Getting Started

Visual Basic Tutorial

This demonstration assumes you have already installed Visual Basic, VSA Console, and VSA v4.0 or above.

Step 1 : Create a “Standard EXE” Project

1. Start Visual Basic (VB).

2. Choose File | New Project… and double click on “Windows Forms Application”.

3. VB will create a new Form, titled “Form1”.

Step 2 : Insert the VSA Console ActiveX Control

1. Choose View | Toolbox.

2. Right click in the Toolbox window and select “Choose Items…”.

3. Select the “COM Components” tab and select the check beside “VSA Console Control”. If you cannot find the module, reinstall VSA Console.

4. Click OK. “VSA Console Control” should appear in the Toolbox window.

5. Click on this newly created control button and drag a rectangle in the Form window.

Step 3 : Define the Console’s Properties

1. Right click on the “VSA Console” icon and select “ActiveX -Properties…”.

2. Enter the path where the VSA.EXE and your routine file (.VSA file) can be found.

3. Set how you want the window to be displayed and click OK.

Step 4 : Create a Button and call the Console’s Methods

1. Select and insert a “Button” from the “Common Controls” Toolbar pane.

2. Double click on the newly created button and you will be taken to the code window.

3. In the “Button1_Click()” handler, enter the following code: “Me.AxVSAConsole1.Create()”. Substitute AxVS. Console1 with the name console control.

4. Return to step 1 and make two new buttons. Double click on each button to create new “_Click()” handlers and enter the following code for the second button: “Me.AxVSAConsole1.Play(1, False)” and the following code for the third button: “Me.AxVSAConsole1.Destroy()”.

5. Your window should look something like this:

   

Step 5 : Run the Application

1. Press F5 to start the application.

2. Press the “Button1” button to load VSA and the routine file you specified in Step 2.

3. Press the “Button2” button to start play.

4. Press the “Button3” button to stop play and close VSA.

5. Review VSA Console’s other Methods and Properties to learn more.

PowerPoint Tutorial

Step 1 : Create a new Presentation and Insert the Console Control

1. Start PowerPoint.

2. Select the Developer Ribbon tab. See here if the developer ribbon tab is not visible.

   

3. Choose More Controls from the toolbar (3).

4. Choose VSA Console Control from the drop-down menu.

5. Drag a square on the slide where you want the control to appear. (The control may appear as an empty square or as a small “X” icon. This is normal.) You may also be prompted to enable ActiveX controls.

Step 2 : Define the Console’s Properties

1. Right click on the newly created object and select VSA Console Control Object and then Properties....

2. Enter the path where the VSA.EXE and your routine file (.VSA file) can be found.

3. Set how you want the window to be displayed and click OK.

   

Step 3 : Create a Button and call the Console’s Methods

1. On the Controls toolbar, select a Command Button and create a new button on the slide.

2. Double click on the newly created button and you will be taken to the code window.

3. In the CommandButton1_Click() handler, enter the following code: Slide1.VSAConsole1.Create. Substitute CommandButton1, Slide1, and VSAConsole1 with the names of your button, slide, and console controls, respectively. (The names used here are the defaults.)

4. Return to step 1 and make two new buttons. Double click on each button to create new _Click() handlers and enter the following code for the second button: Slide1.VSAConsole1.Play 1, 0 and the following code for the third button: Slide1.VSAConsole1.Destroy.

5. Your code should look something like this:

   Private Sub CommandButton1_Click()
      Slide1.VSAConsole1.Create
   End Sub
   
   Private Sub CommandButton2_Click()
      Slide1.VSAConsole1.Play 1, 0
   End Sub
   
   Private Sub CommandButton3_Click()
      Slide1.VSAConsole1.Destroy
   End Sub
   

Step 4 : Run the Application

1. Press F5 to start the slide show.

2. Press the CommandButton1 button to load VSA and the routine file you specified in Step 2.

3. Press the CommandButton2 button to start play.

4. Press the CommandButton3 button to stop play and close VSA.

5. Review VSA Console’s other Methods and Properties to learn more.