name stored in the variable myName is “Abe”, the upper

bound of the array b will be 0, and the element b(0) will be “Abe”. If the value of

the myName variable is “John”, the upper bound of the Names array will be 1,

and the elements b(0) and b(1) will have the value “John”.

You can also create an array that contains all the elements in the original, except

for a specific value. The array b created with the statement:

b = Filter(a,ÓRonÓ, False)

will have 4 elements, which are all the elements of the array Names except for “Ron”.

Replace(expression, find, replacewith, start, count, compare) This function returns a string in which a specified substring has been replaced with another substring a specified number of times. The expression argument is a

string containing the string to be replaced, on which the Replace function acts. The find argument is the substring to be replaced, and replacewith is the replacement string. The remaining arguments are optional. The start argument is the

character position where the search begins. If it is omitted, the search starts at the first character. The count argument is the number of replacements to be performed. If it is omitted, all possible replacements will take place. Finally, the compare argument specifies the kind of comparison to be performed. The values of the compare argument are described in the Filter entry.

Join(list, delimiter) This function returns a string created by joining a number of substrings contained in an array. The list argument is a one-dimensional array containing substrings to be joined, and the optional delimiter argument is a character used to separate the substrings in the returned string. If it is omitted, the space character (“ “) is used. If delimiter is a zero-length string, all items in the list are concatenated with no delimiters.

Split(expression, delimiter, count, compare) This function is the counterpart of the Join() function. It returns a zero-based, one-dimensional array containing a specified number of substrings. The expression argument is a string that contains the original string that will be broken into substrings, and the optional delimiter argument is a character used to delimit the substrings. If delimiter is omitted, the space character (“ “) is assumed to be the delimiter. If delimiter is a zerolength string, a single-element array containing the entire expression string is returned. The count argument is also optional, and it determines the number of substrings to be returned. If it’s -1, all substrings are returned. The last argument, compare, is also optional and indicates the kind of comparison to use when evaluating substrings. Its valid values are described in the Filter entry.

Let’s say you have declared a string variable with the following path name:

path = Òc:\win\desktop\ActiveX\Examples\VBSCRIPTÓ

The Split() function can extract the path’s components and assign them to the parts array, with this statement:

parts = Split(Òc:\win\desktop\ActiveX\Examples\VBSCRIPTÓ, Ò\Ó) To display the parts of the path, set up a loop such as the following:

For i = 0 To ubound(parts)

MsgBox parts(i)

Formatting Functions

Up through Visual Basic 5, there was only one function for formatting numbers and dates, the Format() function. Visual Basic 6 features a number of new formatting functions, which are specific to the data type they apply to (numbers, dollar

amounts, and dates).

Format(expression[, format[, firstdayofweek[, firstweekofyear]]])

This function returns a string containing an expression formatted according to

instructions contained in a format expression. The expression variable is the number, string, or date to be converted, and format is a string that tells Visual Basic how to format the value. The string “hh:mm.ss”, for example, displays the expression as a time string. The Format() function is used to prepare numbers, dates, and strings for display. If you attempt to display the following expression:

Print atn(1)/4

the number 3.14159265358979 is displayed. If this value must appear in a text control, chances are good that it will overflow the available space. You can control the number of decimal digits to be displayed with the following call to the Format() function:

Print Format(atn(1)*4, Ò##.####Ó)

This statement displays the result 3.1416. If you are doing financial calculations and the result turns out to be 13,454.332345201, it would best to display it as $13,454.33, with a statement such as the following:

amount = 13454.332345201

Print Format(amount, Ò$###,###.##Ó)

These statements display the value $13,454.33, which is a proper dollar amount. The firstdayofweek argument determines which is the week’s first day and can have one of the values in Table A.12.

TA B L E A . 1 2 : The Values of the firsdayofweek Argument

CONSTANT VALUE DESCRIPTION

vbUseSystem 0 Use NLS API setting.

VbSunday 1 Sunday (default)

vbMonday 2 Monday

vbTuesday 3 Tuesday

vbWednesday 4 Wednesday

vbThursday 5 Thursday

vbFriday 6 Friday

vbSaturday 7 Saturday

Similarly, the firstweekofyear determines which is the first week of the year, and

it can have one of the values in Table A.13.

TA B L E A . 1 3 : The Values of the firstweekofyear Argument

CONSTANT VALUE DESCRIPTION

vbUseSystem 0 Uses NLS API setting.

vbFirstJan1 1 Starts with the week of January 1.

vbFirstFourDays 2 Starts with the week that has at least four days in the year.

vbFirstFullWeek 3 Starts with the first full week of the year.

The firstdayof week and firstweekofyear arguments are used only in formatting dates. There are many formatting strings for all three types of variables: numeric, string, and date and time. Table A.14, Table A.15, and Table A.16 show them.

TA B L E A . 1 4 : User-Defined Time and Date Formatting

CHARACTER DESCRIPTION

: Time separator. In some locales, other characters may be used to represent the time separator. The time separator separates hours, minutes, and seconds when time values are formatted. / Date separator. In some locales, other characters may be used to represent the date separator. The date separator separates the day, month, and year when date values are formatted.

c Displays date as ddddd and the time as ttttt.

d Displays day as a number (1–31).

dd Displays day as a number with a leading zero (01–31).

ddd Displays day as an abbreviation (Sun–Sat).

dddd Displays day as a full name (Sunday–Saturday).

ddddd Displays complete date (including day, month, and year), formatted according to the

system’s short date format setting. The default short date format is m/d/y. dddddd Displays complete date, formatted according to the long date setting recognized by he

system. The default long date format is mmmm dd, yyyy.

w Displays day of the week as a number (1 for Sunday through 7 for Saturday). ww Displays week of the year as a number (1–54).

TA B L E A . 1 4 C O N T I N U E D : User-Defined Time and Date Formatting

CHARACTER DESCRIPTION

m Displays month as a number (1–12). If m immediately follows h or hh, the minute rather than the month is displayed. mm Displays month as a number with a leading zero (01–12). If m immediately follows h or hh, the minute rather than the month is displayed. mmm Displays month as an abbreviation (Jan–Dec). mmmm Displays month as a full month name (January–December). q Displays quarter of the year as a number (1–4). y Displays day of the year as a number (1–366). yy Displays year as a 2-digit number (00–99). yyyy Displays year as a 4-digit number (100–9999).

h Displays hours as a number (0–23). hh Displays hours with leading zeros (00–23). n Displays minutes without leading zeros (0–59). nn Displays minutes with leading zeros (00–59).s Displays seconds without leading zeros (0–59). ss Displays seconds with leading zeros (00–59). ttttt Displays complete time (including hour, minute, and second), formatted using the time separator defined by the time format of the system. The default time format is h:mm:ss. AM/PM Uses the 12-hour format and displays the indication AM/PM. am/pm Uses the 12-hour format and displays the indication am/pm. A/P Uses the 12-hour format and displays the indication A/P a/p Uses the 12-hour format and displays the indication a/p. AMPM Uses the 12-hour format and displays the AM/PM string literal as defined by the system. Use the Regional Settings program in the Control Panel to set this literal for your system.

TA B L E A . 1 5 : User-Defined Number Formatting

CHARACTER WHAT IT IS OR DOES DESCRIPTION

None Displays the number with no formatting.

0 Digit placeholder Displays a digit or a zero. If the expression has a digit in the position where the 0 appears in the format string, display it; otherwise, display a zero in that position. If the number has fewer digits than there are zeros in the format expression, leading or trailing zeros are displayed. If the number has more digits to the right of the decimal separator than there are zeros to the right of the decimal separator in the format expression, round the number to as many decimal places as there are zeros. If the number has more digits to the left of the decimal separator than there are zeros to the left of the decimal separator in the format expression, display the extra digits without modification. # Digit placeholder Displays a digit or nothing. If the expression has a digit in the position where the # appears in the format string, display it; otherwise, display nothing in that position. This symbol works like the 0 digit placeholder, except that leading and trailing zeros aren’t displayed if the number has the same or fewer digits than there are # characters on either side of the decimal separator in the format expression. Decimal placeholder The decimal placeholder determines how many digits are displayed to the left and right of the decimal separator. If the format expression contains only number signs to the left of this symbol, numbers smaller than 1 begin with a decimal separator. To display a leading zero displayed with fractional numbers, use 0 as the first digit placeholder to the left of the decimal separator. % Percentage placeholder The expression is multiplied by 100. The percent character (%) is inserted in the position where it appears in the format string. , Thousand separator Separates thousands from hundreds within a number greater than 1000. Two adjacent thousand separators or athousand separator immediately to the left of the decimal separator (whether or not a decimal is specified) means “scale the number by dividing it by 1000, rounding as

needed.” For example, you can use the format string “##0,,” to represent 100 million as 100. Numbers smaller than 1 million are displayed as 0. Two adjacent thousand separators in any position other than immediately to the left of the decimal separator are treated simply as specifying the use of a thousand separator. : Time separator Separates hours, minutes, and seconds when time values are formatted.

TA B L E A . 1 5 C O N T I N U E D : User-Defined Number Formatting

CHARACTER WHAT IT IS OR DOES DESCRIPTION

/ Date separator Separates the day, month, and year when date values are formatted.

E+, e-, e+ Scientific format If the format expression contains at least one digit placeholder (0 or #) to the right of E-, E+, e-, or e+, the number is displayed in scientific format, and E or e is inserted between the number and its exponent. The number of digit placeholders to the right determines the number of digits in the exponent. Use E- or e- to place a minus sign next to negative exponents. Use E+ or e+ to place a minus sign next to negative exponents and a plus sign next to positive exponents.

+ $ (space ) Display a literal character To display a character other than one of those listed, precede

it with a backslash (\) or enclose it in double quotation

marks (“ “).\ Displays the next character To display a character that has special meaning as a literal in the format string character, precede it with a backslash (\). The backslash itself isn’t displayed. Using a backslash is the same as enclosing the next character in double quotation marks. To display a backslash, use two backslashes (\\).Examples of characters that can’t be displayed as literal characters are the date-formatting and time-formatting characters (a, c, d, h, m, n, p, q, s, t, w, y, / and :), the numeric-formatting characters (#, 0, %, E, e, comma, and period), and the string-formatting characters (@, &, <, >, and !). “ABC” Displays the string inside To include a string in format from within code, you must the double quotation use Chr(34) to enclose the text (34 is the character code marks (“ “) for a quotation mark (“)).

TA B L E A . 1 6 : User-Defined String Formatting

CHARACTER WHAT IT IS OR DOES DESCRIPTION

@ Character placeholder Displays a character or a space. If the string has a character in the position where the at symbol (@) appears in the format string, it is displayed. Otherwise, a space in that position is displayed. Placeholders are filled from right to left unless there is an exclamation point character (!) in the format string. & Character placeholder If the string has a character in the position where the ampersand (&) appears, it is displayed. Otherwise, nothing is displayed.

Placeholders are filled from right to left unless there is an exclamation point character (!) in the format string.

TA B L E A . 1 6 C O N T I N U E D : User-Defined String Formatting

CHARACTER WHAT IT IS OR DOES DESCRIPTION

< Force lowercase All characters are first converted to lowercase. > Force uppercase All characters are first converted to uppercase.

! Scans placeholders from The default order is to use placeholders from right to left. left to right

FormatCurrency(Expression, NumDigitsAfterDecimal, IncludeLeading-Digit, UseParensForNegativeNumbers, GroupDigits) This function returns a numeric expression formatted as a currency value (dollar amount) using the currency symbol defined in Control Panel. All arguments are optional,except for the Expression argument, which is the number to be formatted as currency.

NumDigitsAfterDecimal is a value indicating how many digits will appear to the right of the decimal point. The default value is -1, which indicates that the computer’s regional settings must be used. IncludeLeadingDigit is a tristate constant that indicates whether a leading zero is displayed for fractional values. The UseParensForNegativeNumbers argument is also a tristate constant that indicates whether to place negative values within parentheses. The last argument, Group- Digits, is another tristate constant that indicates whether numbers are grouped using the group delimiter specified in the computer’s regional settings. NOTE A tristate variable is one that has three possible values: True, False, and Use-Default. The last value uses the computer’s regional settings. When one or more optional arguments are omitted, values for omitted arguments are provided by the computer’s regional settings.

FormatDateTime(Date, NamedFormat) This function formats a date or time value. The Date argument is a date value that will be formatted, and the optional argument NamedFormat indicates the date/time format to be used. It can have the values shown in Table A.17.

TA B L E A . 1 7 : The Values for the NamedFormat Argument

Value What It Does

VbGeneralDate Displays a date and/or time. If a date part is present, it is displayed as a short date. If a time part is present, it is displayed as a long time. If both parts are present, both parts are displayed.

TA B L E A . 1 7 C O N T I N U E D : The Values for the NamedFormat Argument

Value What It Does

VbLongDate Displays a date using the long date format, as specified in the client computer’s regional settings VbShortDate Displays a date using the short date format, as specified in the client computer’s regional settings

VbLongTime Displays a time using the time format specified in the client computer’s regional settings

VbShortTime Displays a time using the 24-hour format

FormatNumber(Expression, NumDigitsAfterDecimal, IncludeLeading-

Digit, UseParensForNegativeNumbers, GroupDigits) This function returns a numeric value formatted as a number. The arguments of the Format- Number() function are identical to the arguments of the FormatCurrency() function.

FormatPercent(Expression, NumDigitsAfterDecimal, IncludeLeading-

Digit, UseParensForNegativeNumbers, GroupDigits) This function returns an expression formatted as a percentage (multiplied by 100) with a trailing % character. Its syntax and arguments are identical to the FormatCurrency() and FormatNumber() functions.

Math Functions

The following functions perform math operations. Their arguments are doubleprecision values and so are their results.

