Win10 AppCompat VB6 IDE

Since there is no code here, this didn't seem to make sense for the CodeBank. It is only of interest to VB6 programmers so General Discussions didn't seem to fit either.


Once people get VB6 installed they often struggle with the little tweaks required. Often people will use one of the Windows Version Compatibility Modes, but those have undesirable shims bundled into them such as version-lies.

I realize that few VB6 programmers have installed or used the Application Compatibility Toolkit, so I thought I'd post a custom Shim Database (.sdb) file. I have included two versions, but one pattern-matches on a specific patch level and will become obsolete as Microsoft releases VB6.exe patches (which do actually still occur though rarely):

Attachment 139761

Original

Because of that I've included a less restrictive version as well. Sadly there is no support for wild-carding in versioning values so it might also match another program, but the risk is probably quite low:

Attachment 139763

Less restrictive

That's the one you'd want to use. The attachment includes Install.cmd and Uninstall.cmd for that one.

To run the install you can right-click and Run as administrator and that's all there is to it. You can even do that before installing VB6 itself.


It seems to work fine in Windows 10 (Threshold 2, i.e. current level of patches to Windows 10) though I can't say regarding Windows 10 after the Redstone "Anniversary Update" patches coming in August 2016.

This set of shims addresses the DWM issues that can cause Designer-drag lagging in the IDE. Weirdly enough, you get a red rubberband when stretching, sizing, etc. but it works just fine. It also has RunAsAdmin.

I was a little doubtful about the HighDpiAware shim, but it seems ok so far.

This has been working great for me. It might also work unchanged for Windows 8.1, Windows 8, and even Windows 7 for all I know.

Avoiding the version-lie shims means you have access to APIs and ActiveX components you'd be denied otherwise. Of course for some you'll still need a manifest embedded into VB6.exe to get Common Controls 6.x access and you may also want to add <supportedOS /> elements as well for full access to new APIs. But the application manifest for VB6.exe is another topic.

As far as I can tell what this changes in the registry looks like:

Code:

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[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\InstalledSDB\{fbc6500a-a183-415c-9aa5-f67b9c1536a7}]
"DatabasePath"="C:\\Windows\\AppPatch\\Custom\\{fbc6500a-a183-415c-9aa5-f67b9c1536a7}.sdb"
"DatabaseType"=dword:00010000
"DatabaseDescription"="VB6 shims"
"DatabaseInstallTimeStamp"=hex(b):fc,2f,54,19,81,e9,d1,01

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Custom\VB6.EXE]
"{fbc6500a-a183-415c-9aa5-f67b9c1536a7}.sdb"=hex(b):fc,2f,54,19,81,e9,d1,01

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There is nothing executable there so no reason to censor it any more than an image file.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elroy

Since, strictly speaking, your attachments aren't ASCII/ANSI files, I'll be surprised if the moderators let it stand.

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We do allow a variety of non-ascii files (such as Excel based files), but some need to be zipped first as we do not have them specified in the allowed list of the forum software (there are a variety of reasons for that, such as file size, and the fact we don't want to manage the list frequently).

While I haven't opened the .sdb files in a proper viewer, they seem fine after a quick check in Notepad.

Given dilettante's long history here, and the high moral standards he has shown, it is safe to assume the attachment will not be removed by moderators unless we are given a good reason to do so.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. The .SDB files should be viewable using almost any version of the ACT's Compatibility Administrator tool. I'm not sure what format they're in and may be a simple ESENT database or something.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by si_the_geek

Given dilettante's long history here, and the high moral standards he has shown...

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More catholic than that, Pope Francis would be out of a job :D

I'm starting to worry about being awarded a gold-tone Dollar Store pocket watch (As Seen on TV!) and nudged out the door to pasture.

Not directly related but easily forgotten when reinstalling on a fresh Win10 system:

If you normally use the IDE in MDI mode, opening a Project with windows maximized can be handy. I know I'm used to it and missed it.


Make a file called something like VB Open Maximized.reg and paste in:

Code:

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Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Visual Basic\6.0]
"MDIMaximized"="1"

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Then you can right-click and choose Merge.

Well I have found a glitch in that .SDB for VB6.exe:

When you multi-select several controls in the Form designer (probably UserControl as well) you select them and can drag the group... but this multi-selection isn't visually indicated.

In other words it looks like you haven't selected any of them. Normally you get a box around them but it isn't appearing.


This isn't major but it is worrying and less than adequate, and I'm sure we can do better. Perhaps it relates to the strange red rubberband line?

I'll see if I can find a fix for that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dilettante

When you multi-select several controls in the Form designer (probably UserControl as well) you select them and can drag the group... but this multi-selection isn't visually indicated.

