VB6 Extended

[JRS]

Charles,

Dave's sb_engine.dll isn't a COM interface but a standard DLL. My goal was to use Dave's code for my SBT Linux project. I think the best thing to do is use DLLC to prototype the SB IUP based IDE/Debugger in Windows before moving on to Linux.

I may need to ask a question or two as I have gotten rusty with DLLC. 

Nice to see SB + O2 + VB all playing well together.



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[JRS]

I have made some progress on the VB6 theming front. Using this Manifest Creator Add-in makes the process painless.

If your interested in giving VB6 a bit of a DLL/OCX overhaul, this thread is for you.

CommonControls (Replacement of the MS common controls)

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[JRS]

I seem to be on a roll. Here is the Script BASIC IDE/Debugger themed. (XP & Win7)

Another plus is the IDE now supports theming for IUP controls. I going to see if I can get the IUP dialog layout feature working from within the IDE.


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[JRS]

Hi Mike,

Can you give this themed version of the Script BASIC IDE/Debugger a try on Win10? I'm curious if the theming manifest has changed going to Win8 / Win10.

TIA

John

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[Mike Lobanovsky]

Hi John,

Scintilla and its common controls seem to be themed while the VB6 Tab and Toolbar controls aren't.

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[JRS]

Thanks Mike !

Windows theming only works with tabs at the top. Bottom and side revert to Win2000 style.  This is noted on the IUP site as a BTW.

I'm digging into the update and work (see prior link) of common controls for VB6 and getting my environment up to date.

[JRS]

I have been reading about the ActiveX Control version replacement for the MS common controls.

This should give VB6 a little more of an extended life.

[Mike Lobanovsky]

The thread is very interesting indeed, and the effort to replace VB6's long-outdated control palette is really worthwhile.

I'd however rather not rely on the supplied ActiveX .DLL's but compile the needed .CTL files/bundles directly into the resultant VB6 .EXE file. The reason is .OCX's are huge (it happens very often when an .OSX is written in VB6 rather than C/C++) while .CTL's allow for selective compilation of features useful for the actual project, and you can even delete irrelevant features of the individual controls to further reduce the final .EXE size.

I've looked through the sources and I confirm that the author does know his way around vbAccelerator.com -- the VB6 gurus' Mecca of hardcore VB6 programming.

[JRS]

Thanks for taking a look Mike. You're right, the guy seems to know his VB way around. I think it's cool that the community has come together to keep VB classic relevant and forcing MS to continue supporting the VB classic runtime.

[JRS]

Hi Mike,

Sorry to bother you again but if you have a moment can you test this new build of the SB IDE/Debugger. It's using the VBCCR11.OCX and VBCCR11SideBySideAndVisualStyles.res files. Can you also explain what you mean when you said the tool-bar wasn't themed. It's flat button style and difficult to distinguish between the new Win10 and the old Win2k styles. MS seems to have reverted back to their roots.

FYI - You shouldn't have to register the OCX and just put it in the same directory as SB_Debug.exe .


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[Mike Lobanovsky]

Hi John,

Sorry to say but the OSX doesn't theme the debugger either. See the attached picture (top to bottom): i) how themed toolbar button, tooltip, and tab should look in Win'7; ii) same, in Win'10; and iii) how unthemed toolbar button, tooltip, and tab look under both Win'7 and Win'10 for all the three SB_Debug versions that I currently have.

BTW this last SBDebug.exe still seems to be dependent on stock mscomctl.ocx rather than VBCCR11.OCX! IIRC there must be a message in that thread that would describe how to re-arrange an existing VB6 project (SBDebug in your case) for this custom OSX set...

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[JRS]

Thanks!

I must of missed something. At least now I know what I'm suppose to be seeing.

[JRS]

I believe my missing step was not adding the common controls replacement OCX to the project. Duh. Still no luck getting the toolbar to look like your IDE. Everything else seems modern and up to date with how other applications look. (non-VB) I need to do more digging on this problem specifically as it might be something as simple as a property setting or this control doesn't theme. 

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[JRS]

The answer seems to be to use the VBCCR11.ToolBar rather than the MSComctlLib.Toolbar. I tried to cheat and change the name in the .frm file. It gave an error when I loaded the project again. Looks like I'll have to rebuild the forms again using the new OCX common controls. 



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[JRS]

Here is an example of using some of the controls of the replacement OCX.



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