Abs(expression) This function returns the absolute value of its argument.Both Abs(1.01) and Abs(-1.01) return the value 1.01.

Atn(expression) This function returns the arctangent of an angle. The value returned is in radians. To convert it to degrees, multiply by 180/¹, where ¹ is 3.14159…. To calculate ¹ with double precision, use the following statement:

Atn(1)*4

Cos(expression) This function returns the cosine of an angle. The value of angle must be expressed in radians. To convert it to degrees, multiply by 180/¹, where ¹ is 3.14159…. To calculate ¹ with double precision, use the following statement:

Atn(1)*4

Exp(expression) This function returns the base of the natural logarithms to a power. The expression variable is the power, and its value can be a noninteger, positive or negative value. The Exp() function complements the operation of the

Log() function and is also called antilogarithm.

Int(expression), Fix(expression) Both these functions accept a numeric argument and return an integer value. If expression is positive, both functions behave the same. If it’s negative, the Int() function returns the first negative integer less than or equal to expression, and Fix returns the first negative integer greater than or equal to expression. For example, Int(-1.1) returns -2, and Fix(-1.1) returns -1. The functions Int(1.8) and Fix(1.8) both return 1. If you want to get rid of the decimal part of a number and round it as well, use the following expression:

Int(value + 0.5) The value argument is the number to be rounded. The following function:

Int(100.1 + 0.5) returns 100, and the function:

Int(100.8 + 0.5) returns 101. This technique works with negative numbers as well. The following function:

Int(-100.1 + 0.5)

returns -100, and the function:

Int(-100.8 + 0.5) returns -101.

Round(expression[, numdecimalplaces]) This function returns a numeric expression rounded to a specified number of decimal places. The numdecimalplaces argument is optional and indicates how many places to the right of the decimal are included in the rounding. If it is omitted, an integer value is returned. The expression Round (3.49) returns 3, and the expression Round(3.51) returns 4. Use this new function to avoid statements such as Int(value + 0.5), which was used with previous versions of Visual Basic to round value to an integer.

Log(expression) The Log() function returns the natural logarithm of a number. The expression variable must be a positive number. The following expression:

Log(Exp(N))

returns N, and so will this expression:

Exp(Log(N))

If you combine the logarithm with the antilogarithm, you end up with the same number.

The natural logarithm is the logarithm to the base e, which is approximately 2.718282. The precise value of e is given by the function Exp(1). To calculate logarithms to other bases, divide the natural logarithm of the number by the natural

logarithm of the base. The following statement calculates the logarithm of a number in base 10:

Log10 = Log(number) / Log(10)

Hex(expression), Oct(expression) These two functions accept a decimal numeric value as an argument and return the octal and hexadecimal representation of the number in a string. The function Hex(47) returns the value “2F”, and the function Oct(47) returns the value “57”. To specify a hexadecimal number, prefix it with &H. The equivalent notation for octal numbers is &O. Given the following definitions:

Dvalue = 199: Ovalue = &O77

the function Oct(Dvalue) returns the string “307”, and the function Hex(Ovalue)

returns “3F”. To display the decimal value of 3F, use a statement such as the following:

MsgBox (ÒThe number 3F in decimal is Ò & &H3F) The actual value that will be displayed is 63.

Rnd([expression]) This function returns a pseudo-random number in the range

0 to 1. The optional argument is called seed and is used as a starting point in the calculations that generate the random number. If the seed is negative, the Rnd() function always returns the same number. As strange as this behavior may sound, you may need this feature to create repeatable random numbers to test your code. If seed is positive (or omitted), the Rnd() function returns the next random number in the sequence. Finally, if seed is zero, the Rnd() function returns the most recently generated random number. In most cases, you don’t need a random number between 0 and 1, but between two other integer values. Aplaying card’s value is an integer in the range 1 through 13. To simulate the throw of a dice, you need a number in the range 1 through 6. To generate a random number in the range lower to upper, in which both bounds are integer numbers, use the following statement:

randomNumber = Int((upper - lower + 1)*rnd() + lower);

The following statement displays a random number in the range 1 to 49.

Debug.Print Int(Rnd * 49 + 1)

If you repeat this statement six times, you will get the Lotto’s six lucky numbers.

NOTE The sequence of random numbers produced by Visual Basic is always the same! Let’s say you have an application that displays three random numbers. If you stop and rerun the application, the same three numbers will be displayed. This is not a bug. It’s a feature of Visual Basic that allows you to debug applications that use random numbers (if the sequence were different, you wouldn’t be able to re-create the problem). To change this default behavior, call the Randomize statement at the beginning of your code. This statement will initialize the random number generator based on the value of the computer’s Timer, and the sequences of random numbers will be different every time you run the application.Sgn(expression) This function returns an integer indicating the sign of its argument: 1 if the argument is greater than zero, 0 if the argument is 0, and –1 if the argument is less than zero. Sin(expression) This function returns the sine of an angle, specified in radians.

See the Cos() entry. Sqr(expression) This function returns the square root of a positive number. If the argument number is negative, the Sqr() function causes a runtime error, because by definition the square root of a negative number is undefined. If your program uses the Sqr() function, you must include some error trapping code such as the following:

If var>=0 Then

sqVar = Sqr(var)

Else

MsgBox ÒThe result canÕt be calculatedÓ

End IF

Tan(expression) This function returns the tangent of an angle, which must be expressed in radians.Val(string) This function returns the numeric value of a string made up of digits. The Val() function starts reading the string from the left and stops when it reaches a character that isn’t part of a number. If the value of the variable a is:

a = Ò18:6.05Ó

the statement:

Debug.Print Val(a)

returns 18.

Date and Time Functions

The date and time functions report (or set) the system’s date and time. Visual Basic understands many formats for the date. Besides the common formats such as 2/9/1999 and 5/25/1995, it recognizes month names. Dates such as “February 1999” and “May 25, 1996” are valid date expressions. See the Format(string) entry for more on date and time formats. Timer() This function returns a single number representing the number of seconds elapsed since midnight. It is frequently used for timing purposes, as long as

the desired accuracy is not less than a second. To time an operation that takes a while to complete, use a structure such as the following:

T1 = Timer

{lengthy calculations}

Debug.print Int(Timer - T1)

The last statement displays the integer part of the difference, which is the number of seconds elapsed since the calculations started.Date() This function returns the current date in month/day/year format, unless you specified the UK date format (day/month/year). The following statement:

MsgBox ÒThe system date is Ò & Date()

display a date such as 9/22/1998 in a message box. To set the system date, use the following statement:

date = Ò01/01/97Ó

Time() This function returns the system’s time in AM/PM format. The following statement:

MsgBox ÒThe system time is Ò & Time()

displays a time such as 5:13:05 PM in a message box. To set the system time, use the following statement:

Time = Ò13:00.00Ó

Now() This function returns both the system date and time, in the same format as they are reported by the Date() and Time() functions. The following statement:

Debug.print Now()

displays a date/time combination such as 9/13/1998 09:23:10 PM in a message box. There’s only one space between the date and the time. The Now() function is equivalent to the following pair of functions:

Date() & Ò Ò & Time()

Day(date) This function returns the day number of the date specified by the argument. The date argument must be a valid date (such as the value of the Date() or the Now() function). If the following function were called on 12/01/95, it would have returned 1.

Day(Date()) The Day(Now()) function returns the same result. Weekday(date, [firstdayofweek]) This function returns an integer in the range 1 through 7, representing the day of the week (1 for Sunday, 2 for Monday, and so on). The first argument, date, can be any valid date expression. The second argument, which is optional, specifies the first day of the week. Set it to 1 to start counting from Sunday (the default), or set it to 2 to start counting from Monday. The value 3 corresponds to Tuesday, the value 4 corresponds to Wednesday, and so on. The following code segment displays the name of the day: DayNames = Array(ÒSundayÓ, ÒMondayÓ, ÒTuesdayÓ, ÒWednesdayÓ, Òthursday Ó, ÒFridayÓ, ÒSaturdayÓ) dayname = ÒToday it is Ò & DayNames(Weekday(Now)-1) Debug.Print dayname Notice that the code subtracts 1 from the weekday to account for the array being zero based. Month(date) This function returns an integer in the range 1 through 12, representing the number of the month of the specified date. Month(Date) returns the current month number. MonthName(month[, abbreviate]) This function returns the name of the month specified by the month argument (a numeric value, which is 1 for January, 2 for February, and so on). The optional abbreviate argument is a Boolean value that indicates if the month name is to be abbreviated. By default, month names

are not abbreviated. Year(date) This function returns an integer representing the year of the date passed to it as an argument. The following function:

Year(Now())

returns the current year. Hour(time) This function returns an integer in the range 0 through 24 that represents the hour of the specified time. The following statements:

Debug.Print Now

Debug.Print Hour(Now)

produce something such as:

2/27/98 11:32:43 AM

Minute(time) This function returns an integer in the range 0 through 60 that represents the minute of the specified time. The following statements:

Debug.Print Now

Debug.Print Minute(Now)

produce something such as:

2/27/98 11:57:13 AM

Second(time) This function returns an integer in the range 0 through 60 that represents the seconds of the specified time. The following statements:

Debug.Print Now

Debug.Print Second(Now)

produce something such as:

2/27/98 11:57:03 AM

DateSerial(year, month, day) This function accepts three numeric arguments that correspond to a year, a month, and a day value and returns the corresponding date. The following statement:

MsgBox DateSerial(1999, 10, 1)

displays the string “10/1/99” in a message box. Although hardly a useful operation, the DateSerial function can handle arithmetic operations with dates. For example, you can find out the date of the 90^th day of the year by calling DateSerial() with the following arguments:

DateSerial(1996, 1, 90)

(30/3/96, if you are curious). To find out the date 1000 days from now, call the DateSerial function as follows:

DateSerial(Year(Date), Month(Date), Day(Date)+1000)

You can also add (or subtract) a number of months to the month argument and a number of years to the year argument.DateValue(date) This function returns a variant of type Date. This function is handy if you are doing financial calculations based on the number of days between two dates. The difference in the following statement:

MsgBox DateValue(Ò12/25/1996Ó) - DateValue(Ò12/25/1993Ó)

is the number of days between the two dates, which happens to be 1096 days. You can verify this result by adding 1096 days to the earlier date:

MsgBox DateValue(Ò12/25/1993Ó) + 1096

or subtracting 1096 days from the later date:

MsgBox DateValue(Ò12/25/1996Ó) - 1096

TimeSerial(hours, minutes, seconds) This function returns a time, as specified by the three arguments. The following function:

TimeSerial(4, 10, 55)

returns:

4:10:55 AM

The TimeSerial() function is frequently used to calculate relative times. The following call to TimeSerial() returns the time 2 hours, 15 minutes, and 32 seconds before 4:13:40 PM: TimeSerial(16 - 2, 13 - 15, 40 - 32)

which is 2:02:08 PM. TimeValue(time) This function returns a variant of type Time. Like the Date- Value() function, it can be used in operations that involve time. If the variables Time1 and Time2 are defined as follows:

Time1 = Ò04.10.55Ó

Time2 = Ò18.50.00Ó

you can find out the hours, minutes, and seconds between the two times with the following statements:

Diff = TimeValue(Time2) - TimeValue(Time1)

HourDiff = Hour(Diff)

MinDiff = Minute(Diff)

SecDiff = Second(Diff)

In this example, the values returned will be:

HourDiff=14

MinDiff=25

SecDiff=05

DateAdd(interval, number, date) This function returns a date that corresponds to a date plus some interval. The interval variable is a time unit (days, hours, weeks, and so on), number is the number of intervals to be added to the initial date, and date is the initial date. If number is positive, the date returned by DateAdd is in the future. If it’s negative, the date returned is in the past. The interval argument can take one of the values in Table A.18.

TA B L E A . 1 8 : The Values for the interval Argument

VALUE DESCRIPTION

yyyy Year

q Quarter

m Month

y Day of year

d Day

w Weekday

ww Week

h Hour

n Minute

s Second

To find out the date one month after January 31, 1996, use the following statement:

Print DateAdd(ÒmÓ, 1, Ò31-Jan-96Ó)

The result is:

2/29/96 and not an invalid date such as February 31. DateAdd() also takes into consideration leap years. The following statement:

Print DateAdd(ÒmÓ, 1, Ò31-Jan-96Ó) displays the date 2/29/96 in the Immediate window. The DateAdd() function is similar to the DateSerial() function, but it takes into consideration the actual duration of a month. For DateSerial(), each month has 30 days. The following statements:

day1=#1/31/1996#

Print DateSerial(year(day1), month(day1)+1, day(day1))

result in:

3/2/96

which is a date in March, not February.

DateDiff(interval, date1, date2[, firstdayofweek[, firstweekofyear]])

This function is the counterpart of the DateAdd() function and returns the number of intervals between two dates. The interval argument is the interval of time you use to calculate the difference between the two dates (see Table A.18, earlier

in this appendix, for valid values). The date1 and date2 arguments are dates to be used in the calculation, and firstdayofweek and firstweekofyear are optional arguments that specify the first day of the week and the first week of the year. Table A.19 shows the valid values for the firstdayofweek argument, and Table A.20 shows the valid values for the firstweekofyear argument.

