TwinBasic

[VB6 Programming]

fafalone has made his Shell Controls:Shell Browser and Shell Tree Controls available for twinBasic. Both 32bit and 64bit are supported.


https://github.com/fafalone/ShellControls

https://www.vbforums.com/showthread....nsive-features

https://www.vbforums.com/showthread....ee-UserControl

[VB6 Programming]

twinBASIC status update:

Archive Collection: twinBASIC: January 22, 2023

This week, some favorite twinBASIC articles instead of the usual project update.

https://nolongerset.com/archive-collection-twinbasic/

[VB6 Programming]

twinBASIC status update:

twinBASIC Update: January 29, 2023

Highlights include an updated roadmap and v1 release date, new UserControl events support, and several new tB sample projects from fafalone and Ben Clothier.

https://nolongerset.com/twinbasic-up...nuary-29-2023/

[VB6 Programming]

At last! BETA 238 of the twinBASIC programming IDE is now available...

Major rewrite of ActiveX extender and UserControl implementations to better match VB6 behaviours. twinBasic generated ActiveX controls can now be used in VB6, and other hosts.

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

• Click on "Assets" for the latest release
• Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
• Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

[VB6 Programming]

BETA 239 of the twinBASIC programming IDE is now available...

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

• Click on "Assets" for the latest release
• Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
• Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

[VB6 Programming]

BETA 241 of the twinBASIC programming IDE is now available...

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

1. Click on "Assets" for the latest release
2. Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
3. Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

[VB6 Programming]

BETA 242 of the twinBASIC programming IDE is now available...

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

• Click on "Assets" for the latest release
• Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
• Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

[VB6 Programming]

twinBASIC status update:

twinBASIC Update: February 5, 2023

Highlights include a major rewrite of the ActiveX implementation, updates to two community projects, and a discussion about the business side of twinBASIC.

nolongerset.com/twinbasic-update-february-5-2023/

[VB6 Programming]

BETA 243 of the twinBASIC programming IDE is now available...

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

1. Click on "Assets" for the latest release
2. Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
3. Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

[VB6 Programming]

BETA 244 of the twinBASIC programming IDE is now available...

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

• Click on "Assets" for the latest release
• Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
• Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

[VB6 Programming]

BETA 245 of the twinBASIC programming IDE is now available...

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

1. Click on "Assets" for the latest release
2. Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
3. Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

[VB6 Programming]

BETA 246 of the twinBASIC programming IDE is now available...

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

• Click on "Assets" for the latest release
• Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
• Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

[nanyswip21]

What do you think is the right time to release TwinBasic next month, late February?

[wqweto]

Btw, there is an updated roadmap in issues which says Tentative Release Date: 3rd July 2023

There is no v1 release in late February planned, still in BETA.

cheers,
</wqw>

[vbrad]

What itches do you all see twinBasic scratching?

I understand that it's aimed primarily at VBA users and VB6 users.
Will it be attractive to people outside those groups?

I know nothing about VBA programming in MS Office but it would be interested to
hear about the possibilities tb will offer there that aren't available with VBA.

In my case I have quite a lot of VB6 code. At the moment I am mainly viewing tb
as a sort of insurance policy for that. Fear of support for vb6 in windows going
away has always been a nagging worry of mine.
Maybe it reflects a lack of imagination on my part but I don't feel hamstrung by
vb6's limitations, currently.
But then I may have become a bit institutionalised in vb6.

What exciting possibilites do others see?

[yereverluvinuncleber]

Well, compared to other languages the combination of VB6 and its RAD IDE, run, stop, debug and continue are still the superior choice. I am talking about youngsters starting out programming today. For all the other languages there is nothing that is as good all round. MS Visual Studio is overly complex and the .NET languages are inaccessible to starters.

If TwinBasic manages to replicate the VB6 experience then it seems a natural starting point for VB6 BASIC to retake the role of newcomer's language. My thoughts are the same for both TwinBasic and RADBasic whichever takes the crown. Personally, I may continue to code in the VB6 IDE and use the 64bit capability of TB/RB (whichever) to gain some future-proofing potential for my creations. Whether I choose to create 64bit versions of my programs will be down to the world deciding that they really don't want 32bit apps anymore. For me, there is no other major driver.

If, on the way VB6+TB/RB gains some future technologies, PROMISEs, multithreading and marshalling, transparent forms and controls, support for modern image formats, more than 256 controls per form, timer independence from forms, internal limitations removed by 64bitness, unicode file i/o, multiline tooltips &c&c - then I will be stimulated enough to move fully into TB/RB. For me though, what VB6 offers now is STILL very good, it just needs updating for it to shine.

