Getting the ball rolling. Which VB6 projects are you working on?

[yereverluvinuncleber]

Impressed. The idea of creating a control panel applet is an interesting one. I will need to add some sort of control panel for my desktop widgets/trinkets and that might be an option.

So now it's feasible to have a single twinBASIC codebase that can target 32bit VB6/VBA, and 64bit VBA. As well as 32/64bit .NET.

OK, I am impressed again! I have to figure out how this could affect me... At the moment I am only creating standalone binaries and not creating my own controls but I have previously had the idea to do so.

[fafalone]

All those widgets you make would be perfect for controls

[yereverluvinuncleber]

All those widgets you make would be perfect for controls

Yes, I sort of get that. I have need of the same for one of my other VB6 programs that would really benefit from being able to embed one of the dieselpunk gauges onto its surface. I will add it to the store of ideas for the future.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

My 4K desktop showing the two editors side by side and the .js/VB6 equivalent code before/after conversion.



You realise how superb the VB6 IDE for analysing and debugging compared to the old manual method of inserting debug statements into the .js.

[Shaggy Hiker]

You need to make/buy a custom monitor for those. Something made of brass would be good, though steel would also work.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

You need to make/buy a custom monitor for those. Something made of brass would be good, though steel would also work.

I have toyed with that idea too. A polished wood panel that the monitor is mounted upon. A plush wooden frame with brass embellishments. It has been done before and given time I will do it myself!

Another image arrived in place of that I had originally set. That was rather weird.

Here is the original

[yereverluvinuncleber]

I found two resources that allow conversion of a function from .js to VB (.net), one uses AI, unsure about the other. The conversion to VB.NET is often reasonably done but then requires some fettling to obtain true VB6. I did most of the conversion by hand but by the end it was becoming painful and these util.s really helped translate the basic syntax, removing ; {} === += &c.

https://www.codeconvert.ai/javascrip....net-converter
https://www.carlosag.net/tools/codetranslator/

[yereverluvinuncleber]

Really enjoying coding in VB6 at the moment. Nice when you seem to 'fly'.



I have been performing a code review of my own code, not always easy to do. Are there any guidelines that you yourselves use to ensure good quality code? I know we all have our own standards and they change according to our own capabilities. If you have any suggestions I would appreciate them.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

The changes might not seem dramatic but I have managed to add a second RC6 form with working controls. This replicates a VB6 native form that allows selection of a particular ICAO (airport identifier) code, searching by airport name or ICAO code.



The gauge form and the ICAO selector.



The initial VB6 version.

I wrote the code and attached it to a temporary VB6 form initially, a nice bit of RAD development that sped up the coding significantly and then later implemented the RC6 form. The latter not such an easy process for me... but it is now working and I'm pleased with the result.

The graphics are extracted from two separate PSD files and two classes are utilised for each form, one implementing the form's controls as widgets and the other adding any non-interacting elements as a single widget allowing click through to the controls beneath.

I think you can guess which is the VB6 form and which is the Photoshop/RC6 form. I know which I prefer.

What are you working on? Please let me/us know. It is stimulating to see what others are doing.

[SearchingDataOnly]

Krool wrote a really great control, VBFlexGrid. For vbRichClient users, we also really needed a component like VBFlexGrid, so I rewrote Krool's VBFlexGrid with RC6. The source code has been released to the CodeBank.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

That's very good SDO. Do you have a RC6 dropdown combo list box to demonstrate too, that works like the VB6 version?

[SearchingDataOnly]

That's very good SDO. Do you have a RC6 dropdown combo list box to demonstrate too, that works like the VB6 version?

In the RCFlexGridDemo, I'm using VList to simulate the ComboBox. You double-click on the third column of the RCFlexGrid in frmTest and the drop-down list box will appear.

However, one of the flaws with the ComboBox simulated with VList is that the VList window is always inside the Grid window. If you need to achieve the exact same effect as VB6-ComboBox, you'll need to use PopupForm instead of VList. When I'm done with my current job, I'll take the time to try to make a cwComboBox.

[Schmidt]

Do you have a RC6 dropdown combo list box to demonstrate too, that works like the VB6 version?

