Visual Basic allows you to test conditions and perform different operations depending

on the results of that test. You can test for a condition being true or false, for various
values of an expression, or for various exceptions generated when you execute a
series of statements.
The following illustration shows a decision structure that tests for a condition being
true and takes different actions depending on whether it is true or false.
Taking different actions when a condition is true and when it is false

If...Then...Else Construction
If...Then...Else constructions allow you to test for one or more conditions and run one
or more statements depending on each condition. You can test conditions and take
actions in the following ways:
Run one or more statements if a condition is True
Run one or more statements if a condition is False
Run some statements if a condition is True and others if it is False
Test an additional condition if a prior condition is False
The control structure that offers all these possibilities is the If...Then...Else Statement.
You can use a single-line version if you have just one test and one statement to run. If
you have a more complex set of conditions and actions, you can use the multiple-line
version.

If...Then...Else Statement
Conditionally executes a group of statements, depending on the value of an
expression.
If condition [ Then ]
[ statements ]
[ ElseIf elseifcondition [ Then ]
[ elseifstatements ] ]
[ Else
[ elsestatements ] ]
End If
-or-
If condition Then [ statements ] [ Else [ elsestatements ] ]

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 Parts
condition
Required. Expression. Must evaluate to True or False, or to a data type that is
implicitly convertible to Boolean.
then
Required in the single-line form, optional in the multiple-line form.
statements
Optional. One or more statements following If...Then that are executed if
condition evaluates to True.
elseifcondition
Required if ElseIf is present. Expression. Must evaluate to True or False, or
to a data type that is implicitly convertible to Boolean.
elseifstatements
Optional. One or more statements following ElseIf...Then that are executed if
elseifcondition evaluates to True.
elsestatements
Optional. One or more statements that are executed if no previous condition or
elseifcondition expression evaluates to True.
End If
Terminates the If...Then...Else block.

Remarks
You can use the single-line form for short, simple tests. However, the multiple-line
form provides more structure and flexibility than the single-line form and is usually
easier to read, maintain, and debug.
When a multiple-line If...Then...Else is encountered, condition is tested. If condition
is True, the statements following Then are executed. If condition is False, each
ElseIf statement is evaluated in order. When a True elseifcondition is found, the
statements immediately following the associated Then are executed. If no
elseifcondition evaluates to True, or if there are no ElseIf statements, the statements
following Else are executed. After executing the statements following Then, ElseIf,
or Else, execution continues with the statement following End If.
Tip
The Select...Case Statement might be more useful when evaluating a single
expression that has several possible values.

In the single-line form, it is possible to have multiple statements executed as the result
of an If...Then decision. All statements must be on the same line and be separated by
colons. The following example demonstrates this.
If A > 10 Then A = A + 1 : B = B + A : C = C + B
In the multiple-line form, the If statement must be the only statement on the first line.
The ElseIf, Else, and End If statements can be preceded only by a line label. The
multiple-line If...Then...Else block must end with an End If statement.
To determine whether or not an If statement introduces a multiple-line form, examine
what follows the Then keyword. If anything other than a comment appears after Then
in the same statement, the statement is treated as a single-line If statement. If Then is
absent, it must be the beginning of a multiple-line If...Then...Else.

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The ElseIf and Else clauses are both optional. You can have as many ElseIf clauses as
you want in a multiple-line If...Then...Else, but none can appear after an Else clause.
Multiple-line forms can be nested within one another.

Example
Dim number, digits As Integer
Dim myString As String
number = 53
If number < 10 Then
digits = 1
ElseIf number < 100 Then
digits = 2
Else
digits = 3
End If
If digits = 1 Then myString = "One" Else myString = "More than one"

The following example shows both the multiple- and single-line forms of the
If...Then...Else statement.
In the preceding example, the ElseIf condition evaluates to True, and digits is
assigned a value of 2. The last statement then assigns a value of "More than one" to
myString.

Select...Case Construction
The Select...Case construction allows you to evaluate an expression once and run
different sets of statements based on different possible values. For more information,
see Select...Case Statement.