In other words it looks like you haven't selected any of them. Normally you get a box around them but it isn't appearing.

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Same behaviour as with common control 6.0 manifested ide (vb6.exe file). Selecting more than one control, the selection/selected indicators disappear altogether. Also in manifested ide form/control properties (back-, fore- etc.) color dialog 'palette', is shown as blank white.

Hmm, I know about the color dialog issue with a CC6 manifest applied to the IDE. I must have forgotten that it also causes multi-select to lose the indicators.

This .SDB doesn't seem to result in the other problems we have with a CC6 manifest: things like the color dialog problem and Option buttons in a Frame being blacked out.

I still have not found a fix for the multi-selected controls indication. However I have eliminated a number of shims we don't need in this new version:

Attachment 139859

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dilettante

Hmm, I know about the color dialog issue with a CC6 manifest applied to the IDE. I must have forgotten that it also causes multi-select to lose the indicators.

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Here's something I just discovered the other day regarding CC6 manifest and the IDE. Adding single character listbox/combobox items in the listbox/combobox property window fails. We get a square character instead (at least on Win10).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LaVolpe

Here's something I just discovered the other day regarding CC6 manifest and the IDE. Adding single character listbox/combobox items in the listbox/combobox property window fails. We get a square character instead (at least on Win10).

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For kindness The LaVolpe; how did you solve this unique character problem in the listbox?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by schmitz

For kindness The LaVolpe; how did you solve this unique character problem in the listbox?

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Simply populate the listbox in Form_Load, i.e., List1.AddItem "C"

Hello,

I've tested with that settings:

Attachment 177549

I've windows 10 64 bits Pro version 10.0.18363.836 Spanish version.
And it works for me.
Thanks to your settings I've solved my problems with the control movement in the IDE.
In my computer there is no need to the "Run as admin" setting enabled.

Thank you

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dilettante

Since there is no code here, this didn't seem to make sense for the CodeBank. It is only of interest to VB6 programmers so General Discussions didn't seem to fit either.


Once people get VB6 installed they often struggle with the little tweaks required. Often people will use one of the Windows Version Compatibility Modes, but those have undesirable shims bundled into them such as version-lies.

I realize that few VB6 programmers have installed or used the Application Compatibility Toolkit, so I thought I'd post a custom Shim Database (.sdb) file. I have included two versions, but one pattern-matches on a specific patch level and will become obsolete as Microsoft releases VB6.exe patches (which do actually still occur though rarely):

Attachment 139761

Original

Because of that I've included a less restrictive version as well. Sadly there is no support for wild-carding in versioning values so it might also match another program, but the risk is probably quite low:

Attachment 139763

Less restrictive

That's the one you'd want to use. The attachment includes Install.cmd and Uninstall.cmd for that one.

To run the install you can right-click and Run as administrator and that's all there is to it. You can even do that before installing VB6 itself.


It seems to work fine in Windows 10 (Threshold 2, i.e. current level of patches to Windows 10) though I can't say regarding Windows 10 after the Redstone "Anniversary Update" patches coming in August 2016.

This set of shims addresses the DWM issues that can cause Designer-drag lagging in the IDE. Weirdly enough, you get a red rubberband when stretching, sizing, etc. but it works just fine. It also has RunAsAdmin.

I was a little doubtful about the HighDpiAware shim, but it seems ok so far.

This has been working great for me. It might also work unchanged for Windows 8.1, Windows 8, and even Windows 7 for all I know.

Avoiding the version-lie shims means you have access to APIs and ActiveX components you'd be denied otherwise. Of course for some you'll still need a manifest embedded into VB6.exe to get Common Controls 6.x access and you may also want to add <supportedOS /> elements as well for full access to new APIs. But the application manifest for VB6.exe is another topic.

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Quote:

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Attachment 177549

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hummmm, broken link

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Episcopal

hummmm, broken link

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This is the screen of the broken link:

Attachment 177924

Quote:

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Originally Posted by david.hernandez

This is the screen of the broken link:

Attachment 177924

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I'm sorry ... but this one is also broken .... or there is an error here for me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dilettante

Since there is no code here, this didn't seem to make sense for the CodeBank. It is only of interest to VB6 programmers so General Discussions didn't seem to fit either.


Once people get VB6 installed they often struggle with the little tweaks required. Often people will use one of the Windows Version Compatibility Modes, but those have undesirable shims bundled into them such as version-lies.

