Lecture 2

Creating an Application
with Visual Studio
Solutions, Projects, Files

Objectives
(Much of this Lecture Set should be read with Visual Studio open in
another window)

Slide 2

Introduction to Console and Windows

Applications
Understand basic terminology Solutions
Projects, Applications, etc.
See how to create new Solutions, new
Applications/Projects
General navigation around a Windows
Application and the Solution Explorer and
other windows in the Visual Studio IDE

BIG WARNING

Name everything you create with a

meaningful name

Slide 3

more on this to come

do not let the system name things for you
we will discuss naming conventions later
from the creation of you application to the
smallest of buttons use meaningful
names!!

Console Applications

Visual Studio supports the creation of a

number of different types of Applications
Each different type of Application has a
different structure and automatically
provides support for different applications
code
Types of Applications we will work with in
this course

Slide 4

Console Applications
Windows Applications

Types of Applications

Slide 5

The Console Class

Console is System class (it is in the System

Namespace) it is part of the mscorlib library
which as we have seen is one of the library
DLLs that is automatically loaded with the
execution of ALL VS applications.

Slide 6

(review)

mscorlib is discussed in the Chapter 1 Lecture

Set B (around slide 25). We will discuss
References a little later in this slide set.

This Console class supports a number of

methods, including methods performing
actions related to keyboard input (Read and
ReadLine) and screen output (Write and
WriteLine)

Comments re Console Applications

(optional)

Recall that Visual Studio 2005 provides us with a

convenient interface for applications
development.
We now examine the VS 2005 interface for a
Console Application
The Console Application provides a Module for
you to write code (a Windows App provides by
default a Form for the insertion of tools) You
have a minimal set of referenced namespaces
(classes from the FCL)

Slide 7

There are no classes to support Forms or Drawing,

etc

VS Interface - Console Application

(optional)

Slide 8

Windows Applications

We now move on to examine (more thoroughly)

Windows Applications
We begin with a look at the Visual Studio 2005
interface for a sample Windows Application
Note the default list of References and the Form
(as distinguished from what we saw in the
Console interface)

Slide 9

To get full views of information )all files, etc. click on

Show All Files (top of Solution Explorer window)
More solution information shows up after you do a
Build

VS 2005 Interface for Windows

Application

Slide 10

Solution with Two Projects

Slide 11

Solutions and Applications

Look again at the VS 2005 Interface for a

Windows Application (one slide back)
What do we see?

Slide 12

Applications?
Solutions
Projects
Other stuff

Look at the files associated with solution

What are these things?

Solution

Each Application that you create is

organized by Visual Studio into a Solution
The Solution file is the heart of an
Applications structure
A Solution in turn consists of numerous files
and folders, including one or more Projects
Multiple folders look at slide 10
The is also a Solution File (.sln)

Slide 13

(not to be monkeyed with)

A Visual Studio Solution

Slide 14

Solution Explorer

Slide 15

A Solution As Seen in Your Files

System

Slide 16

Project Characteristics

Again, refer back to Slide 11

A project contains one or more namespaces

Every project has a type (Console, Windows, etc.)

Each project gets compiled into an Assembly
Every project has an entry point

Slide 17

Every project has one root namespace

But projects can have many other Namespaces

A Sub procedure named Main or a form

Forms apply only to Windows Application projects

A Project

Slide 18

(continued)

Project References

Slide 19

A project has references to .NET

Framework class library namespaces
(next 2 slides)
.NET automatically adds references to
commonly used namespaces based on
the type of project template
Use the References tab of the project
property page to add additional
namespace references

Project Property Page References

Tab

Slide 20

Some FCL Namespaces That Can Be

Referenced

Slide 21

Creating a New Solution

(you did this

already)

Click on VS 2005 Icon on your desktop.

Click on Create New Project to display
the New Project dialog box

Slide 22

Specify the project template and the project

file name

OR pull down the File menu and follow

the same directions
Different templates appear based on the
installed Visual Studio edition

New Project Dialog Box

Slide 23

Creating a New Project

A new project does not exist in a vacuum it

must be part of an application
In VS, you begin with the application you wish
to create, and VS organizes everything you do
into a Solution (with one or more Projects)
The Application, and everything related to it is
encapsulated in a Visual Studio solution

Slide 24

There may be multiple projects inside a solution

The solution takes on the name of the first Project
created

View of a new project (in a

solution)

Slide 25

Solution with Three (related) Projects

Solutions and Projects

HangmanGame is the name of the solution it is at

the heart of your application and controls
everything
A new solution is created from a project template
This solution contains three Projects (Note pick
your solution, projects, and components names
carefully.)

Each allows you to rename DO IT in a meaningful

way before you do your first save.
The solution file has a suffix .sln.
Do not change this extension

Template Application Solution

projects)

Slide 26

(with one or more

Saving a Visual Studio Project

Click File, Save All to save the solution

the first time
Specify the solution name and the folder
where the solution will be created

Slide 27

By default, a new folder is created for a new

solution
Again pick all names carefully

Save Project Dialog Box

Slide 28

Organization of a Visual Studio

Solution

The Solution Explorer is used to manage the

elements of a solution

Slide 29

The folder named My Project contains

configuration information common to all projects
The file AssemblyInfo.vb contains assembly
metadata
The References folder contains references to
other assemblies
The bin folder contains the executable file
produced as a result of compiling the application
A project contains one or more parts

Solution Explorer with All Folders

Expanded

Slide 30

Solution Files Appearing in Windows

Explorer

Slide 31

Using the Solution Explorer

The Solution Explorer is a tool window as

opposed to a document window

Use the drill-down interface to expand and

collapse folders
Icons appear to identify different file types
File names appear to the right of the file
type icon
Use the Solution Explorer to rename files
rather than Windows Explorer

(Again look at an example with Visual Studio open and focused

on items such as the options menu, the toolbox, and the
solution explorer.)

Slide 32

The Solution Explorer Toolbar

The Properties button displays the Properties

window
The View Code button displays the Code Editor for
a module
The View Designer button displays a visual
designer

Slide 33

The visual designer varies based on the files contents

Not all files have an associated visual designer

The Refresh button synchronizes files

The Show All Files button displays all folders and
files
The View in Diagram button displays a class in a
hierarchical view

Windows of the Visual Studio IDE

Windows are of two types

Tool windows are common to all applications

Slide 34

Tool windows are used for development in all

Visual Studio languages

Document windows are used to create the

visual interface and code for an application

Tool Windows

The Solution Explorer groups the elements

of a solution
The Properties window is used to set
properties for objects
The Toolbox contains controls that are
created on a form
Several tool windows exist for debugging

Slide 35

Refer to Appendix A

The Error List window displays syntax errors

The Output window displays information as
a project is compiled

Displaying Tool Windows

Tool windows can be anchored along an

edge of the IDE

The process is called docking

Docked windows can be Auto Hidden

Slide 36

Auto Hidden windows appear when the mouse

is positioned over the hidden window tab

Floating windows appear anywhere on the

desktop
Some tool windows can be configured to
appear as document windows

The Appearance of Tool Windows in the

Visual Studio IDE

Slide 37