How to Read Formats From a Flash Drive

File formats are the three character extensions that are earmarked at the conclusion of the traditional file name. Knowing the types of file formats that are stored on a flash drive can give you a better inkling of the programs that were used to create the files, allowing you to make sense of the contents of a seemingly inscrutable USB drive. This can be done by tweaking your Windows settings.

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Insert the drive into the computer.

2. Step 2

   Right click "Start" and select "Explore."

3. Step 3

   Click on the drive letter of the USB drive.

4. Step 4

   Select "Tools," click "Folder Options," select "View" and uncheck "Hide Extensions for Knows File Types."

5. Step 5

   Press "OK" to view the formats for the files on your flash drive.

How to Fix Dead Laptop Batteries

After several years of regular use, it is normal for a laptop computer's battery to lose its ability to hold a full charge. However, if your laptop cannot run on battery power at all anymore, you may have a dead battery. When this happens, the best action to fix the problem is to freeze and thaw the battery. This process will often revive a battery's charging ability and improve your computer's power performance.

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• PC or Mac laptop
• Refrigerator with freezer

1. Step 1

   Disconnect your laptop's power adapter from the back of the computer and try to start up the system. If the computer does not boot on battery power, the battery is likely dead.

2. Step 2

   Detach the battery from the bottom of the laptop.

3. Step 3

   Place the laptop battery in a plastic bag with a zippable top and seal the top.

4. Step 4

   Place the bag with the battery inside of a larger plastic bag with a zippable top. Make sure it is also tightly closed.

5. Step 5

   Place the battery inside your refrigerator freezer for three or four days.

6. Step 6

   Remove the battery from the freezer and allow it to return to room temperature. Do not try other methods of heating or thawing the battery.

7. Step 7

   Attach the battery to the laptop again and connect the power adapter to the back of the computer. Wait for the battery to fully charge before trying to boot up the computer.

How to Identify PNY Computer Memory

PNY Technologies is an electronics company that makes computer hardware such as flash drives and random access memory (RAM). A computer's RAM plays a large role in determining its speed; identifying your RAM type is an important step in determining whether you could benefit from more RAM and finding out what type of RAM your computer can use.

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Screwdrivers
• CPU-Z diagnostic tool
• Crucial memory scanner

Open the Computer to Inspect RAM

1. Step 1

   Turn off your PC and unplug all the cords.

2. Step 2

   Open the computer's case with a screwdriver. The majority of tower cases can be opened by using a Phillips-head screwdriver to remove screws along the right side of the back of the case.

3. Step 3

   Locate the RAM and uninstall a module for physical inspection. RAM is located near the large CPU fan on the motherboard. To take out a module, press down firmly on the plastic locking clamps on both sides of the module and it will pop free.

4. Step 4

   Inspect the RAM's label and record relevant information. RAM manufacturers often print information such as model or serial numbers and RAM type on each module.

5. Step 5

   Reinstall the RAM module and close your computer's case. To reinstall the module, simply align it in the same orientation it was when you removed it and press down firmly until the locking clamps clip around it and secure it in place.

Use CPU-Z to Identify RAM

6. Step 1

   Go to http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php.

7. Step 2

   Click on one of the download links for the CPU-Z freeware tool labeled as "No Install."

8. Step 3

   Double-click on "cpuz.exe" when the download is complete to launch the diagnostic.

9. Step 4

   Click on the "SPD" tab to view detailed information about your RAM. You can click on the drop-down menu under "Memory Slot Selection" and change it to slot #2, #3 or whatever you prefer to view information on each RAM module you have installed.

Use the Crucial Memory Diagnostic to Identify RAM

10. Step 1

    Go to Crucial's memory scanner download site (see Resources).

11. Step 2

    Click the check box under "Crucial System Scanner tool" and then click "Download the Scanner."

12. Step 3

    Run the downloaded file when the download is complete. A window will open in your browser with information about your RAM.

How to Remove iMac Memory

Apple has been making stylish and user-friendly computers for years. One of these computers, the iMac, is an increasingly popular desktop model. A notable benefit of owning one of these models is that most of the simple repairs and upgrades can be performed yourself, without the help of a service technician. This includes accessing and replacing your iMac's memory, or RAM (Random Access Memory) in order to upgrade your system's speed and capacity. You'll find that this procedure is a pretty simple one that you can complete quickly.

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Phillips screwdriver

1. Step 1

   Turn off your iMac and place it face down on a table or other sturdy surface. You can protect the LCD screen by placing it over a towel or large cloth.