Here's a simple Demo, how to use the RC6Widgets.cwDropDownList:
(needs - beside an RC6, also a RC6Widgets reference)

Private WithEvents Panel As cWidgetForm 'Widget-Host (for siting)
Private WithEvents drpList1 As cwDropDownList, drpData1 As cCollection 'Widget and associated DataContainer

Private Sub Form_Load()
  Set Panel = Cairo.WidgetForms.CreateChild(hWnd) 'create a WidgetHost (a WidgetContainer, to add to)
  Set drpList1 = Panel.Widgets.Add(New cwDropDownList, "drpList1", 20, 20, 150, 20) 'create a DropDown-instance on the Panel
 
  Set drpData1 = New_c.Collection(False) 'an external Data-Container-instance (a normal cCollection, which can be filled super-fast)
      drpData1.Add 11, "Item A" 'Value-Param equals ItemData, Key-Param contains the Item-Text
      drpData1.Add 22, "Item X"
      drpData1.Add 33, "Item B"
  drpList1.SetDataSource drpData1, "drpData1" 'here's where we associate the Collection-Data-Container with the "Data-renderer" (the Widget)
 
  drpList1.DataSource.Sort = "Desc" 'the other two settings are "Asc"(ascending Keys) and "" (for no-sorting, showing in "Col-Add-Order")
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Resize()
  ScaleMode = vbPixels: Panel.Move 0, 0, ScaleWidth, ScaleHeight 'sync Panel-size with the VB-Form
End Sub

Private Sub drpList1_Click() 'how to read the currently selected Key and Value-Pair (when the DropList changes)
  With drpList1.DataSource
    Me.Caption = !Key & "  (ItemData=" & !Value & ")"
  End With
End Sub

So, the built-in DropDownList-Widget supports DataBinding to either a cCollection or an SQLite cRecordset -
thereby avoiding expensive "Data-Copy-over-loops" into the Controls themselves (which - IMO - is an abomination).

HTH

Olaf

[yereverluvinuncleber]

Thankyou SDO and Olaf, I was just about to dive into replicating my ICAO selection tool for my weather widget and that uses a drop down Combo to show multiple string matches for selection. I will use the example above and see how I get on.

[Schmidt]

Thankyou SDO and Olaf, I was just about to dive into replicating my ICAO selection tool for my weather widget and that uses a drop down Combo to show multiple string matches for selection. I will use the example above and see how I get on.

Just a suggestion...
If you would feed your ICAO-http-query-results into an SQLite-File-DB,
then you'll be able to perform such DataBindings even easier, based on cRecordsets.
(usually via a one-liner like: Cnn.GetRs(<SQLString>) ... instead of pre-filling a cCollection manually in a loop)

Going with a DB will also have the advantage:
- of easy queryable results (over different time-ranges, with different "groupings")
- and it would also solve the problem of sharing differently queried results across different processes (via the "shared DB")

Olaf

[yereverluvinuncleber]

Making progress.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

Forgive the animated GIF, just experimenting.

It shows my VB6/RC6 Panzer Storage desktop widget doing its stuff. Hoping the animation shows.



I used ScreenToGif to capture a region that would incorporate both the widgets and the preference form. It captures everything correctly and can save to AVI or GIF. Being able to capture to a GIF means it can be easily displayed within a forum like this. A very useful tool. I have used it in the past but it had limitations with the old Yahoo widgets and did not capture certain elements such as tooltips. It works like a dream for VB6 programs.

[Episcopal]

yereverluvinuncleber, cool... very creative...

[yereverluvinuncleber]

Thankyou!

The VB6 version of my Windows weather widget is continuing apace. Just added the barometer gauge and now about to convert the pictorial weather gauge (centre right).



A fair bit of work to do to complete. You only find out you've done it wrong just when you are arriving at the end of the work. So, a bit of re-factoring required and I will be in a a position to release it. How many times do you need to refactor a new piece of code before you finally get it right? I am told it is normal to expect three refactors.

[ArthurDent]

Here's my main, extremely large project, due to feature creep, finished by me in about 2001.



