Twenty-three tutorials are presented in this chapter.The tutorials assume that you are familiar with programming in Visual Basic, know what a Data control is, and know how to use the Visual Basic built-in Data control with bound controls in general. The tutorials provide step-by-step instructions---no prior knowledge of True DBList is needed.By following the steps outlined in the tutorials, you will be able to create projects demonstrating a variety of True DBList features, and get a good sense of what the True DBList and True DBCombo controls can do and how to do it. Source code for the tutorial projects is provided during installation.
The tutorials use an Access database, TDBLDemo.mdb.The database files TDBLDemo.mdb, TDBLDemo.sav, and the tutorial projects are in the TUTORIAL subdirectory of the True DBList installation directory.TDBLDemo.sav is a backup copy of TDBLDemo.mdb.If you want to restore TDBLDemo.mdb after editing, adding, or deleting records while using the tutorials, make a new copy of TDBLDemo.mdb from TDBLDemo.sav.
We encourage you to run the tutorial projects in Visual Basic, examine the code, and experiment with your own modifications. This is the best and quickest way to learn how to realize the full potential of True DBList. You will find that True DBList is very easy to use, and it enables you to create powerful database applications.
The tutorials assume that the database file TDBLDemo.mdb is in the C:\Program Files\ComponentOne Studio\Common directory.
Note: Because the user has the option of changing True DBList program location, that is, the source path may be changed at install time, our tutorial projects are written to automatically use a relative path for database access, while our online tutorials are written utilizing design-time construction. This method is advantageous for two reasons. First, it allows the developer to change the installation location of True DBList without losing the functionality of the tutorial projects. Second, it gives the developer examples of two methods for completing the same task (run-time and design-time).