database for classic vb 6.0 aside from MS access?

Hello guys. I'm a newbie. I've made a simple VB project for our office using VB6.0 and MS Access. Sadly my access got lost after the IT team installed office 365 on my computer. I am looking for an alternate for MS Access that is 'free'? can i install xamp and use mysql as local database? The program i'm trying to make is pretty much add-edit-delete-search with some reports. Just to make some tasks in the office faster.

out topic: I've been trying others (winforms and sharpdevelop) but I don't know how to connect to the database. youtube says add 'microsoft server database' but nothing shows in the list. where do i go to create one? is it free? is it kept over the internet or a local database?

Office 365 has an "Option" for Access, too. Just tell your IT to install it
(I would know, since i do have Office365 with Access)

As for alternatives for vb6: sqlite in conjunction with RC6.
Maybe Olaf (author of RC6) will chip in here.

Or even maybe TwinBasic. No idea about DB-Support there

Thank you for your response. Unfortunately, the office365 was personal, not the subscription. Finally I was able to come across a tutorial on how to use C# and MySQL via Visual Studio 2022. Looking good so far :)
Thank you again.

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Originally Posted by cherrydee

Thank you for your response. Unfortunately, the office365 was personal, not the subscription. Finally I was able to come across a tutorial on how to use C# and MySQL via Visual Studio 2022. Looking good so far :)
Thank you again.

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You do know, that for working with vb6 accessing "mdb"-(Access)-Databases, you don't need Access in reality?
IIRC, vb6 had something along a minimalistic "JET-Databases"-Tool-Thingy (or was it VB5?)

you can use ado in vb6 for reading and createing databases you don't need access you can even use dao that a bit old now but easy to use you can need to add the reference. if your database is small you can also use db3 files there is a fair few engines that have been written in vb6 to access db3 files just do a google. here is a tut for ado

https://www.w3schools.com/asp/ado_ref_command.asp

here is a small vb dbeditor i made with vb6 using dao
https://github.com/Planet-Source-Cod...-v1-0__1-71867

here is some small projects I made using ado
https://github.com/Planet-Source-Cod...mples__1-61429

hope that gets you started.

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Originally Posted by cherrydee

Hello guys. I'm a newbie. I've made a simple VB project for our office using VB6.0 and MS Access. Sadly my access got lost after the IT team installed office 365 on my computer. I am looking for an alternate for MS Access that is 'free'?

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You can still use Access format databases (.mdb or .accdb) with VB6 without Access needing to be installed. They are known as Jet (or ACE) databases and can be used with either DAO or ADO.

Your existing VB project should be able to work with the database you have already created. Just place the .mdb or .accdb database in the appropriate location and run your VB6 app.

VB6 also included a utility called VisData to allow you to modify .mdb databases.

i've been using the sqllite odbc driver for most things now. (there are also several libs in codebank to use sqllite more directly through an activex dll)

http://www.ch-werner.de/sqliteodbc/

there is a great free query browser to manually create/ manage/ explore the databases

https://sqlitebrowser.org/

one bug of the odbc driver is seems like you can only access a record set field once or it may throw an error so use variables like id=rs!id and don't mouse over the rs!id while debugging. slightly annoying but, or use the dlls from code bank they have special build requirements though so might have to use precompiled.

wamp server install and mysql works fine just install the mysql odbc driver for your server version, it's just a little heavy to run the server i used to love mysqlfront for db management but it was abandoned. mysqltools isn't my favorite ui.

the sqllite is just a single file no server which is great.

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Originally Posted by VB6 Programming

You can still use Access format databases (.mdb or .accdb) with VB6 without Access needing to be installed. They are known as Jet (or ACE) databases and can be used with either DAO or ADO.

Your existing VB project should be able to work with the database you have already created. Just place the .mdb or .accdb database in the appropriate location and run your VB6 app.

VB6 also included a utility called VisData to allow you to modify .mdb databases.

