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Tips and Triks Visual Basics (VB)

2007-11-06T06:19:00.000-08:00

These tips & Tricks are donated by Microsoft.nl They provides examples of how you can solve a particulair problem with Visual Basic. They are free to use and free to re-publish.

Tip 63: Preventing List Box from Redrawing (Refreshing)
Tip 64: Changing the Case of Text Entered in a Text Box Control
Tip 65: Separating a Path into Individual Fields
Tip 66: Disabling Task-Switching with the SetSysModalWindow Function
Tip 67: Returning Focus to a Specific Control After Executing WinHelp
Tip 68: Removing Duplicate Items from List Box Controls
Tip 69: Forcing a Picture Control to Use Only a Specific Font
Tip 70: Creating Temporary Files
Tip 71: Dragging Controls at Run Time
Tip 72: Positioning the Cursor over a Control That Receives Focus
Tip 73: Creating Nested Directories
Tip 74: Scrolling Through Two List Box Controls Simultaneously
Tip 75: Invoking Menu Items in Other Applications with SendMessage
Tip 76: Detecting Right Mouse Button Clicks on List Box Controls
Tip 77: Determining the Amount of RAM Installed in a Computer
Tip 78: Retrieving the Names of All Printers
Tip 79: Closing All MDI Child Windows at One Time
Tip 80: Drawing Borders Around Controls
Tip 81: Repairing and Compressing a Microsoft Access Database from
Tip 82: Retrieving Multiple Filenames from the Common Dialog Control
Tip 83: Listing Fields and Associated Properties for an Attached
Tip 84: Creating a Scrolling "Credits" Control
Tip 85: Hiding MDI Child Forms at Run Time
Tip 86: Allowing a Visual Basic Application to Accept Drag-and-Drop
Tip 87: Sending Output to the Printer in Any Order
Tip 88: Shrinking Icons Down to Size
Tip 89: Invoking the Microsoft Word Page Setup Dialog Box
Tip 90: Adding ToolTips to Visual Basic applications
Tip 91: Determining If a Form Is Loaded
Tip 92: Using the Shell Statement to Execute MS-DOS Programs
Tip 93: Retrieving the Names of Installed Printers
Tip 94: Using Drag-and-Drop on Multiple items in a List Box Control
Tip 95: Deleting All Records from Every Table in a Microsoft Access Database
Tip 96: Centering a Form over Another Form
Tip 97: Creating a Task List
Tip 98: Saving a Window's Client Area in Bitmap Format
Tip 99: Adding Three-Dimensional Effects to Visual Basic Forms
Tip 100: Printing a Form Multiple Times on One Page
Tip 101: Using the Built-In Windows Icons
Tip 102: Modifying a Child Window's Caption
Tip 103: Preventing the CTRL+TAB and CTRL+F6 Key Combinations from Activating
Tip 104: Creating a Form with a Thin Title Bar
Tip 105: Removing a Form's Title Bar
Tip 106: Centering Text Vertically in a Text Box Control
Tip 107: Detecting Double-Click Events in Combo Box Controls
Tip 108: Flashing Controls to Get the User's Attention
Tip 109: Modifying an MDI Form's Border Style
Tip 110: Sending a Click Event to a Command Button Control
Tip 111: Using Different Fonts in List Boxes That Have Tab Stops
Tip 112: Preventing ListIndex Property from Triggering a Click Event
Tip 113: Creating Transparent Forms
Tip 114: Preventing a Portion of a Text Box from Scrolling
Tip 115: Performing Smart Searches in Combo Box Controls
Tip 116: Sending Data to the Printer in Landscape or Portrait Mode
Tip 117: Changing a Menu's Shortcut Key at Run Time
Tip 118: Converting a Word for Windows Document to RTF Format
Tip 127: Stamping Files with the Current Date and Time
Tip 128: Calculating the Beginning and Ending Date of a Month
Tip 130: Using the Undo Feature with a Text Box Control
Tip 131: Determining Whether a DLL File Is 16-Bit or 32-Bit
Tip 132: Preventing Duplicate Items from Being Added to List Box Controls
Tip 133: Using the SendMessage Function to Scroll Contents of Text Box =
Tip 134: Creating Temporary Files
Tip 135: Preventing a User from Editing the Contents of a Text Box =
Tip 136: Using Keyboard and Mouse Shortcuts
Tip 137: Removing Items from a Drive List Box Control
Tip 138: Enabling and Disabling Scroll Bars in a List Box
Tip 139: Retrieving a Disk's Volume Label
Tip 140: Identifying CD-ROM Drives
Tip 141: Searching a List Box Control for a Partial Match
Tip 142: Determining Whether the Operating System Supports Long File
Tip 143: Determining Whether the Windows 95 Taskbar Is Visible or=20
Tip 144: Using Accelerator Keys with the TabStrip Control
Tip 145: Inserting Tab Characters in the Rich-Text Box Control
Tip 146: Retrieving the Printer Name from the Windows 95 Registry
Tip 147: Retrieving Multiple File Names from the Common Dialog Control
Tip 148: Using OLE Automation to Check Spelling
Tip 149: Enumerating Disk Drives in Visual Basic 4.0
Tip 150: Determining How Many Items Can Be Displayed in the List Box
Tip 151: Finding Whole Words in a Text Box Control
Tip 152: Determining the Status of Virtual Keys on the Keyboard
Tip 155: Scrolling Text Horizontally in a Picture Box Control
Tip 156: Adding New Icons to the Windows 95 Taskbar
Tip 153: Searching PATH for Specific Files
Tip 154: Terminating Windows 95 in Visual Basic
Tip 159: Setting the Minimum Size of a Window
Tip 160: Retrieving the Versions of MS-DOS and Windows
Tip 161: Forcing the Common Dialog Control to Save Files to a Specific Disk Drive
Tip 162: Determining Whether a File Exists
Tip 163: Emulating a Double-Click Event in the Directory List Box Control
Tip 164: Copying Files from One Directory to Another
Tip 165: Locating CD-ROM Drives Installed on a Computer System
Tip 166: Playing .WAV Files in Visual Basic
Tip 167: Controlling the State of Virtual Keys on the Keyboard
Tip 168: Using the ShellExecute Function to Print Files
Tip 169: Setting the Position and Size of the Windows Help File
Tip 170: Positioning the Mouse Pointer over a Specific Control
Tip 171: Determining RGB Color Values
Tip 172: Extracting the Directory Name and the Filename from the Path
Tip 173: Launching Applications in Visual Basic
Tip 174: Using the GetKeyState Function to Determine the State of
Tip 175: Determining the Current Screen Resolution
Tip 176: Sending Files to the Recycle Bin in Visual Basic 4.0
Tip 177: Adding Drag-and-Drop Functionality to Your Application
Tip 178: Enabling or Disabling Fast Task Switching in Windows
Tip 179: Retrieving the Computer Name
Tip 180: Performing Searches in a Combo Box Control with SendMessage
Tip 182: Temporarily Enabling or Disabling Tabs on the TabStrip Control
Tip 183: Changing the Color of the Grid Control's Cells
Tip 184: Creating a List of Directories and Files in a List Box Control
Tip 185: Determining the Number of Printable Lines Per Page on the Printer
Tip 186: Formatting Text in a Rich Text Box Control in Visual Basic 4.0
Tip 187: Determining Whether an Application Was Closed from the Control Menu
Tip 188: Adding New Commands to the Control Menu
Tip 189: Determining Which Screen and Printer Fonts Are Available
Tip 190: Adding Hot Key Access to Your Visual Basic Application
Tip 191: Shelling to Other Applications
Tip 192: Selecting a New Desktop Wallpaper
Tip 193: Launching Windows 95 Control Panel Applets in Visual Basic
Tip 195: Modifying a File's Date and Time Stamp in Visual Basic 4.0
Tip 196: Using the Common Dialog Control to Invoke Context-Sensitive Help
Tip 197: Preventing a Right-Click from Displaying a Context Menu
Tip 198: Retrieving File Information in Visual Basic 4.0
Tip 199: Saving the Contents of the List Box Control to Disk in Visual
Tip 200: Determining the Amount of Free Disk Space
Tip 201: Retrieving the Task List in Windows 95
Tip 202: Forcing a Combo Box Control to Drop Down with the ENTER Key
Tip 203: Searching a Disk for Files Based on Filename and Path
Tip 204: Changing the Screen Resolution at Run Time in Visual Basic 4.0
Tip 205: Drawing a Gradient Background Pattern on Forms in Visual Basic 4.0
Tip 206: Populating the Outline Control with a List of Directories and
Tip 208: Changing the Displayed Icon in the About Dialog Box in
Tip 209: Changing the Color of a Label Control When the Mouse Pointer Is

Tip 110: Sending a Click Event to a Command Button Control

2007-11-06T06:02:00.002-08:00

Abstract
In a Microsoft(r) Visual Basic(r) application, you can simulate a Click =
event to
a Command Button control. This article explains how to send a BN_CLICKED
notification message to a control.

Executing a BN_CLICKED Message
A user who wants to carry out a command in your Microsoft(r) Visual =
Basic(r)
application usually clicks a Command Button control. The code in the =
Command
Button's Click event is then executed.

There may be times, however, when you will want to initiate a Click =
event from
within your Visual Basic program. You can use the Microsoft Windows(r) =
application
programming interface (API) PostMessage function to send a BN_CLICKED =
notification
message to the parent of the Command Button control. This will call the =
button's
Click event.
As you can see from the example program below, the GetDlgCtrlID function
retrieves the Command Button's handle. Next, a call is made to the =
GetParent
function, which retrieves the handle of the window that the Command =
Button resides
on. (In other words, we must retrieve the parent window's handle.)

The last step is to execute a PostMessage function. PostMessage sends a =
BN_CLICKED
notification message to the parent window, which then processes the =
Click event
for the Command Button.
When you run the example program below, the second Command Button's =
Click event
is executed. However, the second Command Button does not receive the =
focusonly its
code is executed.

Example Program
This program shows how to send a Command Button click to the Windows =
operating
system.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following Constant and Declare statements to the General =
Declarations
section of Form1 (note that each Declare statement must be typed as =
a single
line of text):

Const BN_CLICKED =3D 0
Const WM_COMMAND =3D &H111
Private Declare Function GetDlgCtrlID Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer) =
As
Integer
Private Declare Function GetParent Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer) As =
Integer
Private Declare Function PostMessage Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer, =
ByVal
wMsg As Integer, ByVal wParam As Integer, ByVal lParam As Long) As =
Integer

3. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by =
default. Set
its Caption property to "Send".
4. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
ClickButton Command2.hWnd
End Sub

5. Add a second Command Button control to Form1. Command2 is created by =
default.
Set its Caption property to "Receive".
6. Add the following code to the Click event for Command2:

Private Sub Command2_Click()
MsgBox "Command2 was CLICKED!"
End Sub

7. Create a new function called ClickButton. Add the following code to =
this
function:

Sub ClickButton(ByVal hWnd As Integer)
Dim Button As Integer
Dim ParentHwnd As Integer
Dim X As Integer
=20
Button =3D GetDlgCtrlID(hWnd)
ParentHwnd =3D GetParent(hWnd)

X =3D PostMessage(ParentHwnd, WM_COMMAND, Button, BN_CLICKED * =
&H10000 + hWnd)
End Sub

Run the example program by pressing F5. Click the Send Command Button. =
The Click
event for the second Command Button control is immediately executed (the =
message
box is displayed).

Additional References
"BN_CLICKED." (Development Library, Product Documentation, SDKs,
Windows 3.1 SDK, Programmer's Reference Volume 3: Messages, =
Structures)
"GetDlgCtrl." (Development Library, Product Documentation, SDKs,
Windows 3.1 SDK, Programmer's Reference Volume 2: Functions)
PostMessage." (Development Library, Product Documentation, SDKs,
Windows 3.1 SDK, Programmer's Reference Volume 2: Functions)

Tip 109: Modifying an MDI Form's Border Style

2007-11-06T06:02:00.001-08:00

Abstract
This article explains how you can create a multiple-document interface =
(MDI) form
that has a fixed border in a Microsoft(r) Visual Basic(r) application.

Retrieving and Setting a Form's BorderStyle
Every form you create when designing a Microsoft(r) Visual Basic(r) =
application
can have one of four border styles. Just set the form's BorderStyle =
property to
one of the following styles:
0 - None
1 - Fixed Single
2 - Sizeable
3 - Fixed Double

An MDI child form, however, does not have a BorderStyle property. But by =
using the
Microsoft Windows(r) GetWindowLong and SetWindowLong application =
programming
interface (API) functions , you can change an MDI form's border style to =
a fixed
border style.
The GetWindowLong function retrieves information about the specified =
window's
style attributes and the SetWindowLong function modifies the specified =
window's
style attributes.

GetWindowLong requires only two arguments. The first argument is the =
target
window's handle. The second argument specifies the type of information =
you want
to retrieve, which is the style settings for the window.
After retrieving the window's current style settings, use the bitwise =
And Not
function to remove the WS_THICKFRAME attribute from the style settings =
value.
Next, issue a call to the SetWindowLong function to set the new style =
settings
for the specified window. This creates an MDI form that has a fixed =
border style.

Example Program
This program shows how to create an MDI form that has a fixed border. =
Run the
example program by pressing F5. The MDI form will be displayed with a =
fixed
border.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. From the Insert menu, select MDI Form to create an MDI form. =
MDIForm1 is
created by default.
3. Set Form1's MDIChild property to True. Modify the size of this form =
so that
it is smaller than the MDIForm1 form.
4. Add the following Constant and Declare statements to the General =
Declarations
section of Form1 (note that each Declare statement must be typed as =
a single
line of text):

Private Declare Function GetWindowLong Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As =
Integer, ByVal
nIndex As Integer) As Long
Private Declare Function SetWindowLong Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As =
Integer, ByVal
nIndex As Integer, ByVal dwNewLong As Long) As Long
Const GWL_STYLE =3D (-16)

Const WS_THICKFRAME =3D &H40000

5. Add the following code to the Load event for MDIForm1 (note that the =
NewStyle
line must be typed as a single line of code):

Private Sub MDIForm_Load()
Dim CurStyle As Long
Dim NewStyle As Long
CurStyle =3D GetWindowLong(MDIForm1.hWnd, GWL_STYLE)
NewStyle =3D SetWindowLong(MDIForm1.hWnd, GWL_STYLE, CurStyle And
Not (WS_THICKFRAME))
End Sub

Additional References

"GetSystemMenu." (Development Library, Product Documentation, SDKs,
Windows 3.1 SDK, Programmer's Reference, Volume 2: Functions)
Knowledge Base Q118376. "How to Lock a Form So It Cannot Be Moved."
Knowledge Base Q110393. "How to Remove Menu Items from a Form's =
Control-Menu Box."
Knowledge Base Q77930. "Modifying the System Menu of an MDI Child =
Window."
Knowledge Base Q71669. "Preventing an MDI Child Window from Changing =
Size."

Tip 108: Flashing Controls to Get the User's Attention

2007-11-06T05:59:00.002-08:00

Abstract
When developing an application in Microsoft(r) Visual Basic(r), you can =
use the
BackColor property to change the background color of a control. This =
article
explains how you can temporarily flash a control's BackColor property to =
draw the
user's attention to a specific control.

Changing a Control's BackColor Property
When designing a Microsoft(r) Visual Basic(r) application , you place =
controls
such as List Boxes and Text Boxes on a form. At run time, you can move =
the focus
to one of these objects by using Visual Basic's SetFocus method. Users =
can then
see that that particular control needs to be addressed in some way. For =
example,
if a Text Box receives the focus, users know they must type some text =
into that
control.

However, users may not actually notice that the focus has been set to a =
specific
control because the "rubberband" (highlighting) around the inside of the =
control
is not that obvious. To alert the user, you could change the background =
color of
the control from white to, say, red, to draw the user's attention to =
that control.
When the control loses the focus, you could reset the control's =
background color
to white. This procedure, however, means that the control would be a =
different
color as long as that control retained the focus. In some situations, =
this would
not be appropriate.