2. Step 2

   Flip the bottom plastic stand up to reveal the memory slot located in the middle of the bottom of the LCD screen. It is covered by a rectangular panel which is secured by a single screw.

3. Step 3

   Remove the single screw located in the middle of the rectangular memory slot cover, using the screwdriver. Remove the cover to reveal two internal ports which house memory modules.

4. Step 4

   Pull the thick black plastic tab on the end of the memory module out of the port so it is sticking out far enough for you to grab it.

5. Step 5

   Grab the end of the tab and pull the memory module gently and easily out of the port. Repeat the process with the second memory module located directly next to it. At this point you will have removed the memory from your iMac.

How to Create a Code to Generate Word Documents

If you find yourself creating budget sheets over and over again in Microsoft Word, the task might before tiresome. Instead of repetitively typing in the same credits, debits and formulas, you can get Excel to format your budget sheet for you using the macro function of Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). The macro function allows you to create complex, pre-formatted documents--and you don't need to know a single line of VBA code.

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Excel 2007

1. Step1

   Click on "View," then click on "Macros->Start Recording."

2. Step 2

   Type a name for your macro into the box. For example, if you are creating a budget sheet, you might want to type "Budget."

3. Step 3

   Type in an easily remembered letter into the key combination box. For example, you may want to choose "B" for "Budget" to get the shortcut keys "Ctrl" and "B."

4. Step 4

   Press "OK" to start macro recording.

5. Step 5

   Click the "Office" button.

6. Step 6

   Click on "Blank Workbook."

7. Step 7

   Type the information into your form as usual. For example, if you want to generate a budget form, you might have columns for "Income" and "Expenses."

8. Step 8

   Click on "Macro->Stop recording" twhen you have finished your workbook. Your macro is now ready to use. Just click on the key combination from Step 3 (in this example, "Ctrl" and "B") to generate your new workbook in an instant

How to Capture a Local Computer Name Using VBS

VBScript (VBS) is a plain text coding language that network administrators use to automate configurations on a computer. The VBS language can be used to retrieve the name of the computer on which it is running. This is useful for administrators who want to use logging capabilities or display the name of the computer to the user. Retrieving the name of the computer only takes a few lines of code in your VBS file.

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Create the shell object. The shell object contains several properties and functions that can be used to retrieve information from the machine. The following code is placed as the first line in your editor:
   Set network = WScript.CreateObject( "WScript.Network" )

2. Step 2

   Capture the name of the machine using the "ComputerName" property contained in the shell object created in Step 1. In this example, the computer name is captured and set to a string variable. The following code illustrates how to capture the local computer name:
   computer_name = network.ComputerName

3. Step 3

   Display the computer name to the user in the command prompt. The shell object has a predefined function that displays output to the user. It's also useful for debugging your VBS application. Use the following line as the last statement in your VBScript code:
   WScript.Echo "Computer Name: " & computer_name

How to Create a Header File in C++

Although a C++ programmer can use a header file to include any type of code in another file prior to compilation, they mainly use them to define a class. Typically programmers define a class interface in a header file and then write all of the class' internal code in a separate source code file. In this way other programmers making use of the class directly or as part of a library need only the header file to inform themselves and the compiler how to use it. A simple class interface defined in a C++ header file can serve as both an example and a template for much larger more complex classes later.

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Text or Code Editor

Creating a Header File

1. Step 1

   Create a new file named "MyClass.h." Enter the following three lines at the top of the file:
   
   #ifndef _MYCLASS
   #define _MYCLASS
   #endif
   
   The class will be defined between the line beginning with #define and the one beginning with #endif. These are preprocessor directives which tell the compiler to skip inclusion of this file's contents if _MYCLASS has already been defined. If _MYCLASS is undefined, the compiler will define it and proceed to include the rest of the file. This prevents you from accidentally including a header file more than once, which can lead to conflicts and errors.

2. Step 2

   Enter the following two lines after the line beginning with #define:
   
   #include
   using std::string;
   
   This example class requires a string data type. The first directive includes the header file for the string class; the second statement simplifies its use by telling the compiler which namespace to make available. Rather than typing "std::string" everywhere, you use a string you can just type "string."

3. Step 3

   Enter the following before the line with the #endif directive:
   
   class MyClass
   {
   };
   
   This defines an empty class.