I started VB just playing on with a free version on the front of a magazine, or somewhere or other ;-)

So a piece of play became more serious, and I thought 'serious software' and proceeded to code an app, a retail system. I found a control to display members and then to display stock. Then I added a booking system, as the original app was for a hire shop or library. I did the booking system after I'd experimented with lending an item for a period of time.

The control I needed, and couldn't believe, was the Listview. It was implemented as a crucially important part of the interface. God love em, M$ can't half code a control I thought, back then. LOL, (or more like - where did they steal it from!?)

So it just grew in stability and features, and near the end I added a bar code scanner I got from an American company, which I was very pleased about, and I found it was way better than typing in numbers.

My app must have been the first to implement a right mouse click drag. Claim to fame that is.

In the process I found out what was wrong with Windows 98 - the listviews didn't refresh (after a file op) but in my app ALL the relevant listviews would be updated/refreshed. My windows were all numbered in a consecutive manner.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

Use https://imgur.com/upload to host your images. The links process here on this forum definitely do not work.

Upload to imgur, hover over the uploaded image, click the three dots and select "get share links" - use the BBCode (Forums) code supplied and place that in the forum. That's what I do.

[ArthurDent]

Thanks pal. I finally got it working.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

Here's my main, extremely large project, due to feature creep, finished by me in about 2001.

It is good to create an application you are really proud of. If I were you I would stick with VB6 and make your new apps in that environment, knowing that your knowledge is still good to go. The recommendation by shaggy to move to .NOT is also a GOOD one.

I built my first apps in the 90s using QB45/VBDOS and VB6. I moved sideways to .js/html/php and learnt a lot. For reasons of my own, I picked up VB6 again after 20 years and found myself flying! I have learnt so much from this forum over the last four years. I tried to build my first app in VB6 and VB.NOT to test my toes in new/old waters. I created both largely in parallel, however, I hated VB.NOT and loved VB6, as the latter flies and I fly with it!

It is fast to startup, quick to compile and it can do anything. My suggestion is to get going with it again and do the same. In parallel, see how you get on with VB.isn't and then make your choice. There is a future in both.

Please post pictures of your new app as it grows. I am working on one now and I will post a picture soon.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

I assume that you were the owner of Blockbusters?

One thing I would do if I were you, is to find that old source code and stick it up on github. You never know who might need a VB6 booking /lending system!
If you look deep into this thread's past you will see someone had created a retail shelf layout system in VB6.

[ArthurDent]

I would post it onto GitHub if I still had the source, or would consider it at least. I was thrown into jail and left my discs at home. Unsurprisingly they didn't ask if I wanted my CDs and laptop. I just let them keep it, as I got next to nothing from it in terms of revenue...

I basically quit, from programming, I was sick as a chip that I couldn't make it earn.

It's best if I stop this now, my brain says, but my heart is telling me to start another project. So I don't really know what to do.

I can't really start a project in VB.net and compare with VB 6, even if did have my source available, it'd take years to convert it, and I doubt whether I'd be able to do it again from scratch, so it's gone, and I'm looking for a new job when I get off the sick.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

Bloody hell! Not many of us have been in gaol or have used that as excuse for stopping programming. I won't ask why.

Just start a project and use the resources here on this forum to assist. Stick with VB6 for the moment and dip a shaky toe in .NET as and when you feel the need. Don't dive into uncharted waters!

[ArthurDent]

I was released at my trial. Found not guilty. 3 months waiting for a trial. It was rough, I wouldn't recommend it for a spring getaway.

Heck. It's like the A-Team, "if there's a problem, and if you can find them, you can hire the A-Team." Love the music.

Didn't they stop VB6 from being installed on later Windows versions?

[yereverluvinuncleber]

Didn't they stop VB6 from being installed on later Windows versions?

No. Currently running it on Win 7, 10 and 11. All work decently well, there are threads elsewhere on the forum for that purpose. I'd try to avoid later versions of Windows, especially the up-and-coming one due to being so increasingly crap on the trying-to-sell-you-something front. Win 10 seems a good bet.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

This is my current VB6 project. Converting my old Yahoo/Konfabulator dieselpunk volume control to VB6.

Bloody forum messed up the original image and lost the text after the image, how **** is that?