A far better solution would be to change the control's background color =
for just
a few seconds. The example program below "flashes" a control by quickly =
changing
the control's background color three times in succession. The Timer =
function is
used to cause a short time delay in the program. Each time a 2-second =
interval
elapses, the control's color is changed from white to red, then back to =
white.
The For-Next loop dictates how many times the control is flashed. In =
this case,
a value of 3 was used to flash the color three times. This creates a =
very visual
clue to draw the user's attention to that specific control.

Example Program
This program shows how to highlight the control that has the focus. Run =
the
example program by pressing F5 . Then click the Flash Command Button. =
Note that
the background color of the List Box control is changed to red and =
flashed three
times.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form1:

Private Sub Form_Load()
List1.AddItem "Item #1"
List1.AddItem "Item #2"
List1.AddItem "Item #3"
End Sub

3. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by =
default. Set
its Caption property to "Flash".
4. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
FlashControl List1
End Sub

5. Add a List Box control to Form1. List1 is created by default.
6. Create a new function called FlashControl. Add the following code to =
this
function:

Sub FlashControl(C As Control)
Dim OldColor As Double
Dim Delay As Double
Dim X As Integer
=20
OldColor =3D C.BackColor
For X =3D 1 To 3
C.BackColor =3D QBColor(12)
Delay =3D Timer
While Timer - Delay < 0.2
DoEvents
Wend
C.BackColor =3D OldColor
Delay =3D Timer
While Timer - Delay < 0.2
DoEvents
Wend
Next X
C.SetFocus
End Sub

Tip 107: Detecting Double-Click Events in Combo Box Controls

2007-11-06T05:59:00.001-08:00

Abstract
When developing an application in Microsoft(r) Visual Basic(r), you may =
want to
let the user double-click the edit portion of a Combo Box control. This =
article
explains how to process this double-click event by using the Message =
Blaster
custom control.

Using Message Blaster to Detect Double-Clicks on Combo Boxes
In a Microsoft(r) Visual Basic(r) application, you can use a Combo Box =
control to
allow your user to easily select an item. Unfortunately, the Combo Box =
control
only responds to single-click events, not to double-click events in the =
box's
edit portion.

You can, however, use a subclassing control such as Message Blaster to =
detect
when a user has double-clicked the combo box. Before you can do this, =
you need
to use two Microsoft Windows(r) application programming interface (API)
functions GetWindow and GetClassName.
The GetWindow function retrieves the handle of a window that has a =
specific
relationship to the source window. In other words, we need to determine =
the
Combo Box's handle. The Combo Box window is actually a sibling window of =
our
Visual Basic application's main form. Next, we need to call the =
GetClassName
function to make sure that the edit portion of the Combo Box is the =
window we are
dealing with.

If you are using a combo box with its Style property set to 0 - Drop =
Down Combo,
detecting a double-click message is relatively straightforward. Just =
retrieve the
handle of the Combo Box's edit window, and then tell Message Blaster to =
intercept
the Windows WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK message.
On the other hand, if you are using a Combo Box with its Style property =
set to
1 - Simple Combo, the procedure is a little different. Because the edit =
portion
of the Combo Box is already displayed, you need to call GetWindow to =
retrieve
the handle of the edit window.

After you have retrieved the edit window's handle, you must call the =
GetClassName
function. This function is called so that we can be certain we are =
processing a
double-click message for only the edit portion of the Combo Box.

Example Program
This program shows how your Visual Basic application can respond to a =
double-click event when such an event is detected in the edit portion of =
a Combo Box control.
1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. From the Insert menu, select Custom Control. Add the Message Blaster =
custom
control to this project.
3. Add a Message Blaster control to Form1. MsgBlast1 is created by =
default.
4. Add the following code to the Message event for MsgBlaster1 (note =
that the
first two lines of code must be typed as a single line of text):

Private Sub MsgBlaster1_Message(MsgVal As Integer, wParam As Integer,
lParam As Long, ReturnVal As Long)
MsgBox "Combo1 box double-clicked"
End Sub

5. Add a Combo Box control to Form1. Combo1 is created by default. Set =
its Style
property to 1-Simple Combo.
6. Add the following Constant and Declare statements to the General =
Declarations
section of Form1 (note that each Declare statement must be typed as =
a single
line of text):

Private Declare Function GetWindow Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer,
ByVal wCmd As Integer) As Integer
Private Declare Function GetClassName Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer,

ByVal lpClassName As String, ByVal nMaxCount As Integer) As Integer
Const WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK =3D &H203
Const GW_CHILD =3D 5
Const GW_HWNDNEXT =3D 2

7. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form1:

Private Sub Form_Load()
Dim hWndList As Integer
Dim hWndEdit As Integer
Dim Buf As String * 10
Dim X As Integer
=20
Combo1.AddItem "Item #1"
Combo1.AddItem "Item #2"
Combo1.AddItem "Item #3"
=20
hWndList =3D GetWindow(Combo1.hWnd, GW_CHILD)
Select Case Combo1.Style
Case 0
MsgBlaster1.hWndTarget =3D hWndList
MsgBlaster1.MsgList(0) =3D WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK
Case 1
hWndEdit =3D GetWindow(hWndList, GW_HWNDNEXT)
Buf =3D ""
X =3D GetClassName(hWndEdit, Buf, Len(Buf))
=20
If StrComp(Trim(Buf), "Edit" & Chr$(0)) =3D 0 Then

MsgBlaster1.hWndTarget =3D hWndEdit
MsgBlaster1.MsgList(0) =3D WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK
End If
End Select
End Sub

Run the example program by pressing F5. When you double-click the edit =
portion of
the Combo Box control, a message box will confirm this action. You can =
also change
the Style property of the Combo Box to 0 - Drop Down Combo to get the =
same effect.

Additional References

"GetClassName." (Development Library, Product Documentation, SDKs,
Windows 3.1 SDK, Programmer's Reference Volume 2: Functions)
"GetWindow." (Development Library, Product Documentation, SDKs,
Windows 3.1 SDK, Programmer's Reference Volume 2: Functions)
Knowledge Base Q110104. "Using MSGBLAST.VBX Control to Process Windows =
Messages
from VB."
"Processing Messages in Visual Basic." (Development Library, Technical =
Articles,
Visual Basic Articles)

Tip 106: Centering Text Vertically in a Text Box Control

2007-11-06T05:58:00.001-08:00

Abstract
The Microsoft® Visual Basic® Text Box control lets your user enter text that can
later be used by your application. This article explains how you can center the
text that the user types vertically within the Text Box control.

Vertically Centering Text in Visual Basic
In your application, you may need to display the text typed by the user, centered
vertically within the Text Box control. The only way to accomplish this task is
to place the Text Box control within a larger Picture Box control. The Text Box
control allows you to type text that can later be used by your Microsoft® Visual
Basic® application. As the user types the text, the text wraps to the next line
(if the MultiLine property is set to True).

The example program below centers the text in the text box by first setting the
size of the Text Box control to the same as the size of the Picture Box control.
Whenever a Change event is detected by the Text Box control, the text is redrawn
in the control so that it appears vertically centered.

Example Program
This program shows how to center text vertically within a Text Box control.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add a Picture Box control to Form1. Picture1 is created by default. Set its
AutoRedraw property to True.
3. Add a Text Box control to Form1 over top of the Picture Box control. Text1 is
created by default. Set its MultiLine property to True.
4. Add the following Constant and Declare statements to the General Declarations
section of Form1 (note that the Declare statement must be typed as a single
line of text):

Private Declare Function SendMessage Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer,
ByVal wMsg As Integer, ByVal wParam As Integer, lParam As Any) As Long
Const WM_USER = &H400
Const EM_GETLINECOUNT = WM_USER + 10
Dim NumLines As Integer

5. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form1:

Private Sub Form_Load()
Dim HT As Integer
Text1.Left = 0
Text1.Width = Picture1.Width
Text1.Height = Picture1.TextHeight("A")
Text1.Top = (Picture1.Height = Text1.Height) / 2
Text1.Visible = True
NumLines = 1
End Sub

6. Add the following code to the Change event for Text1:

Private Sub Text1_Change()
Dim Ret As Long
Dim HT As Integer
Ret = SendMessage(Text1.hWnd, EM_GETLINECOUNT, 0, ByVal 0&)
If Ret <> NumLines Then
HT = Picture1.TextHeight("A")
Text1.Height = HT * Ret
Text1.Top = (Picture1.Height - Text1.Height) / 2
NumLines = Ret
SendKeys "{PGUP}", True
Text1.SelStart = Len(Text1)
End If
End Sub

Tip 105: Removing a Form's Title Bar

2007-11-06T05:57:00.000-08:00

Abstract
This article explains how you can remove the title bar from a window or form from
within a Microsoft® Visual Basic® application.

Modifying the Style Attributes of a Window
You can use two Microsoft® Windows® application programming interface (API)
functions GetWindowLong and SetWindowLong to modify the appearance of a window
when your Visual Basic® application is running.

These functions allow you to programmatically change one or more style bits
associated with a specific window. For example, you can remove a window's
title bar by changing the following style bits at run time:

WS_SYSMENU The window has a control menu on the left side of its title bar
WS_MINIMIZEBOX The window has a minimize box on the right side of its title bar
WS_MAXMIZEBOX The window has a maximize box on the right side of its title bar
WS_DLGFRAME The window has a double border, but does not have a title bar

First, we must first call GetWindowLong. This function reports the window style
associated with a window, among other pieces of information.
To use GetWindowLong, you must include its Declare statement in your program as
follows (note that the Declare statement must be typed as a single line of text):

Private Declare Function GetWindowLong Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer,
ByVal nIndex As Integer) As Long

The GetWindowLong function requires two arguments. The first argument is the
window's handle; the second argument specifies the type of information you
want to retrieve. In this case, we want to retrieve the window's style settings.
The current window style is returned as a long value after GetWindowLong is
called.

After we have retrieved the current window style for the window, we need to save
the original style value that was just retrieved so that we can later restore the
window's title bar, if desired. This is done by testing for the individual title
bar attributes and saving each in turn to a new OriginalStyle variable. Next, we
need to remove the attributes associated with the window's title bar. These
attributes are the Minimize and Maximize buttons, the control menu, and the
dialog box frame. We can remove them from the original window style value that
was just retrieved by using the bitwise AND NOT function. Finally, we can call
SetWindowLong to send this information to Windows, which causes the title bar
to be removed from the window.

Example Program

This program shows how you can remove and later restore a window's title bar.
1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by default. Set
its Caption property to "Remove Title Bar".
3. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
RemoveTitleBar Form2
Form2.Show
End Sub

4. Add a second Command Button control to Form1. Command2 is created by default.
Set its Caption property to "Restore Title Bar".
5. Add the following code to the Click event for Command2:

Private Sub Command2_Click()
RestoreTitleBar Form2
Form2.Show
End Sub

6. From the Insert menu, select Form. Form2 is created by default. Adjust the
size of this form so that it is approximately half the size of Form1. Set
its AutoRedraw property to True and its Caption property to an empty (NULL)
string.
7. Add a Command Button control to Form2. Command1 is created by default. Set
its Caption property to "OK".
8. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
Form1.Show
Unload Form2
End Sub

9. From the Insert menu, select Module. Module1.Bas is created by default.
10. Add the following Constant and Declare statements to Module1.Bas (note that
each Declare statement must be typed as a single line of text):

Option Explicit
Private Declare Function GetWindowLong Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer,
ByVal nIndex As Integer) As Long
Private Declare Function SetWindowLong Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer,
ByVal nIndex As Integer, ByVal dwNewLong As Long) As Long
Const GWL_STYLE = (-16)
Const WS_DLGFRAME = &H400000
Const WS_SYSMENU = &H80000
Const WS_MINIMIZEBOX = &H20000
Const WS_MAXIMIZEBOX = &H10000

11. Create a new function called RemoveTitleBar to Module1.Bas. Add the following
code to this function:

Sub RemoveTitleBar(frm As Form)
Static OriginalStyle As Long
Dim CurrentStyle As Long
Dim X As Long
OriginalStyle = 0
CurrentStyle = GetWindowLong(frm.hWnd, GWL_STYLE)

OriginalStyle = OriginalStyle Or (CurrentStyle And WS_DLGFRAME)
OriginalStyle = OriginalStyle Or (CurrentStyle And WS_SYSMENU)
OriginalStyle = OriginalStyle Or (CurrentStyle And WS_MINIMIZEBOX)
OriginalStyle = OriginalStyle Or (CurrentStyle And WS_MAXIMIZEBOX)

CurrentStyle = CurrentStyle And Not WS_DLGFRAME
CurrentStyle = CurrentStyle And Not WS_SYSMENU
CurrentStyle = CurrentStyle And Not WS_MINIMIZEBOX
CurrentStyle = CurrentStyle And Not WS_MAXIMIZEBOX

X = SetWindowLong(frm.hWnd, GWL_STYLE, CurrentStyle)
frm.Refresh
End Sub

12. Create a new function called RestoreTitleBar to Module1.Bas. Add the
following code to this function:

Sub RestoreTitleBar(frm As Form)
Static OriginalStyle As Long
Dim CurrentStyle As Long
Dim X As Long

CurrentStyle = GetWindowLong(frm.hWnd, GWL_STYLE)
CurrentStyle = CurrentStyle Or OriginalStyle
X = SetWindowLong(frm.hWnd, GWL_STYLE, CurrentStyle)
frm.Refresh
End Sub

Run this example program by pressing F5. Click the "Remove Title Bar" command
button. Form2 is displayed. Notice that the title bar has been removed from
the form. Click the OK command button, then click the Restore Title Bar command
button. Form2 is displayed again, this time with its title bar intact.

Additional References
"GetWindowLong." (Development Library, Product Documentation, SDKs, Windows 3.1
SDK, Programmer's Reference, Volume 2: Functions)
Knowledge Base Q77316."How to Determine Display State of a VB Form, Modal or
Modeless."
Knowledge Base Q83915. "SAMPLE: Adding and Removing Caption of a Window."
"SetWindowLong." (Development Library, Product Documentation, SDKs, Windows 3.1
SDK, Programmer's Reference Volume 2: Functions)

Tip 104: Creating a Form with a Thin Title Bar

2007-11-06T05:56:00.002-08:00

Abstract
Many Microsoft® Windows®-based applications include a Toolbox control. A toolbox
is a group of icons that the user can click to perform various operations within
a running application. These toolbox windows usually display a very small, thin
title bar instead of the normal-sized title bar. This article explains how you
can create forms with thin title bars in your Visual Basic® applications.

Using SendMessage and GetCursorPos to Create Title Bars

You can design a form that contains a thin title bar. This is most often used in
Toolbox controls from which the user can click on an icon to perform a program
operation.
In the example program below, we use a Label control, sized to fit at the top of
our form. This control, which will become the thin title bar, responds to both
the Click and MouseDown events. These two events allow the user to click on the
Label control (that is, the thin title bar) and drag the entire form to a new
location on the screen. This gives our Microsoft® Visual Basic® application the
same functionality as a toolbox window.

To enable our user to drag the form to a new location on the screen, we need to
determine the cursor's current X and Y coordinates on the screen. You can use the
Microsoft® Windows® application programming interface (API) GetCursorPos function
to retrieve the cursor's current location.
To call the GetCursorPos function, you must first add its Declare statement to
the General Declarations section of your Visual Basic application. Following is
the declaration for the GetCursorPos function:

Private Declare Sub GetCursorPos Lib "User" (lpPoint As POINTAPI)

The GetCursorPos function requires only one argument a POINTAPI structure. This
structure will hold the cursor's current position, which is reported in screen
coordinate values.
The cursor's horizontal position is stored in the X variable; the cursor's
vertical position is stored in the Y variable within the POINTAPI structure:

Type POINTAPI
X As Integer
Y As Integer
End Type

After the cursor's position has been retrieved, we issue the LSet statement to
convert the X and Y values to values that can be understood by the SendMessage
function. In other words, LSet converts the X and Y integers to a single long
value.
Next, we issue two SendMessage commands to Windows. The first SendMessage
statement tells Windows that, because a MouseDown event has just occurred,
it needs an equivalent MouseUp event. The second SendMessage statement tells
Windows that the user has clicked the title bar. Windows then processes our
thin title bar's Click and MouseDown events as it would for a normal window.