4. Step 4

   Fill the empty class by inserting the following lines within the opening and closing brackets:
   
   public:
   MyClass(string val);
   void setVal(string val);
   string getVal();
   private:
   string _myDataMember;
   
   You have added one private class data member of type string and three public class method declarations: a constructor and two methods for accessing the data member. Task complete; class interface defined; C++ header file created. Most header files you will create or encounter will simply be more complex variations of this example

How to Avoid a Division by Zero Exception in Java

In any compiler language, a mathematical calculation where the divisor is zero results in a run-time error. The application will freeze or return an error to the user. For that reason, programmers should check the value of the divisor before performing the division calculation. This is accomplished using a condition statement called "if." The if statement is used to verify a condition before executing a command.

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Define your variables. In this example, a is divided by b, but only if b is not zero. To define variables, use the following code:
   int a = 1;
   int b = 0;
   int results = 0;

2. Step 2

   Set up the if statement. The following if statement code check the value of b to avoid the "divide by zero" error:
   if (b != 0)
   {
   }

3. Step 3

   Execute the math within the if statement. The enclosed statements are only executed if b is not zero, so you avoid the "divide by zero" error:
   if (b !=0)
   {
   results = a/b;
   }

How to Build Your Own Web Content Management System

Building your own Content Management System (CMS) will allow you to successfully implement thousands of websites and intranets. Customizing such websites and content systems will not only be easy and quick but can also be done using commonly available tools such as PHP. Since a CMS uses a design process supported by object-oriented programming, the code can be kept neat and tidy by bundling it together in files called classes. Objects or instances of these classes are then created as needed. Classes thus act like blueprints for instances making it possible to design a large number of systems with minimal code afterwards.

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Create a database. This is where all the login and data information will be stored. Such a database would include setting up a customer's table and other information. Using a database will help you to organize information logically, rapidly gain access to it, manipulate and change it whenever needed and automate common tasks more easily.

2. Step 2

   Create a class for accessing the database. Such a class will tell the program to grab data and components from a system component and provide access to it. The example below shows the functional approach in using such a class:
   
   Class: DbConnector
   // Purpose: Connect to a database, MySQL
   
   require_once 'SystemComponent.php';
   class DbConnector extends SystemComponent {
   
   include variables here
   }
   function DbConnector(){
   
   $user = $settings['dbusername'];
   $pass= $settings['dbpassword'];
   }
   function query(){
   
   code goes here
   }
   function fetchArray(){
   
   code goes here
   }
   function close(){
   mysql_close();
   }
   
   The above code shows the main parts of the database and how to connect and retrieve data from it.

3. Step 3

   Create a validator class for security. A validator class checks for errors in user input and will either display an error or allow a user login if it is safe and correct. An example of such a class written in PHP is shown below:
   
   require_once 'SystemComponent.php';
   class Validator extends SystemComponent {
   
   var $errors;
   }
   ?>
   
   The above code stores a list of error messages.

4. Step4

   Write a class to secure the site. The function for doing this is shown below:
   
   Function logg(){
   
   session_start()
   Header("cache-control: private");
   }
   
   function logout(){
   
   unset($this->userdata);
   session_destroy();
   exit();
   }

5. Step 5

   Create the interface design. This is graphical part of the site with the login information as well as other additional information generally appearing on the homepage.

6. Step 6

   Create the help and documentation for the system to address the most common tasks a user will need to perform.

How to Use Adobe Acrobat PDF Files in a Delphi Application

Delphi is a software development environment created originally by the Borland Company. This application allows a programmer to design Microsoft Windows applications written in the Pascal programming language. Working in the Pascal language can be complicated. It requires training and programming experience. If you have basic knowledge of the Delphi environment and a working knowledge of Pascal, adding a PDF component to your program will be straightforward.

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Start the Delphi application on your computer.

2. Step 2

   Select the "Component" option.

3. Step 3

   Choose "Import ActiveX Control" from the Component menu.

4. Step 4

   Locate "Acrobat Control for ActiveX" from the list of import options available.

5. Step 5

   Click the "Install" button at the bottom of the list screen.

6. Step 6

   Choose a library location where you wish to install the component. Click the "Browse" button and select the appropriate site.

7. Step 7

   Press "Install" on the dialog box.

8. Step 8

   Determine which package to install the new PDF component in or create a new package. Click "Ok" to continue. Once the installation is complete, close the Component window and open your form or create a new one.

9. Step 9

   Navigate to the ActiveX tab on the form screen. Click on your new PDF component and drag it onto the screen.

10. Step 10

    Double-click on the PDF component on the form screen to select it.

