• Repetition Structures-Loops

• InputBox
• ListsBox
Revision Questions
 Which type of loop is best to use when you know
exactly how many times the loop should repeat?
 Which type of loop is best to use when you want
the loop to repeat as long as a condition exists?
 Which type of loop is best to use when you want
the loop to repeat until a condition exists?

Slide 5- 2
Class Exercise

 Write a program that will print out the following

pattern on the screen

Slide 5- 3
Revision Questions
Write a program that will print out the following
pattern on the screen

Slide 5- 4
Introduction
 This presentation covers the Visual Basic looping
statements
 Do … While

 Do … Until

 For … Next

 It also discusses the use of

 List Boxes

 Input Boxes

Slide 5- 5
Input Boxes
1
Input Boxes Provide a Simple Way
to Gather Input Without Placing a
Text Box on a Form
Format of the InputBox Function
InputBox(Prompt [,Title] [,Default] [,Xpos] [,Ypos])

 Prompt - message to the user (required)

 Title - text for the box's title bar
 Default - default text for user's input
 Xpos - X coordinate for the box's position
 Ypos - Y coordinate for the box's position
 Square brackets around Title and following
arguments indicate these are optional

Slide 5- 7
Sample InputBox Usage
strUserInput = InputBox("Enter the distance.", _
"Provide a Value", "150")

 If the users clicks OK without entering a value, 150 will be

assigned to strUserInput due to the default value

Slide 5- 8
Xpos & Ypos
 Xpos specifies the distance from the left of the
screen to the left side of the box
 Ypos specified the distance from the top of the
screen to the top of the box
 Both are specified in pixels

Slide 5- 9
List Boxes
2
List Boxes Display a List of Items
and Allow the User to Select an
Item From the List
The ListBox Control
 A ListBox control displays a list of items and
allows the user to select one or more
 Drag from Toolbox to create this control on a form

Slide 5- 11
ListBox Items Property
 The Items property holds an entire list of values
from which the user may choose
 The list of values may be established at run time
or as part of the form design
 To set list values in the form design:
 Select the list box in the Design window

 View properties & click the Items ellipsis button

 This property is a collection, a list of values

 Type each value on a separate line

Slide 5- 12
ListBox Items.Count Property
 This property returns an integer with the number
of entries stored in the Items property
 Example of use:
If lstEmployees.Items.Count = 0 Then
MessageBox.Show("The list has no items!")
End If

 The number of entries in the list can be assigned

to an integer variable
numEmployees = lstEmployees.Items.Count

Slide 5- 13
Item Indexing
 The Items property values can be accessed from
your VB code
 Each item value is given a sequential index
 The first item has an index of 0

 The second item has an index of 1, etc.

 Example:

name = lstCustomers.Items(2)
' Access the 3rd item value

Slide 5- 14
Index Out of Range Error
 The index of the last item is always
list.Items.Count-1
 Reference to an index greater than Count-1 or
less than zero throws an exception
 An exception handler can trap this error
 The variable ex captures the exception thrown
Try
strInput = lstMonths.Items(n).ToString()
Catch ex as Exception
MessageBox.show(ex.Message)
End Try

Slide 5- 15
ListBox SelectIndex Property
 The SelectIndex property returns an integer with
the index of the item selected by the user
 If no item is selected, the value is set to -1 (an
invalid index value)
 Can use SelectIndex to determine if an item has
been selected by comparing to -1
 Example:

If lstLocations.SelectedIndex <> -1 Then

location = lstLocations.Items(lstLocations.SelectedIndex)
End If

Slide 5- 16
ListBox SelectedItem Property
 Instead of using the SelectedIndex property as
follows:
If lstMonths.SelectedIndex <> -1 Then
month = lstMonths.Items(lstMonths.SelectedIndex)
End If

 The SelectedItem property can be used to

retrieve the value of a selected item as follows:
If lstMonths.SelectedIndex <> -1 Then
month = lstMonths.SelectedItem.ToString)
End If

Slide 5- 17
ListBox Sorted Property
 Sorted is a boolean property
 When set to true, values in the Items property are
displayed in alphabetical order
 When set to false, values in the Items property
are displayed in the order they were added
 Eg

lstStudents.Sorted = True

Slide 5- 18
ListBox Items.Add Method
 Items can be added to the end of a ListBox list in
your VB code using the Add method
 Format is
ListBox.Items.Add(Item)
 ListBox is the name of the control
 Item is a string value to add to the Items property
 Example:
lstStudents.Items.Add(“Mary")