Example Program
This program shows how to create a form with a small title bar.
1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Set the following properties for Form1:

ClipControls 0 'False
ControlBox 0 'False
MaxButton 0 'False
MinButton 0 'False

3. Add the following Constant and Declare statements to the General Declarations
section of Form1 (note that the Declare statements must be typed as single
lines of text):

Private Declare Function SendMessage Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer, ByVal
wMsg As Integer, ByVal wParam As Integer, ByVal lParam As Any) As Long
Private Declare Sub GetCursorPos Lib "User" (lpPoint As POINTAPI)
Const WM_LBUTTONUP = &H202
Const WM_SYSCOMMAND = &H112
Const MOUSE_MOVE = &HF012

4. Add a Label control to Form1. Label1 is created by default. Set its Caption
property to "Thin Title Bar".
Note: For this example program, change the size of Form1 so that it
resembles the size and shape of a Toolbox window. Next, position
the Label control at the top of the form and adjust its size so
that it isthe same size as a thin title bar.
5. Add the following code to the Click event for Label1:

Private Sub Label1_Click()
Dim mpos As POINTAPI
Dim P As ConvertPOINTAPI
Dim Ret As Integer

Call GetCursorPos(mpos)
LSet P = mpos
Ret = SendMessage(Me.hWnd, WM_LBUTTONUP, 0, P.XY)
Ret = SendMessage(Me.hWnd, WM_SYSCOMMAND, MOUSE_MOVE, P.XY)
End Sub

6. Add the following code to the MouseDown event for Label1 (note that the first
two lines must be typed as a single line of code):

Private Sub Label1_MouseDown(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer,
X As Single, Y As Single)
Dim mpos As POINTAPI
Dim P As ConvertPOINTAPI
Dim Ret As Integer

Call GetCursorPos(mpos)
LSet P = mpos
Ret = SendMessage(Me.hWnd, WM_LBUTTONUP, 0, P.XY)
Ret = SendMessage(Me.hWnd, WM_SYSCOMMAND, MOUSE_MOVE, P.XY)
End Sub

7. From the Insert menu, select Module. Module1.Bas is created by default.
8. Add the following type declarations to Module1.Bas:

Type POINTAPI
X As Integer
Y As Integer
End Type

Type ConvertPOINTAPI
XY As Long
End Type

Run the example program by pressing F5. Form1 should be displayed on the screen
with the thin title bar appearing at the top of the form. You can drag the form
by clicking on the title bar, just as you would do with any other window that has
a title bar.

Additional References
"Dave's Top Ten List of Tricks, Hints, and Techniques for Programming in Windows."
(Development Library, Books and Periodicals, Microsoft Systems Journal,
October 1992, Volume 7, Number 6)
Knowledge Base Q83349. "How to Create a Form with No Title Bar in VB for Windows."
Knowledge Base Q71280. "How to Create a Flashing Title Bar on a Visual Basic Form."

Tip 103: Preventing the CTRL+TAB and CTRL+F6 Key Combinations from Activating

2007-11-06T05:56:00.001-08:00

Abstract
A multiple-document interface (MDI) window can contain multiple child windows. A
user can switch between child windows by pressing the CTRL+TAB or CTRL+F6 key
combinations. This article explains how you can prevent the user from using these
keys to switch to another child window.

Using Message Blaster to Disable Keystrokes
Many Microsoft® Windows®-based applications use multiple-document interface (MDI)
windows to display several child windows to the user. For instance, Word for
Windows lets you work with several different documents at the same time. Each text
file is displayed in its own child window.

When users want to switch from one child window to another, they press either
CTRL+TAB or CTRL+F6. The next window in the list is then brought to the top of
the window list (that is, it becomes the currently active window).
In a Visual Basic® application, you can disable this window-switching by
intercepting the messages sent to Windows. The WM_SYSCOMMAND message triggers the
event that switches between child windows. The Message Blaster custom control can
be used to process this WM_SYSCOMMAND message in your Visual Basic program. You
can retrieve Message Blaster from the Microsoft Development Library. For
information on the Message Blaster custom control, see "Additional References" at
the end of this article.

The general idea, however, is to capture the WM_SYSCOMMAND that is sent to
Windows when the CTRL+F6 or CTRL+TAB combination is pressed. To do this, you must
register the Message Blaster control to the target controlin this case, the first
child window (Form1). To prevent a user from activating other child windows,
execute the following statement:

MsgBlaster1=MsgPassage(0)

After you have disabled a child window in this manner, the user will not be able
to minimize or maximize the target window. In addition, the resize and move
options are also disabled.

Example Program
This program shows how to disable the CTRL+F6 and CTRL+TAB key combinations so
that the user cannot move to the next MDI child window. Run the example program
by pressing F5. The program displays two child windows (Form1 and Form2) within
an MDI document window. Normally, you can press the CTRL+TAB or CTRL+F6 keys to
switch between the child windows. The Message Blaster control has been used to
disable these two key combinations if you try to use them in Form1. Click Form2
to bring that child window to the top. Unlike Form 1, the Form 2 child window
will process the CTRL+TAB and CTRL+F6 key combinations.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. From the Visual Basic Insert menu, select MDI Form. MDIForm1 is created by
default.
3. Set Form1's MDIChild property to True.
4. From the Visual Basic Insert menu, select Form. Form2 is created by default.
5. Set the Form 2 MDIChild property to True.
6. From the Visual Basic Tools menu, select Custom Controls. Add a Message
Blaster control to Form1. MsgBlaster1 is created by default.
7. Add the following code to the General Declarations section of Form1:

Option Explicit
Const WM_SYSCOMMAND = &H112

8. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form1:

Private Sub Form_Load()
MsgBlaster1.hWndTarget = Form1.hWnd
MsgBlaster1.MsgList(0) = WM_SYSCOMMAND
End Sub

9. Add the following code to the MsgBlaster1_Message event for Form1 (note that
the first two lines below must be typed as a single line of code):

Private Sub MsgBlaster1_Message(MsgVal As Integer, wParam As Integer,
lParam As Long, ReturnVal As Long)
MsgBlaster1.MsgPassage(0) = 0
End Sub

10. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for MDIForm1:

Private Sub MDIForm_Load()
Form1.Show
Form2.Show
End Sub

Additional References
"The Elements of MDI." (Development Library, Books and Periodicals,
"Programming Windows 3.1" by Charles Petzold, PART 5 Data Exchange and Links,
Chapter 18 The Multiple-Document Interface [MDI])
Knowledge Base Q110104. "Using MSGBLAST.VBX Control to Process Windows Messages."
"Message Blaster: Processing Messages in Visual Basic." (Development Library,
Technical Articles, Visual Basic Articles)
"Switching Between MDI Child Windows." (Development Library,
Product Documentation, SDKs, Windows Interface Guidelines for Software Design,
Chapter 9 Window Management, Multiple-Document Interface)

Tip 102: Modifying a Child Window's Caption

2007-11-06T05:55:00.002-08:00

Abstract
This article explains how you can modify the caption displayed in a
multiple-document interface (MDI) child window.

Changing the Caption of Child Windows or Forms
The Microsoft® Word for Windows® application allows you to have several
documents loaded into memory at one time. These text files are displayed in
multiple-document interface (MDI) child windows.
An MDI child window automatically inherits the parent window's caption. This
caption is inserted before the child window's own caption. As an example, if
the parent window's caption is MDIForm1 and the child window's caption is Form1,
the child window's caption, at run time, will be set to MDIForm1 - [Form1].

In your Visual Basic® application, you can set the child form's caption to a
NULL string so that only the caption of the parent window is displayed. However,
the dash and bracket characters must also be deleted. Because the caption is
displayed in the non-client area of a window, you must use a subclassing control
to process the paint event yourself. The Message Blaster custom control can be
used to modify a child window's caption.
However, another solution can do the same thing without using a subclassing
control. Just use Visual Basic's string functions (Mid and InStr) to remove the
unwanted text from the child window's caption. This code, as shown below in the
example program, is placed in the child form's Resize event. Each time Windows
needs to repaint the window, the caption will be modified.

Example Program
This program shows how to modify a child window's caption text. Start this
program by pressing F5. The original caption is "MDIForm1 - [Form1]".
Start this program again after removing the Exit Sub statement from the Resize
event (at the beginning of the code listing). The caption for the MDIForm1
window now reads, "MDIForm1 - Form1". The dash and bracket characters have been
removed from the string. In addition, if you set Form1's caption to a NULL
string, MDIForm1 will simply display its own caption even when Form1 is
minimized.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. From the Visual Basic Insert menu, select MDI Form. MDIForm1 is created by
default.
3. Set Form1's MDIChild property to True. Modify the size of this form so that
it is smaller than the MDIForm1 form.
4. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form1:

Private Sub Form_Load()
Form1.Tag = Form1.Caption
MDIForm1.Tag = MDIForm1.Caption
Form1.WindowState = 2 'Maximize this form
End Sub

5. Add the following code to the Resize event for Form1:

Private Sub Form_Resize()
Dim Cap As String
Dim Postn As Integer

If (Form1.WindowState = 2) Then
Cap = MDIForm1.Caption

MDIForm1.Caption = ""
Postn = InStr(Cap, "[")
If (Postn) Then
Mid(Cap, Postn, 1) = " "
End If

Postn = InStr(Cap, "]")
If (Postn) Then
Mid(Cap, Postn, 1) = " "
End If

Postn = InStr(Cap, "-")
If (Postn) Then
Mid(Cap, Postn, 1) = " "
End If

Form1.Caption = ""
MDIForm1.Caption = Cap
End If

If (Form1.WindowState = 0) Then
Form1.Caption = Form1.Tag
MDIForm1.Caption = MDIForm1.Tag
End If
End Sub

Tip 101: Using the Built-In Windows Icons

2007-11-06T05:55:00.001-08:00

Abstract
There are several icons built into the Windows® operating system that are used
by Windows when displaying message boxes. This article explains how to use the
built-in icons in your own Visual Basic® applications.

Displaying the Built-In Windows Icons
In a Visual Basic® application, you can use the icons built into the Windows®
operating system. These include the hand, exclamation point, question mark,
asterisk, and application icons. The CONSTANT.TXT file defines these as follows:

Const IDI_APPLICATION = 32512&
Const IDI_HAND = 32513&
Const IDI_QUESTION = 32514&
Const IDI_EXCLAMATION = 32515&
Const IDI_ASTERISK = 32516&

Before you can use one of these icons in your Visual Basic application, you must
load the icon using the Windows application programming interface (API) LoadIcon
function. This function loads a specified icon into the device context. In the
example program below, we want to display the icon in a Picture Box control.
Therefore, we must first retrieve a device context for the Picture Box control.

To retrieve a device context for a window, you use the Windows application
programming interface (API) GetWindowDC function, as follows:

Private Declare Function GetWindowDC Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer)
As Integer

(Note that this statement must be typed as a single line of code.)
This function requires only one argumentan integer value containing the window's
handle. The device context's handle is returned as an integer value or, if the
function was not successful, a value of zero is returned.

When you have finished using the device context you must remember to release the
device context. This can be done by calling the ReleaseDC function, passing it
the handle of the device context that you want to release.
After retrieving the device context, you can call the LoadIcon function to
display the specified icon in the device context. Because this is a built-in
Windows icon, we set the first argument to a value of zero. The second argument
to the LoadIcon function is a constant value telling the function which icon you
want to load.

Example Program
This program shows how to use the built-in icons used by the Windows operating
system. This program displays the exclamation icon in the Picture Box control.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following Constant and Declare statements to the General
Declarations section of Form1 (note that each Declare statement must be
typed as a single line of code):

Private Declare Function DrawIcon Lib "User" (ByVal hDC As Integer, ByVal X
As Integer, ByVal y As Integer, ByVal hIcon As Integer) As Integer
Private Declare Function LoadIcon Lib "User" (ByVal hInstance As Integer, ByVal
lpIconName As Any) As Integer
Private Declare Function GetWindowDC Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer) As
Integer
Private Declare Function ReleaseDC Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer, ByVal hDC
As Integer) As Integer
Const IDI_EXCLAMATION = 32515&

3. Add a Picture Box control to Form1. Picture1 is created by default. Set its
AutoRedraw property to True.
4. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by default.
5. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim hDCCur As Long
Dim hIcon As Integer
Dim X As Integer

hDCCur = GetWindowDC(Picture1.hWnd)
hIcon = LoadIcon(0, IDI_EXCLAMATION)
X = DrawIcon(hDCCur, 0, 0, hIcon)
Call ReleaseDC(Picture1.hWnd, hDCCur)
End Sub

Additional References
Knowledge Base Q88944. How to Extract a Windows Program IconRunning or Not.
Specifying a Class Icon and Using Built-In Icons (Product Documentation, SDKs,
Windows 3.1 SDK, Guide to Programming)

Tip 100: Printing a Form Multiple Times on One Page

2007-11-06T05:54:00.001-08:00

Abstract
This article explains how you can print a Visual Basic® form several
times on a single piece of paper.

Printing Forms on the Printer Device
You can use the Windows® application programming interface (API)
StretchBlt function to copy a form to another form multiple times. For
instance, the example program below uses the StretchBlt function to
copy a form to a new form. The original form is copied four times. The
destination form then contains a copy of the original form in its
upper left, lower left, upper right, and lower right corners.

The technique presented in this article is usefull for duplicating a
form several times. For example, if you designed a form to keep track
of telephone messages, you could print four messages per printed page,
instead of using one piece of paper per telephone message.
The StretchBlt function can be used to copy an image from one device
context to another. To use this function in your Visual Basic®
application, include the following Declare statement in the General
Declarations section of your form (note that it must be typed as a
single line of code):

Private Declare Function StretchBlt Lib "GDI" (ByVal hDC%, ByVal X%, ByVal y%,
ByVal nWidth%, ByVal nHeight%, ByVal hSrcDC%, ByVal XSrc%, ByVal YSrc%, ByVal
nSrcWidth%, ByVal nSrcHeight%, ByVal dwRop&) As Integer

The StretchBlt function requires the following arguments:

hDC An integer value containing the destination device context.
X,Y Integer values defining the rectangle's upper left corner
for the destination device context.
nWidth The width of the image.
nHeight The height of the image.
hSrcDC An integer value containing the source device context.
Xsrc, YSrc Integer values defining the rectangle's upper left corner
for the source device context.
nSrcWidth The width of the image.
nSrcHeight The height of the image.
dwRop The raster operation that is to be used.

In the example program below, the StretchBlt function is called four
times to copy the original Form1 to the destination Form2. Each time
the copy operation is performed, the destination is offset to the next
quarter section of Form2.

Example Program
Before running this program, make sure your printer is online and
ready to accept data. Press the F5 function key to run the example
program, which will print Form2 on the paper four times.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by
default.
3. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1 (note that
the X = lines must each be typed as a single line of code):

Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim W As Integer
Dim H As Integer
Dim X As Integer

W = Form2.ScaleWidth / 2
H = Form2.ScaleHeight / 2
X = SetStretchBltMode(Form2.hDC, 3)

X = StretchBlt(Form2.hDC, 0, 0, W, H, Form1.hDC, 0, 0, Form1.ScaleWidth,
Form1.ScaleHeight, SRCCOPY)
X = StretchBlt(Form2.hDC, W, 0, W, H, Form1.hDC, 0, 0, Form1.ScaleWidth,
Form1.ScaleHeight, SRCCOPY)
X = StretchBlt(Form2.hDC, W, H, W, H, Form1.hDC, 0, 0, Form1.ScaleWidth,
Form1.ScaleHeight, SRCCOPY)
X = StretchBlt(Form2.hDC, 0, H, W, H, Form1.hDC, 0, 0, Form1.ScaleWidth,
Form1.ScaleHeight, SRCCOPY)

Form2.Refresh
Form2.PrintForm
End Sub

4. From Visual Basic's menu, select Insert. Select Form to create a new form.
Form2 is created by default. Add a Text Box control to Form2 or otherwise
put some type of material on the form so you can see it printed on the paper.
5. Add the following code to the General Declarations section of Form1 (note
that each Declare statement should be typed as a single line of code):

Private Declare Function SetStretchBltMode Lib "GDI" (ByVal hDC%, ByVal
nStretchMode%) As Integer
Private Declare Function StretchBlt Lib "GDI" (ByVal hDC%, ByVal X%, ByVal y%,
ByVal nWidth%, ByVal nHeight%, ByVal hSrcDC%, ByVal XSrc%, ByVal YSrc%, ByVal
nSrcWidth%, ByVal nSrcHeight%, ByVal dwRop&) As Integer
Const SRCCOPY = &HCC0020

Additional References
"Creating Bitmaps of Any Size with StretchBlt." (Books and Periodicals, Inside
Visual Basic Articles [Cobb])
Knowledge Base Q84066. "How to Print Entire VB Form and Control the Printed Size."
Knowledge Base Q77060. "How to Print a VB Picture Control Using Windows API
Functions."

