Ross Sheppard High School
Computer Programming 20
Student Learning Guide
The Paper, Rocks, Scissors Program

	When you have finished this project, you will be able to:
	use the randomizer to load a graphic
	create a simple interactive game
	use the If . . . Then . . . ElseIf statement
	change properties within the program code
	use the GoTo statement
	describe the following terms: If . . . Then . . . ElseIf GoTo

1. Create a new folder called PRS on your personal drive.
   
   
2. The illustration below shows the visual implementation for the Paper, Rock, Scissors program.

   
   
   

   The Paper, Rock, Scissors Program The Paper, Rock, Scissors program is an electronic representation of the game you may have played as a child. In this case, however, you are programming a game to be played against the computer. The PRS game requires the user to select a choice of Paper, Rock, or Scissors by pressing the appropriate button. The user's choice is displayed on the program. When the Play button is pressed, Visual Basic randomly generates the computer's choice, which is also displayed. Based on the two selections, Visual Basic determines whether it is a win, loss, or tie and displays the appropriate message. In addition, there is a Clear button if the user wants to start over, as well as a Quit button.

3. Before you begin, you need the three graphics that you will use in the Paper, Rock, Scissors Program. The three graphics are shown below:
   
   
   Copy the three bitmap (bmp) images from the handout folder to your personal drive.
   
   
4. Start a new Standard.exe project in Visual Basic. Save this project as prjPRSProgram and the form as frmPRSProgram in the PRS Program folder.
   
   
5. Use the table below to create the Visual Implementation of the Array Program:
   
   Objects Table

   Object	Property	Setting
   Form	Name	frmPRS
   	Caption	The Paper, Rock, Scissors Program
   TextBox	Name	txtUserChoice
   	Font	MS Sans Serif Bold 18
   	Alignment	Center
   	Text	Make it blank
   	Multiline	True
   TextBox	Name	txtCompChoice
   	Font	MS Sans Serif Bold 18
   	Alignment	Center
   	Text	Make it blank
   	Multiline	True
   TextBox	Name	txtStatus
   	Font	MS Sans Serif Bold 18
   	Alignment	Center
   	Text	Make it blank
   	Multiline	True
   TextBox	Name	txtUserMem
   	Font	MS Sans Serif Bold 18
   	Alignment	Center
   	Text	Make it blank
   	Multiline	True
   	Visible	False
   CommandButton	Name	btnPaper
   	Caption	Paper
   CommandButton	Name	btnRock
   	Caption	Rock
   CommandButton	Name	btnScissors
   	Caption	Scissors
   CommandButton	Name	btnPlay
   	Caption	Play
   CommandButton	Name	btnExit
   	Caption	Exit
   CommandButton	Name	btnClear
   	Caption	Clear
   PictureBox	Name	picPaper
   	Picture	paper.bmp
   PictureBox	Name	picRock
   	Picture	rock.bmp
   PictureBox	Name	picScissors
   	Picture	scissors.bmp
   PictureBox	Name	picUserPic
   PictureBox	Name	picCompPic

   
   Note: for the purpose of enhancing the Visual Implementation of the PRS Program, you may change other properties such as StartUp Position, background color, etc.
   
   
6. Now that you have completed the Visual Implementation of the PRS Program, you can begin to create the code.
   
   
7. Write the pseudo-code for the Paper, Rock, Scissors program on your Program Documentation form.
   
   
8. In the General_Declarations area of the program, add the programmer information, the Option Explicit code and declare the uChoice variable.
   
   :
   
   
9. Create the code for the Exit button.
   
   
10. The next code that you will write is the code that is associated with the CommandButton btnPaper. When this button is pressed, the following events take place:
    • "Paper" is placed in the TextBox txtUserChoice
    • the uChoice variable is assigned the value of 1 - that being the variable that represents Paper
    • the user choice is placed in the TextBox txtUserMem for use later on
    • the graphic of the paper is placed in the PictureBox picUserPic
      
      
11. The code for the btnPaper is:
    
    
    
    
12. Save your project and run it. Try pressing the Paper button to ensure the program works. Do the Rock and Scissors button work? Explain your answer.
    
