Can not open VB 6.0 files in Visual Studio 2010 - visual-studio-2010

If Visual Studio includes Visual Basic, why can't I open a VB 6.0 file in Visual Studio 2010?

Because there's a difference between Visual Basic 6.0 and Visual Basic .NET which is what Visual Studio 2010 includes.

Darin is basically right but omits an important detail.
There's a difference between VB6 and VB.Net, and Visual Studio 2010 includes VB.Net
Earlier versions of VB.Net included an upgrade wizard to help convert VB6 code to VB.Net. This was dropped in Visual Studion 2010. You might want to use Visual Studio 2008 to help upgrade your VB6 to VB.Net, and then migrate to Visual Studio 2010 later. Upgrading VB6 to VB.Net can be a large task.

That's correct. I upgrade to 2008 then to 2010. You have to run the installed program from vb6 first then it will upgrade. You might have terminal failures from unfound assemblies. Go into the .vb form file with a text editor. REM out any failed to load assemblies from the fail report. Then you can re-write the VB code for code errors as the lingo changed. Next upgrade to vb 2010 using that wizard and re-write for new lingo again.
Form sizes are converted to vb6. in 2008, then that is scrapped in 2010, don't re-write that in 2008, if you're upgrading right away, you'll have to re-write in 2010 anyway.
Common file open/save/browse/color/font routines become vb powerpacks 10 which you load with your vb 2010 assembly. You have to re-insert the new common assemblies into the form from the toolbox and re-work the code. There's a bunch of stuff there, but it is do-able.

I have not used VS 2010, but based on my readings, the latest VB is effectively a new language altogether. Since introduction of VB .NET, VB 6.0 has become a stagnant language.

Related

Opening a VB6 project [duplicate]

I want to open a program (written in Visual basic 6) to be open in Visual Studio.net. Please guide, how could I do that?
While trying to open VB6 (.vbp file) program directly from the OPEN project option in visual studion.net, I was getting this error,
"Visual Basic 6 (.vbp) files cannot be opened in Visual Studio"
I am trying to open in VS 2010.
Visual Studio 2010 does not support VB6 projects. See the link here
From the msdn documentation:
Visual Studio 2010 does not provide tools for upgrading applications and projects from Visual Basic 6.0. If you want to upgrade your project from Visual Basic 6.0 to Visual Basic 2010, you can use the upgrade tools provided with earlier versions of Visual Studio and then upgrade the project again in Visual Studio 2010.
Visual Basic Tools for Visual Studio
There's a plugin called Visual Basic Tools for Visual Studio that provides the following features:
load classic VB workspace- and project-files and offers quick access to the extension´s options
integrates with the solution explorer and the code editor having support for syntax highlighting, basic outlining (allows to expand/collapse methods, properties and types) as well as navigation bar support.
Classes, Types, Modules, Forms and Controls can be inspected using the Object Browser and Class View.
From the reading, it's unclear if you can actually build the project, though it does say:
The import tool creates a new solution and MSBuild compatible projects.
Links to the plugin by VS Version
2012-2013
2015
2017
RAD Basic
There is also an independent IDE called RAD Basic that claims the following features:
New and modern IDE (Integrated Development Environment) with form designer supporting drag and drop, code completion, refactoring tools, etc.
RAD Basic Compiler: Compiler 100% compatible with your VB6 project (vbp, frm, bas and cls files). Generate native executables (exe and ocx) in both 32-bit and 64-bit.
RAD Basic Forms: Reimplementation of common VB6 controls and components supporting 32-bit and 64-bit.
etc.
Speaking from my experience, it's not easy to open a Visual Basic 6.0 project in any versions of Visual Studio above 2008.
Although 2008 and below versions do provide an automatic function to convert Vb6 code to the VB.net framework. But, the problem starts after the conversion - it can skip some code, add functions/variables on its own, or modify the functional behavior on its own, and with that the VB.proj will be created with errors and you will not be able to open it anywhere as a solution file. The same with any 3rd party tools.
If you want to open the VB6 code try Visual Basic 6.0 Portable edition.
But headache will still follow you there, please refer this link
Installation of VB6 on Windows 7 / 8 / 10
Make sure you are clicking on the project file itself... Right click on the file and select "Open With" and select your visual studio program. It may need to be converted and if so, it will prompt you to convert the project.
Thanks!
Download Visual Basic Tools for Visual Studio,allows to work with classic VB workspaces and projects

Converting my application from Visual Studio 2005 to Visual Studio 2010

I'm trying to convert my application from Visual Studio 2005 to Visual Studio 2010. But I am facing an application execution at initialization 0xc0000005. My Visual Studio solution is a mix of C++ and C# projects.
I'd like to continue using .NET 2.0. I am using Crystal Reports. How can I fix my issue?
Try to convert one project at a time.
You should specify your problem a little more.
Given that the error is "0xc0000005" and without any more data, I could estimate that your issue is probably from one of your C++ projects' conversion.

How to execute the code of VB 6 from Visual Studio 2010, or I need to download VB 6?