TA B L E A . 1 9 : The Values for the firstdayofweek Argument

CONSTANT VALUE DESCRIPTION

vbUseSystem 0 Use the NLS API setting.

vbSunday 1 Sunday (default)

vbMonday 2 Monday

vbTuesday 3 Tuesday

vbWednesday 4 Wednesday

vbThursday 5 Thursday

vbFriday 6 Friday

vbSaturday 7 Saturday

TA B L E A . 2 0 : The Values for the firstweekofyear Argument

CONSTANT VALUE DESCRIPTION

vbUseSystem 0 Use the NLS API setting.

vbFirstJan1 1 Start with the week in which January 1 occurs (default). vbFirstFourDays 2 Start with the first week that has at least four days in the new year. vbFirstFullWeek 3 Start with the first full week of the year. You can use the DateDiff() function to find how many days, weeks, and even seconds are between two dates. The following statement displays the number of days and minutes until the turn of the century (or the time elapsed after the turn of century, depending on when you execute it):

century=#01/01/2000 00:00.00#

Print DateDiff(ÒnÓ, now(), century)

If you place this code in a Timer’s Timer event, you can update a text control every second or every minute with the countdown to the end of the century. If you were to use the DateValue() function, as in the following:

Print minute(DateValue(Ò01/01/2000 00:00.00Ó) - DateValue(now()))

the result is a number in the range 0 through 60. You would have to take into consideration the difference of years, months, days, hours, and minutes to calculate the correct value.

DatePart(interval, date[,firstdayofweek[, firstweekofyear]]) This function returns the specified part of a given date. The interval argument is the desired format in which the part of the date will be returned (see Table A.18, earlier in this appendix, for its values), and date is the part of the date you are seeking. The optional arguments firstdayofweek and firstdayofmonth are the same as for the DateDiff() function. The following Print statements produce the result shown below them:

day1=#03/23/1996 15:03.30#

Print DatePart(ÒyyyyÓ, day1)

1996

Print DatePart(ÒqÓ, day1)

Print DatePart(ÒmÓ, day1)

Print DatePart(ÒdÓ, day1)

Print DatePart(ÒwÓ, day1)

Print DatePart(ÒwwÓ, day1)

Print DatePart(ÒhÓ, day1)

Print DatePart(ÒnÓ, day1)

Print DatePart(ÒsÓ, day1)

Financial Functions

The following functions can be used to calculate the parameters of a loan or an investment. I will explain only the functions that return the basic parameters of a loan (such as the monthly payment or the loan’s duration). The more advanced financial functions are described in the Visual Basic online documentation.

IPmt(rate, per, nper, pv[, fv[, type]]) This function returns the interest payment for a given period of an annuity based on periodic, fixed payments and a fixed interest rate. The result is a Double value. The rate argument is a Double value specifying the interest rate for the payment period. For example, if the loan’s annual percentage rate (APR) is 10 percent, paid in monthly installments, the rate per period is 0.1/12, or 0.0083. The per argument is a Double value specifying the current payment period; per is a number in the range 1 through nper.

The nper argument is a Double value specifying the total number of payments. For example, if you make monthly payments on a five-year loan, nper is 5 * 12 (or 60).

The Pv argument is a Double value specifying the principal or present value. The loan amount is the present value to the lender of the monthly payments. The fv argument is a Variant specifying the future value or cash balance after the

final payment. The future value of a loan is $0 because that’s its value after the final payment. If you want to accumulate $10,000 in your savings account over 5 years, however, the future value is $10,000. If the fv argument is omitted, 0 is assumed. The type argument is a Variant specifying when payments are due. Use 0 if payments

are due at the end of the payment period; use 1 if payments are due at the beginning of the period. If the type argument is omitted, 0 is assumed. Suppose you borrow $30,000 at an annual percentage rate of 11.5%, to be paid off in 3 years with payments at the end of each month. Here’s how you can calculate the total interest, as well as the monthly interest:

PVal = 30000&

FVal = 0&

APR = 0.115 / 12

MPayments = 3 * 12

For Period = 1 To Mpayments

IPayment = IPmt(APR, Period, MPayments, -PVal, FVal, 1)

Debug.Print IPayment

TotInt = TotInt + IPayment

Next Period

Debug.Print ÒTotal interest paid: Ò & TotInt

The interest portion of the first payment is $287.11, and the interest portion of the last payment is less than $10. The total interest is $5,276,02.

PPmt(rate, per, nper, pv[, fv[, type]]) This function is similar to the IPmt() function except that it returns the principal payment for a given period of a loan based on periodic, fixed payments and a fixed interest rate. For a description of the function’s arguments, see the IPmt entry.

The code for calculating the principal payment of the previous example is nearly the same as that for calculating the interest:

PVal = 30000&

FVal = 0&

APR = 0.115 / 12

MPayments = 3 * 12

For Period = 1 To Mpayments

PPayment = PPmt(APR, Period, MPayments, -PVal, FVal, 1)

Debug.Print PPayment

TotPrincipal = TotPrincipal + PPayment

Next Period

Debug.Print ÒTotal principal paid: Ò & TotPrincipal

In this example, the payments increase with time (that’s how the total payment remains fixed). The total amount will be equal to the loan’s amount, of course, and the fixed payment is the sum of the interest payment (as returned by the IPmt()

function) plus the principal payment (as returned by the PPmt() function). Pmt(rate, nper, pv[, fv[, type]]) This function is a combination of the IPmt()

and PPmt() functions. It returns the payment (including both principal and interest) for a loan based on periodic, fixed payments and a fixed interest rate. For a description of the function’s arguments, see the IPmt entry. Notice that the Pmt() function doesn’t require the per argument because all payments are equal. The code for calculating the monthly payment is similar to the code examples in the IPmt() and PPmt() entries:

PVal = 30000&

FVal = 0&

APR = 0.115 / 12

MPayments = 3 * 12

For Period = 1 To Mpayments

MPayment = Pmt(APR, Period, MPayments, -PVal, FVal, 1)

Debug.Print MPayment

TotAmount = TotAmount + MPayment

Next Period

Debug.Print ÒTotal amount paid: Ò & TotAmount

’FV(rate, nper, pmt[, pv[, type]]) This function returns the future value of a loan based on periodic, fixed payments and a fixed interest rate. The arguments of the FV() function are explained in the IPmt() entry, and the pmt argument is the payment made in each period. Suppose you want to calculate the future value of an investment with an interest

rate of 6.25%, 48 monthly payments of $180, and a present value of $12,000. Use the FV() function with the following arguments:

Payment = 180

APR = 6.25 / 100

TotPmts = 48

PVal = 12000

FVal = FV(APR / 12, TotPmts, -Payment, -PVal, PayType)

MsgBox ÒAfter Ò & TotPmts & Ò your savings will be worth $Ó& FVal

The actual result is close to $25,000.

NPer(rate, pmt, pv[, fv[, type]]) This function returns the number of periods for a loan based on periodic, fixed payments and a fixed interest rate. For a description of the function’s arguments, see the IPmt entry. Suppose you borrow $25,000 at 11.5%, and you can afford to pay $450 per month. To figure out what this means to your financial state in the future, you would like to know how may years it will take you to pay off the loan. Here’s how you can use

the Nper() function to do so:

FVal = 0

PVal = 25000

APR = 0.115 / 12

Payment = 450

PayType = 0

TotPmts = NPer(APR, -Payment, PVal, FVal, PayType)

If Int(TotPmts) <> TotPmts Then TotPmts = Int(TotPmts) + 1

Debug.Print ÒThe loanÕs duration will be: Ò & TotPmts & Ò monthsÓ The actual duration of this loan is 80 months, which corresponds to nearly 6.5 years. If the payment is increased from $450 to $500, the loan’s duration will drop to 69 months, and a monthly payment of $550 will bring the loan’s duration down to 60 months. Rate(nper, pmt, pv[, fv[, type[, guess]]]) You use this function to figure out the interest rate per payment period for a loan. Its arguments are the same as with the previous financial functions, except for the guess argument, which is the estimated interested rate. If you omit the guess argument, the value 0.1 (10%) is

assumed.

Suppose you want to borrow $10,000 and pay it off in 36 months with a monthly payment of $350 or less. Here’s how you can use the Rate() function to calculate the interest rate:

FVal = 0

PVal = 10000

Payment = 350

Payments = 36

PayType = 0

guess = 0.1

IRate = Rate(Payments, -Payment, PVal, FVal, PayType, guess)

Debug.Print ÒThe desired interest rate is: Ò & Irate * 12 * 100 & Ò%Ó

The interest rate is approximately 15.7%.

Table A.21 lists and describes the remaining financial functions.

TA B L E A . 2 1 : Additional Financial Functions

Function What It Returns

PV The present value of an investment NPV A Double specifying the net present value of an investment based on a series of periodic cash flows and a discount rate IRR The internal rate of return for an investment MIRR A Double specifying the modified internal rate of return for a series of periodic cash flows DDB A Double specifying the depreciation of an asset for a specific time period using the doubledeclining balance method or some other method you specify SYD A Double specifying the sum-of-years’ digits depreciation of an asset for a specified period SLN A Double specifying the straight-line depreciation of an asset for a single period

Color Functions

The following two functions specify color values that can be used with Visual Basic’s drawing methods or with the properties that set the color of various controls (ForeColor, BackColor). The QBColor() function is the simpler one and is

commonly used with business applications.

QBColor(color) This function returns a Long Integer representing the RGB color code corresponding to the specified color number. The color argument is a number in the range 0 through 15. Each value returns a different color, as shown in Table A.22.

TA B L E A . 2 2 : The Values for the color Argument

NUMBER COLOR

0 Black

1 Blue

2 Green

3 Cyan

4 Red

5 Magenta

6 Yellow

7 White

8 Gray

9 Light Blue

10 Light Green

11 Light Cyan

12 Light Red

13 Light Magenta

14 Light Yellow

15 Bright White

Use the QBColor() function to specify colors if you want to address the needs of users with the least-capable graphics adapter (one that can’t display more than the basic 16 colors). Also use it for business applications that don’t require many colors.

RGB(red, green, blue) This function returns a Long Integer representing a color value. The red, green, and blue arguments are integer values in the range 0 through 255, representing the values of the three basic colors. Table A.23 lists some of the most common colors and their corres ponding red, green, and blue components. The colors correspond to the eight corners of the RGB color cube.

TA B L E A . 2 3 : Common Colors and Their Corresponding RGB Components

COLOR RED GREEN BLUE

Black 0 0 0

Blue 0 0 255

Green 0 255 0

Cyan 0 255 255

Red 255 0 0

Magenta 255 0 255

Yellow 255 255 0

White 255 255 255

For a detailed discussion on how to specify colors with the help of the RGB cube, see Chapter 6. The following statement:

Text1.BackColor = RGB(255, 0, 0)

assigns a pure red color to the background of the Text1 control.

Registry Functions

In Chapter 13, I discussed the API functions for manipulating the Registry. Because the operating system and all other operations rely heavily on the Registry, you should exercise extreme care when using the Registry. Visual Basic provides a few special functions for storing values in the Registry. These functions are safer than the API functions, and they access only a single branch of the Reg istry (in other words, you can’t ruin the branch of another application by mistake).

SaveSetting [appname, section, key, setting] This is a statement that stores a new setting in the Registry or updates an existing one. It’s the only statement discussed in this section. The appname argument is the name of the application (or project) that stores the information in the Registry. It doesn’t have to be the actual name of the application; it can be any string you supply, as long as it’s unique for your application. The section argument is the name of the Registry section in whichthe key setting will be saved. The key argument is the name of the key setting that

will be saved. The last argument, setting, is the value of the key to be saved. If setting can’t be saved for any reason, a runtime trappable error is generated. The following statements store the keys “Left” and “Top” in the Startup section of the application’s branch in the Registry:

SaveSetting ÒMyAppÓ, ÒStartupÓ, ÒTopÓ, Me.Top

SaveSetting ÒMyAppÓ, ÒStartupÓ, ÒLeftÓ, Me.Left

These values should be saved to the Registry when the application ends, and they

should be read when it starts, to place the Form on the desktop. GetSetting(appname, section, key, [default]) This function returns a key setting from an application’s branch in the Registry. The arguments appname, section,

and key are the same as in the previous entry. The last argument, default, is optional and contains the value to return if no value for the specified key exists in the Registry.

To read the key values stored in the Registry by the statements in the Save- Settings() entry, use the following code segment:

Me.Top = GetSetting(ÒMyAppÓ, ÒStartupÓ, ÒTopÓ, 100)

Me.Left = GetSetting(ÒMyAppÓ, ÒStartupÓ, ÒLeftÓ, 150)

Don’t omit the default values here because the Form may be sized oddly if these keys are missing.

GetAllSettings(appname, section) This function returns a list of keys and their respective values from an application’s entry in the Registry. The appname argument is the name of the application (or project) whose key settings are requested.

The section argument is the name of the section whose key settings are requested. The GetAllSettings() function returns all the keys and settings in the specified section of the Registry in a two-dimensional array. The element (0,0) of the array contains the name of the first key, and the elements (0,1) contains the setting of this key. The next two elements (1,0) and (1,1) contain the key and setting of the second element and so on. To find out how many keys are stored in the specific section of the Registry, use the LBound() and UBound() functions. The following statement retrieves all the keys in the Startup section for the MyApp application and stores them in the array AllSettings:

AllSettings = GetAllSettings(ÒMyAppÓ, ÒStartupÓ)

You can then set up a loop that scans the array and displays the key and setting pairs:

For i = LBound(AllSettings, 1) To UBound(AllSettings, 1)

Debug.Print AllSettings(i, 0) & Ò = Ò & AllSettings(i, 1)

Miscellaneous Functions

This section describes the functions used in controlling program flow.

Choose(index, choice-1[, choice-2, ... [, choice-n]]) This function selects and returns a value from a list of arguments. The index argument is a numeric value between 1 and the number of available choices. The following arguments are the

available options. The function will return the first option if index is 1, the second option if index is 2, and so on. You can use the Choose() function to translate single digits to strings. The function IntToString() returns the name of the digit passed as an argument:

Function IntToString(int As IntegeR) As String

IntToString = Choose (i+1, ÒzeroÓ, ÒoneÓ, ÒtwoÓ, ÒthreeÓ, _

ÒfourÓ, ÒfiveÓ, ÒsixÓ, ÒsevenÓ, ÒeightÓ, ÒnineÓ)

End Sub

If index is less than one or larger than the number of options, the Choose function returns a Null value.