Slide 5- 19
ListBox Items.Insert Method
 Items can be added at a specific position of a
ListBox in VB code using the Insert method
ListBox.Items.Insert(Index, Item)
 Index specifies position where Item is placed
 Index is zero based similar to SelectedIndex
property
 Items that follow are “pushed” down
 Example inserting "Jean“ as the 3rd item
lstStudents.Items.Insert(2, "Jean")

Slide 5- 20
ListBox Methods to Remove Items
 ListBox.Items.RemoveAt(Index)
 Removes item at the specified index
 ListBox.Items.Remove(Item)
 Removes item with value specified by Item
 ListBox.Items.Clear()
 Removes all items in the Items property
 Examples:
lstStudents.Items.RemoveAt(2) ‘remove 3rd item
lstStudents.Items.Remove(“Jean”) ‘remove item Jean
lstStudents.Items.Clear() ‘remove all items

Slide 5- 21
3. Repetition Structure (or Loop)
 Visual Basic has three structures that allow a
statement or group of statements to repeat
 Do While

 Do Until

 For...Next

Slide 5- 22
3.1 The Do While Loop
Do While Flowchart
 The Do While loop
 If the expression is
true, the statement(s)
are executed
 Expression is then True
Expression statement(s)
evaluated again
 As long as the False
expression remains
true, the statement(s)
continue to be repeated
Slide 5- 24
Do While Syntax
 Do, While, and Loop are new keywords
 The Do While statement marks the beginning of
the loop
 The Loop statement marks the end
 The statements to repeat are found between
these and called the body of the loop
Do While expression
statement(s)
Loop

Slide 5- 25
Do While Example 1

Private Sub btnRunDemo_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _

ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnRunDemo.Click
' Demonstrate the Do While loop
Dim intCount As Integer = 0

Do While intCount < 10

lstOutput.Items.Add("Hello")
intCount += 1
Loop
End Sub

Note that programming style

dictates the body of the
loop be indented for clarity
Slide 5- 26
Do While Example 2
Dim num, sum As Integer
sum = 0

Do While num < 10

sum = sum + num
lstOutput.Items.Add(num & vbTab & sum)
num = num + 1
Loop

The above example will list numbers on a listbox

(lstOutput) while num <10. it will also calculate the
sum of these numbers.

Slide 5- 27
Infinite Loops
 A loop must have some way to end itself
 Something within the body of the loop must
eventually force the test expression to false
 In the previous example
 The loop continues to repeat

 intCount increases by one for each repetition

 Finally intCount is not <10 and the loop ends

 If the test expression can never be false, the loop

will continue to repeat forever
 This is called an infinite loop

Slide 5- 28
Counters
 Variables called counters are frequently used to
control Do While loops

intCount in previous example is a counter
 Counters generally initialized before loop begins
Dim intCount As Integer = 0
 Counter must be modified in body of loop
intCount += 1
 The test expression ends the loop when the
counter compares to some value

Slide 5- 29
Pretest vs. Posttest Loops
 Previous Do While loops are in pretest form
 Expression is tested before the body of the

loop is executed
 The body may not be executed at all

 Do While loops also have a posttest form

 The body of the loop is executed first

 Then the expression is evaluated

 Body repeats as long as expression is true

 A posttest loop always executes the body

of the loop at least once

Slide 5- 30
Posttest Loop Syntax and Flowchart

Do
statement(s)
Loop While expression statement(s)

 The statement(s) must

be executed at least
once, irrespective of True
the expression used Expression

False

Slide 5- 31
A Posttest Running Total Loop
Dim num, sum As Integer
sum = 0
Do
sum = sum + num
lstOutput.Items.Add(num & vbTab & sum)
num = num + 1

Loop While num < 10

Slide 5- 32
3.2 The Do Until loop

A Do Until Loop Iterates Until Its Test

Expression Is True
Do Until vs. Do While
 A Do While loop
 Repeats as long as its test expression is true

 Ends when its test expression becomes false

 A Do Until loop
 Repeats as long as its test expression is false

 Ends when its test expression becomes true

 The Do Until loop has a pretest and posttest

form just as a Do While loop

Slide 5- 34
Do Until: Pretest & Posttest Forms
 Pretest:
Do Until expression
statement(s)
Loop
 Posttest:
Do
statement(s)
Loop Until expression

