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→Creating a New Project
The first step is to create a new project to contain our example Visual Basic Application. Start Visual Studio and select ''File->New project''. From the new project dialog select ''Windows Application'' and name the project ''myVBapp'' and click on ''Ok'' to create the new project. Once the new project is created Visual Studio will display a blank form ready for us to design the user interface of the application.
== Adding Controls to the Form ==
For the purposes of our example Visual Basic application we are going to add two controls to our form, a push button and a label. To achieve this we first need to access the Visual Studio Toolbox. Along the right hand side of the Visual Studio main window you should see a tab labeled ''Toolbox''. Click on this tab to display the ''Toolbox''. It should appear as follows:
[[Image:Examp.jpg]]
This Toolbox contains all the controls that may be used to build a Graphical User Interface for a Windows application. The toolbox will auto-hide by default, that is it will disappear when the mouse pointer is moved away from it. To make it permanently visible click on the push pin icon at the top of the toolbox window. Once it is pinned in place it will not auto-hide. It is also possible to detach the toolbox so that it will float and can be positioned anywhere on the desktop. To do so simply click on the toolbox title area and drag it.
Controls are added to the Form by clicking on the required control in the Toolbox and dragging it to the desired location on the Form. To add a label to the form, click on the Label control in the Toolbox, drag it to the center of the Form and release the mouse button. The new label will then appear in the Form at the point you dropped it.
Next we need to add a button. Grab a Button from the Toolbox and drag and drop it on the Form. Us ethe mouse to move the controls around the Form until you have a layout you are happy with. For example:
== Setting Control Properties ==
Now that we have added the controls to our Form we need to change some of the characteristics of these controls. This is done by changing the ''Properties'' of the controls. Properties are a group of settings that the appearance and behavior of controls to be changed. For example, there is a properties for changing the text displayed on a label, the color of a button, the font of the text on a button and so on. Properties of a control of changed using the Visual Studio ''Properties'' panel which is, by default, displayed in the bottom right hand corner of the main dialog:
[[Image:Exampl.jpg]]