VB.
Net - Constants and Enumerations
The constants refer to fixed values that the program may not alter during
its execution. These fixed values are also called literals.
Constants can be of any of the basic data types like an integer constant, a
floating constant, a character constant, or a string literal. There are also
enumeration constants as well.
The constants are treated just like regular variables except that their values
cannot be modified after their definition.
An enumeration is a set of named integer constants.
Declaring Constants
In VB.Net, constants are declared using the Const statement. The Const
statement is used at module, class, structure, procedure, or block level for
use in place of literal values.
The syntax for the Const statement is:
[ < attributelist> ] [ accessmodifier ] [ Shadows ]
Const constantlist
Where,
attributelist: specifies the list of attributes applied to the constants; you can provide
multiple attributes separated by commas. Optional.
accessmodifier: specifies which code can access these constants. Optional. Values can
be either of the: Public, Protected, Friend, Protected Friend, or Private.
Shadows: this makes the constant hide a programming element of identical name in a
base class. Optional.
Constantlist: gives the list of names of constants declared. Required.
Where, each constant name has the following syntax and parts:
constantname [ As datatype ] = initializer
constantname: specifies the name of the constant
datatype: specifies the data type of the constant
initializer: specifies the value assigned to the constant
For example,
'The following statements declare constants.'
Const maxval As Long = 4999
Public Const message As String = "HELLO"
Private Const piValue As Double = 3.1415
Example
The following example demonstrates declaration and use of a constant
value:
Module constantsNenum
Sub Main()
Const PI = 3.14149
Dim radius, area As Single
radius = 7
area = PI * radius * radius
Console.WriteLine("Area = " & Str(area))
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following
result:
Area = 153.933
Print and Display Constants in VB.Net
VB.Net provides the following print and display constants:
Constant
Description
vbCrLf
Carriage return/linefeed character combination.
vbCr
Carriage return character.
vbLf
Linefeed character.
vbNewLine
Newline character.
vbNullChar
Null character.
vbNullString
Not the same as a zero-length string (""); used for
calling external procedures.
vbObjectError
Error number. User-defined error numbers should
be greater than this value. For example:
Err.Raise(Number) = vbObjectError + 1000
vbTab
Tab character.
vbBack
Backspace character.
Declaring Enumerations
An enumerated type is declared using the Enum statement. The Enum
statement declares an enumeration and defines the values of its members.
The Enum statement can be used at the module, class, structure,
procedure, or block level.
The syntax for the Enum statement is as follows:
[ < attributelist > ] [ accessmodifier ] [ Shadows ]
Enum enumerationname [ As datatype ]
memberlist
End Enum
Where,
attributelist: refers to the list of attributes applied to the variable. Optional.
asscessmodifier: specifies which code can access these enumerations. Optional. Values
can be either of the: Public, Protected, Friend or Private.
Shadows: this makes the enumeration hide a programming element of identical name in
a base class. Optional.
enumerationname: name of the enumeration. Required
datatype: specifies the data type of the enumeration and all its members.
memberlist: specifies the list of member constants being declared in this statement.
Required.
Each member in the memberlist has the following syntax and parts:
[< attribute list>] member name [ = initializer ]
Where,
name: specifies the name of the member. Required.
initializer: value assigned to the enumeration member. Optional.
For example,
Enum Colors
red = 1
orange = 2
yellow = 3
green = 4
azure = 5
blue = 6
violet = 7
End Enum
Example
The following example demonstrates declaration and use of the Enum
variable Colors:
Module constantsNenum
Enum Colors
red = 1
orange = 2
yellow = 3
green = 4
azure = 5
blue = 6
violet = 7
End Enum
Sub Main()
Console.WriteLine("The Color Red is : " & Colors.red)
Console.WriteLine("The Color Yellow is : " & Colors.yellow)
Console.WriteLine("The Color Blue is : " & Colors.blue)
Console.WriteLine("The Color Green is : " & Colors.green)
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following
result:
The Color Red is: 1
The Color Yellow is: 3
The Color Blue is: 6
The Color Green is: 4
An enumeration is a user-defined data type consists of integral constants and each integral constant
is give a name. Keyword enum is used to defined enumerated data type.
enum type_name{ value1, value2,...,valueN };
Here, type_name is the name of enumerated data type or tag. And value1, value2,....,valueN are
values of type type_name.
By default, value1 will be equal to 0, value2 will be 1 and so on but, the programmer can change the
default value.
// Changing the default value of enum elements
enum suit{
club=0;
diamonds=10;
hearts=20;
spades=3;
};
Declaration of enumerated variable
Above code defines the type of the data but, no any variable is created. Variable of type enum can
be created as:
enum boolean{
false;
true;
};
enum boolean check;
Here, a variable check is declared which is of type enum boolean .
Example of enumerated type
#include <stdio.h>
enum week{ sunday, monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday};
int main(){
enum week today;
today=wednesday;
printf("%d day",today+1);
return 0;
}
Output
4 day
You can write any program in C language without the help of enumerations but, enumerations helps in
writing clear codes and simplify programming.