Tip 99: Adding Three-Dimensional Effects to Visual Basic Forms

2007-11-06T05:52:00.000-08:00

Abstract
You can use functions in the CTL3D.DLL dynamic-link library to add a
three-dimensional (3-D) look to any form. This article explains how to
use this .DLL to create a 3-D form in a Visual Basic® application.

Creating 3-D Forms
The CTL3D.DLL dynamic-link library contains Windows® application
programming interface (API) functions you can use to create
three-dimensional (3-D) message boxes and common dialog boxes in your
Visual Basic® applications. You can also use these functions to create
a 3-D form. The form must have a fixed-double-style border. In
addition, the form's MinButton and MaxButton properties must be set to
False.

As the example program below shows, the CTL3D.DLL functions can enable
your Visual Basic application to display 3-D forms, message boxes, and
common dialog boxes.

Example Program
1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by
default.
3. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
Form2.Show
End Sub

4. From the Insert menu, select Form to create a second form. Form2
is created by default. Set the form's BorderStyle property to
3-Fixed Double, the MinButton property to False, and the MaxButton
property to False.
5. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form2:

Private Sub Form_Load()
Call Ctl3DForm(Me)
End Sub

6. From the Insert menu, select Module to create a new module.
Module1.Bas is created by default.
7. Add the following code to Module1.Bas (note that the Private
lines must each be typed as a single line of code):

Const SWW_HPARENT = -8
Const GWW_HINSTANCE = -6
Const GWW_HPARENT = -8
Const BUTTON_FACE = &H8000000F
Const FIXED_DOUBLE = 3
Const DS_MODALFRAME = &H80&
Const GWL_STYLE = (-16)
Private Declare Function Ctl3DSubClassDlgEx Lib "CTL3D.DLL" (ByVal hWnd As
Integer, ByVal Flags As Long) As Integer
Private Declare Function GetWindowLong Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer, ByVal
nIndex As Integer) As Long
Private Declare Function SetWindowLong Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer, ByVal
nIndex As Integer, ByVal dwNewLong As Long) As Long
Sub Ctl3DForm(frm As Form)
Dim hWnd As Integer
Dim Result As Integer
Dim lStyle As Long
Dim Flag1 As Long

hWnd = frm.hWnd
Flag1 = 0

If frm.BorderStyle = FIXED_DOUBLE Then
frm.BackColor = BUTTON_FACE
lStyle = GetWindowLong(hWnd, GWL_STYLE)
lStyle = lStyle Or DS_MODALFRAME
lStyle = SetWindowLong(hWnd, GWL_STYLE, lStyle)
Result = Ctl3DSubClassDlgEx(hWnd, Flag1)
End If
End Sub

Run the example program by pressing the F5 function key. Click the
Command Button to display Form2. Form2 is modified so that it has a
three-dimensional look.

Additional References
Knowledge Base Q113898. "How to Use CTL3D.DLL in Your Visual Basic
Program."
"Seventeen Techniques for Preparing Your 16-Bit Applications for
Chicago." (Books and Periodicals, Microsoft Systems Journal,
1994 Volume 9, February 1994 Number 2)
"Windows Questions and Answers." (Books and Periodicals, Microsoft
Systems Journal, 1994 Volume 9, August 1994, Number 8)

Tip 98: Saving a Window's Client Area in Bitmap Format

2007-11-06T05:51:00.000-08:00

Abstract
You may need to create a bitmap (.BMP) image file that contains a
window's client area. This article explains how to save a window's
client area to disk in a bitmap image file format.

Saving Bitmap Images to Disk
You can save the contents of a window to a disk file in bitmap format
by retrieving the target window's rectangle area and then using
several Windows® application programming interface (API) functions to
save that image to a device context such as a Picture Box control.

The GetWindowRect function can be used to retrieve the bounding
rectangle of a window or form. This rectangle includes the window's
borders, title bars, and other attributes associated with a window.
The Declare statement for the GetWindowRect function is as follows:

Private Declare Sub GetWindowRect Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer, lpRect
As RECT)

The GetWindowRect function takes two arguments: an integer value
containing the window's handle and a pointer to a RECT rectangle
structure. The RECT structure will contain the dimensions of the
window's rectangle area after the function is called.

The BitBlt function uses the rectangle that contains the image you
want to save to disk to copy the image from one device context to
another. In this case, BitBlt is used to copy the window's client
area to the Picture Box control. Then the Save As dialog box is used
to save the contents of the Picture Box to disk as a .BMP file.

Example Program
This program shows how to save the client area of a form or window
and save it as a .BMP file.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic®. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following Constant and Declare statements to the General
Declarations section of Form1 (note that each Declare statement
must be typed as a single line of code):

Private Declare Function GetActiveWindow Lib "User" () As Integer
Private Declare Function GetWindowDC Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer)
As Integer
Private Declare Sub GetWindowRect Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer, lpRect
As RECT)
Private Declare Function ReleaseDC Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer, ByVal hDC
As Integer) As Integer
Private Declare Function BitBlt% Lib "GDI" (ByVal hDestDC%, ByVal X%, ByVal Y%,
ByVal nWidth%, ByVal nHeight%, ByVal hSrcDC%, ByVal XSrc%, ByVal YSrc%, ByVal
dwRop&)
Const SRCCOPY = &HCC0020

3. From the Insert menu, select Form to create a second form. Form2
is created by default. Set its Picture property to
"C:\WINDOWS\ARCHES.BMP".
4. From the Insert menu, select Module to create a BASIC module.
Module1.Bas is created by default.
5. Add the following Type structure to Module1.Bas:

Type RECT
Left As Integer
Top As Integer
Right As Integer
Bottom As Integer
End Type

6. Add a Timer control to Form1. Timer1 is created by default.
7. Add a Picture Box control to Form1. Picture1 is created by
default. Set its AutoRedraw property to True.
8. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by
default.
9. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
SaveToPicture
End Sub

10. Create a new function called SaveToPicture. Add the following code
to this function:

Sub SaveToPicture()
Dim hDCCur As Long
Dim hWndCur As Long
Dim HWndOld As Long
Dim Tim As Double
Dim ThisRect As RECT
Dim DX As Long
Dim DY As Long

HWndOld = GetActiveWindow()
Form2.Show
hWndCur = Form2.hWnd
Tim = Timer + 0.5
Do
DoEvents
Loop Until Timer >= Tim

hDCCur = GetWindowDC(hWndCur)
Call GetWindowRect(hWndCur, ThisRect)
DX = ThisRect.Right - ThisRect.Left + 2: DY = ThisRect.Bottom - ThisRect.Top + 2

With Picture1
.Width = Screen.TwipsPerPixelX * DX
.Height = Screen.TwipsPerPixelY * DY
Call BitBlt(.hDC, 0, 0, DX, DY, hDCCur, 0, 0, SRCCOPY)
.Picture = .Image
End With

Call ReleaseDC(hWndCur, hDCCur)
Form2.Hide

CommonDialog1.DefaultExt = "BMP"
CommonDialog1.DialogTitle = "Save Window As"
CommonDialog1.FileName = "*.BMP"
CommonDialog1.Action = 2

If CommonDialog1.FileName <> Empty Then
SavePicture Picture1.Picture, CommonDialog1.FileName
End If
End Sub

11. Add a Common Dialog control to Form1. CommonDialog1 is created by
default.

Run this program by pressing the F5 function key. Click once on the
command button. The ARCHES.BMP picture is displayed on Form2. Next,
the Save File As dialog box pops up on the screen. Type a filename
for the .BMP file and Visual Basic will save Form2's window (which
contains the ARCHES.BMP picture) to a new bitmap file.

Additional References
"Bitmaps." (Product Documentation, DDKs, Windows 3.1 DDK, Device
Driver Adaptation Guide)
"GetActiveWindow"; "GetWindowDC"; and "ReleaseDC." (Product
Documentation, SDKs, Windows 3.1 SDK, Programmer's Reference
Volume 2: Functions)
Knowledge Base Q71104. "How to Use Windows BitBlt Function in Visual
Basic Application."

Tip 97: Creating a Task List

2007-11-06T05:50:00.000-08:00

Abstract
This article explains how you can determine what modules are currently
running under Microsoft® Windows® and create a task list based on that
information.

Determine What Modules Are Currently Running
The TOOLHELP.DLL dynamic-link library (.DLL) file contains two
Windows® application programming interface (API) functions that can be
used to create a list of modules currently loaded under Windows. These
are the ModuleFirst and ModuleNext functions. To declare these
functions within your program, include the following Declare
statements in the Global Module or General Declarations section of a
Visual Basic® form:

Private Declare Function ModuleFirst Lib "toolhelp.dll" (mdlentry As
ModuleEntry) As Integer
Private Declare Function ModuleNext Lib "toolhelp.dll" (mdlentry As ModuleEntry)
As Integer

Note that each Declare statement must be typed as a single line of text.
The ModuleFirst and ModuleNext functions are the key to traversing
the chain of loaded modules in Windows. The ModuleFirst function fills
the specified structure with information describing the first module
in the list of currently loaded modules. The ModuleNext function is
then called to find the next module in the list.

The MODULEENTRY structure required by these two functions must be
defined as follows:

dwSize The size of the structure in bytes.
szModule The module's name (a null-terminated string).
hModule The module's handle.
wcUsage Used by GetModuleUsage function.
szExePath The module.
wNext The window.

Before you can use these two functions, however, you must initialize
the dwSize field of the MODULEENTRY structure. This value should be
specified as the number of bytes needed to store the information
returned by ModuleFirst and ModuleNext.
These functions return a value indicating the status of the function.
The function was successful if the returned value is nonzero; the
function was not successful (or no more modules were found in memory)
if the value returned is zero.

Example Program
This program shows how to retrieve the module name and path for every
running task under Windows. The name of each module is displayed in
the first List Box control, while the full path of the module is
displayed in the second List Box control.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following code to the General Declarations section of
Form1 (note that each Declare statement should be typed as a
single line of text):

Private Declare Function ModuleFirst Lib "toolhelp.dll" (mdlentry As
ModuleEntry) As Integer
Private Declare Function ModuleNext Lib "toolhelp.dll" (mdlentry As ModuleEntry)
As Integer

3. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Add the following code to
the Click event for Command1:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim Tmp As ModuleEntry
Dim Retn As Integer

Tmp.dwSize = Len(Tmp)
Retn = ModuleFirst(Tmp)
While Retn <> 0
If InStr(Tmp.szExepath, ".VBX") <> 0 Or InStr(Tmp.szExepath, ".DLL") <>
0 Or InStr(Tmp.szExepath, ">DRV") <> 0 Then
List1.AddItem Tmp.szModule
List2.AddItem Tmp.szExepath
End If
Tmp.szExepath = ""
Retn = ModuleNext(Tmp)
Wend
End Sub

4. Add a List Box control to Form1. List1 is created by default.
5. Add a second List Box control to Form1. List2 is created by
default.
6. From the Insert menu, select Module. Module1.Bas is created by
default.
7. Add the following user-defined Type to Module1.Bas:

Type ModuleEntry
dwSize As Long
szModule As String * 10
hModule As Integer
wcUsage As Integer
szExepath As String * 256
wNext As Integer
End Type

Additional References

Knowledge Base Q78001. "How to Get Windows Master (Task List) Using
Visual Basic."
Knowledge Base Q80124. "Retrieving the Names of Simultaneous Tasks
Under Windows."
"Windows Questions and Answers." (Books and Periodicals, Microsoft
Systems Journal, 1994 Volume 9, May 1994 Number 5)

Tip 96: Centering a Form over Another Form

2007-11-06T05:49:00.000-08:00

Abstract
You can position a form so it appears centered within another form.
This article explains how to center a form within its parent form.
This same technique can be applied to centering controls such as
Picture Box controls over other controls.

Centering Forms in Visual Basic
When developing an application in Visual Basic®, you may need to
position a form so it is centered over another form. You can position
a form in this way by using Visual Basic's Left, Top, Height, and
Width properties.

The Left property defines the position of the form's left edge and the
Top property defines the position of the form's top edge. In the same
manner, the Width and Height properties define how wide and high the
form is. It is easy enough to center a form on a container by
calculating the width and height of the form and dividing that value
by two to center it within the control.
To center a form within a parent form, take the width of Form1 and
Form2, subtract these two values, and divide the result by two. Next,
add Form1's width to the result to determine the position of Form2's
left edge within Form1. This will center Form2 horizontally within
Form1.

In the same manner, you can center a form vertically within another
form by using the Top and Height properties of each form, dividing by
two, and setting Form2's Top property to the result.

Example Program
This program shows how to center a form over another form. After you
run this example program by pressing the F5 function key, click the
Command Button. The program displays Form2 centered over its "parent,"
Form1.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by
default.
3. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
Form2.Show
CentreFormWithParent Form2, Form1
End Sub

4. From the Insert menu, select Form to create a second form. Form2
is created by default. Change this form's size so it is smaller
than Form1.
5. Create a new function called CreateFormWithParent. Add the
following code to this function:

Sub CenterFormWithParent(aForm As Form, aParent As Form)
aForm.Left = aParent.Left + (aParent.Width - aForm.Width) / 2
aForm.Top = aParent.Top + (aParent.Height - aForm.Height) / 2
If (aForm.Left + aForm.Width) > Screen.Width Then
aForm.Left = Screen.Width - aForm.Width
Else
If aForm.Left < 0 Then aForm.Left = 0
End If
If (aForm.Top + aForm.Height) > Screen.Height Then
aForm.Top = Screen.Height - aForm.Height
Else
If aForm.Top < 0 Then aForm.Top = 0
End If
End Sub

Tip 95: Deleting All Records from Every Table in a Microsoft Access Database

2007-11-06T05:40:00.000-08:00

Abstract
A Microsoft® Access® database may contain several tables, with each
table holding many records. This article explains how to delete all
records from all tables associated with a Microsoft Access database
application.

Removing Records from Tables
There may be occasions when you need to delete all records in a table
from a Microsoft® Access® database application. For instance, if you
have an inventory program that contains a table of stock and another
table of purchase orders, at the end of the year you would need to
remove these records in preparation for the next year's information.
To remove each record from both tables would be a tedious job.

You can create an Access Basic function that will remove every record
from the specified table. However, if your Microsoft Access database
contains many tables, you need to process each individual table
associated with that specific Microsoft Access database.

Example Program
This example Access program shows how to delete all records from every
table in a Microsoft Access database application. Note that this
function also processes those table names that include space
characters in them (Inventory Year1, for example).

