MICROSOFT VISUAL BASIC 2.0

README.TXT Release Notes for Microsoft (R) Visual Basic (TM) Professional Edition Version 2.00 (C) Copyright Microsoft Corporation, 1992 This document contains release notes for Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows Professional Edition version 2.0. Information in this document is more current than that in the manuals or online Help. ******************************************************************** Read Part 1 - Software Installation Information - before installing. ******************************************************************** ======== Contents ======== Part Description ---- ----------- 1 Software Installation Information 2 Notes and Tips 3 Notes for Microsoft Visual Basic "Language Reference" 4 Notes for Microsoft Visual Basic "Programmer's Guide" 5 Updated Information 6 Custom Controls 7 Help Compiler 8 ODBC Information Part 1: Software Installation Information ========================================= Before installing Visual Basic 2.0 Professional Edition, you should make backup copies of all the distribution disks. Do not write-protect the distribution disks you use to install Visual Basic. If you do, Visual Basic cannot be successfully installed. SETUP.EXE is a Windows application; that is, it is run from Windows rather than from the MS-DOS prompt. SETUP.EXE will only run in Windows Standard or Enhanced mode. It will not run in Real mode. You can determine how Windows is configured on your computer by choosing About from the Help menu in the Program Manager. To install Visual Basic 2.0 Professional, use Program Manager or File Manager to start SETUP.EXE as you would any other Windows-based application. For example, if you are installing from drive A: - From the Program Manager File menu, choose Run. - In the Run dialog box, type A:SETUP and choose OK. Or - From the File Manager, double-click on the SETUP.EXE file icon on drive A. Most of the files on these disks are compressed and must be expanded before they can be used. For Visual Basic to work properly, you must install the files using SETUP.EXE. You cannot simply copy the files to your hard disk. If you want to install Visual Basic 2.0 Professional Edition in a directory other than where you've installed Visual Basic 1.0, you should specify this on the Installation Location screen. If you install Visual Basic 2.0 Professional Edition in the same directory as Visual Basic 1.0, most of the program, sample, icon, and tutorial files will be updated. During setup, Visual Basic installs the custom controls GRID.VBX and OLECLIEN.VBX into your Windows system directory. If you have custom controls with the same name as the custom controls included with Visual Basic 2.0, and these controls are not the same GRID.VBX and OLECLIEN.VBX as were distributed with the Microsoft Professional Toolkit for Visual Basic 1.0, then Visual Basic installs GRID.VBX and OLECLIEN.VBX in your Visual Basic directory. The WINHELP.EXE and COMMDLG.DLL files included with Visual Basic 2.0 are the latest English versions of these files. They will upgrade an older version, regardless of the language (e.g., French and German) of the older version. IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT ODBC INSTALLATION --------------------------------------------- After installing Visual Basic Professional, in order to install ODBC functionality you must run the setup ODBC program from the end of the Visual Basic Professional setup, or from the ODBC setup icon, or from setup in the \VB\ODBC subdirectory. Follow the instructions from the setup program and refer to the ODBC setup documentation in your documentation set. ODBC Setup is a Windows program and should be run from within Windows. Part 2 : Notes and Tips ======================= Using Command-Line Options -------------------------- Visual Basic can be started using command line options. The syntax is: VB [[/R[UN] filename] [/C[MD] commandline]]|[/M[AKE] projname[.mak] [exename]] Option Explanation --------------------------------------------------------------------- /RUN Runs the application specified by filename. /CMD Allows you to input a command-line argument that you can later use via the Command function. See online Help for more information. /MAK Loads the project named in projname and executes the Make .EXE command from the File menu to create an executable file whose name is provided as exename. See the "Microsoft Visual Basic "Programmer's Guide" for more information. The filename parameter to the /RUN option must have a .MAK extension if it is to be treated as a project file. Any file with a different extension will be loaded as either a form or module into a new project. Copying Icons to the Clipboard ------------------------------ To copy an icon (.ICO file) from a picture box to the Clipboard, you must set its AutoRedraw property to True, and copy its Image property to the Clipboard by specifying the CF_BITMAP format in the SetData method. Limit on Size of MultiLine Text Boxes ------------------------------------- The Text property of text box with MultiLine = True is limited to approximately 30K of text, while the limit is 32K if MultiLine = False. Setting the Visible Property of Modal Forms to False ---------------------------------------------------- If you set the Visible property of a modal form to False, the form becomes a modeless form. If you need to return a form to a modal state after hiding it, use formid.Show 1 instead of formid.Visible = True. Shortcut Keys Interrupting the "Learning Microsoft Visual Basic" Lessons ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Learning Microsoft Visual Basic" uses shortcut keys for accessing property settings in the Properties window. These keys may conflict with Shortcut keys you have set for making another Windows application active (set in the Program Manager Item Properties dialog.) Specifically, Ctrl+Shift+H, W, L, T, N, C, and V are used by Learning Visual Basic. If you have these key combinations as Shortcut keys for other Windows-based applications, you may accidentally activate these applications while running "Learning Visual Basic" is running. Limit on Number of Objects per Application ------------------------------------------ There is a limit of 512 distinct objects in an application. Visual Basic uses 80 of these for global objects, data types, and standard controls. Thus, your application can have up to 432 form types or control classes. Each custom control class and form type that you create for your application is included in this limit. Each form uses one object and each custom control uses two. Note that custom controls may have multiple control classes in one .VBX file. This corrects the documentation in Appendix D, "Specifications and Limitations" in the "Programmers Guide." Creating Toolbars or Status Bars with Borders on Top or Bottom -------------------------------------------------------------- Setting BorderStyle to 1 - Fixed Single creates a border on all four sides of an aligned picture box. If you want to create a toolbar or status bar with borders on only the top or bottom, set BorderStyle to 0 - None. Then, write code in the Picture_Resize event to create a line each time a form is shown or resized. Either place a line control in the picture box and reset the X1, X2, Y1, and Y2 properties, or include the Line statement. For example: Picture1.Line (0, Picture1.Height) - (Picture1.Width, Picture1.Height) OLE Client Custom Control Error Messages ----------------------------------------- The following error messages correct and add to those contained in the "Language Reference." 31005 Object close