VB6 and PDA

[asgsoft]

What do I need to bear in mind when developing something for a PDA in VB6?

Anything specific? Are there any limitations?

[Shaggy Hiker]

I would bear in mind that it's a bad idea.

What are you going to use to do the writing? VB6 won't run on a PDA, so you can't use the standard IDE. The one alternative that I am sure exists is eVB, but it's not a happy solution. Sure, it will look alot like VB6, but it isn't. Instead, it is VBScript, and there are some SERIOUS issues with that. The one that I disliked the most was the fact that EVERYTHING is a variant. You can create strings, longs, doubles, whatever, but they are all the exact same thing. No type security of any sort. You can add a pair of strings, divide by a string, concatenate a pair of integers, all without any warning, because they are all just variants, and the type you have given them is ignored.

It was precisely because of eVB that I moved to .NET. The .NET language has the Compact Framework, which is a real, functional, though somewhat slimmed down, version of VB.NET, complete with serious database support via SQL Server CE.

There was a company called AppForge that had a program that allowed you to write VB for a PDA, but I have no idea if they still are offering that.

[si_the_geek]

See this article from our Classic VB FAQs - it explains your options, which certainly do not include VB6.

I have used eVB, and like Shaggy I wouldn't recommend it (especially as it wont work for "modern" devices).

From what I have seen/heard, .Net is the best way to go.

Unfortunately the Express (free) editions of .Net don't seem to have support for Compact Framework apps, but hopefully somebody will prove me wrong!