Converted from the Konfabulator widget of the same name and the Xwidget version which is soon to fail due to the impending removal of jscript/vbscript from Windows. Now exists as a VB6 widget/trinket. Only the slider remains to make operate.

PS. The forum keeps reverting the externally hosted image to a locally hosted one with a bad link/zero contents. This forum is seriously sub par these days and needs a kick up the Ars Technica.

- This animated GIF image keeps disappearing so I am just adding a static image and an external link to the animated GIF.

This is the external link - https://i.imgur.com/eBDNmc5.gif

[ArthurDent]

I think the visuals are smashing, BTW. It looks like Bioshock. It's a Jules Verne special with some Sherlock Holmes influences. Edit : you deleted it! Some problems?

[ArthurDent]

Bloody hell! Not many of us have been in gaol or have used that as excuse for stopping programming. I won't ask why.

Just start a project and use the resources here on this forum to assist. Stick with VB6 for the moment and dip a shaky toe in .NET as and when you feel the need. Don't dive into uncharted waters!

OK. I'll stick with you, and the forum, and start a new project. This one will be .net if it ever gets started. Thanks for the swimming metaphor. I have my life jacket though.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

Occasionally the forum tries to replace your image with its own, converting your remotely hosted image to a local one. In the process it screws up the image and loses subsequent text. It doesn't happen often.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

I think the visuals are smashing, BTW. It looks like Bioshock. It's a Jules Verne special with some Sherlock Holmes influences.

Courtesy of Microsoft VB6, my code and designs along with Olaf's RC6 dlls that take a Photoshop PSD and place the graphics directly into a VB6 binary.

[ArthurDent]

Directly into a VB6 binary? So you compile a picture box, then this .dll replaces the image with a PSD? Could you explain a little bit more? I was just about getting to the stage of using .DLLs, it was brilliant. I basically worked up to the stage of classes and objects, before I had to stop. So my point is I don't really follow what this Olaf.dll is. I used a pair of manuals from Wrox - Beginning VB 6 and the sequel which was called "Visual Basic Objects". Both by Peter Wright. I even phoned him to clear up an issue I was having. Very nice company and caring.

I enjoyed both books, and aim to replace them sometime.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

No. You create a design in photoshop, each element a layer in the PSD. Olaf's product is called RichClient, a set of DLLs that allow you to do a lot more than basic VB6. This thread isn't the place to go into it in detail. It is complicated and not straightforward for a standard VB6er. It requires a lot of learning and head re-adjustment. I would not suggest going down this route for the moment. Any more question re: RC6 and Olaf's simple PSD parser, there is a thread elsewhere on the forum.

[ArthurDent]

Sounds brain meltingly difficult. Anything with Photoshop involved is, I've found. I'm better off with Paint.net. :-)

I tried some nice routines from an other book, there was no internet back then, at least I didn't have it until BT put in some copper phone cable to my home. Anyway, I learned to emboss an image. My graphic skill extends only to grabbing a contour or outline, and using a gradient fill on it.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

Do me a favour and don't reply for a day or so on this thread, I want to test to see if it is the frequent replies that cause the forum to replace an external GIF with a local one.

[ArthurDent]

@bert - no bother.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

I gave up re-instating the animated GIF, the forum keeps replacing it with a bad link. I've given up putting it back. Feel free to add your new comments/pictures, let's hope it's more successful for you.

[ArthurDent]

Well Bert, shame you haven't got that fixed, or narrowed down. I love these forums, the software and people who use it. I try not to criticise people and attempt comedy...with mixed results, as you can maybe tell.

Interesting that you say start a new project, I have really, just I haven't got round to sitting and typing it all up into a compiler. My original manuals took about a week and I read, and gave me something to do for the next six or seven years!

So this is going to be another big un. But not as big as my last one. So do I want to spend months relearning all of it? TBH, yes, I do. Maybe leave the world more organised.

I want to give some people here a "kick" a friendly one, and put their images into a game. Preferably one, someone else has made with VB. I'm reading about a dice guessing game, maybe some kind of scoreboard? I should try a video camera setup, and utilise VB to photograph the player. The dice guessing game is very small and simple.

Better would be a scrolling shootemup where I could use my own images as aliens. Edit : if anyone has a shoot-em-up they've made, can I have a look, please?