[VB6 Programming]

BETA 247 of the twinBASIC programming IDE is now available...

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

1. Click on "Assets" for the latest release
2. Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
3. Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

[VB6 Programming]

BETA 248 of the twinBASIC programming IDE is now available...

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

1. Click on "Assets" for the latest release
2. Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
3. Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

[fafalone]

Well, compared to other languages the combination of VB6 and its RAD IDE, run, stop, debug and continue are still the superior choice. I am talking about youngsters starting out programming today. For all the other languages there is nothing that is as good all round. MS Visual Studio is overly complex and the .NET languages are inaccessible to starters.

If TwinBasic manages to replicate the VB6 experience then it seems a natural starting point for VB6 BASIC to retake the role of newcomer's language. My thoughts are the same for both TwinBasic and RADBasic whichever takes the crown. Personally, I may continue to code in the VB6 IDE and use the 64bit capability of TB/RB (whichever) to gain some future-proofing potential for my creations. Whether I choose to create 64bit versions of my programs will be down to the world deciding that they really don't want 32bit apps anymore. For me, there is no other major driver.

If, on the way VB6+TB/RB gains some future technologies, PROMISEs, multithreading and marshalling, transparent forms and controls, support for modern image formats, more than 256 controls per form, timer independence from forms, internal limitations removed by 64bitness, unicode file i/o, multiline tooltips &c&c - then I will be stimulated enough to move fully into TB/RB. For me though, what VB6 offers now is STILL very good, it just needs updating for it to shine.

You really ought to check it out then, because most of that wish list is available *already* in the beta versions.

tB already supports modern image formats. Transparent forms are supported via the TransparencyKey property. There's no limit on controls, and no other artificial limits either. The controls all support Unicode (i'd have to check about the native input functions; and also the IDE supports it so you can have Unicode strings in your code, plus there's DeclareWide to turn off Unicode-ANSI conversion to APIs). There's no multithreading syntax yet (planned for later this year), but unlike VB6, it doesn't crash when you use CreateThread, so you can multithread using the low level APIs for it Windows offers (I've created a demo of this, and the 64bit tB port of my Event Tracer uses multithreading).

There's plenty of other new stuff right now... generics, overloading methods, new operators (+= and family, and bitshit operators << and >>, short-circuiting conditionals OrElse and AndAlso), Continue For/While, support for AddressOf for class/form/UC methods, ability to define interfaces and coclasses in-project instead of needing type libraries, ability to compile 64bit ActiveX controls for use in 64bit VBA and .NET (my ShellBrowser runs in 64bit .NET WinForms now, and that's no simple control), Implements-Via to wrap classes and extend them, ability to use Implements with inherited interfaces-- it will automatically supply the parent interfaces to QI calls too, Err.LastHResult and Err.ReturnHResult for interfaces (the 2nd one is huge as it eliminates a lot of the need for vtable swapping), built in support for driver development, and a number of other things. This is what's available right now... there's more planned like full inheritance, exporting TLBs, in-project aliases, etc, and Wayne is very responsive to requests if there's other features you had in mind.

The only real weak spot right now is the IDE and a couple missing VB6 features like MDI forms and the Printer object. The IDE still has some really helpful features VB doesn't though, like code folding (and you can define Regions that can be collapsed to collapse entire blocks of methods) and size/offset info for UDTs and interfaces on hover, and sticky scroll. There will be a lot of IDE improvements between now and July too.

Meanwhile the most current release of RB doesn't even support the 'And' operator or 95% of original VB6 syntax... that's why I was saying in the other thread that unless there's been a shocking amount of progress in the now 4-month overdue new beta, it's no longer worth mentioning in the same breath as a potential successor.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

Don't get me wrong, I am expecting TB to have those things you have kindly listed...

As vbrad said I don't feel hamstrung by VB6's limitations, currently, as I have workarounds for many of VB6's limitations and I'm not pushing the envelope as many others are.

For the time being I still believe VB6-BASIC (we really need to find a new name for the VB6-family of BASICs) is the tool for learning programming.

