Visual Basic Programming

Here are my notes and on-line links related to the popular Visual Basic software development tool from Microsoft.

Take the Brainbench certification test on Visual Basic 6.0

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Product History

Visual Basic is a product in Microsoft's Visual Studio suite of software development tools (which include Visual Interdev, C++, Visual J++, and Visual FoxPro).

The prior version is named "Visual Studio 97". The current version, released in July 99, is called "Visual Studio 6.0". What's New?

Microsoft offers the product in different editions.

Product	VB Only Price	Visual Studio Price
Visual __ 6.0 Learning Edition	$87	Price It
Visual __ 6.0 Professional Academic price	$99	Price It
Visual __ 6.0 Professional Upgrade	$229	Price It
Visual __ 6.0 Professional	$459	Price It
Visual __ 6.0 Enterprise Upgrade	$639	Price It
Visual __ 6.0 Enterprise	$850	Price It

Click on the price to search several shopping sites on the internet for the best price.

and Lycos on Visual Basic.

Get Service Pack 3.

Run Time Environment

• Computer users perform work tasks with the help of computer application programs which provide functionality such as looking up a list and presenting them on the screen.
• In Windows operating systems, there are several ways to initiate an application:
  • From the Windows desktop, Start list, or Explorer file icon, users execute (invoke) a program by clicking on the icon associated with a application program. Executable file names end with ".exe".
  • The operating system loads application files when a user opens an Active X visual basic document (files with .vbd extension) which has been associated with the application.
• An application project is a collection of several types of files.
  • .cls - Class (source code) file
  • .EXE - Executable file or ActiveX remote component
  • .OCX control
  • .DLL - In-process ActiveX component
  • Exports file
  • .vbd - ActiveX document state file
  • .wct - WebClass HTML template

To run .vbp (Visual Basic Project) files, you need a redistributable runtime library set containing the vb.dll files for the version of Visual Basic by which the program was created.

There are 6 versions of VB.

v6.0	1,005 KB	2/28/2001
v5.00.4319 SP3	1,277 KB	June 5, 2000
v4.0	860 KB
v3.0	243 KB

Service Pack 6 (SP6) was released late March 2004. It will run files written with VB 6 SP1 to SP6, so it replaces v6.0 SP5 and other VB6 runtimes.

After you have downloaded the file, run it. Specify c:\temp. Then take Windows Explorer to that folder and run vbrun60sp6.exe so it copies files msvbvm60.dll, oleaut32.dll, olepro32.dll, and VBRUN600.dll to your Windows System folder.

However, programs created with previous versions of VB require a separate runtime, which can be installed on top of each other.

Explanation from RH Minisystems

KarenWare.com

Dan Mabbutt (previously James Limm), the About.com guide to Visual Basic

VB Development Environment

Microsoft calls the VB integrated development environment (IDE) Developer Studio.
• The elements which are compiled into an executable file are stored as a Visual Basic project which have a file extension of .vbp. About project files.

• The Project Explorer window presents a tree-structure view of the files and objects associated with the active project.

• Visual Basic is often called object-based because source code text, are associated with objects such as buttons on form layouts .
• The form location and form size coordinates at the left of the toolbar buttons are measured, in twips (where each twip is 1,440th of an inch).
• Form files end with the extension .frm.

• Visual Basic is called a component-based application development system because projects are created by defining components such as ActiveX controls. A control controls what is displayed on the monitor and manipulation of data.
• Each control has properties .
• Visual Basic controls are used to build screens by specifying the location and other properties of controls such as text edit boxes, radio buttons, checkboxes, listboxes, dropdown lists, etc.
• Events, such as a user clicking a control, trigger events to be occur. This is why Visual Basic is called event-driven programming.
• Visual Basic and Microsoft Office 2000 share the same Visual Basic for Applications 6.0 language .
• is used to specify a series of actions.
  • The compiler ignores all comments to the right of a ' (single quote).
  • All variables must be declared at the beginning before use.
  • .ani - animated icons

  Native Code Compiler Switches

  Unlike Java and C, Visual Basic does not support inheritance . The Implements keyword lets you add standard interfaces to your objects. These common interfaces enable polymorphic behavior for objects provided by a component, or for objects provided by many different components. Objects provided by components can raise events. You can handle these events in a host process or in another application - with the Enterprise Edition, such an application can even be running on a remote computer. enumerations provide named constants for all component types. You can choose a default property or method for each class of object your component provides. You can allow users of your component to access the properties and methods of a global object without explicitly creating an instance of the object.

• Programmers define actions by coding functions such as ... Global functions can be called by any object. Friend functions allow the objects provided by a component to communicate with each other internally, without exposing that communication to applications that use those objects.
• An ActiveX documents have file extension of .vbd
• An ActiveX DLL is a component that performs complex calculations runs in the same process with an application.