1. Open the sample database ORDERS.MDB. (This database can usually be
found in the C:\ACCESS\SAMPAPPS directory.)
Note: The example program will permanently modify this Access
database. Therefore, you should copy ORDERS.MDB to another
directory and run this program on the temporary copy of ORDERS.MDB.
2. From the File menu, choose New, and select Module.
3. Enter the following code to create the DeleteAllRecords()
function:

Function DeleteAllRecords ()
Dim DB As Database
Dim X As Integer
Dim TDF As TableDef
DoCmd SetWarnings False
Set DB = CurrentDB()
For X = 0 To DB.TableDefs.Count - 1
Set TDF = DB.TableDefs(X)
If (TDF.Attributes And DB_SYSTEMOBJECT) = 0 Then
DB.Execute "Delete * From [" & DB.TableDefs(X).Name & "]"
End If
Next X
DoCmd SetWarnings True
End Function

4. From the View menu, choose Immediate Window.
5. In the Immediate Window, type the following line and press the ENTER key:

?DeleteAllRecords()

This statement will execute the DeleteAllRecords() function. After a
short time, all records will be deleted from each table included in
the ORDERS.MDB database.

Tip 94: Using Drag-and-Drop on Multiple items in a List Box Control

2007-11-06T05:39:00.000-08:00

Abstract
The drag-and-drop functionality provided in many Windows®-based
applications allows you to copy an item from one program to another
or from one control to another control in the same application. This
article explains how to use this drag-and-drop technique in Visual
Basic® to copy multiple items selected in a List Box control to
another List Box control.

Dragging Multiple list Box Items
Many Windows-based applications include drag-and-drop functionality.
This means that you can select an item, such as an entry in a List
Box control, click on the item, and, while holding the mouse button
down, drag that item to another window or control and drop it on its
new location.

The example program below shows how you can add this drag-and-drop
feature to your Visual Basic® applications. This program allows you
to select multiple items in the source List Box control and drag the
whole group of selected items to a second List Box control all at one
time.

Example Program
This program shows how to drag several items selected in one List Box
control to another List Box control. Run the example program by
pressing the F5 function key. From the first List Box control, click
the mouse on several items to select (highlight) them. While clicking
each item, hold down the SHIFT key. When you want to drag the selected
items to the second List Box control, click once on the first List Box
control and hold the mouse button down while you drag the control to
the second List Box. Release the mouse button to drop the selected
items onto the second List Box control.

While using this program, you can select the items from the first
List Box either by holding the SHIFT key down while you click on each
entry, or by simply clicking the mouse on each individual entry. If
you hold the SHIFT key down when selecting entries, those entries will
remain selected (highlighted) in the first List Box control after the
items have been dropped onto the second List Box control. If the
SHIFT key is not used, one of the selected items will not retain its
selected status after the drag-and-drop operation has finished.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following code to the General Declarations section of
Form1:

Option Explicit
Dim IG As Integer
Dim LIG(20) As Integer
Dim LGlobal As Long
Const VK_SHIFT = &H10

3. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form1:

Private Sub Form_Load()
Dim X As Integer
IG = 0
For X = 0 To 9
List1.AddItem "Item #" + Str$(X)
Next X
List1.DragMode = 0
LGlobal = 99999
End Sub

4. Add a List Box control to Form1. List1 is created by default. Set
its MultiSelect property to 1-Simple.
5. Add the following code to the MouseDown event for List1 (note that
the Private line must be typed as a single line of code):

Private Sub List1_MouseDown(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single,
Y As Single)
LGlobal = List1.ListIndex
For X = 1 To IG
List1.Selected(LIG(X)) = True
Next X
List1.Drag
End Sub

6. Add a second List Box control to Form1. List2 is created by
default. Set its MultiSelect property to 1-Simple.
7. Add the following code to the DragDrop event for List2:

Private Sub List2_DragDrop(Source As Control, X As Single, Y As Single)
For X = 0 To List1.ListCount - 1
If X = LGlobal Then
List2.AddItem List1.List(X)
Else
If List1.Selected(X) Then
List2.AddItem List1.List(X)
End If
End If
Next X
LGlobal = 99999
IG = 0
End Sub

Additional References
Knowledge Base Q80187. "How to Drop Item into Specified Location in
VB List Box."
Tip 50: Using Drag and Drop in List Box Controls

Tip 93: Retrieving the Names of Installed Printers

2007-11-06T05:38:00.002-08:00

Abstract
The Windows® initialization file, WIN.INI, contains a list of all
printers attached to the computer system. This article contains an
example program that retrieves the name of each printer stored in the
WIN.INI initialization file.

Using GetProfileString and GetPrivateProfileString
The Devices section of the WIN.INI initialization file contains the
names of all printers attached to your computer system. You can
retrieve this list of printer names by using two Windows® application
programming interface (API) functions.

The Windows API GetProfileString and GetPrivateProfileString functions
can be used to retrieve the name of a printer as stored in the WIN.INI
file. For a complete discussion of these functions, see the articles
listed in the "Additional References" section of this article.

Example Program
This program retrieves the names of all installed printers from the
WIN.INI initialization file. The printer names are displayed in a
List Box control.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following Constant, Declare, and Type statements to the
General Declarations section of Form1 (note that each Declare
statement must be typed as a single line of text):

Option Explicit
Private Type WindowsDevice
WindowsDeviceUserName As String
WindowsDeviceShortName As String
WindowsDevicePortName As String
End Type
Private Declare Function GetProfileString Lib "Kernel" (ByVal lpAppName
As String, ByVal lpKeyName As String, ByVal lpDefault As String, ByVal
lpReturnedString As String, ByVal nSize As Integer) As Integer
Private Declare Function GetPrivateProfileString Lib "Kernel" (ByVal lpAppName
As String, ByVal lpKeyName As String, ByVal lpDefault As String, ByVal
lpReturnedString As String, ByVal nSize As Integer, ByVal lpFileName As
String) As Integer
Private Declare Function GetProfileKeys Lib "Kernel" Alias "GetProfileString"
(ByVal lpAppName As String, ByVal lpKeyName As Long, ByVal lpDefault As
String, ByVal lpReturnedString As String, ByVal nSize As Integer) As Integer
Private Declare Function GetPrivateProfileKeys Lib "Kernel" Alias
"GetPrivateProfileString" (ByVal lpAppName As String, ByVal lpKeyName As
Long, ByVal lpDefault As String, ByVal lpReturnedString As String, ByVal
nSize As Integer, ByVal lpFileName As String) As Integer

Const WINDOWS_SECTION_NAME = "windows"
Const DEVICES_SECTION_NAME = "devices"
Const DEVICE_KEY_NAME = "device"
Const NO_PRINTER = "(none)"

3. Add a Text Box control to Form1. Text1 is created by default.
4. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by default.
5. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1 (note that the
List1.AddItem statement must be typed as a single line of code):

Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim OrgPrinter As WindowsDevice
Call GetDefaultPrinter(OrgPrinter)
Text1.Text = OrgPrinter.WindowsDeviceUserName
Dim NumPrinters As Integer
ReDim InstalledPrinters(0) As WindowsDevice
Call GetInstalledPrinters(InstalledPrinters())
For NumPrinters = 1 To UBound(InstalledPrinters)
List1.AddItem InstalledPrinters(NumPrinters).WindowsDeviceUserName + "
on " + InstalledPrinters(NumPrinters).WindowsDevicePortName
Next
List1.AddItem NO_PRINTER, 0
End Sub

6. Create a new function called GetDefaultPrinter. Add the following
code to this function:

Private Sub GetDefaultPrinter(recDefaultPrinter As WindowsDevice)
Dim StrPos As Integer
Dim DefaultPrinter As String
Dim RC As Integer
DefaultPrinter = GetString(WINDOWS_SECTION_NAME, DEVICE_KEY_NAME, "", "")
StrPos = InStr(DefaultPrinter, ",")
recDefaultPrinter.WindowsDeviceUserName = Left$(DefaultPrinter, StrPos - 1)
DefaultPrinter = Mid$(DefaultPrinter, StrPos + 1)
StrPos = InStr(DefaultPrinter, ",")
recDefaultPrinter.WindowsDeviceShortName = Left$(DefaultPrinter, StrPos - 1)
recDefaultPrinter.WindowsDevicePortName = Mid$(DefaultPrinter, StrPos + 1)
End Sub

7. Create a new function called GetInstalledPrinter. Add the
following code to this function (note that the InstalledPrinter
lines must be typed as a single line of code):

Private Sub GetInstalledPrinters(recInstalledPrinters() As WindowsDevice)
Dim StrPos As Integer
Dim PrtSub As Integer
Dim InstalledPrinter As String
ReDim PrinterNames(0) As String
Call GetKeyNames(DEVICES_SECTION_NAME, PrinterNames(), "")
ReDim recInstalledPrinters(UBound(PrinterNames))
For PrtSub = 1 To UBound(PrinterNames)
InstalledPrinter = GetString(DEVICES_SECTION_NAME, PrinterNames(PrtSub),
"", "")
StrPos = InStr(InstalledPrinter, ",")
recInstalledPrinters(PrtSub).WindowsDeviceUserName =
PrinterNames(PrtSub)
recInstalledPrinters(PrtSub).WindowsDeviceShortName =
Left$(InstalledPrinter, StrPos - 1)
InstalledPrinter = Mid$(InstalledPrinter, StrPos + 1)
StrPos = InStr(InstalledPrinter, ",")
If StrPos > 0 Then
recInstalledPrinters(PrtSub).WindowsDevicePortName =
Left$(InstalledPrinter, StrPos - 1)
Else
recInstalledPrinters(PrtSub).WindowsDevicePortName =
InstalledPrinter
End If
Next
End Sub

8. Create a new function called GetString. Add the following code to
this function (note that the Function and KeyValueLength lines
must each be typed as a single line of code):

Function GetString(SectionName As String, KeyName As String, DefaultValue
As String, ProfileName As String) As String
Dim KeyValueLength As Integer
Dim KeyValue As String
KeyValue = Space$(256)
If Trim$(ProfileName) = "" Then
KeyValueLength = GetProfileString(SectionName, KeyName, DefaultValue,
KeyValue, Len(KeyValue))
Else
KeyValueLength = GetPrivateProfileString(SectionName, KeyName,
DefaultValue, KeyValue, Len(KeyValue), ProfileName)
End If
GetString = Left$(KeyValue, KeyValueLength)
End Function

9. Create a new function called GetKeyName. Add the following code
to this function (note that the Sub and KeyNamesLength lines must
each be typed as a single line of code):

Sub GetKeyNames(SectionName As String, KeyNames() As String, ProfileName
As String)
Dim StrPos As Integer
Dim KeyCount As Integer
Dim Start As Integer
Dim KeyNamesLength As Integer
Dim KeyNameString As String
KeyNameString = Space$(1024)
If Trim$(ProfileName) = "" Then
KeyNamesLength = GetProfileKeys(SectionName, 0, "", KeyNameString,
Len(KeyNameString))
Else
KeyNamesLength = GetPrivateProfileKeys(SectionName, 0, "",
KeyNameString, Len(KeyNameString), ProfileName)
End If
KeyCount = 0
ReDim KeyNames(0)
If KeyNamesLength > 0 Then
KeyNameString = Left$(KeyNameString, KeyNamesLength)
If Right$(KeyNameString, 1) <> Chr$(0) Then
KeyNameString = KeyNameString + Chr$(0)
End If
KeyNamesLength = Len(KeyNameString)
Start = 1
Do
StrPos = InStr(Start, KeyNameString, Chr$(0))
If StrPos > 0 Then
KeyCount = KeyCount + 1
ReDim Preserve KeyNames(KeyCount)
KeyNames(KeyCount) = Mid$(KeyNameString, Start, StrPos - Start)
If StrPos < KeyNamesLength Then
Start = StrPos + 1
Else
Exit Do

End If
Else
Exit Do
End If
Loop
End If
End Sub

Run the example program by pressing the F5 function key. Click the
Command Button control. The name of the default printer is displayed
in the Text Box control, and a list of all installed printers is
displayed in the List Box control.

Additional References
Knowledge Base Q105839. "Changing WIN.INI Printer Settings from VB
using Windows API."
"Accessing Initialization Files." (Books and Periodicals, Inside
Visual Basic Articles [Cobb])
"Querying Windows for Printer Information." (Books and Periodicals,
Inside Visual Basic Articles [Cobb])
Tip 30: Retrieving the Default Printer's Name from WIN.INI

Tip 92: Using the Shell Statement to Execute MS-DOS Programs

2007-11-06T05:38:00.001-08:00

Abstract
From within a Visual Basic® application, you can execute an MS-DOS®
program. This article explains how to use the Shell statement in
conjunction with the Windows® application programming interface (API)
GetNumTasks function to execute an MS-DOS program.

Running MS-DOS Programs
A very popular set of utilities called PKZIP and PKUNZIP can be found
on bulletin board systems throughout the world. These two utilities
are used to compress and decompress a group of related files. The
resulting ZIP file can then be distributed as one single entity.
Because these programs are used by people daily, you may need to allow
your user to execute these MS-DOS programs (or an entirely different
MS-DOS program) from within your Visual Basic® application program.

Visual Basic's Shell function can be used to execute another program.
To run a program, you would issue the statement:

X = Shell("program name",[windowstate]])

The program name must be a valid MS-DOS or Windows®-based-application
name and may optionally include any command-line parameters needed by
the program. The second parameter tells Visual Basic how to execute
the program. There are five possible values for this argument, as
follows:

1 Normal size, program retains focus
2 Minimized, program retains focus
3 Maximized, program retains focus
4 Normal size, Visual Basic application retains focus
5 Minimized, program does not retain focus

While the MS-DOS program is executing, you can use the SendKeys
statement to send specific keystrokes to the application. In this
manner, you can actually control what the MS-DOS program does or
provide some required input.
In addition, you can determine when the secondary program has
terminated by using the GetNumTasks function. To use the GetNumTasks
function in your Visual Basic application, you must include the
following Declare statement in the Global Module or General
Declarations section of your form:

Private Declare Function GetNumTasks Lib "Kernel" () As Integer

The GetNumTasks function does not require any arguments but simply
returns an integer value set to the number of tasks that are currently
running under Windows. Therefore, to determine when your MS-DOS
program has finished executing, call GetNumTasks first, saving the
value it returns in a variable. After the MS-DOS program has finished
executing, call the GetNumTasks function a second time to find out if
the number of tasks has decreased by a value of one. If the value has
decreased, you know that your MS-DOS program has finished executing
and you can return control to your Visual Basic application.

Example Program
This program shows how you can use the Shell function and the
GetNumTasks function to execute an MS-DOS program. This program
assumes that you have the PKUNZIP program stored in the UTILS
directory and that you have previously created a destination
directory called DESTDIR on your hard drive.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following statements to the General Declarations section
of Form1:

Dim ActiveApps As Integer
Private Declare Function GetNumTasks Lib "Kernel" () As Integer

3. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by
default.
4. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim AppDir As String
Dim Zip As String
Dim Y As Integer
Dim X As Integer

AppDir = "c:\destdir"
ActiveApps = GetNumTasks()

Zip = "c:\utils\pkunzip " & "c:\destdir\" & "test.zip" & " " & AppDir
X = Shell(Zip, 2)
SendKeys "%{enter}EXIT%{ }n"

Do While GetNumTasks() <> ActiveApps
Y = DoEvents()
Loop
MsgBox "Pkunzip is finished", 0, "Demo Program"
End Sub

Additional References
Knowledge Base Q96844. "How to Determine When a Shelled Process Has
Terminated."
"SendKeys Statement." (Product Documentation, Office Developer's
Kit 1.0, Visual Basic 3.0 Professional Edition, Language Reference)
"Shell Function." (Product Documentation, Office Developer's
Kit 1.0, Visual Basic 3.0 Professional Edition, Language Reference)

Tip 91: Determining If a Form Is Loaded

2007-11-06T05:37:00.002-08:00

Abstract
A Visual Basic® application may contain many different forms. This
article presents a function that can be used to determine if a form is
currently loaded into memory.

Is the Form Loaded in Memory?
Because a Visual Basic® application can contain several forms, you
need to be able to determine if a form is actually loaded into memory.
The function presented in the example program below tests to see if a
form is loaded. This function will not load the form it simply tests
to see if it is already in memory.