11. Step 11

    Use the object inspector in the component dialog box to set the "src" property to the PDF file on your system.

How to Remove Windows Security Interruptions

The Security Center is a built-in utility in several Windows operating systems. This serves as a central location where you can change the settings for your firewall, anti-virus program, alerts and updates. The interruption or warning alerts might be related to any of these areas and can be removed by a simple change in configuration. However, if this problem persists, the warning alerts might be due to a legitimate detection of spyware or a virus in your computer.

Instructions

Configure Windows Security Alerts settings

1. Step 1

   Locate the Windows Security Center icon (red shield) on the system tray, adjacent to the clock. Double-click on the icon. If the icon is not in the system tray, click on the "Start" menu, click on "All Programs" > "Accessories" > "System Tools," then click on "Security Center."

2. Step 2

   Click on the "Change the way Security Center alerts me" link.

3. Step 3

   Disable the check boxes that correspond to "Virus Protection," "Automatic Updates" and "Firewall." Click "OK" to confirm the changes. If the problem persists, continue to the next section.

Scan Your Computer for Viruses

4. Step 1

   Launch your anti-virus program and perform a system scan for potential viruses.

5. Step 2

   Allow the scanning process to finish and remove the infected files, if any.

6. Step 3

   Launch your spyware removal program and scan your system for potential infected files. Once completed, remove the infected files, if applicable.

7. Step 4

   Restart your computer.

Why Does the Windows Search Command Lock Up the Computer?

Windows Search is touted by Microsoft as a powerful tool for organizing the contents of your computer, as well as any of your information that is stored on shared folders and e-mail servers. However, some users have noticed that the indexing process of Windows Search can significantly slow down their computers' performance.

Identification

1. According to Microsoft, "Windows Search creates and maintains a system index of the contents of a computer." What this means, however, is that, before Windows Search can work, it has to create that index. It also has to update that index whenever you use Windows Search after having made changes to your computer---such as installing new programs, creating news files, or moving files around.

Significance

2. This indexing process is supposed to be unobtrusive. When you are using the computer and the indexer tries to run, if it notices that you are already running other programs, it will not consume as many system resources. Instead, it will wait until your computer becomes idle. However, if you actually ask Windows Search to do a search, and the index is not up to date, it will have to bring the index up to date before it can run your search.

Considerations

3. The "smart back off" technology can be turned on and off. If it is turned off, your computer may slow down significantly. If you are having serious performance issues related to the indexing process, check your settings to make sure that this mechanism is active.

Function

4. While indexing, Windows Search must inspect all of your folders, all of your files, and all the contents of those files. This process consumes a significant amount of your system's resources. The more resources it consumes, the faster the indexing process can be carried out, but the slower your computer's performance will be during that time. In contrast, if you use the "smart back off" mechanism, the indexer will consume fewer system resources, but whatever system performance falloff you might still experience will last that much longer.

Prevention/Solution

5. The most drastic choice you could make would be to uninstall Windows Search. However, given its usefulness, you may want to take another course of action. One option is for you to leave your computer on and running for a little while each day while you are not using it. If you already have a virus scan scheduled for a certain part of the day, then you're probably already leaving your computer on sometimes when you're not using it. If not, it is an easy practice to adopt. You can simply leave the computer on while you eat dinner. If you'll be leaving your computer unattended for a while, remember to turn off the monitor to preserve screen life and conserve energy. Also make sure that Windows is not set to go into standby mode automatically if you are away from the computer for more than a few minutes.

How to Delete a File in the Photo Printing Wizard

Windows XP prints photos using the Photo Printing Wizard by default. The Photo Printing Wizard displays all of the photos present in the folder where the picture you are printing is stored. Although you can delete photos found in Windows Explorer by simply returning to Windows Explorer and deleting them, when you attempt to print a photo from an email attachment or website, the Photo Printing Wizard might display photos you are unaware you had, with no obvious way to delete them. This issue occurs because of images stored in your Internet cache.

Instructions

1. Step 1

   In Internet Explorer, click the "Tools" menu at the top of the screen, or the "Tools" button in newer versions of Internet Explorer.

2. Step 2

   Click "Internet Options."

3. Step 3

   Make sure that the "General" tab is on top, then click the "Delete Files" button.

4. Step 4

   Place a check in the box labeled "Delete all offline content" and click "OK."

5. Step 5

   Attempt to print the desired image again. The unwanted images will no longer appear in the Photo Printing Wizard.