    
13. Write the code for the Rock and Scissors buttons.
    
    
14. Save your project and run it. Ensure the three user buttons work.
    
    
15. Next, you will create the code of the CommandButton btnPlay. When the Play button is pressed the following events take place:
    • a random number between 1 and 3 is generated
    • the random number is assigned to a graphic: Paper, Rock, or Scissors
    • the proper caption - "Paper", "Rock", or "Scissors" is placed in the TextBox txtCompChoice
    • the appropriate graphic is loaded into the PictureBox picCompPic
    Later, you will add more code to the btnPlay CommandButton, but for now you only want to get it to make a choice and display that choice.

16. Add the following code to the CommandButton btnPlay_Click():
    
    
    
    
17. You should be able to explain the purpose of each line of code.
    
    
18. Save your project and run it. When you click play, the computer's choice should be displayed in the proper boxes.
    
    
19. In the Paper, Rock, Scissors program design, you are required to indicate whether the play is a win, loss, or tie. You will write the code for this part of the program next.
    
    
20. In order to determine whether there is a win, loss, or tie, you need to write down the possible scenarios. Create a chart on your Program Documentation form that indicates the possible scenarios.
    Does your scenario chart look like this?
    
    
21. First of all, remember the following rules in the PRS game:
    • Rock beats scissors
    • Scissors beats paper
    • Paper beats rock
      
      
22. Now, write the code that determines the win, loss, or tie status and displays that in the TextBox txtStatus:
    
    
    
    
23. Notice that you have used a new procedure called ElseIF. This procedure is used when you require a number of conditions within the If . . . Then statement.
    
    
24. Save your project and run it. Play the PRS game by first selecting the user choice then pressing the Play button. Try several different games to see how your program works.
    
    
25. There is one problem with the PRS game: what happens when the user presses play without selecting a choice? The program does not work properly when this happens.
    
    
26. As a good programmer, you must anticipate that a player might do this and create a procedure in your program to deal with this. For your PRS program, you will create code that will cause a message to display that says "Please make a choice" and then beep.
    
    
27. The code for this is:
    
    
    
    
28. Save your project and run it. Try running it without making a user choice. What is wrong with the program?
    
    
29. You can change the properties of any object on a Visual Basic Form by writing code to do so. In the case of the TextBox txtCompChoice, you set the Font property to MS Sans Serif Bold 18, which is fine for a short phrase such as "Paper". However, when you try to display something longer, such as "Please make a choice", there is not enough room to display it in the TextBox. You could change the size of the TextBox or the Font property, but then it would not match the TextBoxes on the form. So, you can modify the properties when the program runs.
    
    
30. First of all, define the Font as a variable:
    
    
    
    
31. Add the following code to the btnPlay CommandButton:
    
    
    
    
32. Notice the two GoTo statements. GoTo is used when you need the program to skip some code if one condition is true, or run that code if the condition is not true.
    
    
33. In the case of your code, the statement reads, "If the user has not made a choice, beep, change the font size, display the message "Please make a choice", then go to the Finish section. If this statement is not true, then set the font and go to the Continue section.
    
    
34. Now it is time to define the Finish and Continue sections so Visual Basic knows where to GoTo.
    
    
35. Type the following code just above the comment that describes what the btnPlay does:
    
    
    
    This tells Visual Basic where the Continue section starts.
    
    
36. Type Finish: just above the End Sub statement for the CommandButton btnPlay.
    
    
37. Save your program and run it. The Play button should work properly both when you do not make a selection, and when you do.
    
    
38. The next task you need to do is to write the code for the CommandButton btnClear. When pressed, this button should:
    • clear the picUserPic
    • clear the picCompPic
    • clear the txtCompChoice
    • clear the txtUserChoice
    • clear the txtStatus
    • clear the txtUserMem
      
      
39. Write the code for the CommandButton brnClear and try it out. Did it work?
    
    
40. One final task: change the Visible property of the TextBox txtUserMem to False. This is so the TextBox will not show when the program is run.
    
    
41. Save the project and test it.
    
    
42. Change the properties and locations of the objects on the form to create a pleasing layout for the user.
    
    
43. When you are finished, send an email to your teacher asking that this project be marked.
    
    
44. Click here to see the marking guide for this project.
    
    
45. In the next lesson, you will revisit the PRS Program to make it more user friendly.