Can anyone guide me ,whether is aany method to open a VB6 code from Visual Studio 2010?
Or i need to download VB 6 Compiler separately?(If yes, then please send the link from where i can download the VB6 or guide me from where i can download it?)
Visual Studio (starting with Visual Studio .NET 2002) does not compile Visual Basic 6.0 projects. You will need to legally obtain Visual Basic 6.0 to compile the code.
If you just need the Visual Basic 6.0 runtime, most modern Windows versions have it installed.
No you can't, you'll need a copy of Visual Basic 6. You can get it from MSDN.

Running Visual Studio 2005, 2008, and 2010 on same system

I have around 50 projects in Visual Studio 2005 that I am building a new development machine for and I'd like to slowly move those projects to VS 2008 but also have 2010 available for select new projects.
Can this work? Are there any gotchas for this sort of setup? Any general advice for running multiple versions of Visual Studio on the same system would be greatly appreciated. Specifically related to managing a controlled migration of projects to new versions but being able to selectively keep some on old versions.
I've got 7.1, 8, and 9 installed at the same time (well, and VB part of 6 as well) and I've not really had a problem opening projects file in the wrong version. The Visual Studio Solution files is "associated" with a particular version even if they all have the same extension of .sln, as you can see from its little icon. Microsoft Visual Studio Version Selector seems to handle individual project files (.vcproj) fine as well.
The only thing I've had is the individual source code files not opening up in the latest version like I want, but that's easily fixed with the click of a little button in VS Opions.
Microsoft have this to say:
Visual Studio supports the installation of Visual Studio .NET 2002, 2003, ... on the same computer.
In general, you should install the earliest release of Visual Studio first, and then install subsequent versions of Visual Studio in the order in which they were released.
Make sure when you open up the 2005 files you're doing it in 2005. To open them in another would require a conversion which would render them incompatible with the older compiler set-up. To aid this, structure whatever workspace you're using into 2005, 2008, and 2010 so as to minimize accidental chance of this.
Second, when you double click to open the projects, it will invariably attempt to open them with 2010. You'll have to start with VS#### instead of the solution/project unless you're in the 2010 workspace.
I have VC6, VB6, VS 2008, and VS2010 RC installed on Windows Vista. I cannot double click on the VC6 dsp files without VS2010 opening and asking to perform the conversion. The 2008 C# projects open in 2008 as long as I use the solution file. The 2008 project file opens in 2010 instead of 2008 even though the version selector is the default program. Most of the time I try to remember to open the desired version of Visual Studio and then open the project.
You can mitigate some of these issues by changing the default program associations in the control panel or the registry.
Update: This setup works on Windows 7 x64, with the addition of VS2013.
Yes it can work. I'm not sure if you have to install them in a particular order... but install them in order of the versions... 2005, 2008, 2010. Should be good to go.
I can't speak for 2010, but I have run 2005 and 2008 at the same time on my system without any fuss.
And I made the double-click mistake that wheaties warns about more than once :(
I have VS2005 & VS2008 running without any issues. I have had problems when working with betas, express editions & am assuming you don't have them.
I would say refrain from making too many changes to the setup of these editions, it should be fine.
I also had the same doubt. I work at my company which is still on VS 2008 and I want to personally use the VS 2010 and not risk the 2008. I installed the 2010 and it worked fine with the 2008. Just make sure you note the projects that are in 2005 and open them with the same accordingly.
The reason why it works is simple: if you open your solution file in Notepad, you'll see which version of VS is related to your project.

Visual Studio 2008 and Visual studio 2005

I am developing a Windows Application using the .net Framework 2.0 and Visual C#(Microsoft Visual Studio 2008) in my PC.
On the completion of my project I have to execute it in a system which has Visual Studio 2005 and .net framework 2.0.
So my doubt is if I develop an application in Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 will I be able to execute it in Visual Studio 2005 properly? Is it possible?
Please help me!
Thanks in advance!
The project files are compatible between the two IDEs, but the solution files are not. You may be able to execute it in VS2005 if you create a new solution in 2005 and add the projects to the new solution.
http://blogs.msdn.com/djpark/archive/2007/11/07/how-to-use-solutions-and-projects-between-visual-studio-2005-and-2008.aspx
Create the project in Visual Studio 2005
Save a copy of it somewhere
Upgrade to Visual Studio 2008, do your development work.
Drop your finished project back into your original Visual Studio 2005 project and compile
There should be minimal differences in the code so long as you don't use any .NET 3.5 features.
Note: So long as you use .NET 2.0 features only, the project will run just fine on the Visual Studio 2005 machine
It depends on what you mean by 'execute'. You can run your application just fine on your target machine, that has nothing to do with Visual Studio. As long as the framework version is the same (or higher) you should have no problems.
However, if you want to open your solution in Visual Studio 2005 while it was built using 2008, you will run into problems, as they are not backwards compatible.
Replace Version 10.0 in *.sln files with Version 9.00
Replace 2008 with 2005 in *.sln
Replace Version="9.00" with Version="8.00" in each *.vcproj file

Resources