description | title | ms.date | helpviewer_keywords | ms.assetid | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Learn more about: Declared Element Characteristics (Visual Basic) |
Declared Element Characteristics |
07/20/2015 |
|
1bc40fb8-b67c-4428-90a4-76b630ae2583 |
A characteristic of a declared element is an aspect of that element that affects how code can interact with it. Every declared element has one or more of the following characteristics associated with it:
-
Data type — the values the element can hold, and how it stores those values. For more information, see Data Types.
-
Lifetime — the period of execution time during which the element is available for use. For more information, see Lifetime in Visual Basic.
-
Scope — the set of all code that can refer to the element without qualifying its name. For more information, see How to: Control the Scope of a Variable.
-
Access level — the permission for code to make use of the element. For more information, see How to: Control the Availability of a Variable.
The following table shows the declared elements and the characteristics that apply to each one.
Element | Data Type | Lifetime | Scope 1 | Access Level |
---|---|---|---|---|
Variable | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Constant | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Enumeration | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Structure | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Property | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Method | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Procedure (Sub or Function ) |
No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Procedure parameter | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Function return | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Operator | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Interface | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Class | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Event | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Delegate | No | No | Yes | Yes |
1 Scope is sometimes referred to as visibility.