what should I install?

I am sure BlackBox talked me through this some time ago but I can't remember where.

I am about to get my new machine with Windows 7 and 64 bit AutoCAD 2013, replacing my Windows XP/32 bit AutoCAD 2013. I have a few routines I started writing in an old version of VB.Net express. What version of VB.Net express do I need to continue to write routines and where do I get the template for AutoCAD from?

On a similar note, our IT department have "securely stored" our VB6 instal disks (read - can't find them) and I have a couple of routines essential to our department. Is there any way the source files can be used on a free download program?

If you are running a W7 64-bit machine you can use Visual Basic Express 2012. You should be able to load your VB 2008 Express and VB 2010 Express projects and perhaps with a little tweaking recompile them to run on "Any CPU" and watch out for the .NET Framework version, by default its 4.0 but you can change it to earlier versions to suit the other computers using your programs. Converting VB6 code to .NET is not so straight forward. VB6 forms will not transfer onto VB 2010 or 2012. It is possible to import VB6 forms into VB 2005 and 2008. The trick was to import them into 2008, save it as a .NET project and then open it in 2010 or 2012, but a little tweaking was needed. Moving away from a 32-bit system to a 64-bit system will give you some problems as the controls on the forms are not compatible. I've done a couple of conversions and elected to redesign the forms from scratch and used my old code as a template but using the opportunity to improve the code in the process. It was a bit time consuming but I think in the end it paid of dividends and was not really much more time consuming than tying to fix the conversion errors.

More problematic would be converting VBA code written with the VBA VB6.3 engine. There I would suggest forgetting completely any thoughts of converting the old code and start from scratch.

With regards to your question on templates, the template you have from Jerry Winters will work on VB .NET 2010 64-bit W7, well it works here for me. The SpiderInNet template also works. But I don't know if they will work with VB .NET 2012. Perhaps BB has tried it out or Seant.

Best of luck and let us know how you get on.

B

thanks for that comprehesive post Tyke. After I had attributed the former answer to BB I started to wonder if it was from you.

I thought I was stuck with the VB6 stuff remaining in VB6 which I why I expressly asked for that to be installed several times. When i asked where it was I was told "in the safe - if we can find it". I will test the exe files I have made and let my boss know there is no chance of any updates. He has a large presence and often encourages IT to look a little bit harder.

The routines I have finished did seem to work on the mix of machines we have but I really only want to install one VB program so I'm off to find VB Express 2012 in a minute. I never had much success loading Jerry Winters' templates but I will try again with the new machine.

If you don't hear from me again it all went horribly wrong.

Tyke,

I can't find a 2012 express. There's a 2013 for Windows 8 and a 2010 which I am currently downloading. I think I had this and 2008 on my other machine and could never remember which one to use. This should be easier.

BB did give you (and at the same time me) various bits of info and templates. I only have a problem with Winters template on windows 8. It does not load properly, I did email Jerry asking for his experience and advice but never did get a reply.

If you only have the exe files then you will not be able be able to update them from any VB.NET version. The only chance is if you have the original VB6 source project (vbproj files, etc). I have little experience myself converting VB6 source projects to VB.NET, but a friend of mine had a huge VB6 program in the source project form and in the end gave up trying to get it to run in VB.NET.

I'm running VB.NET 2010 Professional in 32-bit and 64-bit environments and it's working perfectly well from my W7 and W8 machines when writing stuff for both 32-bit and 64-bit computers. My advice would be to stick with 2010 as you would have some problems with the controls on the forms from 2012 (2013?). 2012 uses just 64-bit controls which would not be available on 32-bit machines. I have no experience doing it from 2012 after reading an article somewhere, I decided to shelve it as 2010 was working well.

thanks, that pretty much confirms what I thought.

I have both the exe and source files for my VB6 prog but no means of editing it.

I also emailed Jerry for advice as I couldn't get the files to extact and never got a reply. We shall see on Monday if I get them installed this time.

Hey guys,

Sorry for the delayed response; job hunting.

Here's a link to download Visual Studio Express 2012 (silly that they don't include this in the main downloads page), and here are the most recent SDK's and .NET Wizards (templates).