I realize that few VB6 programmers have installed or used the Application Compatibility Toolkit, so I thought I'd post a custom Shim Database (.sdb) file. I have included two versions, but one pattern-matches on a specific patch level and will become obsolete as Microsoft releases VB6.exe patches (which do actually still occur though rarely):

Attachment 139761

Original

Because of that I've included a less restrictive version as well. Sadly there is no support for wild-carding in versioning values so it might also match another program, but the risk is probably quite low:

Attachment 139763

Less restrictive

That's the one you'd want to use. The attachment includes Install.cmd and Uninstall.cmd for that one.

To run the install you can right-click and Run as administrator and that's all there is to it. You can even do that before installing VB6 itself.


It seems to work fine in Windows 10 (Threshold 2, i.e. current level of patches to Windows 10) though I can't say regarding Windows 10 after the Redstone "Anniversary Update" patches coming in August 2016.

This set of shims addresses the DWM issues that can cause Designer-drag lagging in the IDE. Weirdly enough, you get a red rubberband when stretching, sizing, etc. but it works just fine. It also has RunAsAdmin.

I was a little doubtful about the HighDpiAware shim, but it seems ok so far.

This has been working great for me. It might also work unchanged for Windows 8.1, Windows 8, and even Windows 7 for all I know.

Avoiding the version-lie shims means you have access to APIs and ActiveX components you'd be denied otherwise. Of course for some you'll still need a manifest embedded into VB6.exe to get Common Controls 6.x access and you may also want to add <supportedOS /> elements as well for full access to new APIs. But the application manifest for VB6.exe is another topic.

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I would actually be interested in installing the Application Compatibility Toolkit myself. Can you provide instructions on where to download it from, and how to use it to make VB6 work correctly in Windows 10?

As Microsoft continues to crumble under the weight of its decisions things are beginning to disappear.

Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT)

Quote:

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ⓘ Important

The Application Compatibility Toolkit versions covered in this article are no longer supported. The last supported version is included in the Windows 10 Assessment and Deployment Kit

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In no way do I want to cast aspersions on the excellent work here but my VB becomes unusable after installing the files. Installing the file fixes problems when opening external documents with VB6. Sadly the toolbox icons become microscopic. Fonts in the VB IDE are so small as to be unusable. You can bump up the code window to be usable but basically this breaks VB badly. My screen is very high resolution so that probably won't be the experience of others. Thanks for including the uninstall option and I certainly thank you for all your hard work.

The HighDpiAware shim tells Windows "don't apply appcompat scaling, this program will address high DI settings itself." Of course this isn't magic. It does not cause VB6.EXE to scale its UI for high DPI because VB6.EXE itself is not actually DPI aware. That shim just lets you test VB6 programs that are written to be high DPI aware.

If you have a monitor with gratuitously high resolution of course everything will look "small." That's how the whole thing works. Dots are set closer together. If your monitor has very high resolution then the "small" stuff may be far to small to see unless the monitor is physically very large.

So ideally for development you'd use a monitor that can by viewed comfortably at 100% scaling (96dpi).


Alternatively you'll have to use one of the forms of DPI scaling appcompat instead of marking VB6.EXE as DPI aware.

Things have changed since this thread was started.

You could omit the HighDPIAware shim and try replacing it with the newer GdiDPIScaling shim as long as you have updated Windows 10 to that level of support (1703 or later). Of course making a new SDB requires the Compatibility Administrator utility from the Application Compatibility Toolkit.

You could also omit the HighDPIAware shim in a new SDB and then request GDI Scaling via the Explorer Properties dialog. There it is labeled "System (Enhanced)." But if you are going to apply an SDB anyway you may as well specify it there.

I just tried the GdiDPIScaling shim with VB6.EXE and the results were usable though a little grim. Most of the control toolbox bitmaps and some of the toolbar bitmaps must be DIBs because they didn't get scaled well... while other bitmaps scaled but were blocky and maybe pixelated. The ugly bitmaps are ok, but the poorly scaled ones got cut off with only a chunk of their upper-left pixels showing.

So yeah, it can be used but the limitations of GDI Scaling were pretty obvious.

Another downside is that working that way you can't really develop DPI-aware programs. You could try working this way and mark all of your applications to request GDI Scaling via manifests, but the results will probably still vary a lot for different displays at various DPI settings. But if you try to deal with high DPI at all you have a lot of testing and tweaking to do.

So I still think you need to develop on a 96dpi display.

Is there any way to modify the shim so the icons aren't so ridiculously tiny on zoomed monitors without the GdiDPIScaling mentioned in the post above since it apparently makes things look terrible? Using the 'Windows XP SP3' compat it looked fine, but I wanted the other benefits of using the shim here.

Here's the before and after, needless to say this isn't really usable.

https://www.vbforums.com/images/ieimages/2023/03/4.jpg

The shims are part of Windows. You can't really "modify" them, you can only select them or not. The actions and effects they result in occurs within called Windows library entrypoints.