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I used to use VisData it was a good tool if you don't have access I am not sure also if it was the VB4 CD or VB5 that they gave the sourcecode for that program I know I seen it on a CD somewere you can learn a lot of things from it, shame someone did not update it was a good tool.

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Originally Posted by Zvoni

Or even maybe TwinBasic. No idea about DB-Support there

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The twinBASIC programming IDE offers the same options as VB6.
There is a sample project in twinBASIC showing how to use a SQLite3 static library.



Krool does have a SQLite library.
https://www.vbforums.com/showthread....-(COM-Wrapper)

Yeah, I read your OP, but only skimmed the replies.

My first (and, IMHO, excellent) thought is to just use the DAO (v3.6) and/or the ADO (v2.8), and continue using the MS-Access structure for your database. Both the DAO and ADO are pre-installed with pretty much all versions of modern Windows, and they're free.

Then, to read your database, I see two options (and both could be used together). Option #1, write your "view" interface in VB6, showing users what they need to see.

And, Option #2, use something like MDBPlus, which is freeware that can be used to view (and do some editing of) MS-Access databases.

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Done that way, you have no need for the MS-Access program at all, and you still get all the benefits of an MS-Access database. This is truly an excellent way to go.

And, personally, if this is just a local-machine database (or maybe on a small LAN), I'd stick with MDB files (as opposed to ACCDB files). They're very bullet-proof, and just more compatible.

It sounds like you were using the older DAO and something uninstalled its DLL, or unregistered it. Please open your VBP file with Notepad, and post the lines that begin with "Reference=" here.

DAO was recommended over the newer ADO because it was tightly optimized to the files that it supported, such as MDB files. Look for "dao360.dll" in your system if you were using it. Here is where it is in my system, Win10 64-Bit:

Library DAO
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\DAO\dao360.dll
Microsoft DAO 3.6 Object Library

ADO has been included with the OS since Windows 2000, and its files protected from XP to 11, and so are the VB6 runtime. DAO and ADO are similar, but not the same. Both have "Recordset" object, but not with the same properties and methods. You can use both by using the fully qualified names, like:

Set rs1 = New DAO.Recoredset
Set rs2 = New ADODB.Recoredset

I suggest you try to fix DAO first, before converting to ADO.

Now I've read the replies. And yes, if you want to go with a SQL-server approach (as opposed to a database "file" approach), something like MySQL or SQL-Lite (or, I'd tend to go with the MariaDB fork) is an excellent option. And all of that is free as well, but probably will require a re-write of what you've got, and another learning curve.

The upside is that SQL-server databases are much more expandable than MDB or ACCDB files, especially when you start approaching the 2GB file size limit, and/or get into a large multi-user situation, or want to implement over a WAN. But, for many of us, those aren't things we need to worry about. MDB and ACCDB files can get around the 2GB limit by simply splitting our tables into multiple files, rather than shoving them all into a single file. And they also do quite well in something like a LAN with, say, a 10-simultaneous-user limit on things.

Also, just to say it, you'll get plenty of support on these forums for any of these approaches.

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Originally Posted by VB6 Programming

The twinBASIC programming IDE offers the same options as VB6.
There is a sample project in twinBASIC showing how to use a SQLite3 static library.



Krool does have a SQLite library.
https://www.vbforums.com/showthread....-(COM-Wrapper)

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There is a sample project in twinBASIC showing how to use a SQLite3 static library.?what's download link?

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Originally Posted by xiaoyao

There is a sample project in twinBASIC showing how to use a SQLite3 static library.?what's download link?

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It is under the 'Samples' tab when you choose 'New Project' in the twinBASIC IDE.

Attachment 192549

You can install mysql and use adodb and myOdbc connector just fine.

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Originally Posted by vb6 programming

it is under the 'samples' tab when you choose 'new project' in the twinbasic ide.

Attachment 192549

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thank you