Example Program
This program shows how to find out if a specific form is already
loaded in a running Visual Basic application.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. From the Insert menu, select Form. Form2 is created by default.
3. From the Insert menu, select Form. Form3 is created by default.
4. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form1:

Private Sub Form_Load()
Form2.Show
End Sub

5. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by
default.
6. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim X As Integer
X = IsFormLoaded(Form2)
If X Then
MsgBox "Form2 is loaded"
End If
X = IsFormLoaded(Form3)
If X = False Then
MsgBox "Form3 is not loaded"
End If
End Sub

7. Create a new function called IsFormLoaded. Add the following code
to this function:

Function IsFormLoaded(FormToCheck As Form) As Integer
Dim Y As Integer
For Y = 0 To Forms.Count - 1
If Forms(Y) Is FormToCheck Then
IsFormLoaded = True
Exit Function
End If
Next
IsFormLoaded = False
End Function

When you run this program, click the Command Button. A message box
will pop up on the screen displaying the "Form2 is loaded" message.
Click the OK command button. A second message box is immediately shown
displaying the "Form3 is not loaded" message.

Tip 90: Adding ToolTips to Visual Basic applications

2007-11-06T05:37:00.001-08:00

Abstract
Many Windows®-based applications have a toolbox from which you can
select a command to execute. When you move the cursor (mouse pointer)
over an item in the toolbox, a ToolTip is displayed. This article
shows how to add this ToolTip help feature to your own Visual Basic®
applications.

Creating ToolTips in Visual Basic
You can create a more professional-looking Visual Basic® application
if you include the ToolTips that are featured in the newest version of
Microsoft® Word. ToolTips are small, yellow description "balloons"
that pop up on your screen when your cursor (mouse pointer) is over a
control. The ToolTip usually contains a short descriptive word or
phrase that describes the control's underlying purpose. It makes
memorizing what icons do a thing of the past.

The example program below shows the code you need to add to your
application to create and use ToolTips. Let's assume that you want to
add a Command Button control to your form. In the Tag property of the
Command Button control you place the text that you want displayed when
the user moves the cursor over the control. This descriptive text can
be as long as you like, but keep in mind that the shorter the
description, the better. The AutoSize property of the Picture Box
control must be set to True so that when the program is running, the
Picture Box will size itself according to the length of the
descriptive text you entered in the Tag property.

Next, you need to tell your Visual Basic application when to display
the ToolTips description. In the MouseMove event, you want to call
the ToolTips function with the statement:
ToolTip Me, Command1, True
where "Me" is the form the control resides on, "Command1" is the name
of the individual control, and True means you want to display the
ToolTip for this control. If you don't want to display a ToolTip for
this particular control, set the last argument to False. This is done
in the form's MoveMove event so that no ToolTip is ever displayed
while the cursor is over the form itself. Once the Timer's interval
has elapsed, the ToolTip will be displayed for that control.

Example Program
This program shows how to add ToolTips to a Visual Basic application.
Press the F5 function key to run the example program. You will see a
Command Button control and a Text Box control on the form. Move the
cursor over the Command Button and the ToolTip message "A command
button control to click on" will be displayed. Move the cursor over
the Text Box control and the ToolTip message "A text box control" will
be displayed.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form1:

Private Sub Form_Load()
Timer1.Enabled = True
ToolTips Me, ToolTip, False
End Sub

3. Add the following code to the MouseMove event for Form1 (note that
the Private line must be typed as a single line of code):

Private Sub Form_MouseMove(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer,
X As Single, Y As Single)
ToolTips Me, ToolTip, False
End Sub

4. Add a Timer control to Form1. Timer1 is created by default. Set
its Interval property to 1.
5. Add the following code to the Timer_Event for Timer1:

Private Sub Timer1_Timer()
ToolTip.Visible = True
ToolTip.ZOrder 0
Timer1.Enabled = False
End Sub

6. Add a Picture Box control to Form1. Picture1 is created by
default. Set the following properties for Picture1:

AutoSize True
BackColor &H0000FFFF& (yellow)
Height 255
Left 480
Name ToolTip
Top 480
Visible False
Width 975

7. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by
default. Set its Tag property to "A command button control to
click on".
8. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
ToolTips Me, Command1, False
End Sub

9. Add the following code to the MouseMove event for Command1 (note
that the Private line must be typed as a single line of code):

Private Sub Command1_MouseMove(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer,
X As Single, Y As Single)
ToolTips Me, Command1, True
End Sub

10. Add a Text Box control to Form1. Text1 is created by default. Set
its Tag property to "A text box".
11. Add the following code to the Click event for Text1:

Private Sub Text1_Click()
ToolTips Me, Text1, False
End Sub

12. Add the following code to the MouseMove event for Text1 (note that
the Private line must be typed as a single line of code):

Private Sub Text1_MouseMove(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer,
X As Single, Y As Single)
ToolTips Me, Text1, True
End Sub

13. Create a new function called ToolTips. Add the following code to
this function:

Sub ToolTips(Frm As Form, Ctl As Control, OnOff As Integer)
If OnOff Then
Frm.ToolTip.Cls
Frm.ToolTip.Print " " & Ctl.Tag & " "
Frm.ToolTip.Width = Frm.ToolTip.TextWidth(Ctl.Tag & " ")
If Ctl.Top + Ctl.Height + Frm.ToolTip.Height + 40 < Frm.ScaleHeight Then
Frm.ToolTip.Top = Ctl.Top + Ctl.Height + 40
Else
Frm.ToolTip.Top = Ctl.Top - Frm.ToolTip.Height - 40
End If
If Ctl.Left + Frm.ToolTip.Width < Frm.ScaleWidth Then
Frm.ToolTip.Left = Ctl.Left
Else
Frm.ToolTip.Left = Ctl.Left - Frm.ToolTip.Width + Ctl.Width
End If
Frm.Timer1.Enabled = True
Else
Frm.ToolTip.Visible = False
Frm.ToolTip.ZOrder 1
Frm.Timer1.Enabled = False
End If
End Sub

Additional References
Knowledge Base Q111495. "How to Implement ToolTips Help in Visual
Basic applications."

Tip 89: Invoking the Microsoft Word Page Setup Dialog Box

2007-11-06T05:30:00.000-08:00

Abstract
From within a Visual Basic® application, you can instruct Microsoft®
Word to display its Page Setup dialog box. This article explains how
this task can be accomplished by creating a Word Basic macro and
executing that macro from within Visual Basic.

Calling Word Basic Macros from Within Visual Basic
You can execute a Word Basic macro from within a Visual Basic®
application to perform any number of tasks. The example program below
executes Microsoft® Word and opens up a new document page. Then the
program calls a Word Basic macro, FPSdlg, to display the Word Page
Setup dialog box.

In order to execute Word from within a Visual Basic application, you
must initiate a connection to Word. This is done by calling the
CreateObject function. This function lets you create an OLE object,
in this case Microsoft Word. When this function is executed, it runs
Word if it is not already running in memory. To transfer control to
Word, you can use the AppActivate function.
The next step is to call the Word Basic macro that you have
previously created in Word. In your Visual Basic program, you execute
a Word Basic command with the Object.Method syntax. For example, after
executing Word, we want to start with a new document. Therefore, we
issue the statement wobjApp.FileNewDefault, where the object has been
defined as Word and FileNewDefault is the Basic command we want to
execute. A list of these Word Basic commands can be found in the
WRDBASIC.HLP file that is stored in the Word directory when you
initially installed Microsoft Word.

After the new document screen has been displayed in Word, we want to
actually execute the Word Basic macro called CallFPS. To do this, we
again issue a Word Basic command called ToolsMacro. This command
executes the specified macro file in Word. When the macro has been
terminated, we can close Word and return to our Visual Basic program
by issuing the Set wobjApp=Nothing statement. This statement removes
the object variable, which in turn causes Word to terminate.

Example Program
The following example program shows how you can invoke a Word Basic
macro to call up the Word Page Setup dialog box.
First, you must create the Word Basic macro that the Visual Basic
program will call. Start Word. From the Tools menu, select Macro. Type
the name of the macro as FPSdlg and click the Create command button.
Type the following as the macro's text. When you're done, save the
macro so that it can be used by all newly created Word documents.

Sub Main
Dim FPSdlg as FilePageSetup
GetCurValues FPSdlg
rc = Dialog(FPSdlg)
If rc <> 0 then
FilePageSetup FPSdlg
End If
End Sub

At this point, make sure the macro actually works from within Word.
From the Tools menu, select Macro. Click the name of the macro you
want to execute in this case, the FPSdlg macro. Click the Run command
button. Word should respond by popping up the Page Setup dialog box.
Click the Cancel button to return to the document screen. Exit Word.

Now, you need to create the demonstration program in Visual Basic by
following these steps:
1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by
default.
3. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim wobjApp As Object
Set wobjApp = CreateObject("word.basic")
AppActivate "Microsoft Word"
wobjApp.FileNewDefault
wobjApp.ToolsMacro "CallFPS", True
Set wobjApp = Nothing
End Sub

To run the example program, press the F5 function key. Click the
command button. After a few seconds, Word will be executed and the
FPSdlg macro will also be executed. The program stops after it has
displayed the Page Setup dialog box in Word. Click the Cancel command
button and you will be returned to Visual Basic's design environment.

Additional References
Knowledge Base Q115782. "How to Have a VB Program Change a Word
Document's Page Layout."

Tip 88: Shrinking Icons Down to Size

2007-11-06T05:28:00.000-08:00

Abstract
You can use the Windows® application programming interface (API)
BitBlt function to modify the size of an icon. This article explains
how to enlarge or shrink an icon.

Modifying an Icon's Size
You can use the Windows® application programming interface (API)
BitBlt function to create an icon that is smaller or larger than the
original icon. The BitBlt function copies a memory device context to
another memory device context. (A memory device context is a block of
memory that represents a display surface, such as an Image or Picture
Box control. See Tip 31: "Creating the Windows Wallpaper Effect for a
complete explanation of the BitBlt function.)

In the example program below, we first load an icon into an Image
control. Then we modify the Image control's Height and Width
properties so the icon becomes 75 percent smaller than its original
size. The BitBlt function is then used to copy the icon stored in the
Image control to the Picture Box control.

Example Program
1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following Constant and Declare statements to the General
Declarations section of Form1 (note that the Declare statement
must be typed as a single line of code):

Private Declare Function BitBlt Lib "GDI" (ByVal hDestDC As Integer,
ByVal X As Integer, ByVal Y As Integer, ByVal nWidth As Integer,
ByVal nHeight As Integer, ByVal hSrcDC As Integer,
ByVal XSrc As Integer, ByVal YSrc As Integer,
ByVal dwRop As Long) As Integer
Const SRCCOPY = &HCC0020

3. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by
default. Set its Caption property to "Shrink Icon".
4. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim X As Integer
Dim Y As Integer
Dim W As Integer
Dim H As Integer
Dim Ret As Integer

Image1 = LoadPicture("c:\vb\icons\misc\binoculr.ico")
Image1.Width = 0.75 * Image1.Width
Image1.Height = 0.75 * Image1.Height
Picture1.Width = Image1.Width
Picture1.Height = Image1.Height

X = Image1.Left / Screen.TwipsPerPixelX
Y = Image1.Top / Screen.TwipsPerPixelY

W = Picture1.Width / Screen.TwipsPerPixelX
H = Picture1.Height / Screen.TwipsPerPixelY

Ret = BitBlt(Picture1.hDC, 0, 0, W, H, Form1.hDC, X, Y, SRCCOPY)
Picture1.Refresh
End Sub

5. Add an Image control to Form1. Image1 is created by default. Set
its Stretch property to True.
6. Add a Picture Box control to Form1. Picture1 is created by
default. Set its AutoRedraw property to True.

Additional References
Knowledge Base Q71104. "How to Use Windows BitBlt Function in Visual
Basic Application."
Knowledge Base Q80670. "How to Copy Entire Screen into a Picture Box
in Visual Basic."

CheckTime

2007-11-05T01:03:00.000-08:00

'convert (most of) any
input
to a time

Public Function CheckTijd(bron$) As Date

dim
t%
'checking
on
digits and seperator
Const Getal$ = "1234567890.:"

For t% = 1 To Len(bron$)
If InStr(Getal$, Mid$(bron$, t%, 1)) = 0 Then
exit
Function
If Mid$(bron$, t%, 1) = "." Then bron$ = Left$(bron$, t% - 1) & ":" & Right$(bron$, Len(bron$) - t%)
Next t%

select

case
Len(bron$)

case
0

exit
Function

case
1
bron$ = "0" & bron$ & ":00"

case
2
bron$ = bron$ & ":00"

case
3
t% = InStr(bron$, ":")
If t% = 0 Then _
bron$ = Left$(bron$, 1) & ":" & Right$(bron$, 2)

case
4
t% = InStr(bron$, ":")
If t% = 0 Then _
bron$ = Left$(bron$, 2) & ":" & Right$(bron$, 2)

case
5
bron$ = Left$(bron$, 2) & ":" & Right$(bron$, 2)

end
Select

on
Error Resume Next
CheckTijd = TimeValue(bron$)

End Function

'use it in the Text_Lostfocus event like

Sub Text1_LostFocus
Text1.Text = CheckTijd(Text1.Text)
End Sub

'giving the
input
in text1 => result
'1 => 01:00
'12 => 12:00
'1.1 => 01:10
'915 => 9:15
'9.15 => 9:15
'1015 => 10:15
'10.15 => 10:15
'12:15 => 12:15

'giving an impossible
time
=> result
'26 => 00:00
'1976 => 00:00

'giving just nothing (TAB/ENTER) will give no result

CheckSoftware

2007-11-05T01:00:00.000-08:00

Public
sub
CheckSoftware(x
as
Form)

dim
SaveTitle$

If App.PrevInstance Then
SaveTitle$ = App.Title
MsgBox "This
program
is already in the air...."
App.Title = ""
x.Caption = ""
AppActivate SaveTitle$
SendKeys "%{ENTER}", True
End

end
If

End Sub

'use
as
in the first form_load event
Call CheckSoftware(form1)

Use CR with MsAccess and Oracle

2007-11-05T00:59:00.000-08:00

Campbell, Stanley (Stan); Stanley_Campbell@dscc.dla.mil
WEB: http://www.dscc.dla.mil

In This Code I have data Stored in a Access.MDB and an Oracle Database.

I put these in a Module:

Public MyDataSource As String
Public MyUserID As String
Public MyPassword As String
Public strConnectInformation As String

Getting Ready to Use the Report.

Dim DateParam As String

'Reset Crystal Report Selection Criteria.
CrystalReport1.SelectionFormula = ""
CrystalReport1.ParameterFields(0) = ""

'Put Date in Proper Format for Crystal Reports.
DateParam = Format(DateSelected, "yyyy,mm,dd")

'Start Crystal Reports Code.
Call ConnectToCR
CrystalReport1.ParameterFields(0) = "DateToReport; DATE(" & DateParam & ") ;TRUE"
CrystalReport1.ReportFileName = "Q:\Daily.rpt"
CrystalReport1.Destination = 1 'Send to Printer
CrystalReport1.WindowTitle = "Daily Report"
CrystalReport1.Action = 1 ' Run Report

I connect to an Oracle Database.

Private Sub ConnectToCR()
MyDataSource = "Name of Oracle Table"
MyUserID = "USER"
MyPassword = "ORACLE"
'DataSetQualifier = "Name of Oracle Table" & Chr$(0)

strConnectInformation = "DSN = " & MyDataSource & ";"
strConnectInformation = strConnectInformation & "UID = " & MyUserID & ";"
strConnectInformation = strConnectInformation & "PWD = " & MyPassword & ";"
strConnectInformation = strConnectInformation & "DSQ = " '& DataSetQualifier
CrystalReport1.Connect = strConnectInformation
End Sub

GET UBUNTU 7.10

2007-11-05T00:24:00.000-08:00

Download URL:

ftp://dl2.foss-id.web.id/iso/ubuntu/releases/gutsy/ubuntu-7.10-desktop-i386.iso

Ubuntu Edition: Ubuntu 7.10 desktop

Computer Platform: i386

Download Location:
ftp://dl2.foss-id.web.id/iso/ubuntu/releases/

Download Streaming Videos From Video Sites

2007-11-05T00:10:00.002-08:00

Download Streaming Videos From Video Sites

Search for and download all your favorite videos!

