Which is closer to VB6, Creative or Ebasic?

[Zooker]

I have a 1/2 written program I wrote in VB 4 and I need to finish it in something that will run in win xp or God Forbid Vista? I guess what I'm asking is can I sucessfully write a program using either operating system and which would be most like VB6 which I cannot afford?

[GWS]

Zooker,

The VB series were graphical IDE's, and the only code you wrote concerned event routines - you never saw the 'complete' code for a program.

The EB and CB systems give you full control over creating your windows and controls - and handling all their 'events'.

So where in VB you'd drag and drop a control onto a window, and then write some code for one or more of it's possible events, in EB or CB you'd write a Window() statement, write all your control definitions, and in the windows message handling section,  you'd write the event procedures.

I prefer the hands on method rather than clicking and setting pages full of control options as in VB.

So, yes, I'm sure anything you have 'semi-coded' in VB, can be easily transcribed into EB or Creative - you will just have to write specific window and control statements to set up the user interface.  All the procedural stuff will be easily transcribed - bearing in mind the syntax differences of course.

Which syntax is most like VB6 ?  .. hard to say .. EBasic has the largest toolset, so I suppose I would have to say that one.  But both EB and CB have pretty standard Basic commands - and a lot more features like coloured controls, graphics and sprite handling, and other features that would require API usage in VB.

hope that helps,

Graham

[LarryMc]

I looked at VB one time (way-y-y-y-y back)and it seems like a lot of the code is what I called "object" based.
The code looked a lot like OOP.

But like Graham said it's not all that hard to convert to CB/EB.

Larry

[Steven Picard]

I programmed in VB 4/5/6 (for years).  I remember VB 4 fairly well.  You should understand that there are few languages out there that actually emulate VB's way doing things. In CBasic there is a form designer but the form designer will generate code that you will actually see.  You will also see where those mysterious "events" really come from.  Like Graham said, VB was primarily an event driven system which helped hide some of the code from you.  Well, in CBasic that code won't be hidden and that is good.  It will be different for you but once you grasp the simple concepts behind it you should have no problems.

I am quite confident that what ever you did in VB4 could easily be done in CBasic.

[Mike Stefanik]

Unless third-party ActiveX controls are involved. And then you've got a lot of hoop-jumping on your hands. It's possible to use COM objects in EBasic but it's very low level. Visual Basic programmers read about creating interface definitions and calling CoCreateInstance and you can almost see their eyes start to roll into the back of their head. It's the one area that virtually every third-party BASIC struggles with ... VB makes using ActiveX/COM virtually seamless, while other BASICs expose (to varying degrees) the rather ugly plumbing that's needed to make COM work. RealBasic probably comes the closest to a VB-like support for COM, but it has other downsides, like creating absolutely enormous executables.

Edit: And does Creative even support COM at all (beyond the built-in support for the browser)? I looked through the help file and didn't see anything.

[GWS]

No, it's not part of CBasic - you need EBasic for COM work.

I don't think the question specified what facilities were required - maybe it's just a straightforward Basic program.

best wishes,

Graham

[Mike Stefanik]

That's possible, but the vast majority of Visual Basic programs do use ActiveX controls. Very few programs limit themselves to using just the API and built-in statements. Some things, like the use of common controls could be handled without much difficulty. It really depends on how complex the original poster's application is. Regardless, even with a fairly straight-forward program, moving from VB to either EBasic or CBasic is going to involve rewriting code and it requires a more fundamental understanding of how Windows works. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does impose a learning curve.

[Steven Picard]

You are correct Mike.  I have a couple thousand dollars worth of ActiveX controls that I've used in VB6.  VB6 truly made developing large scale apps using ActiveX quite simple (need a reporting tool? ActiveX (like Active Reports); need a feature rich databound grid like Janus Grid? ActiveX; need fancy UI controls? ActiveX; etc..)  The use of ActiveX is something that completely slipped my mind when I was responding to the original poster.

[GWS]

It came into my mind - and slipped right out again .. 

Bear in mind this is the Creative part of the forum - mainly fun stuff - although it's capable of much more.

I look on it as Fortran with it's instruction set extended and simplified, and given a decent user interface.  So it's capable of all sorts of scientific, simulation, statistical, financial, business and control applications.

I've done quite a few myself - so I would advise anyone to press on and just do it.

I wrote  football and lottery programs in VB4.  The only .ocx I used myself was graph32 to draw graphs of results and things.

When I re-wrote them in CBasic, I didn't miss it at all - just drew my own graphs - and much prettier they were too. Things like Spin, Threed, Keysta, Grid, Gauge etc .. can all be done directly in your CBasic code quite easily.

The Color CafÃÆ'Ã,© program I did, used 'spinner' controls - very easily implemented.

Myself, I avoid third party libraries - I prefer to roll my own, it's more satisfying.

So perhaps we should wait to hear from Zooker whether he perceives any likely problems of conversion of his VB4 program.

all the best,

Graham,

[Zooker]

Thanks for all that GREAT info gentlemen. I Think for what I need to acomplish you have supplied me with all the info I could wish. I'm going to stay with CBasic and while forms are some what easier to understand there is something to be said about seeing all your code.!! Thanks again.