We encounter many types of data in our daily life. For example, we need to handle data such as names, addresses, money, date, stock quotes, statistics and etc everyday. Similarly in Visual Basic 2012, we have to deal with all sorts of of data, some can be mathematically calculated while some are in the form of text or other forms. Visual Basic 2012 divides data into different types so that it is easier to manage when we need to write the code involving those data.
Visual Basic 2012 classifies the aforementioned information into two major data types, they are the numeric data types and the non-numeric data types.
6.1.1 Numeric Data Types
Numeric data types are types of data that consist of numbers, which can be computed mathematically with various standard operators such as add, minus, multiply, divide and so on. Examples of numeric data types are your examination marks, your height, your weight, the number of students in a class, share values, price of goods, monthly bills, fees and etc. In Visual Basic 2012, numeric data are divided into seven types, depending on the range of values they can store. Calculations that only involve round figures or data that do not need precision can use Integer or Long integer in the computation. Programs that require high precision calculation need to use Single and Double precision data types, they are also called floating point numbers. For currency calculation , you can use the currency data types. Lastly, if even more precision is required to perform calculations that involve many decimal points, we can use the decimal data types. These data types are summarized in Table 6.1
| Type | Storage | Range of Values |
|---|---|---|
| Byte | 1 byte | 0 to 255 |
| Integer | 2 bytes | -32,768 to 32,767 |
| Long | 4 bytes | -2,147,483,648 to -2,147,483,648 |
| Single | 4 bytes | -3.402823E+38 to -1.401298E-45 for negative values 1.401298E-45 to 3.402823E+38 for positive values |
| Double | 8 bytes | -1.79769313486232E+308 to -4.94065645841247E-324 for negative values 4.94065645841247E-324 to 1.79769313486232E+308 for positive values |
| Variant(numeric) | 16 bytes | Any value as large as double |
| Currency | 8 bytes | -922,337,203,685,477.5808 to 922,337,203,685,477.5807 |
| Decimal | 12 bytes | +/-79,228,162,514,264,337,593,543,950,335 if no decimal +-7.9228162514264337593543950335 |
Nonnumeric data types are data that cannot be manipulated mathematically using standard arithmetic operators. The non-numeric data comprises text or string data types, the Date data types, the Boolean data types that store only two values (true or false), Object data type and Variant data type .They are summarized in Table 6.2
| Data Type | Storage | Range of Values |
|---|---|---|
| String(fixed length) | Length of String | 1 to 65,400 characters |
| String(variable-length) | Length +10 bytes | 0 to 2 billion characters |
| Date | 8 bytes | January 1,100 to December 3,9999 |
| Boolean | 2 bytes | True or False |
| Object | 4 bytes | Any embedded object |
| Varient(text) | Length+22 bytes | Same as variable-length string |
Literals are values that you assign to a data. In some cases, we need to add a suffix behind a literal so that Visual Basic 2012 can handle the calculation more accurately. For example, we can use num=1.3089# for a Double type data. Some of the suffixes are displayed in Table 6.3.
| Suffix | Data Type |
|---|---|
| & | Long |
| ! | Single |
| # | Double |
| @ | Currency |
In addition, we need to enclose string literals within two quotations and we enclose date and time literals within two # sign. Strings can contain any characters, including numbers. The following are few examples:
memberName="Turban, John."
TelNumber="1800-900-888-777"
LastDay=#31-Dec-00#
ExpTime=#12:00 am#
Variables are like mail boxes in the post office. The contents of the variables changes every now and then, just like the mail boxes. In term of Visual Basic 2012, variables are areas allocated by the computer memory to hold data. Like the mail boxes, each variable must be given a name. To name a variable in Visual Basic 2012, you have to follow a set of rules.
The following are the rules when naming the variables in Visual Basic 2012
It must be less than 255 characters
No spacing is allowed
It must not begin with a number
Period is not permitted
Examples of valid and invalid variable names are displayed in Table 6.4
| Valid Name | Invalid Name |
|---|---|
| My_Car | My.Car |
| ThisYear | 1NewBoy |
| Long_Name_Can_Be_USED | He&HisFather *& Not allowed |
In Visual Basic 2012, one needs to declare the variables before using them by assigning names and data types. If you fail to do so, the program will show an error. They are normally declared in the general section of the codes' windows using the Dim statement.
The syntax is as follows:
Dim Variable Name As Data Type
Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
Dim password As String
Dim yourName As String
Dim firstnum As Integer
Dim secondnum As Integer
Dim total As Integer
Dim doDate As Date
End Sub
You may also combine them in one line , separating each variable with a comma, as follows:
Dim password As String, yourName As String, firstnum As Integer,.............
For string declaration, there are two possible forms, one for the variable-length string and another for the fixed-length string. For the variable-length string, just use the same syntax as example 6.1 above. However, for the fixed-length string, you have to use the syntax as shown below:
Dim VariableName as String * n, where n defines the number of characters the string can hold.
Dim yourName as String * 10
yourName can holds no more than 10 Characters.
After declaring various variables using the Dim statements, we can assign values to those variables. The syntx of an assignment is
Variable=Expression
The variable can be a declared variable or a control property value. The expression could be a mathematical expression, a number, a string, a Boolean value (true or false) and etc. The following are some examples:
firstNumber=100
econdNumber=firstNumber-99
userName="John Lyan"
userpass.Text = password
Label1.Visible = True
Command1.Visible = false
Label4.Caption = textbox1.Text
ThirdNumber = Val(usernum1.Text)
total = firstNumber + secondNumber+ThirdNumber
Constants are different from variables in the sense that their values do not change during the running of the program.
The syntax to declare a constant is
Const Constant Name As Data Type = Value
Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
Const Pi As Single=3.142
Const Temp As Single=37
Const Score As Single=100
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