Vb4 16bit conversion

[cal424]

I have a fully functioning software that was built many years ago with VB4, I am looking for someone that would give me insight about converting what I have into a modern or maybe .net ... Willing to pay for services. Please its urgent as I have companies wanting to get an updated software. Any help would be greatly appreciated !

[Shaggy Hiker]

I moved the thread to the question forum for VB6. I'm not sure whether that is right or not, but time will tell. VB6 is certainly not modern, but it is still fully functional, and there are some great and passionate VB6 developers here. On the other hand, .NET is modern, but this would be the wrong place for a question about that, so the first thing to figure out is what you mean by "modern"?

[OptionBase1]

What is the general nature of the software? How many forms does it have? Approximately how many lines of code is it? Does it use third party ActiveX controls? If so, which?

[Elroy]

IIRC, you should be able to bring VB4 source code rather directly into the VB6 IDE, and then run and compile it.

The whole reason VB6 is still so active (as evidenced by this forum) is because the upward compatibility path ends with VB6, with .NET being (basically) a different language.

Personally, I'd say you're in the correct forum. But, as Shaggy says, that's your call.

[cal424]

Reason I brought it here is because I was told it would need to go from VB4 to VB6 then to .Net , again I’m very inexperienced and really just need the proper guidance, so I truly appreciate your feedback on that. If .net is modern then that’s where I would want to go.

[cal424]

So I will get more detail on how many forms etc so you get a better understanding, the software is a property management software that does everything a landlord or management company based in NYC would need to follow the rules and regulations on top of being able to do your finances such as payroll, 1099s , cutting checks for vendors, tenant / landlord, organization of your paper work etc. No third party

[cal424]

That is very mind relaxing as I am in desperate need of a coder that would have the knowledge and the guidance to make this happen for me

[OptionBase1]

You've never said that you have the actual source code used to build the program. Do you?

What is your realistic time frame for how soon this needs to be done?

[yereverluvinuncleber]

Forget an upgrade to .NET, that will be a complete redesign and re-write and anyone that tells you otherwise does not know their stuff.

If you are very inexperienced and your app is written in VB4, well for me, it would appear to be a no-brainer to upgrade it to VB6. VB6 is an easy-to-learn language for a relative noob, that is what it was designed for. Chaps here will help, I have no doubt. They will at the very least be able to answer your questions and a search through this forum will come up with any number of solutions to problems you are likely to encounter.

The complexity and the quality of the project code will determine whether you will be able to pick it up and easily run with it. The most important points :

1. You say you are inexperienced but that means nothing. You need to tell us what experience you DO have.
2. Do you have the source code?

[Phill.W]

... I was told it would need to go from VB4 to VB6 then to .Net ...

Flatly, you were told wrong.

Upgrading VB4 to VB5 and VB6 weren't that big of a deal.
I seem to recall the upgrade from VB4 to VB5 was a bit of a "bump" but from VB5 to VB6 was a complete non-event. We just opened our VB5 projects in VB6 and carried on as if nothing had happened.
Going "up" to Visual Basic [.Net]? Not so much.

Visual Basic [.Net] shares a Product Name and few syntactic keywords with its illustrious predecessors and that's about it.
It's a whole new language, built on top of a whole new architecture. That means any "upgrade" is a total rewrite. There has never been a satisfactory "upgrade path" from VB6 to Visual Basic [.Net].

And the rumblings are that Visual Basic [.Net] is no longer being "actively evolved" by Our Friends in Redmond, meaning that, in the not-too-distant future, C# may be the only Game (procedural, Managed-Code language) in town.

Regards, Phill W.

[Zvoni]

Adding/repeating to the others above:
1) (Repeating) Do you have the Source-Code for the VB4-Project?
2) (Adding) What Database is used behind the scenes? I really, really hope it's not DBase or Access, but considering what was available during the time of VB4....
That said: I'm pretty sure that to "modernize" that program will involve a Database-Migration with everything it entails

[jdelano]

You don't like using VxBase or the Rocket.dll???

[qvb6]

I recommend to only update to VB6, which is easy. It would run on Windows 10/11. VB6 runtime are included with these OS'es, so basically just copy the EXE. After that, you can think what you want to do later, .Net or even web based. If they want an alternative, I see Odoo getting popular. It used to be called OpenERP. It costs slightly less than QuickBooks. Transparency and simple pricing(rather than contact for quote) led to its popularity. They have 5M+ users.

[gilman]

I think that there is a serious problem with third party components, If your program uses them, they will be 16 bits (vbx), not 32 (ocx)
Even if you have the original installer, and it installs the ocx controls, it will most likely be a 16-bit program that will not run on 'modern' operating systems.
If a 32-bit version cannot be found, the simplest solution would be to run it on Windows XP.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

This is such an URGENT requirement that the OP could not even be bothered to respond to the helpful feedback. Perhaps we should lock the thread or set it to resolved?