Page 89 - Open Soource Technologies 304.indd

Unit 4: VB Programming Fundamentals

In this case, the variable NumberTrains is a variant, which means it can take any
type of data. For example, here we place an integer value into NumberTrains (note
that we specify that 5 is an integer by using the percent sign [%] suffix as specified in Table 3.1):
Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim NumberTrains
NumberTrains = 5%
End Sub
We could have used other data types as well; here, for example, we place a string into
NumberTrains:
Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim NumberTrains
NumberTrains = “Five”
End Sub
And here we use a floating point value (! is the suffix for single values):
Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim NumberTrains
NumberTrains = 5.00!
End Sub
Be careful of variants, however_they waste time because Visual Basic has to
translate them into other data types before using them, and they also take up more space than
other data types.

4.3.3 Converting Between Data Types
Visual Basic supports a number of ways of converting from one type of variable to another in
fact, that is one of the strengths of the language.
Visual Basic
data
conversion Use This
function
To Do This
ANS value
to string

String to
lowercase or
Chr
uppercase
Data to
Format. L Case. U Case
serial
number
Data Serial. Data Value
Decimal

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 83