IIf(expression, truepart, falsepart) This function returns one of two parts, depending on the evaluation of expression. If the expression argument is True, the truepart argument is returned. If expression is not True, the falsepart argument is

returned. The IIf() function is equivalent to the following If clause:

If expression Then

result = truepart

Else

result = falsepart

End If

In many situations, this logic significantly reduces the amount of code. The Min() and Max() functions, for instance, can be easily implemented with the IIf() function:

Min = IIf(a

Max = IIf(a>b, a, b)

Switch(expression1, value1, expression2, value2,….) This function evaluates a list of expressions and returns a value associated with the first expression in the list that happens to be True. If none of the expressions is True, the function returns Null. The following statement selects the proper quadrant depending on the signs of the variables X and Y: Quadrant = Switch(X>0 and Y>0, 1, X<0>0, 1, X<0>

If both X and Y are negative, the Quadrant variable is assigned the value 1. If X is negative and Y is positive, Quadrant becomes 2, and so on. If either X or Y is zero, none of the expressions are True, and Quadrant becomes Null. Environ() This function returns the environment variables (operating system variables set with the SET command). To access an environment variable use a numeric index or the variable’s name. If you access the environment variables with

an index value, as in:Print Environ(2)

you’ll get a string that contains both the name of the environment variable and its

value, such as:

TMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP

To retrieve only the value of the TMP environment variable, use the expression:

Print Environ(ÒTMPÓ)

and the function will return the value:

C:\WINDOWS\TEMP

If you specify a nonexisting environment variable name, a zero-length string (“”) is returned.

Shell(pathname [,windowstyle]) This function starts another application and returns a value representing the program’s task ID if successful; otherwise, it returns zero. The pathname argument is the full path name of the application to be started and any arguments it may expect. The optional argument windowstyle determines the style of the window in which the application will be executed, and it can have one of the values shown in Table A.24.

TA B L E A . 2 4 : The Values of the pathname Argument

Value Description

vbHide (0) The window is hidden, and focus is passed to it.

vbNormalFocus (1) The window has the focus and is restored to its original size and position. vbMinimizedFocus (2) The window is displayed as an icon that has the focus. vbMaximizedFocus (3) The window is maximized and has the focus. vbNormalNoFocus (4) The window is restored to its most recent size and position. The currently active window remains active. vbMinimizedNoFocus (6) The window is displayed as an icon. The currently active window remains active. The Shell function runs other programs asynchronously. This means that a program started with Shell might not finish executing before the statements following the Shell function are executed.

MSChart is actually a complicated application packaged as an ActiveX control. It can chart data in many different ways including graphic depictions of data points arranged in data sets. Let’s say we need a graph of monthly sales over three years that contains three data sets, one for each year, and each data set is made up of 12 data points. The data can be plotted in many different ways and a few of them are shown in Figure B.1. As you can see, the MSChart control supports many graph types in two and three dimensions. Every item of the plot can be accessed and manipulated through code, so we turn our attention next to the objects exposed by the MSChart control, their properties, and methods. To use the MSChart control in a project you must add the Microsoft Chart Control 6.0 component through the Components dialog box. When you place an instance of the MSChart control on the Form, it’s automatically populated with random values. To change this behavior, set its RandomFill property to False. You should display random data on the control to simplify the design process and then populate the control with the actual data from within your code. The random data values are limited in the range 0 to 100; the data points are labeled R1, R2, and so on; and the data sets are labeled C1, C2, and so on. Basic Properties One of the first properties of the MSChart control you must set in the control’s Properties window is the chartType property, which determines the type of the graph. Its value can be one of the constants shown in Table B.1. To size the MSChart control on the Form so that its data are easy to read, you must also set the values of the properties ColumnCount and RowCount, which are the number of columns and rows, respectively. To see the effect of the various settings of the chartType property, place an instance of the MSChart control on a Form and try the various settings in the Properties window. The Chart project, described later on and found in this topic’s folder on the CD,

lets you change the type of the chart at runtime and set other related properties (rotation and illumination of 3D charts, for example). Many of the properties of the MSChart control discussed in this section are demonstrated by the Chart project. Open the Chart project and experiment with the chart type settings. You should think of the MSChart control as a grid, only its data are displayed graphically. The rows of the grid are the data points and the columns of the grid are the data sets, or series. In Figure B.2 you see a MSChart control with three data sets (RowCount = 3) and 12 data points (ColCount = 12) in each set. Change the values of the Rows and Columns fields (which manipulate the RowCount and ColCount properties) to see how the chart’s appearance is affected.

TABLE B . 1 : Values of the chartType Property

Constant Value Description

vtChChartType3dBar 0 3D bar graph

vtChChartType2dBar 1 2D bar graph

vtChChartType3dLine 2 3D line graph

vtChChartType2dLine 3 2D line graph

vtChChartType3dArea 4 3D area graph

vtChChartType2dArea 5 2D area graph

vtChChartType3dStep 6 3D step graph

vtChChartType2dStep 7 2D step graph

vtChChartType3dCombination 8 3D combination graph

vtChChartType2dCombination 9 2D combination graph

vtChChartType2dPie 14 2D pie chart

vtChChartType2dXY 16 2D X-Y graph

By default, the data sets are mapped to the columns of the control and data points to the rows of the control. You can swap data points and data sets by checking the box Data In Rows. This control manipulates the DataSeriesInRow property of the Plot object. This property accepts a Boolean value and is available at runtime only. By default, its value is False (the data series are mapped to the columns of the data grid). To access it, you must use the following expression: MSChart1.Plot.DataSeriesInRow = True When you switch the data sets and data points, Visual Basic updates the labels and legends accordingly. Run the Chart project and check the option Data In Rows. The control will reverse rows and columns (data sets and data points) and change the legends of the graph. Using the MSChart Property Pages

The simplest way to set up a MSChart control is to use the control’s property pages. Right-click the control on the Form and select Properties. The dialog box with the property pages shown in Figure B.3 will appear on your screen. On this dialog box you can manipulate many properties that relate to the appearance of the chart and you should use it to create the type of chart you want. Every time you change a few properties on the property pages, click the Apply button to see the effects of your changes on the control. The MSChart control provides eight property pages, which are described next. The parameters you can set through these pages will be rather obvious, so I won’t discuss them in detail.

F I G U R E B . 3 :

The property pages of the MSChart control let you specify the appearance of the control with point-andclick operations.

Chart Page Use this page to specify the chart’s type and to determine whether:

· Data points should be identified with markers

· Multiple series should be stacked or plotted next to each other (see Figure B.4)

· Series correspond to rows (by default, series are mapped to columns)

· Series legends will be printed

Axis Page

Use this page to set up the axes of the plot and the tick marks. On this window, select an axis (x-axis, y-axis, or second y-axis) in the Axis box and then set its properties.

F I G U R E B . 4 :

Multiple series can be plotted

next to each other (top)

or stacked on top of each

other (bottom).

Axis Grid Page Use this page to set the properties of the major and minor grids of the chart. Select the axis whose grid you want to set and then specify the properties of its major and minor grid lines.

Series Page In addition to the data points, the MSChart control can plot various statistics on the chart. The statistics are the Minimum, Maximum, Mean, and Standard Deviation. Select the series whose statistics you want to plot and check the boxes in front of the statistic you want to display on the chart. The last statistic is called Regression and it’s a straight line that best describes the Data values of a series.

Series Color Page Use this page to set the appearance of each series in the plot. Select the series name in the Series box and set its properties. Some of the controls on this Form may be disabled, depending on the type of the chart.

Backdrop Page Every item in a chart can have its own background, which can be specified on this page. Select the item whose background you want to set and then set the background’s property.

Text Page Use this page to set the text of the graph title, axis labels, and footnote. Select the item you want to set in the Property Name box and then set its text, alignment, and orientation.

Fonts Page The Fonts page is where you specify the font to be used in rendering the text of the various items of the chart. First, you must select the item whose font you want to

set in the Property Name box (Title, Axis Labels and Axis Titles, Legends, and Footnote) and then set the characteristics of the font for this item. The most important aspect of the data control is the data to be plotted, and you can’t set them through the Properties dialog box. There are many methods for populating the MSChart control, and they are described in the following section.

Accessing Data and Their Labels One of the first operations of the MSChart control you must learn about is how to set and read its data. One method, which works through the Properties window but requires a lot of typing, is to set the Column and Row properties to the appropriate values and access the corresponding cell with the Data property. The value

of the Column property identifies the current column in the data grid and it goes from 1 to ColumnCount. Likewise, the Row property identifies the current row and it goes from 1 to RowCount. Change the value of one of the properties, Column or Row (or both), in the Properties window and then locate the Data property. The current value should match the value of a data point on the graph. If Row=4 and Column=10, it’s the fourth point of the tenth data set. When you’re specifying the control’s data points, you can also specify the column

and row labels. The column labels correspond to data series and the row labels to data points. To set the label of a data series, assign the appropriate value to the Column property (1 for the first series, 2 for the second, and so on). Then assign the string you want to appear as legend for the selected series to the ColumnLabel property. Likewise, to set the label of a data point, assign the row’s number to the

Row property and then assign the string you want to appear as legend for the selected data point to the RowLabel property. In the Properties window of the MSChart control, you will see a few more labelrelated properties: RowLabelCount, ColumnLabelCount, RowLabelIndex and

ColumnLabelIndex. You can specify more than one level of labels on the plot. If you set the RowLabelCount to a value larger than 1, you can specify additional labels for the rows of the plot. To select the level of a label, set the RowLabelIndex

to a value and then assign the additional label to the RowLabel property. To produce the chart of Figure B.5 assign the following values to the properties listed here, in the same order:

1. Set RowLabelCount to 3.

2. Set RowLabelIndex to 2 and then RowLabel to “Monthly Sales in Dollars” (without the quotes).

3. Set RowLabelIndex to 3 and then RowLabel to “for the last 3 years”. You can experiment on your own with the properties for the column labels and set multiple levels of labels for the chart’s columns. Usually, the data to be plotted are set from within an application’s code and not through the Properties window. After all, what use is it to always display the same data? You can use the process I just described from within your code to populate the grid, but it takes a lot of typing. To assign the value 99 to the second data point

of the third series, you’d have to enter the following code:

MSChart1.Column = 3

MSChart1.Row = 2

MSChart1.Data = 99

The simplest method to populate the MSChart control from within your code is to declare an array with the appropriate dimensions and assign the Data values to its elements. To create three data sets with 12 elements each, declare an array with 12 columns and 3 rows as follows:

Dim arrData(1 To 12, 1 To 3) As Integer

Then, populate the array with the appropriate data. The following loop creates three data sets with random values in different ranges for the various data sets (100 to 300 for the first data set, 200 to 500 for the second data set, and 100 to 600 for the third data set):

For i = 1 to 12

arrData(i, 1) = 100 + Int(Rnd() * 200) Ô Series 1

arrData(i, 2) = 200 + Int(Rnd() * 300) Ô Series 2

arrData(i, 3) = 100 + Int(Rnd() * 600) Ô Series 3

You must then size the MSChart control’s data grid with the statements:MSChart1.ColumnCount = 12

MSChart1.RowCount = 3

and finally assign the array with the data to the control’s ChartData property:

MsChart1.ChartData = arrData

The array’s dimensions must exactly match the numbers of columns and rows of the MSChart control. Notice that I declared both the lower and upper bounds of the array, to avoid a zero-based array. I could have also used the Option 1 statement in the Form’s code and declared the array as:

arrData(12, 3) As Integer

VB6 at Work: The Chart1 Project To demonstrate the techniques for populating a MSChart control and setting the

labels with code, we’re going to build the Chart1 project, which is shown in Figure B.6. If you don’t want to enter the code shown next, open the Chart1 project, which you will find in this topic’s folder on the CD. Create a new project and place a MSChart control and a Command button on the Form. Name the Command button “Populate” and insert the following code in its Click event handler.

Code B.1: The Populate Button’s Code

Private Sub bttnPopulate_Click()

Dim arrData(1 To 12, 1 To 3)

For i = 1 To 12

arrData(i, 1) = 100 + Int(Rnd() * 200) Ô Series 1

arrData(i, 2) = 200 + Int(Rnd() * 300) Ô Series 2

arrData(i, 3) = 100 + Int(Rnd() * 600) Ô Series 3

MSChart1.RowCount = 12

MSChart1.ColumnCount = 3

MSChart1.ChartData = arrData

End Sub

The vertical axis (y-axis) will be labeled properly based on the data values, but the horizontal axis labels will be generic (R1, R2, and so on). Let’s label the horizontal axis with the names of the months. If the first column of the arrData array

contains strings, these strings will be used as labels. Place a new Command button on the Form, name it “Label X-Axis”, and insert the following code in its Click event handler.

Code B.2: The Label X-Axis Button’s Code

Private Sub bttnLabelX_Click()

Dim arrData(1 To 12, 1 To 4)

For i = 1 To 12

arrData(i, 1) = Left(MonthName(i), 3)

arrData(i, 2) = 100 + Int(Rnd() * 200) Ô Series 1

arrData(i, 3) = 200 + Int(Rnd() * 300) Ô Series 2

arrData(i, 4) = 100 + Int(Rnd() * 600) Ô Series 3

MSChart1.RowCount = 12

MSChart1.ColumnCount = 3

MSChart1.ChartData = arrData

End Sub

There are no new statements in this code, except for the first statement in the loop, which assigns a string to the first element of each column. This string will become the label of the data set that corresponds to the column. Setting the legends of the plot is more complicated. To set the label of a series, you must use the expression:

MSChart1.Plot.SeriesCollection(i).LegendText

where i is the index of the series. The Plot and SeriesCollection objects will be discussed later. Unlike axis labels, the plot’s legends are not displayed by default. This behavior is controlled by the ShowLegend property. To display the legends shown in Figure B.6, place yet another Command button on the Form, name it “Show Legends”,and insert the following code in its Click event handler.

