Visualbasic express 2008 to vbe 2010
icepuck
Posts: 466
Is there a way to import vbe2008 projects to vbe2010? I can load the individual files but it will not build or run the program at all.
-dan
-dan
Comments
Actually, come to think of it, over the last 30 years, hardly any Basic programs ported to the next version. I usually ended up starting again.
Here is my new philosophy: No program will ever port correctly. All programs I write will be distributed both as a compiled version, and as the source code, and a copy of the relevant compiler will also be included.
Hmm. Is it worth downloading vbe10?
Good grief, I havn't been into BASIC programming since I left technical school in 1976 so I've never experience that pain. But what a disaster. I'm surprised you did not switch to C or something decades ago.
Microsoft killed professional PC Basic with .NET, which broke compatibility with trillions of lines of existing code without really providing any added value. Anybody who moved to VB.NET instead of C# is an idiot, since they're pretty much the same language except that VB.NET is deliberately crippled to punish you for using Basic I suppose. I personally stuck with VB6 and will stop using it when I can move to something open source, most likely not on Windows either.
In fact, since Microsoft switched to the .NET platform, there has never been an issue with upgrading. Simply open up the older project and the IDE will automatically upgrade the solution files for you. If you're using the latest versions, you can even support different versions of the .NET Framework. With 2010, the same app can support multiple versions of the CLR.
Also, VB.NET is in no way crippled over C#. Everything you can do in one language you can do in the other. There are slight differences in the language sets and features, but there is nothing "crippled."
Now... just to make it clear, I've been writting code professionally in Visual Basic since way before it was called Visual Basic. I started in their tools back in the Quick Basic and PDS days and then started working for Microsoft on the Visual Basic 1.0 for Windows project (Thunder.) I've never stopped developing software in Visual Basic but I also now develop software in C#. The only reason I do C# is to know both languages when I need to consult or train with somone. There is absolutely nothing you can do in C# that you can't do in VB.NET, or vise versa. The only differences are HOW you do it.
I think it does a great disservice to this forum and your reputation if you talk down a product without actually knowing anything about it.
Bill
I wonder if icepuck could post a zip of the code?
Bill
Yep, I understand that. Their (Microsoft's) issue was that they need to make a clean break and move onto a platform that could scale (remember that Internet fad?) The runtime model in Visual Basic (classic) just couldn't do it with it's simple threading model. Also, the upgrade wizards were so so at best at first. Later versions (like in VS 2005) were actually pretty good, however.
It's a shame you didn't move to .NET, however, I think once you get over that initial hurdle, you'd find out just how powerful the platform is as well as how easy it is to do some great coding.
Bill
The reason Microsoft did that was to force developers who would otherwise have no reason to move to the new platform whether they needed to or not. That was, at best, untrustworthy. What do you think will happen when they get tired of .NET and they want to extract a few hundred bucks from you to move to the Next Bestest Thing Ever?
At a certain point you have to realize that if you keep hanging out with the same sociopath you will keep finding knife handles sticking out of your back. It doesn't matter how much fun they are to hang out with or how witty they are or how productive they are when they decide not to be stabbing you; they've proven that the one thing you can depend on is that they will stab you again one day. Best to be moving on to different acquaintances.
Microsoft has not forced anyone to move to a different platform if they choose not to. They have, however, provided a newer, more modern tool... but again, no one is forced to use it.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vbasic/ms788708.aspx
Bill
At some point several months ago an automatic request appeared as I was starting my work in VB8. Do you want to convert your work and upgrade it to VB10? Heck, why not? A 10 is always better than an 8! Well my program not only didnt run in 10, but it no longer runs in 08 either.
As you say, it is likely that 10 likely didnt eat 08 for lunch that afternoon. You offered a possible simple solution. But my question to you (as one with intimate knowledge from within) is If the solution is as simple as you pose, why didnt the authors of 10 foresee and allow automatic correction for these simple solutions without our intervention?
Perhaps they foresaw income from consultation fees after we are left hanging?
Actually, I'm not sure what the original problem was that made it not work in the first place. But, the upgrade wizard does allow you to create a backup so that it can be rolled back if something doesn't work. (I highly recommend using that feature every time.)
As for consulting fees... Microsoft really doesn't have a service like that. We offer free help on those types of issues through the forums and our product support services.
Bill
That's not quite right... you can install from the DVD (or CDs) that you already have already... it's just that we're not allowed to "distribute" new copies of it. However, if you want to install a new license, you can simply buy the new Visual Studio and our licensing will allow you to install the older bits instead.
If I remember correctly, we're not allowed to distribute VS6 because of the Sun Java lawsuit. That product included our implemetation of the Java JVM and tooling and we were bound by the lawsuit to not sell any product that included it... however, selling new versions of VS doesn't apply and you have "downgrade rights" in the new products for the older versions.
Bill
I ended up installing vb6 on win7 to get back to were I was before all this messed up.
Cutting and pasting from vb6 to vbe10 is probably the worst way to convert but it saved a lot of reentering code.
After all this hassle I found Lazarus, a vb like ide I'm starting to like.
http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/lazarus/files/
-dan
Oh... I think you're confusing different versions. VB6 and VB8 are two entirely different things. VB6 was not .NET Based... but VB2008 is. (In fact, VB 2008 is actually the fourth version of VB.NET... so you're really skipping a bunch of versions in between.) VB 2010 doesn't have VB Classic upgrade capabilties.
Classic VB6 code is "barely" compatable with VB.NET... you should go through the upgrade process in VS2005 to make it a .NET based application.
The one thing you can do is use "COM Interop" instead of modifying the code to make it work, simply use it as it is. .NET Code can easily call into "Classic" VB Code without the need to convert it. Simply add a reference to the libraries (DLLs) and it'll take care of the rest.
Bill
Especially the .doevents and +=
I made the change from vb6 to .net because .net is free. No other reason really.
I'm not quite game to make the jump from vb2008 to vb2010. But I guess if there was a compelling reason, like telnet was part of the program instead of almost but not quite doing the job (w3sockets http://dimac.net/default3.asp?M=FreeDownloads/Menu.asp&P=FreeDownloads/FreeDownloadsstart.asp). And pset worked (I can't for the life of me work out how to change one pixel in a drawing window in the newer versions of .net, yet older versions of basic did this fine. I spent a day on the internet once trying to find the answer).
But overall, .net is a better program. I do like the way things from C are finding their way into VB.
http://www.microsoft.com/express/