Your "compatibility modes" are just varying bags of shim selections in addition to one of the "version lie" shims.

You can try digging into this by using the Compatibility Administrator utility in the Application Compatibility Toolkit. I'm not sure where they bundled all of this but there isn't a separate download for it any more.

Ahh:

Quote:

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Important

The Application Compatibility Toolkit versions covered in this article are no longer supported. The last supported version is included in the Windows 10 Assessment and Deployment Kit.

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I was asking about modifying the file you posted, not the system shim. I have the ACT though and think I figured it out; I can just remove the HighDpiAware option. In addition to the tiny icons it breaks all apps that aren't doing manual dpi adjustments of API-created controls (they're way too big and cover up VB UI elements).

The Compatibility Administrator displays but doesn't let you edit the system ones.

Fafalone, using any of the compatibility (full shim bundle) packages breaks calls to the ShellExecute API, and who knows what else. Personally, I think it's highly advisable to use a minimal set of shims.

Early on in the DPI Battle I saw where things were going. I quit fighting and bought a 20" 1600x900 monitor and made it the primary for my development PC.

This is quite usable at 96 DPI and solved nearly all of my issues. To test at high DPI settings I generally rely on a secondary monitor and separate test PCs. In some cases I hard-code Forms to open on a secondary high-res high DPI monitor for debugging and then omit that in subsequent compiles.

I'm not sure any amount of jiggering beats developing at 96 DPI.

I never use ShellExecute... it doesn't break ShellExecuteEx. But I've been using the SP3 Compat bundle since like 2010 until I switched to this today; maybe it's responsible for the rare, hard to reproduce crashes I sometimes get from the IDE while running complex programs, but generally it's been fine.


I don't have a separate development machine from my main computer I use for everything else, and anyway more and more people have scaled displays and it's only become more common. I've got a couple laptops without scaling I use for testing 96dpi. Everything turns out fine when you develop for 96dpi and leave your apps dpi unaware, at least for every app I've made-- the system scaling works fine. It's only when you mark something dpi aware it breaks when running at e.g. 150% or 200% zoom.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dilettante

I still have not found a fix for the multi-selected controls indication. However I have eliminated a number of shims we don't need in this new version:

Attachment 139859

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Does anyone know what manifest settings would most closely match what the shim is doing to the IDE? I'd like to make the IDE and my compiled application behave similarly as far as how they are treating the scaling.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by syntax53

Does anyone know what manifest settings would most closely match what the shim is doing to the IDE? I'd like to make the IDE and my compiled application behave similarly as far as how they are treating the scaling.

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Shims and manifest settings are two completely different things.

What's more similar to shims are "compatibility settings". In fact, compatibility settings are nothing but a specified "group of shims".

However, for a VB6 compiled executable, I've never seen any need for any shims nor compatibility settings. But, there is occasionally a need for some manifest settings.

Regarding the IDE, for optimal functionality, a few shims do help. But, using a full set of compatibility settings often does more harm than good. Basically, that's what this thread is about.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elroy

Shims and manifest settings are two completely different things.

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The shim in post #12 causes the IDE to run in DpiAware mode. This, in turn, causes the application scaling to look and behave differently when running in live/debug mode. I was asking which manifest settings I could apply to the application to simulate the IDE so I could code and test live in a more 1-to-1 environment. I want my cake and to eat it too as I am just starting to learn about all of this. Using the 2016 dpiawareness namespace in the manifest is what worked.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elroy

Regarding the IDE, for optimal functionality, a few shims do help. But, using a full set of compatibility settings often does more harm than good. Basically, that's what this thread is about.

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Is there another resource to grab said shims? I'm basically looking for what was included in post #12 but without HighDpiAware. I tried downloading the Win10ADK but am getting a 'can't run on this device' error when trying to launch the compatibility administrator... going down multiple rabbit holes here.

edit: I'd also like to try it with the GDI scaling because that seems to work pretty good on compiled apps. Though, I see some said it was poo poo.

I can download and use the Compatibility Administrator on Windows 10 and Windows 11 successfully. Try the link from here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/wi...ed/adk-install

You have to download the ADK for your specific Windows build, can't just download any Win10 version. So scroll down to Other ADKs in the link Caine posted and find the right one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fafalone

You have to download the ADK for your specific Windows build, can't just download any Win10 version. So scroll down to Other ADKs in the link Caine posted and find the right one.

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Ok thanks. I’ll try it out. I was going by this which is why I thought it had to be the win10 version.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dilettante

The last supported version is included in the Windows 10 Assessment and Deployment Kit.

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