Most videos require Flv Player to play video on your PC. Blip.tv may open Windows Media Player to play video depending on extension. If you do not have an flv player then download the free FLV player now . You can search for videos on the popular media sites then download by pasting the url in the download box.
ARFREE

PCMAV RC21 + Update Build1

2007-11-05T00:10:00.001-08:00

PCMAV RC21 + Update Build1

Memperbaiki bug yang terdeteksi sebagai virus oleh antivirus lain dan berbagai perbaikan lainnya. Silakan langsung di download.

PCMAV 10 RC21

download1 | download2

link disediakan oleh: mumtazanas

Update Build1

DivShare.com, IndoUpload.net (mirror), atau Files-Upload.com (mirror).

Windows Vista Bootable Live CD Portable edition

2007-11-05T00:07:00.001-08:00

Windows Vista Bootable Live CD Portable edition

Wow.. yang mau nyobain vista tapi ga mau repot ngeinstallnya..download aja ini ya.

Just Unpack, Burn, In the Bios select Boot CD as primary, Restart, Enjoy!!

Windows Vista Bootable Live CD Portable edition
116 Mb (packed) | 128 Mb (unpacked) | *.iso

download bagian 1 | download bagian 2

NOD32 version 2.7 + crack

2007-11-05T00:05:00.000-08:00

NOD32 version 2.7 + crack

Anti Virus NOD32 version 2.7 + Crack
Download

Micropoint
Download

GigaGet
Download

Rapidshare
Download

FinalRecovery Portable

2007-11-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

FinalRecovery Portable

Final Recovery 2.2 Portable Version

Works under Win9x, ME, NT, 2K, XP, 2003, Vista (32bit & 64bit)
Supports FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, NTFS5 file systems
Recovers files from formatted partitions
Recovers files from hard drive, floppy disk, digital
Recovers files from deleted (damaged) partitions
Recovers lost, deleted files.
IDE hard drives health diagnosis
Attempts to recover files which damaged by OS
Recover files from hard drive, floppy disk, digital
camera, compactflashs, memory sticks, smart media

Download disini

Norton AntiVirus for Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/Vista

2007-11-03T02:15:00.000-07:00

Filename	Creation Date	Release Date	File Size
20071102-016-v5i32.exe	November 02, 2007	November 2, 2007	17.10 MB
MD5: 7029B3B6E20DEEBDBE2EDAE8B8E7ADFF all MD5 hashes
Supports the following versions of Symantec antivirus software: Norton AntiVirus 2008 for Windows XP Home/XP Pro/Vista Norton Internet Security 2008 for Windows XP Home/XP Pro/Vista Symantec Endpoint Protection 11.0

Filename	Creation Date	Release Date	File Size
20071102-016-i32.exe	November 02, 2007	November 2, 2007	19.29 MB
MD5: A8C84E9EDB80B19BE6AD10D8F9813EBE all MD5 hashes
Supports the following versions of Symantec antivirus software: Norton AntiVirus 2003 Professional Edition Norton AntiVirus 2003 for Windows 98/Me/2000/XP Home/XP Pro Norton AntiVirus 2004 Professional Edition Norton AntiVirus 2004 for Windows 98/Me/2000/XP Home/XP Pro Norton AntiVirus 2005 for Windows 98/Me/2000/XP Home/XP Pro Norton AntiVirus 2006 for Windows 2000/XP Home/XP Pro Norton AntiVirus 2007 for Windows XP Home/XP Pro/Vista Norton AntiVirus for Microsoft Exchange (Intel) Norton SystemWorks (all versions) Norton Utilities for Windows 95/98 (all versions) Symantec AntiVirus 3.0 for CacheFlow Security Gateway Symantec AntiVirus 3.0 for Inktomi Traffic Edge Symantec AntiVirus 3.0 for NetApp Filer/NetCache Symantec AntiVirus 8.0 Corporate Edition Client Symantec AntiVirus 8.1 Corporate Edition Client Symantec AntiVirus 9.0 Corporate Edition Client Symantec AntiVirus 10.0 Corporate Edition Client Symantec AntiVirus 10.1 Corporate Edition Client Symantec AntiVirus 10.2 Corporate Edition Client Symantec Mail Security for Domino v 4.x/5.x Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange v 4.x/5.x

End of Life for Floppy Disk Definition Sets

Beginning Thursday, August 18th, 2005, US Pacific Time, Symantec will no longer be releasing definitions sized to fit a set of standard 1.44 MB floppy disks. Due to the increasing size of virus definitions files and the supplanting of floppy disks with other technologies, we will no longer be releasing definitions in this format. Definitions will continue to be made available through all other current methods.

Filename	Creation Date	Release Date	File Size
20071102-016-x86.exe	November 02, 2007	November 2, 2007	21.91 MB
MD5: E95C71BCEEBAAD4BB9E5CE8BF36FE7EE all MD5 hashes
Supports the following versions of Symantec antivirus software: Norton AntiVirus 2003 Professional Edition Norton AntiVirus 2003 for Windows 98/Me/2000/XP Home/XP Pro Norton AntiVirus 2004 Professional Edition Norton AntiVirus 2004 for Windows 98/Me/2000/XP Home/XP Pro Norton AntiVirus 2005 for Windows 98/Me/2000/XP Home/XP Pro Norton AntiVirus 2006 for Windows 2000/XP Home/XP Pro Norton AntiVirus 2007 for Windows XP Home/XP Pro/Vista Norton AntiVirus for Microsoft Exchange (Intel) Symantec AntiVirus 3.0 CacheFlow Security Gateway Symantec AntiVirus 3.0 for Inktomi Traffic Edge Symantec AntiVirus 3.0 for NetApp Filer/NetCache Symantec AntiVirus 8.01 (Build 457 and above) Corporate Edition Client Symantec AntiVirus 8.01 (any Build prior to 457) Corporate Edition Client or Server Symantec AntiVirus 8.1 Corporate Edition Client Symantec AntiVirus 9.0 Corporate Edition Client Symantec AntiVirus 10.0 Corporate Edition Client Symantec AntiVirus 10.1 Corporate Edition Client Symantec AntiVirus 10.2 Corporate Edition Client Symantec AntiVirus for Bluecoat Security Gateway for Windows 2000 Server/2003 Server Symantec AntiVirus for Clearswift MIMESweeper for Windows 2000 Server/2003 Server Symantec AntiVirus for Microsoft ISA Server for Windows 2000 Server/2003 Server Symantec Mail Security for Domino v 4.x/5.x Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange v 4.x/5.x Symantec Mail Security for SMTP v 4.x Symantec Web Security 3.0 for Windows Symantec AntiVirus Scan Engine for Windows

This all inclusive updater will update all of the products listed above. This is useful for updating multiple machines and products with one single package.

64-bit Platforms

Filename	Creation Date	Release Date	File Size
20071102-016-v5i64.exe	November 02, 2007	November 2, 2007	18.33 MB
MD5: 98AFFF035C27581AB3959362415A87B2 all MD5 hashes
Supports the following versions of Symantec antivirus software: Norton AntiVirus 2008 for Windows XP/Vista for 64-bit OS only Norton Internet Security 2008 for Windows XP/Vista for 64-bit OS only Symantec Endpoint Protection 11.0 for 64-bit OS only

Filename	Creation Date	Release Date	File Size
20071102-016-i64.exe	November 02, 2007	November 2, 2007	20.30 MB
MD5: 52158A5B5180ED566B5F613405148D0C all MD5 hashes
Supports the following versions of Symantec antivirus software: Symantec AntiVirus 8.1 Corporate Edition Client for 64-bit OS only Symantec AntiVirus 9.0 Corporate Edition Client for 64-bit OS only Symantec AntiVirus 10.0 Corporate Edition Client for 64-bit OS only Symantec AntiVirus 10.1 Corporate Edition Client for 64-bit OS only Symantec AntiVirus 10.2 Corporate Edition Client for 64-bit OS only Norton AntiVirus 2007 for Windows Vista 64-bit OS only Norton Internet Security 2007 for Windows Vista 64-bit OS only

Download update antivirus

2007-11-01T00:47:00.000-07:00

Download update antivirus

Silakan download update antivirus anda disini:

Ubuntu Feisty

2007-11-01T00:26:00.001-07:00

MD5SUMS	1 KB	19/04/2007	0:00:00
MD5SUMS.gpg	1 KB	19/04/2007	0:00:00
ubuntu-7.04-dvd-amd64.iso	4156140 KB	15/06/2007	21:03:00
ubuntu-7.04-dvd-amd64.iso.torrent	80 KB	19/04/2007	0:00:00
ubuntu-7.04-dvd-amd64.list	299 KB	18/04/2007	0:00:00
ubuntu-7.04-dvd-amd64.manifest	30 KB	17/04/2007	0:00:00
ubuntu-7.04-dvd-i386.iso	4163890 KB	15/06/2007	20:19:00
ubuntu-7.04-dvd-i386.iso.torrent	80 KB	19/04/2007	0:00:00
ubuntu-7.04-dvd-i386.list	303 KB	18/04/2007	0:00:00
ubuntu-7.04-dvd-i386.manifest	31 KB	17/04/2007	0:00:00

Opensuse-guru

2007-11-01T00:22:00.000-07:00

experimental		17/11/2006	0:00:00
guru-rpm.asc	2 KB	29/02/2004	0:00:00
kde35		26/07/2006	0:00:00
rpm		10/10/2007	22:22:00
smart		31/08/2007	21:11:00
subversion		15/08/2006	0:00:00
zypp		04/11/2006	0:00:00

Opensuse

2007-11-01T00:15:00.000-07:00

distribution	04/10/2007	8:44:00
tools	23/10/2005	0:00:00
update	30/03/2007	0:00:00

Kamsifo

2007-11-01T00:13:00.000-07:00

IKSI.iso	401052 KB	01/08/2007	16:58:00
KDB.iso	378690 KB	01/08/2007	17:00:00
KTE.iso	526012 KB	01/08/2007	17:04:00
MD5SUM	1 KB	19/09/2007	9:55:00
SKJ.iso	704552 KB	01/08/2007	17:08:00

Debian

2007-11-01T00:07:00.000-07:00

debian-40r0-i386-CD-1.iso	663506 KB	07/05/2007	16:41:00
debian-40r0-i386-CD-10.iso	645676 KB	15/08/2007	3:05:00
debian-40r0-i386-CD-11.iso	662808 KB	15/08/2007	3:11:00
debian-40r0-i386-CD-12.iso	597242 KB	15/08/2007	3:16:00
debian-40r0-i386-CD-13.iso	663362 KB	15/08/2007	3:21:00
debian-40r0-i386-CD-14.iso	660544 KB	15/08/2007	3:27:00
debian-40r0-i386-CD-15.iso	658582 KB	15/08/2007	3:34:00
debian-40r0-i386-CD-16.iso	616832 KB	15/08/2007	3:40:00
debian-40r0-i386-CD-17.iso	629732 KB	15/08/2007	3:46:00
debian-40r0-i386-CD-18.iso	663682 KB	15/08/2007	3:52:00
debian-40r0-i386-CD-19.iso	663642 KB	15/08/2007	3:58:00
debian-40r0-i386-CD-2.iso	663300 KB	07/05/2007	16:41:00
debian-40r0-i386-CD-20.iso	663518 KB	15/08/2007	4:04:00
debian-40r0-i386-CD-21.iso	578648 KB	15/08/2007	4:09:00
debian-40r0-i386-CD-3.iso	663376 KB	07/05/2007	16:41:00
debian-40r0-i386-CD-4.iso	663778 KB	07/05/2007	16:42:00
debian-40r0-i386-CD-5.iso	661990 KB	07/05/2007	16:42:00
debian-40r0-i386-CD-6.iso	661570 KB	07/05/2007	16:42:00
debian-40r0-i386-CD-7.iso	659918 KB	07/05/2007	16:43:00
debian-40r0-i386-CD-8.iso	654048 KB	15/08/2007	2:55:00
debian-40r0-i386-CD-9.iso	652976 KB	15/08/2007	3:00:00
debian-40r0-i386-DVD-1.iso	4588298 KB	15/08/2007	5:23:00
debian-40r0-i386-DVD-2.iso	4571754 KB	15/08/2007	6:07:00
debian-40r0-i386-DVD-3.iso	4463888 KB	15/08/2007	7:01:00
debian-40r0-i386-businesscard.iso	32828 KB	15/08/2007	4:09:00
debian-40r0-i386-kde-CD-1.iso	660572 KB	15/08/2007	4:15:00
debian-40r0-i386-netinst.iso	162716 KB	07/05/2007	16:40:00
debian-40r0-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso	663062 KB	15/08/2007	4:22:00

Ubuntu Dapper

2007-10-31T20:55:00.001-07:00

MD5SUMS	1 KB	16/08/2006	0:00:00
MD5SUMS.gpg	1 KB	16/08/2006	0:00:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-alternate-amd64.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-alternate-i386.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-alternate-powerpc.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-desktop-amd64.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-desktop-i386.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-desktop-powerpc.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-server-amd64.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-server-i386.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-server-powerpc.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-server-sparc.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00

Ubuntu 7.10

2007-10-31T20:50:00.000-07:00

MD5SUMS	1 KB	18/10/2007	7:47:00
MD5SUMS.gpg	1 KB	18/10/2007	7:47:00
ubuntu-7.10-alternate-amd64.iso		18/10/2007	9:43:00
ubuntu-7.10-alternate-i386.iso		18/10/2007	9:43:00
ubuntu-7.10-desktop-amd64.iso		18/10/2007	9:43:00
ubuntu-7.10-desktop-i386.iso		18/10/2007	9:43:00
ubuntu-7.10-server-amd64.iso		18/10/2007	9:43:00
ubuntu-7.10-server-i386.iso		18/10/2007	9:43:00
ubuntu-7.10-server-sparc.iso		18/10/2007	9:43:00

Ubuntu 7.04

2007-10-31T20:44:00.002-07:00

MD5SUMS	1 KB	19/04/2007	0:00:00
MD5SUMS.gpg	1 KB	19/04/2007	0:00:00
ubuntu-7.04-alternate-amd64.iso		28/08/2007	7:12:00
ubuntu-7.04-alternate-i386.iso		28/08/2007	7:12:00
ubuntu-7.04-desktop-amd64.iso		28/08/2007	7:12:00
ubuntu-7.04-desktop-i386.iso		28/08/2007	7:12:00
ubuntu-7.04-server-amd64.iso		28/08/2007	7:12:00
ubuntu-7.04-server-i386.iso		28/08/2007	7:12:00
ubuntu-7.04-server-sparc.iso		28/08/2007	7:12:00

Ubuntu 6.06

2007-10-31T20:44:00.001-07:00

MD5SUMS	1 KB	16/08/2006	0:00:00
MD5SUMS.gpg	1 KB	16/08/2006	0:00:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-alternate-amd64.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-alternate-i386.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-alternate-powerpc.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-desktop-amd64.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-desktop-i386.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-desktop-powerpc.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-server-amd64.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-server-i386.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-server-powerpc.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-server-sparc.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00

Ubuntu Higher Level

2007-10-31T20:41:00.000-07:00

Up to higher level directory
6.06	27/08/2007	5:36:00
6.06.1	27/08/2007	5:36:00
6.10	27/08/2007	5:36:00
7.04	27/08/2007	5:36:00
7.10	28/09/2007	6:10:00
dapper	05/09/2007	17:56:00
edgy	05/09/2007	17:56:00
edubuntu	12/10/2007	8:30:00
feisty	05/09/2007	17:55:00
gutsy	18/10/2007	7:47:00
kubuntu	17/10/2007	9:26:00
releases	28/09/2007	6:10:00

DOWNLOAD UBUNTU

2007-10-31T20:32:00.001-07:00

Up to higher level directory
MD5SUMS	1 KB	16/08/2006	0:00:00
MD5SUMS.gpg	1 KB	16/08/2006	0:00:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-alternate-amd64.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-alternate-i386.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-alternate-powerpc.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-desktop-amd64.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-desktop-i386.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-desktop-powerpc.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-server-amd64.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-server-i386.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-server-powerpc.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00
ubuntu-6.06.1-server-sparc.iso		28/08/2007	6:39:00

Antivirus Update

2007-10-31T08:32:00.000-07:00

NOD32 version 2.7 + crack

2007-10-31T08:21:00.000-07:00

NOD32 version 2.7 + crack

Anti Virus NOD32 version 2.7 + Crack
Download

Micropoint
Download

GigaGet
Download

Rapidshare
Download

Update NOD32 di jaringan lokal

2007-10-31T08:19:00.001-07:00

Update NOD32 di jaringan lokal

Yang di butuhkan :

* Satu komputer yang ada internetnya, ada NOD32 yang Full registered
dan bisa download update NOD32 (mo pake yang cr*c*k ya monggo..)
* Program yang namanya NOD32 Update Generator, bisa download di sini atau disini
* Apache Web Server atau IIS, terserah sih tergantung familier dengan yang mana

Udah ada semua ??