How to Add Lines to a VBS File

Visual Basic Script (VBS) is a scripting language made for Windows. Most Windows programs use VBS in some way or another, so if you are a programmer using Windows, familiarizing yourself with Visual Basic is a good idea. You can edit a VBS file with any text editor, including Notepad.

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Go to "Start," "Programs," "Accessories," "Notepad" to open Notepad.

2. Step 2

   Go to "File," "Open" and navigate to the location of your VBS file. Click "Open." You will see a whole bunch of VBS code.

3. Step 3

   At the top of the file, select some whitespace, and copy-paste the following Visual Basic code:
   MsgBox("Hello World")

4. Step 4

   Go to "File," "Save as..." and save the file with a different name, but keeping the ".vbs" suffix. For example, you could name your file "newScript.vbs" and click "Save."

5. Step 5

   Open the Command Prompt by going to "Start," "Programs," "Accessories," "Command Prompt." Navigate to the directory where you saved your VBS file by typing "cd C:\Your Directory Name Here" and hitting "Enter."

6. Step 6

   Type the name of your new VBS script and hit "Enter" to run the script. The script should run as it did (before you added your line of code), only this time a message box will pop up saying "Hello, World!"

How to Change Font Size in Java Script

JavaScript is a client-side programming language that many website designers use to manipulate layout, text and images on a Web page. JavaScript can be used to change the size of a font when the user clicks a button or when the page is loaded. This is helpful when you want to make some part of the Web page content stand out. To make the font larger, the content is wrapped in a "div" tag and the JavaScript code will make the font larger within that block of HTML.

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Open your HTML page in a text editor. You can use a simple, plain text editor like Notepad to edit JavaScript, or you can use more advanced applications like Notepad++, Visual Studio and Dreamweaver.

2. Step 2

   Wrap a div tag around the text you want to edit. This allows you to change the font size of a specific area in your Web page without distorting the layout with a global font size change. The code below creates a div named "myDiv":
   

   My website text

3. Step 3

   Create the JavaScript function. To change a font size in your div tag, you need to set the "fontsize" property. The code below changes the div's font size:
   function changeSize()
   {
   document.getElementbyId("myDiv").fontSize = "12px";
   }

4. Step 4

   Add a button to the page to let the user choose to change the font size. To add the button and call the new JavaScript function, use the code below:
   

5. Step 5

   Save the file and open the page in your Web browser. Test the new code by clicking the button. The font size increases in the div tag.

How to Install Java XP

Java is a very useful program that allows Java programming to run on your computer. Java includes games, interactive videos, flashing ads and many different programs. Java is most widely used on the Internet to display pictures, especially on Java-run websites. Many websites on the Internet require Java to be installed in order to run properly.

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Go to the Java website (see the link in the "Resources" section) and click on the button that says "Free Java Download." A window will pop up asking you if you are sure you want to download the product.

2. Step 2

   Click "OK" in the download prompt and wait for the Java program to download.

3. Step 3

   Open the folder to which Java was downloaded. By default, it downloads to "My Downloads," which is located in the "My Documents" folder.

4. Step 4

   Double-click the Java program to start the installation process. Click "Next >" through all of the settings. Unless you are a computer expert and want to change some of the settings in Java to make it run differently, do not change the settings and click "Next >" through all the windows and click "Finish." Restart your computer to apply the changes. Java is now installed on your Windows XP computer.

How to Delete a Row on a Visual Basic Flexgrid

A flex grid is a common tool used in programming to display information in a row and column format. Flex grids have both horizontal and vertical scroll bars to make user navigation easier. In Visual Basic, a grid on a user interface form can be designed using the "MSFlexGrid" control. The information displayed on the grid usually comes directly from a database table or, in some instances, programmers write the codes to display data on the grid for user evaluation.

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computer
• Visual Basic software

1. Step 1

   Load an existing Visual Basic project by clicking "File" and "Open Project" from the Visual Basic environment and browsing for the filename from the dialog box that pops up. Alternately, you can open the project directly by double-clicking the "[ProjectName].vbp" file from the folder where you last saved your project.

2. Step 2

   Open the "Form" with the FlexGrid control you want to work on.

3. Step 3

   Double-click the control on the form that will trigger the action to delete the row on the flex grid. This is usually a command button with the caption "Delete" or similar controls.