Code B.3: The Show Legend Button’s Code

Private Sub bttnLegends_Click()

For i = 1 To MSChart1.ColumnCount

MSChart1.Plot.SeriesCollection(i).LegendText = i + 1997

MSChart1.ShowLegend = True

End Sub

The last few items you must set are the graph and axis titles. Atitle can be set with the control’s Title.Text property. The axis titles are represented by the object Plot.Axis(axisID).AxisTitle, which will also be discussed later. The statements to display the titles of the graph shown in Figure B.6 are shown next. Code B.4: The Show Titles Button’s Code

Private Sub bttnTitles_Click()

MSChart1.Title.Text = ÒGraph TitleÓ

MSChart1.Plot.Axis(VtChAxisIdX).AxisTitle.Text = ÒX TITLEÓ

MSChart1.Plot.Axis(VtChAxisIdY).AxisTitle.Text = ÒY TITLEÓ

MSChart1.Plot.Axis(VtChAxisIdY2).AxisScale.Hide = True

End Sub

The last line hides the second y-axis, which is displayed by default. The Chart1 project demonstrates all the basic properties of the MSChart control, and you can use the project to experiment with the control. The information presented so far is the absolute minimum you need to set up a MSChart control and populate it with your data set(s). However, the MSChart control provides many properties and methods, which let you manipulate every aspect of its appearance from within your code. Its members are examined in the following sections.

Graph Items The MSChart control has more properties than any other control. Other than the data access controls, it probably has more properties than all the basic ActiveX controls combined. Every item on the chart, from the value and color of a data point to the location and alignment of the Labels, is exposed as an object which can be manipulated programmatically. I can’t list all the properties and methods

here, but most of these members can be easily located in the Object Browser, and their names usually reflect their role in programming the control. Instead, I will discuss the basic objects of a chart and the members you’ll be using most often. I will also present a few examples to demonstrate how to manipulate the basic items of a chart, such as the data values being plotted, their titles and legends, and how to edit a chart’s data interactively. After reading the information in this section, you should have a good understanding of the control’s structure, and you’ll be able to easily locate the object or member you need for a specific task in the Object Browser. Agraph is made up of the following objects, which represent distinct elements of the control’s sections (see Figure B.7):

· Plot The main area of the control, where the plot appears

· Title The graph’s titles

· Footnote The graph’s footnote

· Legend The graph’s legends

Each one of these elements is an object with numerous properties and methods. The richest and most complicated object is the Plot object, which represents the plot area. In the following sections I will present the basic members of these objects so you can get an idea of the structure of the control. To make the following sections easier to read and to help you locate the information you need, I’ve prefixed the

properties of each object and their subordinate objects/properties by the name of the object they belong to. For example, the Axis property of the Plot object is listed

as Plot.Axis. Because this property is an object, its properties are listed under the Plot.Axis object and they are prefixed accordingly. The AxisGrid property of the Axis object is listed as Plot.Axis.AxisGrid, and so on.

The Plot Object The Plot object is the area with the plot and it exposes many properties and methods. As you will see, many of these properties are objects, and accessing the various parts of the plot requires typing long expressions.

Plot.Axis(axisID) The Axis object represents the graph’s axes and exposes a number of properties, all of which are objects. Because a chart has two or three axes, the Axis object is a collection. Before you can call its properties, you must specify the desired axis either with an Index value or with the Item property. It’s easier to specify an Index value in parentheses after the name of the Axis object, and this index should have one of the following constants:

vtchAxisIdX vtchAxisIdY2 vtchAxisIdY vtchAxisIdZ A two-dimensional plot has an x- and y-axis, and optionally, a second y-axis (vtchAxisIdY2), which is parallel to the main y-axis and appears on the right-hand side of the chart. To get rid of this axis, use the Hide property, which is discussed

shortly. 3D charts have a z-axis too, which is identified with the constant vtchAxisIdZ To manipulate the chart’s axes from within your code, use the following properties.

· Plot.Axis(axisID).AxisGrid The AxisGrid property determines the appearance of the chart’s major and minor grids.

· Plot.Axis(axisID).AxisGrid.MajorPen and Plot.Axis(axisID).AxisGrid.MinorPen These are the properties of the pens that are used to draw the major and minor grids of the chart. Both properties are Pen objects, and you’ll find more information on this object (such as how to set the style of the grid lines and their colors) later on in the section “The Pen Object.”

· Plot.Axis(axisID).AxisScale The AxisScale object determines the scale of the axes and it exposes four properties.

· Plot.Axis(axisID).AxisScale.Hide Set this property to True to hide an axis:

MSChart1.Plot.Axis(vtChAxisIdY2).Hide = True

The default value of the Hide property for all axes is False. This property is commonly used to get rid of the second y-axis.

· Plot.Axis(axisID).AxisScale.Type The Type property determines whether the axis is linear, logarithmic, or percentage-based. Its value can be one of the following constants:

vtchScaleTypeLinear vtchScaleTypeLogarithmic vtchScaleTypePercent If the scale of an axis isn’t linear, you’ll probably want to set the values of the properties LogBase or PercentBase.

· Plot.Axis(axisID).AxisScale.LogBase The LogBase property specifies if the scale of a given axis is logarithmic. If the axis is logarithmic, you must assign the base of the logarithm to this property. The value of this property is usually 10. · Plot.Axis(axisID).AxisScale.PercentBase The MSChart control can plot the data values as percentages. The PercentBase property must be set

to the type of percentage and can have one of the constants in Table B.2. The data points are plotted as percentages of the quantity specified by the constant.

TABLE B . 2 : Constants of the PercentBase Property

constant TYPE OF PERCENTAGE PLOTTED

vtchPercentAxisBasisMaxChart Maximum value on the chart

vtchPercentAxisBasisMaxColumn Values in the column with the largest range vtchPercentAxisBasisMaxRow Values in the row with the largest range vtchPercentAxisBasisSumChart Sum of all values on the chart vtchPercentAxisBasisSumColumn Sum of all values in a column vtchPercentAxisBasisSumRow Sum of all values in a row.

· Plot.Axis(axisID).AxisTitle The AxisTitle property is an object that represents the title of the respective axis. To access and manipulate the x-axis title from within your code, use the properties exposed by the object Plot.Axis(vtchAxisIdX).AxisTitle.

· Plot.Axis(axisID).AxisTitle.BackDrop This object represents the background of the title. See the later section “The BackDrop Object” for a description of its properties.

· Plot.Axis(axisID).AxisTitle.Font This is the Font property that determines the font to be used for rendering the title’s text. This property is a Font object that exposes the standard properties of a font (e.g., Name, Size, Bold).

· Plot.Axis(axisID).AxisTitle.Text This property is the actual text of the axis title.

· Plot.Axis(axisID).AxisTitle.TextLayout Use the properties exposed by this object to control the layout of the text (e.g., alignment, orientation). See the later section “The TextLayout Object” for a discussion of its properties.

· MSChart1.Plot.Axis(axisID).AxisTitle.vtFont Use the properties and methods exposed by this object to specify the typeface and color that will be used to render the title’s text. It’s similar to the Font property, and its properties are discussed later in the section “The vtFont Object.”

· Plot.Axis(axisID).Labels(i) The Labels property is another collection that contains axis labels. Use the properties of this collection to control the appearance of the labels. The Label values are set automatically by the control and they depend on the values being plotted. However, you have complete control over the appearance of the labels with the following properties.

· Plot.Axis(axisID).Labels(i).BackDrop This object represents the background of the label. See the later section “The BackDrop Object” for a description of its properties.

· Plot.Axis(axisID).Labels(i).Font This object represents the font used to render the numbers on the plot’s tick marks.

· Plot.Axis(axisID).Labels(i).Format This property lets you change the default formatting of the Label values. To display all values with two decimal digits even if they are zero (e.g., 10.50 or 12.00), set the Format property to the string “#.00”. Any setting you can use with the Format() function can also be assigned to the Format property.

· Plot.Axis(axisID).Labels(i).TextLayout Use the properties exposed by this object to control the layout of the text (e.g., alignment, orientation) on the tick marks of the plot. See the later section “The TextLayout Object” for a discussion of TextLayout object’s properties.

· Plot.Axis(axisID).Labels(i).vtFont This property specifies the font that will be used to render the legend text. See the later section “The vtFont Object” for more details.

Plot.DataSeriesInRow This is one of the few properties of the Plot object that is not an object. To switch the order of series and data points, set this property to True. The legends and the labels of the x-axis are also swapped automatically. The Data- SeriesInRow property is False by default and the series (data sets) corresponds to the columns of the data grid.

Plot.SeriesCollection(i) The SeriesCollection property is a collection that contains all the data series in the control’s data grid. The first series is:

MSChart1.Plot.SeriesCollection(1) and the last one is:

MSChart1.Plot.SeriesCollection(MSChart1.ColumnCount)

Each SeriesCollection object exposes a number of properties and methods that you can use to customize the appearance of the series on the plot.

· Plot.SeriesCollection(i).DataPoints(j) This collection contains all the data values in a series. The first value in the first series is:

MSChart1.Plot.SeriesCollection(1).DataPoints(1) and the last one is:

MSChart1.Plot.SeriesCollection(1).DataPoints(MSChart1.RowCount)

· Plot.SeriesCollection(i).LegendText This property determines the legend of a specific series. To assign new legends to three series in a chart, use the following statements:

MSChart1.SeriesCollection(1).LegendText = Ò1999 Q1Ó

MSChart1.SeriesCollection(2).LegendText = Ò1999 Q2Ó

MSChart1.SeriesCollection(3).LegendText = Ò1999 Q3Ó

· Plot.SeriesCollection(i).Pen The Pen property is an object that lets you manipulate the properties of the pen used to plot a specific series. See the later section “The Pen Object” for more details.

· Plot.SeriesCollection(i).SecondaryAxis This property determines whether a specific series is mapped to the secondary axis of the chart, and it’s a True/ False value.

The Legend Object The Legend object represents the area of the chart where the legends are printed. Through its properties you can manipulate the location of the legend area, the font of the chart’s legends, and other similar properties. To access the values of the plot’s legends (which correspond to the plot’s series), you must use the property:

MSChart1.SeriesCollection(i).LegendText where i is the desired legend’s index. The basic properties and methods exposed

by the Legend object are discussed next.

· Legend.Backdrop The Backdrop property is an object that represents the legend’s background. See the later section “The BackDrop Object” for more information.

· Legend.Location The Location property is an object that exposes three properties that specify the location of the legend area on the chart:

· Legend.Location.LocationType The LocationType property determines the location of the legend area and it can have one of the following values listed.

vtchLocationTypeBottom vtchLocationTypeBottomLeft

vtchLocationTypeBottomRight vtchLocationTypeCustom

vtchLocationTypeLeft vtchLocationTypeRight

vtchLocationTypeTop vtchLocationTypeTopLeft

vtchLocationTypeTopRight

· Legend.Location.Rect Use the Rect property to specify the coordinates of the rectangle that encloses the legend area in pixels (if the Location- Type property’s value is vtchLocationTypeCustom). To specify the coordinates of this rectangle use the Min and Max properties, as follows: MSChart1.Legend.Location.Rect.Min.X = minXCoordinate

MSChart1.Legend.Location.Rect.Min.Y = minYCoordinate

MSChart1.Legend.Location.Rect.Max.X = maxXCoordinate

MSChart1.Legend.Location.Rect.Max.Y = maxYCoordinate

Finally, you can make the legend visible or invisible, with the Visible property of the Location object, which has a True/False value.

· Legend.TextLayout This property specifies various options for the layout of the chart’s legends. See the later section “The TextLayout Object” for more information.

· Legend.vtFont This property specifies the font that will be used to render the legend text. See the later section “The vtFont Object” for more information.

The Footnote Object This object represents the footnote of the graph and provides the following five properties.

· FootNote.Backdrop The Backdrop property is an object that represents the footnote’s background. See the section “The BackDrop Object” later on for more information.

· FootNote.Font This property is a Font object that exposes the properties of the font that’s used to render the footnote’s text.

· FootNote.Text This property specifies the text of the footnote.

· FootNote.TextLength This property is a read-only variable that returns

the length of the footnote’s text.

· FootNote.vtFont This property is equivalent to the Font property and has the same properties and methods as the vtFont object, which is discussed later in the section “The vtFont Object.”

The Title Object This object represents the graph’s title. Its properties have different names but the same functions as those of the Footnote object listed previously; they include:

· Title.BackDrop The title’s background; see the section “The BackDrop Object” for a discussion of its properties.

· Title.Font The title’s font properties

· Title.Text The title’s text

· Title.TextLayout The layout of the title’s text; see the section “The Text- Layout Object” for a discussion of its properties.

· Title.vtFont An alternative property for specifying the title’s font properties; see the section “The vtFont Object” for a discussion of its properties.

The vtFont Object The vtFont object represents a Font object and provides a set of members similar to the vbFont object. However, they are different than the Font’s members. The vtFont object exposes the following eight properties.

· vtFont.Name The Name property is a String value that returns (or sets) the name of the typeface (e.g., “Comic Sans MS” or “Verdana”).

· vtFont.Size This property specifies the typeface size in points.