• standard built-in controls include the CheckBox control and others (listed in alphabetical order)
• ActiveX controls (list by name) have the file name extension .ocx. ActiveX controls need to be installed in the \Windows\System or System32 directory.

  VBX custom controls are no longer supported in Visual Basic.

  They are selected from the Toolbox. Only 32-bit controls are allowed in VB6. ActiveX control classes

• Windows Common controls allows you to create applications with the look and feel of Windows 95 (or later) toolbars, status bars, and tree views of directory structures

Microsoft's MSDN on-line Library is the definitive source of Sample code, and Programmer's Reference info.

Microsoft's home page for Visual Basic at msdn.microsoft.com/vbasic

Microsoft's Visual Basic Language Center

Conventions for Naming Objects (no longer than 40 characters), Naming Constants & Variables (no longer than 255 characters), and Coding Structure.

Adding Help

Recommendation:
Interplay's “Learn to Program BASIC" was designed for kids, but its animated lessons and  projects to modify game programs make it a fun introduction.  The $29.95 list price makes its 50 exercises a bargain.

Data Access Programming

XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a meta-markup language that provides a flexible approach for describing and structuring data.

Document Type Definitions (DTDs) can optionally accompany XML documents for an XML parser to provide a basis for validating the data. Data sent along with a DTD is known as "valid XML". Data sent without a DTD is known as "well-formed".

Avoid using data bound controls which embed SQL statements within programming logic. Data-bound controls are any controls that feature a DataSource property. Use the ADO/OLE DB DataList and DataCombo controls equivalents of obsolete DBList and DBCombo controls.

DataGrid is the successor to DBGrid.

FlexGrid and Hierarchical FlexGrid Controls

Between Processes

If you are using an OLE DB data source (instead of Use ODBC Data Source Name), the Microsoft Universal Data Link Name (.UDL) must be created on your machine. Using the ADO Data Control With VB6, User-defined Types (UDTs) and arrays can be parameters passed to another process, such as DLL or remote ActiveX EXE.

Data Access Strategies The

Data Environment designer provides an interactive, design time environment for creating programmatic run-time data access.

Free Online Advice: Tips and Techniques

Create your own application instantly! The VB Application Wizard builds a simple application based on parameters.

Mastering Visual Basic: A free course of study from free-ed.net.

Visual Basic: Writing Your First App by Hugh Faulkner (Nov 27, 1996)

VB-Web-Directory.com Tutorial for Beginners and Tips and Tricks

1001 Visual Basic Programmer's Tips

The Paul D. Sheriff and Associates web site has Tips and Techniques.

Microsoft Visual Basic Multimedia Sample Projects

The VB6 International Package and Deployment Kit (IPDK) is a collection of resources and tools that allows developers to produce and distribute localized applications using any language version of Visual Basic. It includes a set of localized, redistributable files for each supported language, localized files for use with the Package and Deployment Wizard (PDWizard), and some tools to automatically repackage your application into another language and change the Locale ID (LCID) of compiled Visual Basic .exe, .dll and .ocx files. The IPDK is designed to solve some of the problems encountered by developers who create programs in multiple languages. Should a program be localized, certain error messages and setup dialogs may still appear in the same language as the language version of Visual Basic that the program was compiled in. One reason is that each language version of Visual Basic doesn't ship all the language versions of the Visual Basic resources. Secondly, if any localized application is compiled on a given language version of Visual Basic, the application's .exe, .dll, and .ocx files will still call the runtime resources corresponding to the language of the compiler. The set of redistributable files included in the IPDK provides a solution to fix these issues.

Acky.net's Visual Basic Archives has a special section on interfacing with Internet web browsers and ftp using the Winsock API.

Burnham's collection of VB programming tips

Writing Active Server components in Visual Basic 5

James Limm's FAQ list

Fee Based Component Offerings

• TegoSoft has ActiveX controls (OCX) for turning exe's into ASP, for IP to IP Chat, to allow installation of setup files over the web, to upload files, and manipulating maps.

• DevPartner for Visual Basic from NuMega helps with testing

• Sheridan provides a popular calendar and data widgets, plus a library of controls to mimick Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Office 97 and 2000. These controls resize automatically.

• Data Type Functions for VB

• Tab Pro is popular. Farpoint also offers calendar and list objects too.