Slide 5- 35
Do Until Loop – (Prints 10 t0 1 )
 Public Class Form1

 Private Sub btnShow_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)

Handles btnShow.Click

 Dim Intcount As Integer

 Intcount = 10

 Do Until Intcount = 1
 ListBox1.Items.Add(Intcount)
 Intcount -= 1

 Loop


 End Sub
 End Class


Slide 5- 36
3.3 For…Next Loop
 The For...Next Loop Is Designed to
Use a Counter Variable and Iterates a
Specific Number of Times

Slide 5- 37
For…Next Loop
 Ideal for loops that require a counter
For CounterVariable = StartValue To EndValue [Step]
statement
Next [CounterVariable]
 For, To, and Next are keywords
 CounterVariable tracks number of iterations
 StartValue is initial value of counter
 EndValue is counter number of final iteration
 Optional Step allows the counter to increment at
a value other than 1 at each iteration of the loop
Slide 5- 38
For…Next Flowchart

set
counter
to StartValue

Counter = False increment

EndValue?
statement(s) counter

True

Slide 5- 39
For…Next Example 1
 The following code uses a For…Next loop to
print on listbox numbers 0 to 20
Public Class Form1
Private Sub btnShow_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object,
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnShow.Click

Dim i As Integer
For i = 0 To 20
ListBox1.Items.Add(i)
Next

End Sub
End Class

Slide 5- 40
More on the StepValue
 It’s optional and if not specified, defaults to 1
 The following loop iterates 11 times with counter
values 0, 10, 20, …, 80, 90, 100
For x = 0 To 100 Step 10
MessageBox.Show("x is now " & x.ToString)
Next x

 StepValue may be negative, causing the loop to

count downward
For x = 10 To 1 Step -1
MessageBox.Show("x is now " & x.ToString)
Next x
Slide 5- 41
For…Next Example 1(Class Exercise )
 Write a program that makes use of the For …
Next loop to add to a listBox all the ODD
Numbers between 31 and 50

Slide 5- 42
Exiting a Loop Prematurely
 In some cases it is convenient to end a loop
before the test condition would end it
 The following statements accomplish this
 Exit Do (used in Do While or Until loops)

 Exit For (used in For Next loops)

 Use this capability with caution

 It bypasses normal loop termination

 Makes code more difficult to debug

Slide 5- 43
Example: Exit a Loop Prematurely

maxNumbers = CInt(InputBox("How many numbers do " & _

"you wish to sum?"))
total = 0
For x = 1 to maxNumbers
input = InputBox("Enter a number.")
If input = "" Then
Exit For
Else
num = CDbl(input)
total += num
End If
Next x
MessageBox.Show(“Sum of the numbers is " & total.ToString)

Slide 5- 44
When to Use the Do While Loop
 Use Do While when the loop should repeat as
long as the test expression is true
 Can be written as a pretest or posttest loop
 A pretest Do While is ideal when the body should
not be perfomed for a test expression that is
initially false
 Posttest loops are ideal when you always want
the loop to iterate at least once

Slide 5- 45
When to Use the Do Until Loop
 Use Do Until when the loop should repeat as long
as the test expression is false
 Can be written as a pretest or posttest loop
 A pretest Do Until is ideal when the body should
not be perfomed for a test expression that is
initially true
 Posttest loops are ideal when you always want
the loop to iterate at least once

Slide 5- 46
When to Use the For Next Loop
 The For...Next loop is a pretest loop ideal when a
counter is needed
 It automatically increments the counter variable at
the end of each iteration
 The loop repeats as long as the counter variable
is not greater than an end value
 Used primarily when the number of required
iterations is known

Slide 5- 47
Nested Loops
3.4
A Loop that is Inside Another
Loop is Called a Nested Loop
Nested Loops
 The body of a loop can contain any type of VB
statements including another loop
 When a loop is found within the body of another
loop, it’s called a nested loop

Slide 5- 49
Nested Loop Example

Sub Main()
Dim i, j As Integer
For i = 1 To 5
For j = 1 To i
Console.Write(i)
Next
Console.WriteLine()
Next
Console.ReadLine()

End Sub

Slide 5- 50