· vtFont.Style This property specifies the typeface style, and it can have one of the following constants:

vtFontStyleBold vtFontStyleItalic vtFontStyleOutline

To apply more than one style, combine these constants with the Or operator:

vtFont.Style = VtFontStyleBold Or VtFontStyleItalic

· vtFont.Effect This property lets you apply the strikethrough or underline effect to a font, and it can have one if the following constants:

vtFontEffectStrikeThrough vtFontEffectUnderline

You can specify both special effects for the font by combining the two constants with the Or operator:

vtFont.Effect = vtFontEffectStrikeThrough Or vtFontEffectUnderline

· vtFont.vtColor vtColor is a property of the vtFont object that lets you specify

the color of the font. The vtColor object exposes the following properties.

· vtFont.vtColor.Automatic The color of the font is determined automatically by the control and depends on the object to which the vtColor property applies.

· vtColor.Blue, vtColor.Green, vtColor.Red These three properties determine the basic color components of the font’s color. To specify a midmagenta tone with the vtColor property, use the following statements:

MSChart1.Legend.VtFont.VtColor.Blue = 128

MSChart1.Legend.VtFont.VtColor.Green = 0

MSChart1.Legend.VtFont.VtColor.Red = 128

Notice that the MSChart control doesn’t recognize Long Color values, as do most color properties of other ActiveX controls, and there’s no property that returns the color of a font. You must retrieve all three Color values mentioned here.

· vtFont.vtColor.Set In addition to the properties mentioned here, the vtColor object provides the Set method, which sets the font’s color. The Set method accepts three arguments, which are three integers in the range 0 to 255, and they represent the intensity of the three basic color components. The Set method is quite similar to Visual Basic’s RGB()

function and its syntax is:

vtFont.Set red, green, blue

The TextLayout Object

The TextLayout object is used to specify various options for the layout of the text of the chart’s title and/or footnote. Both the Title and Footnote objects have a Text- Layout property, which is an object with the following four properties.

· TextLayout.HorzAlignment Use this property to specify how the legend is aligned horizontally. It can have one of the following values (their function is reflected in their name):

vtHorizontalAlignmentCenter vtHorizontalAlignmentFill

vtHorizontalAlignmentFlush vtHorizontalAlignmentLeft

vtHorizontalAlignmentRight

· TextLayout.VertAlignment This property specifies how the legend is aligned vertically. It can have one of the following values (their function is reflected in their names):

vtVerticalAlignmentBottom vtVerticalAlignmentCenter

vtVerticalAlignmentTop

· TextLayout.Orientation This property specifies the orientation of the legend. It can have one of the following values:

vtOrientationDown vtOrientationHorizontal

vtOrientationUp vtOrientationVertical

· TextLayout.WordWrap This is a Boolean value that specifies if the text of the legend will be wrapped if it doesn’t fit in the available area.

The Backdrop Object The Backdrop object represents the background of the various items on a chart, including the plot, legends, and axis titles. The background can be filled with a brush, it can have a frame, drop a shadow, and so on. All these features can be accessed through the following objects and properties:

· Backdrop.Fill The Fill property specifies how an object will be filled. It exposes the Brush and Style objects.

· Backdrop.Fill.Brush The Brush property is a Brush object that determines how the object will be filled. Its properties are described later on in the section “The Brush Object.”

· Backdrop.Fill.Style The Style property determines if the corresponding object will be filled with a brush. This property’s valid values are the constants vtFillStyleBrush and vtFillStyleNull.

· Backdrop.Frame This is another object that represents the frame of the backdrop. It can be manipulated through the following three properties:

· Backdrop.Frame.FrameColor and

BackDrop.Frame.SpaceColor Use these two properties to specify the color of the frame. Both properties are objects that expose the same properties (Automatic, Blue, Green, and Red) and the Set method of the vtFont object’s Color property.

· Backdrop.Frame.Style This property determines the frame’s style. It can have one of the following constants:

vtFrameStyleDoubleLine vtFrameStyleNull vtFrameStyleSingleLine

vtFrameStyleThickInner vtFrameStyleThickOuter

To see the effect of these settings on the frame’s style, try them with a statement like the following one:

MSChart1.Plot.Backdrop.Frame.Style = vtFrameStyleThickInner

· Backdrop.Frame.Width This property specifies the frame’s width in pixels.

· Backdrop.Shadow This property is also an object that determines if the backdrop will have a shadow and the style of the shadow. To create a shadow behind a frame, you must use the Backdrop.Shadow.offset property.

· Backdrop.Shadow.Offset This property determines the offset of the

shadow in pixels. To set the shadow’s offset, use the Offset object’s X and Y properties or the Set method. To specify a shadow depth of three pixels in both directions, use the statements:

MSChart1.Plot.Backdrop.Shadow.Offset.X = 3

The syntax of the equivalent Set method is:

MSChart1.Plot.Backdrop.Shadow.Offset.Set 3, 3

This statement will create a shadow behind the Plot area three pixels tall and three pixels wide.

The Brush Object

The Brush object represents the brush used to draw various parts of the plot, such as the bars of a bar graph, the backdrop of a plot, or the legends. The brush can be

solid or patterned and you can specify the pattern and color through the following four properties.

· Brush.FillColor This property lets you specify the brush’s color. If the brush style is solid, the object is filled with this color. If it’s patterned, the specified pattern is drawn on top of this color. The FillColor property is a vtColor object,

and you can use the properties and methods discussed previously in the section “The vtColor Object” to manipulate the FillColor property.

· Brush.Style This property determines the fill pattern of the brush. It can have one of the following values:

vtBrushStyleHatched vtBrushStyleNull

vtBrushStylePattern vtBrushStyleSolid

If the Style property is set to vtBrushStylePattern, you should use the Index property to specify the pattern’s style.

· Brush.Index Use the Index property to specify a pattern other than solid to fill the object to which the Brush applies. The Index property can have one of the following constants:

vtBrushPattern25Percent vtBrushPatternBoldUpDiagonal

vtBrushPatternHorizontal vtBrushPattern50Percent

vtBrushPatternBoldDownDiagonal vtBrushPatternTrellis

vtBrushPattern75Percent vtBrushPatternBoldVertical

vtBrushPatternInvertedTrellis vtBrushPattern88Percent

vtBrushPatternUpDiagonal vtBrushPatternGrid

vtBrushPattern94Percent vtBrushPatternDownDiagonal

vtBrushPatternChecks vtBrushPatternBoldHorizontal

vtBrushPatternVertical vtBrushPatternWeave

To see the effect of the various settings of the Index property use a statement like the following one to assign the constants mentioned in this paragraph to the Index property:

MSChart1.Plot.Backdrop.Fill.Brush.Index = VtBrushPattern50Percent

· Brush.PatternColor This is another vtColor object that determines the pattern’s color. Use the Automatic, Red, Green, and Blue properties or the Set method to set the pattern color.

The Pen Object The Pen object represents the pen used to draw various items of the chart, such as the lines in a line plot, the lines and tick marks of an axis, or the major and minor grids (properties MajorPen and MinorPen, respectively). The Pen object provides five properties for controlling the pen’s characteristics.

· Pen.Cap This property specifies the cap of the line segments used in line plots. It can have one of the following constants:

vtPenCapButt vtPenCapRound vtPenCapSquare

· Pen.Join This property specifies how successive line segments in line plots are joined to each other. It can have one of the following constants:

vtPenJoinBevel vtPenJoinMiter vtPenJoinRound

· Pen.Style This property specifies the style of the line. It can have one of the following values:

vtPenStyleDashDit vtPenStyleDashDitDit vtPenStyleDashDot

vtPenStyleDashDotDot vtPenStyleDashed vtPenStyleDitted

vtPenStyleDotted vtPenStyleNative vtPenStyleNull

vtPenStyleSolid

· Pen.vtColor Use this property to set the color of the pen; it’s another vtColor object. See the earlier section “The vtColor Object” for a description of its properties.

· Pen.Width Use this property to set the pen’s width in pixels.

Copying and Pasting Chart Data The MSChart control provides two powerful methods for exchanging data with other applications: the EditCopy and EditPaste methods. The EditCopy method copies the contents of the control to the Clipboard, and the EditPaste method copies the contents of the Clipboard on the control. The two methods can copy both Numeric data (including the labels) and bitmaps. Depending on the destination of the Paste command, the control’s contents will be pasted either as text or as a metafile.

Figure B.8 shows the Form of the DataEdit Project, which is discussed in the following section. This application lets you edit the grid’s data and copy it to the Clipboard. Let’s discuss the code behind the Copy and Paste buttons. If you click the Copy Data button, the control’s data are copied to the Clipboard with the statement:

MSChart1.EditCopy

If you start a text editor and issue the Paste command, the grid’s contents will be pasted as text. Each row of the data grid will be placed on a new line and consecutive data points will be delimited with a Tab character. Figure B.9 shows how the contents of a MSChart control with four columns and 12 rows would look. Notice that the row and column labels are also copied along with the data. If you edit the data (without changing the structure), you can bring them back to the control with the Paste Data button. Change a few values in NotePad (you can also add or remove lines or columns), select all the data with the mouse or the EditãSelect

All command, and copy them to the Clipboard with the Edit ã Copy command. Since the data comes from a text editing application, the Clipboard contains plain text. The data can be pasted back on the control with the statement:

MSChart1.EditPaste

Click on the Copy Data button again, and this time, start a bitmap editing application like Paint and paste the data. The same data will be copied from the Clipboard as a bitmap (see Figure B.10). If you examine the contents of the Clipboard at

this point, you’ll see that they are described as text, bitmap, and metafile. Depending on the type of data the destination application recognizes, the chart will be copied as one of those types. You can also use another application to generate the data grid and then copy and paste it on the MSChart control with the EditPaste method. For example, you can

select a range of cells in Excel, copy them with Excel’s EditãCopy command, and paste them on the chart with the Paste Data button. You can also use Visual Basic’s

MSFlexGrid control to enter data and then plot them on a MSChart control. In the following section, we’ll look at how you can couple a MSChart and a MSFlexGrid control to make them work in tandem. The MSFlexGrid control is the data entry and editing tool and the MSChart control displays the data graphically.

Editing Chart Data You’ve learned how to populate the grid, edit data values from within your code, paste all the data values to a text editing application, and edit the data values, but there’s no method for editing the data grid interactively. The MSChart control’s internal data grid can’t be edited directly. It’s possible, however, to select points

on the chart and edit them. To do so, you must program the SeriesSelected and

PointSelected events, which are recognized by the MSChart control. As you may

have noticed, when you click on a data point on the MSChart control for the first

time, the entire series (data set) is selected. If you then click on a data point on the selected series, the point is selected. When a series is selected, the SeriesSelected event is fired and its handler’s declaration is:

Private Sub MSChart1_SeriesSelected(Series As Integer, _

MouseFlags As Integer, Cancel As Integer)

Series is an integer that identifies the selected series (the first series’ index is 1)

and the MouseFlags argument contains information about the status of the Control and Shift keys. Its values are vtChMouseFlagControlKeyDown (=8) if the Control key is down when the mouse is clicked and vtChMouseFlagShiftKeyDown (=4) if the Shift key is down. The Cancel argument is a True/False argument that can be set from within the subroutine’s code to cancel the selection.

TIP To let the user select a data point without selecting a series first, you can set the AllowSeriesSelection property to False. When a data point is selected, the PointSelected event is fired. Its handler’s declaration is:

Private Sub MSChart1_PointSelected(Series As Integer,_

DataPoint As Integer, MouseFlags As Integer, Cancel As Integer) Its arguments are the same as for the SeriesSelected event, except for the DataPoint argument, which reports the index of the selected point in the selected series (the first data point’s index is 1). To access the value of the selected point on the chart, use the following statements:

MSChart1.Column = Series

MSChart1.Row = DataPoint

dataValue = MSChart1.Data

The variable dataValue holds the value of the selected point and you can adjust it from within your code accordingly. Then, update the chart by assigning the new value to the same data point:

MSChart1.Data = dataValue * 1.10

You can also use the SeriesSelected event to edit an entire data set. For instance, you can increase all the values in the series by a given percentage, change its color, and so on. To change the color of an entire series, you must access the selected series with the expression:

Dim thisSeries As Series

Set thisSeries = Mschart1.Plot.SeriesCollection(series)

Then, you must request the Pen object of the series and call its Set method to change the series color:

thisSeries.Pen.VtColor.Set(red, green, blue) Red, green and blue are the three color components you would use with RGB() function to set a Color value.

VB6 at Work: The DataEdit Project

Now we can look at the code of the DataEdit project, which uses a MSChart and a MSFlexGrid control to display the same data in different formats (the application’s Form is shown in Figure B.8). The MSFlexGrid control contains Numeric data and it is plotted on the MSChart control. The two controls are coupled as follows:

1. When the application’s Form is loaded, the MSChart control’s (random) data are copied to the corresponding cells of the MSFlexGrid control. The columns of the grid are also colored with the same color as the corresponding series on the graph.

2. When the user selects a data point, a TextBox is displayed over the corresponding cell, so that the user can edit the cell’s value in the TextBox control (this technique was discussed in detail in Chapter 9 in the section “The MSFlexGrid Control”).

