Converting Visual Basic 6.0 to modern code

[Paul-NYS]

Hi
We have 2 problems with VB 6.0/Access in its current state:

1. We have about 40 agencies using an individual copy of the application/code and they each FTP us some data out of their individual systems which we store in an Oracle database. We want to build one overall system which these agencies can log into over the Internet. So we would like an architecture that can support this.

2. VB 6.0 seems barely supported in Windows 7.0 and I believe Microsoft has stated they will not support it in operating systems beyond Win 7. So it seems we have to migrate.

What is the best way to deal with both of these problems, given the current VB 6.0/Access architecture?

Paul

[Max Peck]

Hi
We have 2 problems with VB 6.0/Access in its current state:

1. We have about 40 agencies using an individual copy of the application/code and they each FTP us some data out of their individual systems which we store in an Oracle database. We want to build one overall system which these agencies can log into over the Internet. So we would like an architecture that can support this.

2. VB 6.0 seems barely supported in Windows 7.0 and I believe Microsoft has stated they will not support it in operating systems beyond Win 7. So it seems we have to migrate.

What is the best way to deal with both of these problems, given the current VB 6.0/Access architecture?

Paul

Hi Paul,

1) If you re-develop your application in .Net (VB or C#) you will find that you can set up a SQL Server (probably Oracle, too) DB on a web server and have all 40 of your clients use it. I just reached the point with an app I'm working with where the app can access a local SQL database and the one on my web provider - exactly as if they lived on the same machine. I was, frankly, surprised at how good the performance of ADO.Net was in talking across the web. It takes some time to figure out how everything works but it's worth it. I probably could have pulled that end of it off with VB6 talking to SQL through ADO but I don't know if the linkages would have been as reliable. .Net was built to do this.

2) Yeah ... I began to discover this. VB6 was running in my Win7 environment "OK" but the IDE is beginning to show it's age and seems less stable, particularly under Aero. After using VS2008 for awhile VB6 really does seem dated. I still love it (VB6) but I finally realized that using 10-year-old technology isn't going to cut it any longer.

Like any project, do your up-front design first of course. There's a learning curve to get through - a steep one. You'll be on this particular curve for a good while (as I am) but you'll be pretty amazed at the capability that's "built in" to .Net as compared with stuff you had to do manually in VB6. Try not to be intimidated by the feature set; you can still keep things relatively simple once you pick the features you'll use. For example, I developed a simple library (DLL) that abstracts ADO.Net for me so I can get at SQL very simply.

Just be patient with yourself as you make the switch. It'll take time but the technology has matured nicely. It'll work.

-Max