4. Step 4

   Write source code similar to the following on the control's "Event" you chose in Step 3:
   
   With MSFlexGrid1
   If (.Rows > .FixedRows + 1) Then
   .RemoveItem.Row
   Else
   .Rows = .FixedRows
   End If
   End With

5. Step 5

   Save your work by clicking "File" and "Save Project" on the menu or by pressing "Ctrl" + "S" on the keyboard.

6. Step 6

   Back up your database table to revert the data after testing is done.

7. Step 7

   Click "Run" and "Start" on the menu to run the program. The flex grid should display data from a database table from which the control is bound.

8. Step 8

   Delete one row of record by clicking the "Delete" button. Repeat the same process to check if the program is running as it should.

9. Step 9

   Exit "Run" mode and compile your project by clicking "File" and "Make [ProjectName].exe" on the menu.

How to Create an Image Search on a Website

A picture is worth a thousand words. Adding the ability to search for images directly from your own website opens up the entire World Wide Web's collection of images to your viewers. Thanks to Google's comprehensive indexing of literally billions of images on the web and some simple decoding of URL parameters, you can create an image search tool on your website without needing to know complex scripting languages.

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computer with Internet connection
• HTML editing program such as Notepad
• A live website with FTP access

Adding Google's Image Search to Your Website

1. Step 1

   Understand Google's Image Search URL. The important pieces that make up the URL you will use look like this: "http://images.google.com/images?q=searchterm." The part before the question mark references Google's Image Search address. Everything after it is the list of parameters that are used to define your particular search. The primary parameter is the "q=" parameter, which stands for "query". This is the part that includes your search terms. Additional parameters are noted below under the Advanced Parameters section.

2. Step 2

   Create a form that will pass inputted text from a text box on your site to the query parameter and submit it to Google's Image Search. You can paste the following code directly into your HTML file where you want the image search box to show up (see the References for an example of this on askdavetaylor.com):
   

   
   
   
   

3. Step 3

   Save and publish your HTML file, then test it out.

Advanced Parameters

4. Step 1

   Control the search results by defining additional parameters. Additional parameters include the following: "as_eq," "imgtype," "imgsz," "imgw," "imgh," "imgar," "as_filetype," "imgc," "as_sitesearch," "as_rights," "safe," and "as_st." Refer to http://images.google.com/advanced_image_search for the visual interface for all of these parameters.

5. Step 2

   Make the selections you want on the visual interface link, then press "Google Search" to set an advanced parameter. Copy the URL that is returned.

6. Step 3

   Find the parameters that match your settings; for example, if you limited the "Domain" to "ehow.com," then you would want a parameter that says, "as_sitesearch=ehow.com."

7. Step 4

   Create a hidden input field in your form for each advanced parameter you want to include. Do so in the following manner: , where "name" is equal to the parameter you want to include and "value" is equal to the value of that parameter.

8. Step 5

   Save and publish your HTML page and test.

How to Create a Word Document in Visual Basic

Visual Basic is a programming language designed and manufactured by Microsoft. Visual Basic is one of the most popular programming languages used by both novices and experts. VB can reference objects from other applications such as Microsoft Word to increase the breadth of programming capabilities. Creating a Word document from a Visual Basic application allows a professional document to be produced from the application with minimal effort for the developer. Billing, invoices, time sheets and reports are examples of documents often created from Visual Basic applications.

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Visual Basic
• Microsoft Word

1. Step 1

   Open the Visual Basic application and create a new project using the "Ctrl" and "N" keys. Select the template labeled "Windows Forms Application."

2. Step 2

   Select "Project" from the menu bar, then select the "References" option. Check the item "Microsoft Word object library" and then click the "OK" button to continue.

3. Step 3

   Create a button labeled "ButtonOne" on the form.

4. Step 4

   Double click on "ButtonOne" to open the code window. Insert the following code below the line "Private Sub ButtonOne_Click":
   
   Dim oWord As Word.Application
   Dim oDoc As Word.Document
   Dim oRng As Word.Range
   
   'Start Word and open the document template.
   oWord = CreateObject("Word.Application")
   oWord.Visible = True
   oDoc = oWord.Documents.Add
   oRng = oDoc.Bookmarks.Item("\endofdoc").Range
   oRng.InsertAfter("This is the new document you created.")
   
   Me.Close()

5. Step 5

   Insert the following code at the top of the code for "Form1":
   
   Imports Word = Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word

6. Step 6

   Execute the code in debug mode using the "F5" key.

7. Step 7

   Click on the button labeled "ButtonOne" to execute the code. A Microsoft Word document will be displayed in a new window with the text "This is the new document you created."