I pray for TB, I hope for RB.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I'm not so sanguine about any basic being the tool for learning programming, at the moment. The programming world seems to have splintered quite a bit more than it had back in the mid-90s. Back then, you chose Apple or Windows. If you chose Windows, you had only a few realistic options available, including C/C++ and VB6, of which VB6 was by far the most accessible. These days, I see classes in C++ as introductory courses, and whole fields of scientists are learning R...of all things, while GIS folks seem to be pushed into Python. And then there's the web, which was barely a thing back in the 90s. Yeah, there was a web, but nothing like what we have today. These days, some people are talking about the desktop programs being a dead end. I don't agree, as there are things that the web will never do, but they DO have a point.

Basically, I'd say that the tool for learning programming will be either A) whatever is free, or B) whatever is taught in schools. Lots of schools taught nothing at all when I was in school (80s), or at least they weren't focusing on it all that much. I had no computer requirements in high school. There were some programming classes, but they were in BASIC and Pascal, while the teachers were 'those assigned to it'. Some of my friends were better at it than the teachers, and both parties new it. That's not the case anymore, at least not in a high school like that (it was a bit on the rich end of things, though not excessively so). In college, there were no computer requirements for my class, though the class right after mine did have to take some kind of computer class. I don't remember whether it was programming or something else. By the 90s, taking at least something in computers was mandatory, but it was just starting to take hold.

These days, with the options as broad and deep as they currently are, I'm none too sanguine.

[VB6 Programming]

BETA 249 of the twinBASIC programming IDE is now available...

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

1. Click on "Assets" for the latest release
2. Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
3. Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

[VB6 Programming]

twinBASIC status update:

twinBASIC Update: February 12, 2023

Highlights include an improved UX for selecting one control from a group of controls, an update to the ActiveX Control project type, and some IID advice.

https://nolongerset.com/twinbasic-up...ruary-12-2023/

[VB6 Programming]

BETA 250 of the twinBASIC programming IDE is now available...

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

1. Click on "Assets" for the latest release
2. Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
3. Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

[VB6 Programming]

BETA 251 of the twinBASIC programming IDE is now available...

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

1. Click on "Assets" for the latest release
2. Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
3. Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

List of missing/unimplemented intrinsic control properties and methods https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/issues/1188

[VB6 Programming]

BETA 252 of the twinBASIC programming IDE is now available...

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

1. Click on "Assets" for the latest release
2. Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
3. Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

List of missing/unimplemented intrinsic control properties and methods https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/issues/1188

[VB6 Programming]

BETA 253 of the twinBASIC programming IDE is now available...

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

1. Click on "Assets" for the latest release
2. Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
3. Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

[VB6 Programming]

BETA 254 of the twinBASIC programming IDE is now available...

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

1. Click on "Assets" for the latest release
2. Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
3. Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

[VB6 Programming]

BETA 255 of the twinBASIC programming IDE is now available...

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

1. Click on "Assets" for the latest release
2. Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
3. Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

[VB6 Programming]

twinBASIC status update:

twinBASIC Update: February 19, 2023

Highlights include an option to customize fonts in the IDE, newly implemented OLE Drag/Drop methods and events, and a new vbNullPtr constant.

nolongerset.com/twinbasic-update-february-19-2023/

[VB6 Programming]

twinBASIC articles on NoLongerSet

https://nolongerset.com/tag/twinbasic/

[VB6 Programming]

twinBASIC status update:

twinBASIC Update: February 26, 2023

Highlights include a big announcement for twinBASIC in the world of Access and the release of ZoneStripper, another of fafalone's VB6 twinBASIC ports.

nolongerset.com/twinbasic-update-february-26-2023

[VB6 Programming]

BETA 256 of the twinBASIC programming IDE is now available...

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

1. Click on "Assets" for the latest release
2. Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
3. Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

[VB6 Programming]

BETA 257 of the twinBASIC programming IDE is now available...

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

1. Click on "Assets" for the latest release
2. Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
3. Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

[VB6 Programming]

BETA 258 of the twinBASIC programming IDE is now available...

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

1. Click on "Assets" for the latest release
2. Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
3. Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

[VB6 Programming]

The twinBASIC programming IDE BETA 259 is now available...

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

1. Click on "Assets" for the latest release
2. Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
3. Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

[VB6 Programming]

The twinBASIC programming IDE BETA 260 is now available...

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

1. Click on "Assets" for the latest release
2. Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
3. Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

[VB6 Programming]

BETA 261 of the twinBASIC programming IDE is now available...

Download from here... https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases

1. Click on "Assets" for the latest release
2. Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
3. Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder

How to install https://nolongerset.com/how-to-install-twinbasic/

[Daniel Duta]

Does anyone know if another GUI, a modern one, is planned in the future? At least one closer to the existing one in vb6.

[Niya]

TwinBASIC is it. There's nothing else.