Data Types inVB.

NET
Kavita K. Bharti
Assistant Professor
Department of Computer
Durga Mahavidyalaya, Raipur

In VB.NET, data type is used to define the type of a variable or function in a program.
Furthermore, the conversion of one data type to another type using the data conversion function.

A Data Type refers to which type of data or value is assigning to a variable or function so that a
variable can hold a defined data type value. For example, when we declare a variable, we have to
tell the compiler what type of data or value is allocated to different kinds of variables to hold
different amounts of space in computer memory.

Syntax:

Dim Variable_Name as DataType

VariableName: It defines the name of the variable that you assign to store values.

DataType: It represents the name of the data type that you assign to a variable.

Different Data Types and their allocating spaces in VB.NET

The following table shows the various data types list in the VB.NET

Data Types Size Range

Boolean A Boolean type depends on the True or False
implementing platform
Byte 1 byte 0 to 255 (unsigned)
Char 2 bytes 0 to 65535 (unsigned)
Date 8 bytes 0:00:0 (midnight) January 1, 0001 to
11:5959 PM of December 31, 9999.
Decimal 16 bytes 0 to +/-
79,228,162,514,264,337,593,543,950,335
(+/-7.9…E+28) without any decimal point;
And 0 to +/-
7.92281625142264337593543950335 with
28 position to the right of the decimal
Double 8 bytes -1.79769313486231570E+308 to -4.94-
65645841246544E-324 for negative values;
4.94065645841246544E-324 to
1.79769313486231570E+308, for positive
 values
Integer 4 bytes -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647 (signed)
Long 8 bytes -9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to
9,223,372,036,854,775,807 (9.2…E + 18)
(signed)
Object Object size based on the platform It can store any type of data defined in a
such as 4 bytes in 32-bit and 8 variable of type Object
bytes in 64-bit platform
SByte 1 byte -128 to 127 (signed)
Short 2 bytes -32,768 to 32,767 (signed)
Single 4 bytes -3.4028235E + 38 to -1.401298E-45 for
negative values;
And for positive value: 1.401298E-45 to
3.4028235E + 38.
String String Datatype depend on the It accepts Unicode character from 0 to
implementing platform approximately 2 billion characters.
UInteger 4 bytes The range start from 0 to 4,294,967,295
(unsigned)
ULong 8 bytes The range of ULong start from 0 to
18,446,744,073,709,551,615 (1.8…E + 19)
(unsigned)
User-Defined A user-defined data type depends Each member of the structure has its own
(structure) on the implementing platform data type and limits independent of the
other members' ranges.
UShort 2 bytes Range from 0 to 65,535 (unsigned)

Let's use the various data types in a VB.NET program.

Data_type.vb

Module Data_type
Sub Main()
' defining the Data Type to the variables
Dim b As Byte = 1
Dim num As Integer = 5
Dim si As Single
Dim db As Double
Dim get_date As Date
Dim c As Char
Dim str As String

b=1
 num = 20
si = 0.12
db = 2131.787
get_date = Today
c = "A"
str = "Hello Students…."

Console.WriteLine("Byte is: {0}", b)

Console.WriteLine("Integer number is: {0}", num)
Console.WriteLine("Single data type is: {0}", si)
Console.WriteLine("Double data type is: {0}", db)
Console.WriteLine("Today is: {0}", get_date)
Console.WriteLine("Character is: {0}", b)
Console.WriteLine("String message is: {0}", str)
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module
 Type Conversion Functions in VB.NET
The following functions are available for conversion.

 CBool(expression): It is used to convert an expression into a Boolean data type.

 CByte(expression): It is used to convert an expression to a Byte data type.
 CChar(expression): It is used to convert an expression to a Char data type.
 CDate(expression): It is used to convert an expression to a Date data type.
 CDbl(expression): It is used to convert an expression into a Double data type.
 CDec(expression): It is used to convert an expression into a Decimal data type.
 CInt(expression): It is used to convert an expression to an Integer data type.
 CLng(expression): It is used to convert an expression to a Long data type.
 CObj(expression): It is used to convert an expression to an Object data type.
 CSByte(expression): It is used to convert an expression to an SByte data type.
 CShort(expression): It is used to convert an expression to a Short data type.
 CSng(expression): It is used to convert an expression into a Single data type.
 CStr(expression): It is used to convert an expression into a String data type.
 CUInt(expression): It is used to convert an expression to a UInt data type.
 CULng(expression): It is used to convert an expression to a ULng data type.
 CUShort(expression): It is used to convert an expression into a UShort data type.

In the following, program we have performed different conversion.

DB_Conversion.vb

Option Strict On
Module DB_Conversion
Sub Main()
'defining the Data type conversion
Dim dblData As Double
dblData = 5.78
Dim A, B As Char
Dim bool As Boolean = True
Dim x, Z, B_int As Integer
 A = "A"
B = "B"
B_int = AscW(B)
Console.WriteLine(" Ascii value of B is {0}", B_int)
x=1
Z = AscW(A)
Z=Z+x
Console.WriteLine("String to integer {0}", Z)
Console.WriteLine("Boolean value is : {0}", CStr(bool))
Dim num, intData As Integer
num = CInt(dblData)
intData = CType(dblData, Integer)
Console.WriteLine(" Explicit conversion of Data type " & Str(intData))
Console.WriteLine(" Value of Double is: {0}", dblData)
Console.WriteLine("Double to Integer: {0}", num)
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module