VB6 For sale

Programmer Certification

• Microsoft's

User Groups

• Orange County VB Users Group
• Microsoft's TechEd conferences
• Wrox VB Users Conference
• VB On-line Users Group

  Newsgroups:

  alt.lang.basic
  comp.lang.basic.misc
  comp.lang.basic.visual
  comp.lang.basic.visual.misc
  comp.lang.basic.visual.announce
  comp.lang.basic.visual.database
  comp.lang.basic.visual.3rdparty

• Acky.net's General Visual Basic Support Forum

  Visual Basic Programmer's Journal

  vb-zone

  Visual Basic Code Archive

  The VB Pro

  The VB FAQ at Ohio State

  Advanced Visual Basic at Duke.net

  Carl and Gary's Visual Basic Home Page

  ZD Journal's IVB

  Visual-basic.com

  Visual Basic Shop

  Microsoft Press Microsoft® Office 97/Visual Basic® Programmer's Guide

  Devnetwork.com

  Code of the Week for Visual Basic

  OReilly's VB Controls in a Nutshell

  Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Resource Guide

Utilities/Products

• Configuration Management: Intersolv's PVCS (Program Version Control System)
• Database Design: Logic Works'
  • ERwin (Entity Relation diagramming) for Visual Basic designs data models. “ERwin Server FRE (forward-and reverse-engineers) applications, generates triggers and quickly builds Watcom SQL databases. ERwin's open dictionary allows for bi-directional synchronization of Visual Basic Extended Attributes and domains throughout an application development efforts.
  • (Business Process) BPwin version 2 “a powerful modeling tool for analyzing, documenting and improving complex business processes.”
  • Model Mart to facilitate sharing and collaboration of data models.
• Modeling:
  • Rational's Rose for Visual Basic and Rose for Windows
  • Popkin Software's System Architect family of Data Architect, Enterprise Modeling, and Business Process Modeling tools integrates with Microsoft Repository
• Web application development system Haht HahtSite and Haht SDK
• Generators:
  • Multi Soft's WCL/QFG generates VB and PB applications linked to 3270 and 5250 host screens from legacy systems.
  • Multi Soft's WCL/ToolKits
• Testing Tools:
  • Rational Software's SQA Team Test and Load Test
  • Logic Works' TESTBytes version 4
  • Among Compuware's suite of tools is QARun to capture and playback and Xpediter/SQL for Microsoft SQL Server.
  • Cyrano's Cyrano ClientPack and Winscope TQM
  • Datatect - Automates generation of realistic test data
  • KogoSoft has database debugging tool for Microsoft and MS-SQLServer
  • Mercury Interactive offers LoadRunner and WinRunner
  • Seque's QA Partner
  • PBCURE source code examination and correction tool
• SQL Databases:
  • Informix
  • Intersolv provides “DataDirect” ODBC drivers
  • Microsoft SQL Server 6.5
  • Oracle 7
  • SQLBase - Centura's (Formerly Gupta's) Relational DBMS
  • Microsoft - Microsoft SQL Server and SQL Anywhere
  • Watcom SQL is a development environment used in Logic Works products such as ERWin.
  • XDB
• SQL editors:
  • SQL-builder from CASTsoftware
  • DBArtisan 4.0 by embarcedero.com supports Microsoft, Oracle, and Microsoft.
• Robohelp for developing help files.
• XcelleNetTM for data synchronization of remote and mobile field force applications.
• Application Packages:
  • linar.com (an Intrinsyc company) has a pure Java-to-COM bridge.
  • Powercerv ERP Plus ( The IDC White Paper)
  • Accounting software package from Accura Software, Inc. 1735 Analog Drive Richardson, Texas 75081 USA Tel: (972) 671-2001 E-mail: info@accurasoft.com
• Security: Migration for discontinued PADLock release 6.X tool which provided client-side, object-level security for Visual Basic applications. It secures access to windows, custom controls, DataWindows, DataWindow columns, menu items, etc.

Job Boards

• JFP's Visual Basic jobs

Consultants

• Microsoft's Certified Solution Partners

Globalization/Internationalization/Localization

The Input Method API is an addition to the JDK's internationalization support VB6:
• The VB6 StrConv function, which performs several different conversions on strings, has an optional argument called LCID to specify a LocaleID for a string different than the local system's LocaleID.
• The VB6 CallByName function enables programmers to use string values to specify the names of properties or methods at runtime. For example, to set the Visible property of the txtInfo TextBox control, code
  CallByName txtInfo, "Visible", vbLet, True

  rather than hard-coding property names:

  txtInfo.Visible = True

• Double-byte Character Set
• The VB6 FormatCurrency function displays the currency sign and monetary values in the currency format based on the regional settings for the machine executing the function. The FormatNumber function displays monetary values without the currency sign.
• The VB6 FormatDateTime function also uses regional settings.
• The VB6 MonthName function returns the name of the corresponding month ("January", "February", and so forth). in exchange for a number from 1 to 12.
• The VB6 WeekdayName function converts a numeric value of 1 to 7 into the corresponding day of the week (1 = "Sunday", 2 = "Monday", an so on), use the WeekdayName function. Though the full day name is returned by this function, you can optionally specify that the WeekdayName function returns the abbreviated name (such as "Sun", "Mon") instead.