3. The user can commit the changes by pressing Enter or by moving the focus to another cell with the mouse. At this point, the cell’s contents are copied to the MSChart control’s data grid and the chart is updated automatically. Let’s start with the code that initializes the MSFlexGrid control, which is executed from within the Form’s Load event:

Code B.5: Copying the Chart’s Data to a Grid Control

Private Sub Form_Load()

Me.Show

Me.Refresh

MSFlexGrid1.Col = 0

MSFlexGrid1.ColWidth(0) = TextWidth(ÒPOINT # 999Ó)

For irow = 1 To MSChart1.RowCount

MSFlexGrid1.Row = irow

MSFlexGrid1.Text = ÒPOINT # Ò & irow

For icol = 1 To MSChart1.ColumnCount

MSChart1.Column = icol

MSFlexGrid1.Col = icol

MSFlexGrid1.Row = 0

MSFlexGrid1.Text = ÒSET # Ò & icol

If MSChart1.ChartType <> VtChChartType2dLine Or _

MSChart1.ChartType <> VtChChartType3dLine Then

With MSChart1.Plot.SeriesCollection(icol)._

DataPoints(-1).Brush.FillColor

clr = RGB(.Red, .Green, .Blue)

End With

Else

With MSChart1.Plot.SeriesCollection(icol).Pen.VtColor

clr = RGB(.Red, .Green, .Blue)

End With

End If

For irow = 1 To MSChart1.RowCount

MSChart1.Row = irow

MSFlexGrid1.Row = irow

MSFlexGrid1.Col = icol

MSFlexGrid1.Text = MSChart1.Data

MSFlexGrid1.CellBackColor = clr

Ô In case the chart is 3D, rotate it

MSChart1.Plot.View3d.Set 60, 30

End Sub

The MSFlexGrid control’s size must match the size of the MSChart control’s data grid. At design time, you must set the property MSFlexGrid1.Rows to the value of the property MSChart1.RowCount + 1 (to account for the fixed column of the grid) and the property MSFlexGrid1.Cols to the value of the property MSChart1.ColumnCount + 1 (to account for the fixed row). The first loop in the previous listing sets the headings of the fixed column. Then comes a nested loop that scans the columns of the data grid and the rows within each column:

For icol = 1 To MSChart1.ColumnCount

For irow = 1 To MSChart1.RowCount

{process cell}

In the outer loop, the code sets the current column’s heading and assigns the color used to render the current data set to the matching column of the MSFlexGrid control. All types of charts use a Brush object to draw the chart, except for line plots, which use a Pen object. The long If ... Else structure extracts the color of the Pen or Brush object (depending on the type of the plot) and uses it to color the current column of the grid. Notice how I used the With structure to simplify the code. The expression for accessing the color of the Brush object is:

MSChart1.Plot.SeriesCollection(icol).DataPoints(-1).Brush.FillColor

To extract the three basic colors of the Brush object’s Color value, you must call the properties:

MSChart1.Plot.SeriesCollection(icol).DataPoints(-1).Brush.FillColor.Red

MSChart1.Plot.SeriesCollection(icol).DataPoints(-1).Brush.FillColor.Green

MSChart1.Plot.SeriesCollection(icol).DataPoints(-1).Brush.FillColor.Blue

and then blend them with the RGB() function to obtain the desired Color value in a format that can be used to set the CellBackColor property of a cell on the MSFlexGrid control. Without the With structure, you’d have to enter three very long lines.The previous three lines can be compressed to the following:

With MSChart1.Plot.SeriesCollection(icol).DataPoints(-1).Brush.FillColor

clr = RGB(.Red, .Green, .Blue)

End With

Notice the use of the Index value –1 for the DataPoints array. We’re interested in the Brush object, which is common for all data points in the series; we’re not interested in specific Data values. The inner loop scans each Data value in the current

column (series) of the data grid and assigns its value to the current cell of the MSFlexGrid control. It also sets the background of the cell to the color used by the MSChart control to render the current series. The code is fairly lengthy, but straightforward.

Interactive Editing of Data Values After the Form is loaded, the MSFlexGrid control contains the values of the

MSChart control’s data grid. To edit the control interactively, you must program the MSChart control’s PointSelected event as follows:

Code B.6: Preparing to Edit a Data Value

Private Sub MSChart1_PointSelected(Series As Integer, _

DataPoint As Integer, MouseFlags As Integer, Cancel As Integer)

MSChart1.Column = Series

MSChart1.Row = DataPoint

MSFlexGrid1.Row = MSChart1.Row

MSFlexGrid1.Col = MSChart1.Column

SetTextBox

End Sub

The first four lines locate the cell that corresponds to the Data value that was clicked on the MSChart control. Then, the code calls the SetTextBox subroutine, which prepares the hidden TextBox for editing. The SetTextBox subroutine’s listing is shown next.

Code B.7: The SetTextBox() Subroutine

Sub SetTextBox()

Text1.Left = MSFlexGrid1.Left + MSFlexGrid1.CellLeft

Text1.Top = MSFlexGrid1.Top + MSFlexGrid1.CellTop

Text1.Width = MSFlexGrid1.CellWidth

Text1.Height = MSFlexGrid1.CellHeight

Text1.Text = MSFlexGrid1.Text

Text1.SelStart = 0

Text1.SelLength = Len(Text1.Text)

Text1.Visible = True

Text1.SetFocus

End Sub

This subroutine resizes and moves the TextBox control on top of the current cell of the MSFlexGrid control, assigns the cell’s contents to the TextBox control, and moves the focus to it. The TextBox is then ready to accept user input. After the user

is done editing the current cell, they can press the Enter key to commit the changes, or move the focus to another control altogether. In either case, the same code is executed. You must monitor the Enter key press from within the TextBox control’s KeyPress event handler. If Enter is pressed, the program copies the new value to the MSChart control’s data grid and makes the TextBox control invisible:

Code B.8: Committing the Changes

Private Sub Text1_KeyPress(KeyAscii As Integer)

If KeyAscii = 13 Then

MSChart1.Data = Text1.Text

Text1.Visible = False

End If

End Sub

The same actions take place from within the TextBox control’s LostFocus event

handler:

Private Sub Text1_LostFocus()

MSChart1.Data = Text1.Text

Text1.Visible = False

End Sub

The user may also commit the changes by clicking on another cell. In this case, we must move the TextBox control on top of another cell and prepare it for editing. Here’s the listing of the MSFlexGrid control’s Click event handler:

Private Sub MSFlexGrid1_Click()

MSChart1.Row = MSFlexGrid1.Row

MSChart1.Column = MSFlexGrid1.Col

SetTextBox

End Sub

The editing process will also end if the user scrolls the grid. If the contents of the grid are scrolled, the TextBox control will not be scrolled along with the other cells; it will end up on another cell. To avoid a potentially confusing situation, we

must end the editing of the current cell from within the MSFlexGrid control’s Scroll event:

Private Sub MSFlexGrid1_Scroll()

Ô Remove this line to see what happens when

Ô the FlexGrid control is scrolled

Text1_KeyPress (13)

End Sub

We simply call the Text1_KeyPress event, passing the ASCII value of the Enter key as argument to end the editing of the current cell. Run the DataEdit project and edit the chart interactively. Notice how you can select the point to edit either on the chart or grid. No matter how a point Is selected, it’s edited on the MSFlexGrid control. DataEdit can become your starting point for many custom applications that

combine two of the most powerful ActiveX controls. There are many similarities between the MSChart and MSFlexGrid controls. They both store data in a grid with rows and columns, but they present their data to the user in different formats, both equally useful. The Copy and Paste buttons on the application’s Form were discussed earlier in detail in the section “Copying and Pasting Chart Data.” To complete the discussion of the project, I will show you the code behind these buttons.

Code B.9: Copying and Pasting the Chart’s Data

Private Sub bttnCopy_Click()

MSChart1.EditCopy

End Sub

Private Sub bttnPaste_Click()

MSChart1.EditPaste

Debug.Print Clipboard.GetFormat(vbCFBitmap)

Debug.Print Clipboard.GetFormat(vbCFMetafile)

Debug.Print Clipboard.GetFormat(vbCFRTF)

End Sub

Private Sub bttnPsteBMP_Click()

frmGRAPHBitmap.Show

frmGRAPHBitmap.Picture1.Picture = Clipboard.GetData()

End Sub

The Paste Graph Bitmap button pastes the chart as a bitmap on another Form, which contains a PictureBox control. The PictureBox control’s AutoSize property is set to True and the bitmap on the Clipboard is placed on the control with the

GetData() method.

Setting Chart Titles

Achart has several titles, which are listed next, along with the properties that allow you to access and manipulate them.

· Graph Title This is the chart’s title, which appears by default above the chart. To access the chart’s title, use the properties of the MSChart1.Title object.

· X-axis Title This is the title of the x-axis. To access the x-axis title, use the properties of the MSChart1.Plot.Axis(vtChAxisIdX) object.

· Y-axis Title This is the title of the y-axis. To access the y-axis title, use the properties of the MSChart1.Plot.Axis(vtChAxisIdY) object.

· Y2-axis Title This is the title of the second y-axis (the one on the right of the chart). To access the y2-axis title, use the properties of the MSChart1.Plot.Axis(vtChAxisIdY2) object.

· Z-axis Title This is the title of the z-axis, which applies to 3D charts only. To access the z-axis title, use the properties of the MSChart1.Plot.Axis(vtChAxisIdZ) object.

· Legend This object represents the plot’s legends. To access the legends, use the properties of the MSChart1.Legend object. All of the above properties expose a vtFont object as property, which you can use to manipulate the font for rendering the corresponding text. Except for the Legend object, all other objects have a Text property, which lets you specify the

corresponding title. The legend’s text is determined by the data and it must be specified along with the data or through the LegendText property of the Series Collection object of the appropriate data series. The Titles project, shown in Figure B.11, demonstrates the basic properties of the various objects that represent the titles of a chart. Open the Titles project (in this topic’s folder on the CD) and examine the code that calls the Font common dialog box. The code uses the vtFont object of the various parts of the control to set the initial values on the Font common dialog box. After the user has made their selection(s) on the Font dialog box, the new values are extracted and assigned to the corresponding members of the vtFont object. One item about this project’s code I should mention here is that the Font common

dialog box returns the selected font’s color as a Long Color value. The code uses the functions Red(), Green(), and Blue() to extract the color components of the selected color. These functions are shown next:

Public Function Red(ByVal rgb As Long) As Integer

Red = &HFF& And rgb

End Function

Public Function Green(ByVal rgb As Long) As Integer

Green = (&HFF00& And rgb) \ 256

End Function

Public Function Blue(ByVal rgb As Long) As Integer

Blue = (&HFF0000 And rgb) \ 65536

End Function

Rotating and Lighting 3D Charts

Three-dimensional charts can be rotated and illuminated in different ways. A3D object can be arranged in the space by rotating it around its vertical and horizontal axes. If you rotate the object by the appropriate angle in the two directions, you can orient the object any way you like. To rotate a 3D chart, use the View3D property of the Plot object. The angle of rotation around the vertical axis is called Rotation and angle of rotation around the horizontal axis is called Elevation. To set these angles individually, use the Elevation and Rotation properties of the View3D object:

MSChart1.Plot.View3D.Rotation = 60

MSChart1.Plot.View3D.Elevation = 45

Both angles must be specified in degrees. You can also set both angles with the Set method, whose syntax is shown here:

MSChart1.Plot.View3D.Set 60, 45

In addition to arranging a 3D chart in the space, you can also illuminate it with the members of the Light object. The Light object is a property of the Plot object, and it exposes several properties which let you manipulate the illumination of the chart programmatically. Before you can use the properties of the Light object, you must understand the illumination model used by the MSChart control, which is fairly simple. 3D charts can be illuminated with two types of light: ambient and directional light. The ambient light is uniform everywhere and illuminates the entire scene.

The directional light comes from a source (a spot light) placed at a specific point in the space surrounding the chart, and it is directed toward the center of the chart. To set the intensity of the ambient light, set the AmbientIntensity property to a

value between 0 (no ambient light) and 1 (maximum intensity). To illuminate a chart with directional light, you must create one or more light sources with the LightSources property of the Light object. The LightSources property is a collection to which you can add new light sources with the Add method:

MSChart1.Plot.Light.LightSources.Add (X, Y, Z, intensity) X, Y and Z are the coordinates of the light source and the last argument is the intensity of the light source (a value between 0 and 1). The coordinates are not absolute units. If a chart is enclosed in a box with 1 ´ 1 ´ 1 dimensions and centered around the origin, select the coordinates of the light source so that you can control the angle at which it will illuminate the scene. To change the characteristics of an existing light source, use the Set method, which also allows you to set the color of the light source. The Set method’s syntax is shown next:

MSChart1.Plot.Light.LightSources(1).Set red, green, blue

Red, green, and blue are the intensities of the basic color components (their value

must be a number between 0 and 1).

Two related properties are the EdgeVisible and EdgeIntensity properties, which work together to highlight the edges of the chart. When AmbientIntensity is set to a low value to produce a dark chart, you can set the EdgeVisible property to True and the EdgeIntensity property to a high value to highlight the edges of the chart. Open the Chart project (in this topic’s folder on the CD), set the chart’s type to a 3D type, and then turn on and off the checkbox Visible Edges to see the effect of

the EdgeVisible property. When the Visible Edges Option button is clicked, the following code is executed:

Private Sub Check1_Click()

Ô Make edges visible

MSChart1.Plot.Light.EdgeIntensity = Check1.Value

End Sub

The Add Light button adds a new spot light by manipulating the first member of the LightSources collection. The code in this button’s Click event handler sets the color of the spotlight to a random value with the following statement:

Private Sub Command4_Click()

MSChart1.Plot.Light.LightSources(1).Set _

Rnd() * 10, Rnd() * 10, Rnd() * 10, Rnd()

End Sub

The two scroll bars rotate 3D charts by calling the Set method of the View3D property. The first argument of the Set method is the Rotation angle and the second argument is the Elevation angle. Here’s the code that’s executed when the

scroll bars change value:

Private Sub HScroll1_Change()

MSChart1.Plot.View3d.Set HScroll1.Value, HScroll2.Value

End Sub

Private Sub HScroll2_Change()

MSChart1.Plot.View3d.Set HScroll1.Value, HScroll2.Value

End Sub

If you open the Object Browser in the Visual Basic IDE and select the MSChart Lib library, you’ll see that the MSChart control exposes many more objects and properties than can be discussed here. Armed with the information presented

here, you should be able to figure out how to use the other objects and members

of the control.