I can help with some of your .NET code, so long as there exists a .NET API equivalent for your VBA, but I'm afraid I skipped VBA (LISP-->.NET), so I may not be able to help with the batch conversion process.

Cheers

Thanks BB, I'll check the 2012 instal on Monday.

I am pretty happy that all my VBA routines (except one) are now working on VB.Net as I went through that process earlier this year but now I have a machine to test them on rather than asking others - which usually got a "later" reply.

The problem routines are written in VB6 and compiled to exe but may require slight tweaking for the newer ACAD. This I can't do until somebody finds the VB6 CDs.

Hey BB I knew you would be along. Long time no see.

If I'm right the VB6 code Dave mentioned is Visual Basic 6, the forerunner to VB.NET. I mentioned the VBA code because I know he still has some VBA stuff laying around.

Dave, it could be worth a go to download VB.Net Express 2008 and try importing your VB6 project. You don't have anything to lose.

Hey BB I knew you would be along. Long time no see.

That is kind of you to say, Tyke - I know, I miss you guys too.

I've been busy with Portathon (4 of 5 apps already published, not sure if I'll have time to finish the last app [unRevCloud]), whilst actively seeking new employment.

Thankfully, there is some contract work I'm discussing now, but I still need to find enough to leave my current position, which is simply unsustainable (long story, and much to my disappointment).

If I'm right the VB6 code Dave mentioned is Visual Basic 6, the forerunner to VB.NET. I mentioned the VBA code because I know he still has some VBA stuff laying around.

 

Dave, it could be worth a go to download VB.Net Express 2008 and try importing your VB6 project. You don't have anything to lose.

No worries, you might also want to pose a similar question over at Autodesk's .NET forum, as they've recently made it known that ADN staff will be monitoring those posts... But their forums are down at the moment.

Cheers

Sorry to hear things haven't much improved on the work front. Are you still on reduced hours? I shall keep my fingers crossed and hope that you find something suitable soon. Best of luck mate.

... I shall keep my fingers crossed and hope that you find something suitable soon. Best of luck mate.

Detracting from the thread was not my intention... Thanks for the well wishes, my friend... From your words to God's ears.

Cheers

You may be well along in your install by now, but VS 2013 Express is out there...it's free and it's working great for me. Backward compatibility with .NET Framework is always an issue. We're finally upgrading all the computers at this client's office so soon I will not have to downgrade my exe's to run on older systems. The IT guys are doing this because in less than 4 month, Windows XP is going to become the "Walking Dead". It will be around for a long time to come but all the vendors will be cutting off support for it completely. It's time we moved on.

thanks Bill, I will take a look however I thought I had looked and it was only available for Win8 whereas I am (as of yesterday) running Win7.

I'm running it (VS 2013 Express) on Windows 7 x64...it's been fine.

OK, thanks.

I'm holding off installing for now as my email isn't working. I suspect this new machine will be taken away and formatted then returned for it all to be put on again.

Just thinking about this for a second, what have I got to lose if I install it now? Nothing. Here we go....

thanks Bill, I will take a look however I thought I had looked and it was only available for Win8 whereas I am (as of yesterday) running Win7.

That's what I thought as well. It's good to hear that it works with Windows 7 64bit.

This news, on the other hand, was not so good:

http://through-the-interface.typepad.com/through_the_interface/2013/11/debugging-autocad-using-visual-studio-2013.html

That's what I thought as well. It's good to hear that it works with Windows 7 64bit.

 

 

This news, on the other hand, was not so good:

http://through-the-interface.typepad.com/through_the_interface/2013/11/debugging-autocad-using-visual-studio-2013.html

oh dear.

I'll just press on regardless and hope to remember this post if things start going wrong.

This news, on the other hand, was not so good:

http://through-the-interface.typepad.com/through_the_interface/2013/11/debugging-autocad-using-visual-studio-2013.html

At the risk of making it seem far simpler than it really is, it is unfortunate that Autodesk doesn't just make their products thread-safe... That would not only preclude the minor issue Kean documents well, but would open up "a whole new world [of development possibilities]" like Aladdin.