Upgrading VB6 to .Net

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Could someone point me to a good guide for upgrading an existing vb6
application to vb 2005? I now know that my use of control arrays will need
to be adjusted, does the wizard to this for me? What else don't I know about
that I will need to adjust? I'm sure this question has been asked thousands
of times beofre but I can't seem to find a good guide by someone who isn't
trying to sell me software.

Thanks
Greg
 
Greg P said:
Could someone point me to a good guide for upgrading an existing vb6
application to vb 2005? I now know that my use of control arrays will
need
to be adjusted, does the wizard to this for me? What else don't I know
about
that I will need to adjust? I'm sure this question has been asked
thousands
of times beofre but I can't seem to find a good guide by someone who isn't
trying to sell me software.

Thanks
Greg
Click to expand...

Well... I can point you to a couple of books...

Free Book - Introducing Visual Basic 2005 for Developers
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vbrun/staythepath/AdditionalResources/IntroTo2005/default.aspx

Free Book - Upgrading Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 to Microsoft Visual Basic
..NET
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vbrun/staythepath/AdditionalResources/UpgradingVB6/default.aspx

....and, regarding " What else don't I know about that I will need to
adjust?", just prepare yourself for a complete re-write. That way, any
conversion that actually works will be a pleasant surprise.

btw... wanna buy some software? ;-)
 
Thanks Ken, had a good laugh after that one. Considering I am interested in
C# I may just rewrite it in C# considering its a rewrite anyway... could you
expand on the differnce between migrate and upgrade.

Thanks,
Greg
 
Hi,

I'll speak (out of turn) for Ken. Some feel that VS .NET is not an upgrade.

Others of us have more mixed thoughts. I'm one of those. It is an
upgrade -- that requires migration. To fully use .NET's facilities, a
number of issues should be addressed, including some that may suggest
redesign, not just migration. BTW, unless you want to use C# for some good
reason, such as "it's a standard in our company," there is no reason (IMO)
to choose it over VB.

..NET definitely IS a upgrade for enterprise developement, but is much less
useful for some utilities, etc. It (still) is not as facile as VB6 in some
areas, while in other areas, .NET is much more powerful; and in these areas
RAD really IS where .NET is "at".

My own work is down to about 60% VB6, and 40% .NET (mostly VB), and I expect
that trend to continue - slowly.

Dick

--
Richard Grier, MVP
Hard & Software
Author of Visual Basic Programmer's Guide to Serial Communications, Fourth
Edition,
ISBN 1-890422-28-2 (391 pages, includes CD-ROM). July 2004.
See www.hardandsoftware.net for details and contact information.
 
In terms of explaining general details, Dan Appleman's "Moving to VB.NET"
(yeah THAT Dan Appleman... if you've been coding in VB for a few years you'd
know who he is) book was the single MOST HELPFUL resource I used when making
the move.
 
VB has soooo many things over C# it's not even funny. C# is so barebones...
no background compile so that means no full syntax checking as you're coding
and limited intellisense. Event handling is all manual (no declarative event
handling like in VB). I'm an old-school C/C++ programmer and there's a
reason why I like VB. Because, well, it's GOOD and intuitive. Not to mention
case sensitivity... whoever thinks this is a "feature" is retarded. I like
typing endif and having it magically cased properly. I like my language to
be smart... C# is just dumb dumb dumb.

On the flipside C# has very few things over VB... ability to declare parts
of your code as "Unmanaged" is the only "hardcore" thing it's got over
VB.... but, that's a dubious feature to begin with.
 
¤ Thanks Ken, had a good laugh after that one. Considering I am interested in
¤ C# I may just rewrite it in C# considering its a rewrite anyway... could you
¤ expand on the differnce between migrate and upgrade.
¤

Upgrading typically implies immediate gratification while migration is the realization that the
successful completion of the upgrade will occur either just before or after the release of the next
version of the product.


Paul
~~~~
Microsoft MVP (Visual Basic)
 
Paul Clement said:
¤ Thanks Ken, had a good laugh after that one. Considering I am
interested in
¤ C# I may just rewrite it in C# considering its a rewrite anyway... could
you
¤ expand on the differnce between migrate and upgrade.
¤

Upgrading typically implies immediate gratification while migration is the
realization that the
successful completion of the upgrade will occur either just before or
after the release of the next
version of the product.
Click to expand...

If you're referring to dotNet, well put! <g> Basically, "an upgrade", to me
is... something you buy that, when opening a file created by an older
version of a product, converts that file to a new format and lets you get on
with your work... Winzip (no format changes, just new functionality), Word
(same thing), InstallShield (saves the old project and uses the info to
create a project compatible with the current version. 100% guaranteed to
work, btw). I've just never had an "upgrade" to anything that required so
much effort.

I'm finally getting to the point where "some" of the sample code works on my
PC(s). I knew it was just a configuration problem. Sad part is, the VS
installer should detect these "issues" during installation and tell you how
to fix them. I mean, sheesh... if all I have to do is clear my temp folders
to get the thing to install correctly, the installer should be able to
detect files in that folder and say "please clear your temp folder before
 
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