VB comes with 20 built-in controls. In this section of the tutorial I provide a few comments about each one, trying to give some useful pointers on the use of each control. I strongly suggest that you review the control summary chart, which is a zipped Excel spreadsheet that lists the VB controls - along with their properties, methods, and events. The spreadsheet will help you get a "big-picture" overview of the VB controls. I also strongly suggest you read the HELP file content for each of the properties/events/methods for these controls. If you don't know the item exists, then you won't know when to apply it in your applications!

Introduction

All controls are not equally useful. Some you will use on every application you write. Others you will use only when you have a special need for the features the controls offer.

When you start VB, you'll always find the intrinsic controls displayed in the toolbox. The controls are built-in to the VB files and do not exist in an external file (with a .OCX extension) the way the ActiveX controls do. In the toolbox, each of the controls has its own distinctive icon.

The Most Useful Intrinsic Controls

These nine intrinsic controls are pretty much used on every VB application I've written. Start your learning with these and then branch out. Further down on this page I have a brief comment on each of the controls.

Command Button	ImageBox
CheckBox	PictureBox
TextBox	ListBox
Label	ComboListBox
Option Button

The Rest of the Intrinsic Controls

The other eleven intrinsic controls are also valuable but I find myself using these less often than the others. Also, you'll find that you use fewer of these within an application than you do of the nine that I listed as the most useful controls.

ADO Data Control	Vertical Scroll
DirListBox	Line
DriveListBox	Shape
FileListBox	OLEContainer
Frame	Timer
Horizontal Scroll

Database Features

I've put the discussion of databases elsewhere in the tutorial, but you should know right now that several of the intrinsic controls can display or edit data directly out of a database. With VB, the ADO Data Control is used to access the database information and to distribute it on to the other intrinsic controls which can handle database information. VB uses the terminology "databound" to describe controls which have built-in features for handling database access.

Comments on Each Control

• Command Button
  This one works just like you expect. Press the button and it executes a block of code.
• CheckBox
  Typically this is used for turning on/off some particular feature of your program.
• TextBox
  This is the standard way of letting a user edit information. To make it convenient for the users, learn about the .SELLENGTH and .SELSTART properties which highlight text in the the textbox.
• ImageBox
  Use this to display a picture. Use it over the PictureBox because it takes less operating system resources.
• PictureBox
  While it can display pictures, it also acts as an area on which you can print text and graphics. Use it for home-grown graphics or print previews.
• Label
  As the name suggests, this is used to label other controls. It's pretty passive and you'll seldom use its items other than the .CAPTION property.
• Option Button
  If you use it, you'll use it in groups. VB handles the feature that only 1 option button can be selected at a time.
• ListBox
  This is the first of the intrinsic controls to introduce methods common to some of the more complex controls. The use of a ListIndex which starts at 0 (not 1) is a confusing factor that you must watch in your code.
• ComboListBox
  Whereas a listbox takes up space on the form, the combolist control minimizes the use of valuable form real estate. It has 3 modes of operation some of which allow you to keep your users from entering bad data.
• ADO Data Control
  If you're not accessing a database, then you don't need this one. If you are accessing a database you have to have this control to act as the interface to any other databound control. The exception is that VB offers ways to access databases directly from code, but for modest display/edit applications the ADO Data Control is very effective.
• DirListBox / DriveListBox / FileListBox
  You'll almost always use these in combination with each other. Read the HELP file for how to synchronize them to work together. Often, however, you will use the CommonDialog Control instead of these.
• Line
  It can be used as a static display, or you can animate it with the .VISIBLE property and the .MOVE method.
• Shape
  When the line is not enough, this one supports rectangles and ellipses/circles. As with the line control, use its items to create animation.
• OLEContainer
  If you want to put objects on your VB application which come from other applications already on your machine (such as Word, Excel, ...) then this control is very useful. For my needs, I don't like making the assumption that my users have the application (in a specific version) on their machine to make distribution of my application go smoothly. I avoid this one whenever possible!
• Frame
  It's just a container - it can hold other controls. There are two very good reasons to use it. If you want multiple groups of option buttons then place each group in a frame and each group will operate independently. If you want to manipulate controls as a group (i.e., positioning) then put them in a frame and you can handle them all at one time.
• Horizontal/Vertical ScrollBar Controls
  Basically you let use the slider value of a scroll bar as the input for other code that you write. These are normally used in conjunction with other controls.
• Timer
  This is the most unusual of the intrinsic controls. By setting the .INTERVAL property this control will automatically create an event on a regular basis. No other control does this! You can use it to create an action at a certain time and then turn the control off to prevent repeats.