Visual Basic Dictionary 1

2008-06-14T00:23:00.000-07:00

Input/Output Functions
Visual Basic provides two basic functions for displaying (or requesting) information to the user: MsgBox() and nputBox(). Windows applications should communicate with the user via nicely designed Forms, but the MsgBox() and InputBox()functions are still around and quite useful.
InputBox(prompt[, title][, default][, xpos][, ypos][, helpfile, context]) The InputBox() function displays a dialog box with a prompt and a TextBox control and waits for the user to enter some text and click on the OK or Cancel button.The arguments of the InputBox() function are shown in Table A.2.

TA B L E A . 2 : The Arguments of the InputBox() Function
ARGUMENT WHAT IT IS DESCRIPTION
prompt The Prompt that appears in the If necessary, the prompt is broken into multiple lines dialog box automatically. To control line breaks from within your code, use a carriage return character or a linefeed character (Chr(10)).
title The title of the dialog box If you omit this argument, the application’s name is displayed as the title.
default The default input (if any) If you anticipate the user’s response, use this argument to display it when the dialog box is first opened. xpos, ypos The coordinates of the upper left Expressed in twips. corner of the dialog box
helpfile The name of the Help file Provides context-sensitive help for the dialog box.
context The number within the Help file Assigned to the specific topic.
The simplest format of the InputBox() function is as follows:
SSN = InputBox(ÒPlease enter your social security numberÓ)
The string that the user enters in the dialog box is assigned to the variable SSN.
The return value is always a string, even if the user enters numeric information.
When prompting for input with the InputBox() function, always check the value
returned by the function. At the very least, check for a blank string. Use the IsNumeric()function if you expect the user to enter a number, use the IsDate() function if you expect the user to enter a date, and so on. BDay = InputBox(ÒPlease enter your birth dateÓ)

If IsDate(Bday) Then
   MsgBox ÒPreparing your HoroscopeÓ
Else
   MsgBox ÒPlease try again with a valid birth dateÓ
End If


MsgBox(prompt[, buttons][, title] [, helpfile, context]) The MsgBox function displays a dialog box with a message and waits for the user to close it by clicking on a button. The message is the first argument (prompt). The simplest form of the MsgBox() function is as follows:
MsgBox Your computer is running out of memory
This function displays a message in a dialog box that has an OK button. The MsgBox() function can display other buttons and/or an icon in the dialog box and return a numeric value, depending on which button was clicked. Table A.3 summarizes the values for the buttons argument.
TA B L E A . 3 : The Values for the Buttons Argument
CONSTANT VALUE DESCRIPTION
Button Values
vbOKOnly 0 Displays OK button only.
VbOKCancel 1 Displays OK and Cancel buttons.
VbAbortRetryIgnore 2 Displays Abort, Retry, and Ignore buttons.
VbYesNoCancel 3 Displays Yes, No, and Cancel buttons.
VbYesNo 4 Displays Yes and No buttons.
VbRetryCancel 5 Displays Retry and Cancel buttons.
Icon Values
VbCritical 16 Displays Critical Message icon.
VbQuestion 32 Displays Warning Query icon.
VbExclamation 48 Displays Warning Message icon.
VbInformation 64 Displays Information Message icon.
Default Buttons
VbDefaultButton1 0 First button is default.
VbDefaultButton2 256 Second button is default.
VbDefaultButton3 512 Third button is default.
VbDefaultButton4 768 Fourth button is default.
Modality
VbApplicationModal 0 Application modal; the user must respond to the message box before switching to any of the Forms of the current application.VbSystemModal 4096 System modal; all applications are suspended until the user responds to the message box. 
Button values determine which buttons appear in the dialog box. Notice that you can’t choose which individual buttons to display; you can only choose groups of buttons. Icon values determine an optional icon you can display in the dialog box. These are the common icons used throughout the Windows user interface to notify the user about an unusual or exceptional event. Default Button values determine which button is the default one; pressing Enter activates this button The values 0 and 4096 determine whether the message box is modal. To combine these settings into a single value, simply add their values. Finally, the MsgBox() function returns an integer, which indicates the button
pressed, according to Table A.4.
TA B L E A . 4 : The Values of the Buttons
CONSTANT VALUE DESCRIPTION
vbOK 1 OK, vbCancel 2 Cancel, vbAbort 3 Abort, vbRetry 4 Retry
vbIgnore 5 Ignore, vbYes 6 Yes, vbNo 7 No. To display a dialog box with the OK andCancel buttons and the Warning Message icon, add the values 1 and 48 as follows:
cont = MsgBox("This operation may take several minutes", 48+1);Your script continues with the operation if the value of cont is 1 (OK button), or exit.To display a dialog box with the Yes and No buttons and the Critical Message icon, add the values 4 and 16 as follows:
cont = MsgBox("Incomplete data. Would you like to retry?", 4 + 16);
If cont = 6 Then // user clicked Yes
       {prompt again}
Else // user clicked No
   {exit procedure}
Endif
The title argument is the title displayed in the message box’s title bar. See the description of the InputBox() function for an explanation of the helpfile and context arguments. displays the length of the specified file in a message box.
FreeFile() Each file opened with Visual Basic must have a unique handle (a number) that is assigned to the file the moment it’s opened and is used to refer to the file in future operations. The handle is freed (that is, it becomes available to be used with another file) after its file is closed. FreeFile() returns an integer representing the next file number available for use by the Open statement. Hard-coding a file number is not considered solid programming
practice, so you usually call the FreeFile() function to find out the next available file number and then open the file using the value returned by the Free - File() function as follows: 
fileNum = FreeFile 
Open "myDocument.txt" For Output As #fileNum
The actual value of the file number is unimportant as long you use the variable fileNum to refer to the file myDocument.txt.
Variable Type Functions
The following functions manipulate variables. Some functions let you determine a variable’s exact type from within your code, and a series of functions determine the general type of a variable (such as numeric, date ,and so on). In addition, three functions let you populate array elements and quickly check array bounds.
VarType(variable) The VarType() function returns a value indicating the subtype of a variable, according to Table A.7.
TA B L E A . 7 : The Values Returned by the VarType() Function
CONSTANT VALUE DESCRIPTION
vbEmpty 0 Empty (uninitialized), vbNull 1 Null (no valid data), vbInteger 2 Integer vbLong 3 Long integer,vbSingle 4 Single-precision floating-point number,vbDouble 5 Double-precision floating-point number, vbCurrency 6 Currency value, vbDate 7 Date value, vbString 8 String, vbObject 9 Object, vbError 10 Error value, vbBoolean 11 Boolean value, vbVariant 12 Variant (used only with arrays of variants), vbDataObject 13 A data access object, vbDecimal 14 Decimal value, vbByte 17 Byte value, vbArray 8192 Array, The VarType() function doesn’t return the type of an array’s elements directly. Instead, the value of the elements’ type is added to 8,192. If you pass an array of strings to the VarType() function, the return value is 8,200 (which is 8,192 + 8). Array(argumentList) This function returns a Variant containing an array whose elements are assigned values from the argumentList. The argumentList variable is a comma-delimited list of values that are assigned to consecutive elements of the array. Omitting argumentList creates an array with no elements. To use it, you must redimension it with the ReDim command. The following statements create an array with the names of the days of the week:
Dim WeekDays
WeekDays = Array("Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday","Saturday", "Sunday")
FirstDay = WeekDays(0) "Monday"
SecondDay = WeekDays(1)  "Tuesday"
The lower bound of an array created using the Array function is always 0.Notice also that the Array function does not dimension the array. It only assigns values to its elements.
LBound(arrayname[, dimension]) This function returns the smallest subscript for the indicated dimension of an array. The arrayName variable is the name of the array, and dimension is an integer indicating the dimension whose lower bound will be returned. If dimension is omitted, the first dimension is assumed. The LBound() function is used with the UBound() function, which returns the largest subscript of a dimension of a given array, to determine the size of the array.
UBound(arrayname[, dimension]) This function returns the largest subscript for the indicated dimension of an array. The arrayName variableis the name of the array, and dimension is an integer indicating the dimension whose upper bound will be returned. If dimension is omitted, the first dimension is assumed.
To scan all the elements of a one-dimensional array, use both the LBound() and the UBound() functions. The following statements convert the elements of the string array Strings() to uppercase: Lower = LBound(Strings) Upper = UBound(Srtings)
For i = Lower to Upper
   Strings(i) = Ucase(Strings(i))
Next
IsArray(variable) This function returns True if its argument is an array. If the variable Names has been defined as:
Dim Strings(100)
the function:
IsArray(Strings)returns True.

IsDate(expression) This function returns True if expression is a valid date. Use the IsDate() function to validate user data. Dates can be specified in various formats, and validating them without the help of the IsDate() function would be a task on its own. Bdate = InputBox(ÒPlease enter your birth dateÓ)
If IsDate(BDate) Then
   MsgBox "Date accepted"
End If
IsEmpty(variable) This function returns True if the variable is empty. An empty variable hasn’t been initialized or explicitly set to Empty. After the execution of the following statements]:  
numVar = 0 stringVar = ÒÓ the variables numVar and stringVar are not empty because they have been initialized. If a variable has been declared with a Dim statement but not initialized or otherwise used by your program, it’s empty. This variable must be initialized before it
can be used; you can find out its status with the IsEmpty() function.
IsNull(expression) This function returns True if expression is Null. ANull value is a nonvalid value and is different from an Empty value. Regular variables can’t be Null unless you assign the Null value to them. Object variables can be Null. IsNumeric(expression) This function returns True if expression is a valid number. Use this function to check the validity of strings containing numeric data as follows:
age = InputBox(ÒPlease enter your ageÓ)
If Not IsNumeric(age) Then
MsgBox(ÒPlease try again, this time with a valid numberÓ)
End If
IsObject(expression) This function returns a Boolean (True/False) value indicating whether expression represents an object variable. To find out the type of object, use the TypeName() or VarType() functions, which are described next.
TypeName(variable_name) This function returns a string that identifies the variable’s type. It’s similar to the VarType() function, only instead of returning an integer, it returns the name of the variable’s type. The variable whose type you’re examining with the TypeName function may have been declared implicitly or
explicitly. Suppose you declare the following variables
Dim name As String
Dim a
 
The following statements produce the results shown (you can issue the statements in the Debug window and watch the values they return in the same window): 
Print TypeName(name)
String
Print TypeName(a)
Empty
a = ÒIÕm a stringÓ
Print TypeName(a)
String
a = #5/11/97#
Print TypeName(a)
Date
Print TypeName(b)
Empty
Notice that the variable b, which wasn’t declared, is Empty, but not Null. You must set a variable to Null from within your code.
Variable Type Conversion Functions
These functions convert their numeric argument to the corresponding type. With the introduction of the Variant data type, these functions are of little use. You can use them to document your code and show that the result of an operation should be of the particular type, but keep in mind that all operands in an arithmetic operation are first converted to double precision numbers for the greatest possible accuracy. Table A.8 lists the Variable Type Conversion functions and describes what they do.
TA B L E A . 8 : The Variable Type Conversion Functions
FUNCTION WHAT IT DOES
CBool(expression) Converts its argument to Boolean (True/False) type; evaluates to True if expression evaluates to any nonzero value. CByte(expression) Converts its argument to Byte type.
CCur(expression) Converts its argument to Currency type. CDate(expression) Converts its argument to Date type. CDec(expression) Converts its argument to Decimal type. CDbl(expression) Converts its argument to Double type. 
TA B L E A . 8 C O N T I N U E D : The Variable Type Conversion Functions FUNCTION WHAT IT DOES
CInt(expression) Converts its argument to Integer type. CLng(expression) Converts its argument to Long type. CSng(expression) Converts its argument to Single type. CStr(expression) Converts its argument to String type. CVar(expression) Converts its argument to Variant type. Numeric  expressions are converted to doubles, and alphanumeric expressions are converted to strings. CVErr() This function accepts as an argument a numeric value (which is an error number) and returns a variant of Error type containing the specified error number. The CVErr() function does not generate a runtime error. It can be the return value of a function, which may return a result (if no error occurred), or it can be an error
object if something went wrong during its execution. See Chapter 3 for more information on using this function and for some examples.

BBM naik

2008-06-13T23:13:00.000-07:00

Harga BBM di Negeri tercinta meroket, dari berita "harga  BBM naik = harga keperluan yang lain naik". Hal ini membuat rakyat kecil makin merana, kemiskinan ada dimana-mana, kejahatan makin merajalela.

Saudara ku sebangsa dan setanah air, Tiada masalah tanpa solusi, begitu kira-kira kata yang tepat. Karena rumus nya adalah masalah adalah modal untuk mendapatkan kesuksesan. Kemiskinan adalah modal menjadi kaya.

Dengan membuka mata, banyak sekali peluang yang ada. tinggal pilih!! kita pengen yang mana..
klik disini untuk membuka wawasan peluang usaha.

Selamat pagi Indonesia

2008-06-13T22:38:00.000-07:00

Kata itu selalu terucap dalam setiap aku terbangun dari tidur. Matahari pagi yang hangat mengusap sisi pipi hingga membuka mata, mata hati dan mata rantai kehidupan baru.

Sadar atau tidak sadar Indonesia ku seperti terlelap dalam mimpi, mimpi menjadi boneka yang manis yang dengan semena-mena di main-main kan oleh para adidaya.

Bangun, bangun lah Indonesia ku, Engkau masih Bhineka Tunggal Ika, Engkau masih Gemah Ripah Loh Jinawi dan Engkau masih punya Harga diri.Walau matahari terbit dari ufuk barat Engkau tetap INDONESIA ku.