Select...Case Statement
Runs one of several groups of statements, depending on the value of an expression.
Select [ Case ] testexpression
[ Case expressionlist
[ statements ] ]
[ Case Else
[ elsestatements ] ]
End Select

Parts
testexpression
Required. Expression. Must evaluate to one of the elementary data types
(Boolean, Byte, Char, Date, Double, Decimal, Integer, Long, Object,
SByte, Short, Single, String, UInteger, ULong, and UShort).
expressionlist
Required in a Case statement. List of expression clauses representing match
values for testexpression. Multiple expression clauses are separated by
commas. Each clause can take one of the following forms:
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 expression1 To expression2
[ Is ] comparisonoperator expression
expression
Use the To keyword to specify the boundaries of a range of match values for
testexpression. The value of expression1 must be less than or equal to the
value of expression2.
Use the Is keyword with a comparison operator (=, <>, <, <=, >, or >=) to
specify a restriction on the match values for testexpression. If the Is keyword
is not supplied, it is automatically inserted before comparisonoperator.
The form specifying only expression is treated as a special case of the Is form
where comparisonoperator is the equal sign (=). This form is evaluated as
testexpression = expression.
The expressions in expressionlist can be of any data type, provided they are
implicitly convertible to the type of testexpression and the appropriate
comparisonoperator is valid for the two types it is being used with.
statements
Optional. One or more statements following Case that run if testexpression
matches any clause in expressionlist.
elsestatements
Optional. One or more statements following Case Else that run if
testexpression does not match any clause in the expressionlist of any of the
Case statements.
End Select
Terminates the definition of the Select...Case construction.

Remarks
If testexpression matches any Case expressionlist clause, the statements following that
Case statement run up to the next Case, Case Else, or End Select statement. Control
then passes to the statement following End Select. If testexpression matches an
expressionlist clause in more than one Case clause, only the statements following the
first match run.
The Case Else statement is used to introduce the elsestatements to run if no match is
found between the testexpression and an expressionlist clause in any of the other Case
statements. Although not required, it is a good idea to have a Case Else statement in
your Select Case construction to handle unforeseen testexpression values. If no
Case expressionlist clause matches testexpression and there is no Case Else
statement, control passes to the statement following End Select.
You can use multiple expressions or ranges in each Case clause. For example, the
following line is valid.
Case 1 To 4, 7 To 9, 11, 13, Is > maxNumber
Note
The Is keyword used in the Case and Case Else statements is not the same as the Is
Operator (Visual Basic), which is used for object reference comparison.

You can specify ranges and multiple expressions for character strings. In the
following example, Case matches any string that is exactly equal to "apples", has a
value between "nuts" and "soup" in alphabetical order, or contains the exact same
value as the current value of testItem.

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Case "apples", "nuts" To "soup", testItem
The setting of Option Compare can affect string comparisons. Under Option
Compare Text, the strings "Apples" and "apples" compare as equal, but under
Option Compare Binary, they do not.
Note
A Case statement with multiple clauses can exhibit behavior known as short-
circuiting. Visual Basic evaluates the clauses from left to right, and if one produces a
match with testexpression, the remaining clauses are not evaluated. Short-circuiting
can improve performance, but it can produce unexpected results if you are expecting
every expression in expressionlist to be evaluated. For more information on short-
circuiting, see Boolean Expressions.

If the code within a Case or Case Else statement block does not need to run any more
of the statements in the block, it can exit the block by using the Exit Select statement.
This transfers control immediately to the statement following End Select.
Select Case constructions can be nested. Each nested Select Case construction must
have a matching End Select statement and must be completely contained within a
single Case or Case Else statement block of the outer Select Case construction within
which it is nested.

Example
The following example uses a Select Case construction to write a line corresponding
to the value of the variable number. The second Case statement contains the value
that matches the current value of number, so the statement that writes "Between 6 and
8, inclusive" runs.
Dim number As Integer = 8
Select Case number
Case 1 To 5
Debug.WriteLine("Between 1 and 5, inclusive")
The following is the only Case clause
that evaluates to True.
Case 6, 7, 8
Debug.WriteLine("Between 6 and 8, inclusive")
Case 9 To 10
Debug.WriteLine("Equal to 9 or 10")
Case Else
Debug.WriteLine("Not between 1 and 10, inclusive")
End Select

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