Langkah selanjutnya :

1. Install web server di komputer server anda.. trus bikin virtual direktori buat tempat file update nod. misal : upd_files
2. Share
direktori tadi dengan hak akses administrator, sehingga direktori
tersebut di jaringan lokal bisa akses lewat komputer yang punya bisa
download update nod32-nya
3. Update data virus terakhir di komputer yang ada NOD32-nya
4. Jalankan program nod32ugen, arahkan ke folder \\nama_server\upd_files, lalu klik generate file
5. Setelah selesai, Install program NOD32 di masing-masing client.
6. Masuk ke bagian update, Setup, Servers, Add, masukkan nama servernya dengan http://nama_server/upd_files, klik ok
7. Lalu di bagian server, pilih server : http://nama_server/upd_files, klik ok
8. Untuk memastikannya sudah terinstall dengan baik, klik tombol “update now”.
9. Jika settingnya benar, maka data update virus tersebut akan terinstall di komputer masing-masing client.
10. Selesai

Mungkin pada awalnya kita akan capek di setting server tiap-tiap client, tapi itu hanya setting pada awalnya saja..
Untuk selanjutnya kita hanya melakukan step no 4 saja dari komputer yang bisa download data antivirus NOD32. Secara otomatis per jam, komputer client akan download data update tersebut..

Mudah bukan.. dan komputer jaringan Anda akan aman dari virus.. D

Untuk LAN : setting di masing-masing client
caranya, masuk ke setup updater… lalu masuk ke advanced..
lalu ke LAN CONNECTION setup… pilih current user
sim salabim… semua bisa update ke main pc ……

Update Offline NOD32

2007-10-31T08:08:00.000-07:00

Update Offline NOD32

Okt 27, 2007 in Nod32, antivirus, download, tips with 1 Comment

Anti virus yang satu ini memang untuk proses updatenya langsung menggunakan server online. tapi tidak tertutup kemungkinan bagi kita yang menggunakan komputer rumahan untuk tidak menggunakan anti virus ini.

untuk download Trialnya anda bisa langsung ke website nod32 : ESET

sedangkan untuk ful versionnya anda bisa kunjungi Site Ini untuk menyesuaikan dengan karakteristik komputer anda

untuk update secara online anda cukup menyambungkan komputer anda dengan koneksi internet dan mengikuti printah pada automatic update

Sedangkan untuk yang offline. ada beberapa trik yang digunakan
1. Download file update Nod 32 dari situs mirror atau situs yang menyediakan update Nod32 secara gratis
2. File yang ada pada direktory update Nod32 di download semua dan dikumpulkan pada satu direktory misal: “E:Download/Program/Nod32/Mirror”
3. setelah langka kedua selesai tinggal meng”Add” direktory anda (E:Download/Program/Nod32/Mirror)pada program Nod32 anda, untuk lebih jelasnya silahkan anda ikuti gambar dibawah ini

4. Setelah anda mengklik “Update Now” dan menyelesaikan proses Updatenya, maka otomastis Signature Virusnya akan bertambah

working with SQL command Like

2007-07-26T01:14:00.000-07:00

Make a form with
a listbox = List1
an textbox = txtSearch
a commandbutton = cmdGo
assuming there's a database in the 'c:\win' directorie with the name 'test.md'
with a table called 'testing' which contains two fields: 'name' and 'adress'

'on Form1.general
Dim ds as recordset, db as database
Dim criteria$

Const databasenaam="c:\win\test.mdb"
Const tablename="testing"

Sub Form1_load
 set db=opendatabase(databasename)
 txtSearch.text=""
end sub

Sub cmdGo_Click
 Dim SQL$

 criteria$= "*" & txtSearch & "*"
 SQL$= "SELECT * FROM " & tablename & " WHERE name ='" & _
  criteria$ & "'"
 set ds = db.openrecordset(SQL$)
 do while not ds.eof
  List1.additem ds("name") & " " & ds("adress")
  ds.movenext
 loop
 ds.close
end Sub

Tip 87: Sending Output to the Printer in Any Order

2007-07-22T21:05:00.000-07:00

* VB-CODE (1)

Abstract
You can use the Visual Basic® Print method to send text to the default
printer. This article explains how you can send data to the printer in
any order (that is, you can print a line of text in the middle of the
page and then print some other text at the top of page).

Outputting Data to the Printer
In a Visual Basic® application, you may need to create a hard copy of
some data. To send data to the default printer, you use Visual Basic's
Print method. For example, to send a line of text to the printer, you
would issue a statement such as:

Printer.Print "This is a test"

When this statement is executed, Visual Basic will print the text on
the printer. Note that the text is printed at the coordinates
specified by the CurrentX and CurrentY properties.
Each time you send data to the printer, Visual Basic automatically
updates the CurrentX and CurrentY properties. CurrentX is incremented
each time a new character is sent to the printer on the same line.
When a new line is needed, the value in CurrentX is reset to zero,
and CurrentY is incremented by one to account for the new line.

Therefore, as the example program below shows, you can print to any
specific physical location on the paper. You can print a line of text
in the center of the paper first and then, by simply changing the
CurrentX and CurrentY properties, print a line of text at the top of
the page.

Example Program
The example program below prints two lines of text on the default
printer. The first line is actually the second line to be physically
transferred to the printer.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by
  default.
3. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
  Printer.ScaleMode = 2
  Printer.FontSize = 42
  Printer.CurrentX = 40
  Printer.CurrentY = 40
  Printer.Print "This is the first line to be printed"
  Printer.CurrentX = 40
  Printer.CurrentY = 12
  Printer.FontSize = 14
  Printer.Print "This is actually the second line to be printed"
  Printer.EndDoc
End Sub

Additional References
Knowledge Base Q119673. "How to Print with Rotated Text."
"Managing Your Print Jobs." (Books and Periodicals, Inside Visual
 Basic Articles [Cobb])

Tip 86: Allowing a Visual Basic Application to Accept Drag-and-Drop

2007-07-22T21:02:00.001-07:00

* VB-CODE (4)

Abstract
Many Windows=AE-based applications can accept, or process, a file that
has been dragged from File Manager. This article explains how you can
add this feature to your own Visual Basic=AE application.

Using MSGBLAST.VBX to Accept Drag-and-Drop Files
Using File Manager, you can drag a file to another application and,
when you release the mouse button (drop the file), the target
application can process the file any way it wants to.

In order for a program to be able to accept drag-and-drop files,
however, the program must have a method of recognizing when a file has
been sent to it. In Visual Basic=AE, this can be done by using the
Message Blaster custom control and three Windows=AE application
programming interface (API) functions: DragAcceptFiles, DragQueryFile,
and DragFinish.
The DragAcceptFiles function tells Windows that a specific window
(that is, your Visual Basic application's form) can accept files
dropped from File Manager. The Declare statement for this function is:

Private Declare Sub DragAcceptFiles Lib "shell" (ByVal hWnd
 As Integer, ByVal bool As Integer)

(Note that this Declare statement must be typed as a single line of
code.)
The DragAcceptFiles function takes only two arguments: the handle of
the window that will accept the dropped files, and an integer value
that specifies if the file can be accepted or ignored. If the Boolean
argument is set to True, the window can accept dropped files; if it is
set to zero, the window can no longer accept dropped files.

You can retrieve the name of the file that was dropped on the target
window by calling the DragQueryFile function. This function's
declaration statement is:

Private Declare Function DragQueryFile Lib "shell" (ByVal wParam
 As Integer, ByVal Index As Integer, ByVal lpszFile
 As Any, ByVal BufferSize As Integer) As Integer

(Note that this Declare statement must be typed as a single line of
code.)
DragQueryFile requires four arguments, as follows:

wParam      An integer value that contains the internal data
          structure's handle. This is provided by the WM_DROPFILES
          message.
Index       An integer value containing the number of the individual
          file to be retrieved. If this value is -1, the number of
          files listed in the wParam structure will be returned.
lpszFile    A string buffer that contains the name of the dropped file.
BufferSize  An integer value containing the maximum number of
          characters in lpszFile.

After calling the DragQueryFile function, an integer value reports the
status of the function. This value contains the number of characters
copied to the lpszFile string or the number of files available if
Index was set to zero.
The third function needed to work with drag-and-drop files is the
DragFinish function. This function simply requires that the internal
data structure's handle be passed to it. DragFinish frees all
structures used when transferring the file to the target application.

The final step is to process the WM_DROPFILES message. This message is
sent by Windows each time it needs to send a drag-and-drop request to
a program. In your Visual Basic program you need only use the Message
Blaster custom control to intercept the WM_DROPFILES message before
Windows actually processes it itself. In the example program below,
we use the Message Blaster control to retrieve the name of the dropped
file and store that name in the List Box control.

Example Program
The example program below shows how to allow your Visual Basic
application to accept drag-and-drop files from File Manager. To use
this demonstration program, first execute the Windows Explorer or
File Manager application. Then run the DEMO.EXE program. When you drag
a file from File Manager to DEMO.EXE's window and release the mouse
button, the filename will be displayed in the List Box control.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following code to the General Declarations section of
  Form1 (note that each Declare statement must be typed as a single
  line of code):

Option Explicit

Private Declare Sub DragAcceptFiles Lib "shell" (ByVal hWnd
 As Integer, ByVal bool As Integer)
Private Declare Function DragQueryFile Lib "shell" (ByVal wParam
 As Integer, ByVal Index As Integer, ByVal lpszFile
 As Any, ByVal BufferSize As Integer) As Integer
Private Declare Sub DragFinish Lib "shell" (ByVal hDrop As Integer)

Const WM_DROPFILES =3D &H233

3. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form1:

Private Sub Form_Load()
  msgblaster1.MsgList(0) =3D WM_DROPFILES
  msgblaster1.hWndTarget =3D Me.hWnd
  msgblaster1.MsgPassage(0) =3D 1
  DragAcceptFiles Me.hWnd, True
End Sub

4. Add a Message Blaster custom control to Form1. MsgBlaster1 is
  created by default.
5. Add the following code to the MsgBlaster1_Message event for
  MsgBlaster1:

Private Sub MsgBlaster1_Message(MsgVal As Integer, wParam As Integer,
 lParam As Long, ReturnVal As Long)
  Dim hFilesInfo As Integer
  Dim szFileName As String
  hFilesInfo =3D wParam
  wTotalFiles =3D DragQueryFile(hFilesInfo, &amp;HFFFF, ByVal 0&, 0)
  For wIndex =3D 0 To wTotalFiles
      szFileName =3D Space$(50)
      Retv% =3D DragQueryFile(hFilesInfo, wIndex, szFileName, 50)
      list1.AddItem szFileName
  Next wIndex
  DragFinish (hFilesInfo)
End Sub

6. Compile the program. From Visual Basic's File menu, select Make
  EXE File to create the executable file called DEMO.EXE.

Additional References
"DragAcceptFiles." (Product Documentation, SDKs, Windows 3.1 SDK,
 Programmer's Reference, Volume 2, Functions)
"Drop Everything: How to Make Your Application Accept and Source
 Drag-and-Drop Files." (Books and Periodicals, Microsoft Systems
 Journal)
"Message Blaster: Processing Messages in Visual Basic." (Technical
 Articles, Visual Basic Articles)
"Using Drag-Drop in an Edit Control or a Combo Box." (Knowledge
 Base and Bug Lists, Windows SDK KBase, Related Information)
"Using MSGBLAST.VBX Control to Process Windows Messages from VB."
 (Knowledge Base and Bug Lists, Visual Basic for Windows KBase,
 Related Information)

Tip 85: Hiding MDI Child Forms at Run Time

2007-07-22T21:01:00.001-07:00

* VB-CODE (3)

Abstract
There may be situations in which you do not want a multiple-document
interface (MDI) child form displayed while your program is executing.
This article explains how you can hide an MDI child form.

Making MDI Forms Invisible
A multiple-document interface (MDI) child form allows you to have
several windows open at the same time with different documents loaded
in each window. This is how Notepad and similar programs operate so
that you can switch between different text files. You cannot, however,
hide an MDI child form at run time.

So how can you temporarily hide an MDI child window from the user? By
moving the window to a nonexistent position on your screen.
In the example program below, the MDI child form is moved off the
current viewing area of the screen. Windows=AE itself doesn't care where
you place the window; and, to your user, it appears as if the window
has been hidden.

Example Program
This program shows how you can temporarily hide an MDI child form in
your Visual Basic=AE application. Run the program by pressing the F5
function key. The MDI child window is visible on the screen. Click the
mouse on the main form. The MDI child window disappears from view.
Double-click the main form and the MDI child form is again visible on
the screen.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
  Set the following properties for Form1:
      BorderStyle =3D 1-Fixed Single
      Height =3D 1140
      Left =3D 2220
      Top =3D 3030
      Width =3D 4605
2. From the Insert menu, select MDI Form. MDIForm1 is created by
  default.
3. From the Insert menu, select Form. Form2 is created by default.
  Set the form's MDIChild property to True.
4. Add the following code to the Click event for MDIForm:

Private Sub MDIForm_Click()
   Form1.Move -(2 * Form1.Width), -(2 * Form1.Height)
End Sub

5. Add the following code to the DblClick event for MDIForm:

Private Sub MDIForm_DblClick()
  Form1.Move 2220, 3030, 4605, 1140
End Sub

6. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for MDIForm:

Private Sub
  MDIForm_Load()
  Form1.Show
  Form2.Show
End Sub

Additional References
Knowledge Base Q115781. "How to Create Hidden MDI Child Forms."
"Hide Method." (Product Documentation, Office Developer's Kit 1.0,
 Visual Basic 3.0 Professional Edition, Language Reference)
"Run-Time Features of MDI Child Forms." (Product Documentation,
 Office Developer's Kit 1.0, Visual Basic 3.0, Professional Edition,
 Programmer's Guide)

Tip 84: Creating a Scrolling "Credits" Control

2007-07-22T20:59:00.000-07:00

* VB-CODE (2)

Abstract
You can add visual appeal to your Visual Basic=AE applications by
including a routine that automatically scrolls text vertically within
a picture box. This article explains how you can add this
functionality to your programs.

Scrolling Text Vertically Within a Picture Box
The Windows=AE application programming interface (API) BitBlt function
can be used to copy a section of a Picture Box control to another
section of that same control. You must remember to set the ScaleMode
property of the Picture Box control to Pixel mode.

The example program below shows how to use the BitBlt function to
print scrolling text on a Picture Box control. A Timer control is
used to print a string of text on the Picture Box control at selected
time intervals.

Example Program
1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following code to the General Declarations section of
  Form1 (note that the Declare statement must be typed as a single
  line of code):

Const SRCCOPY =3D &HCC0020
Const ShowText$ =3D "This line of text scrolls vertically."

Private Declare Function BitBlt Lib "GDI" (ByVal hDestDC As Integer,
 ByVal X As Integer, ByVal Y As Integer, ByVal nWidth As Integer,
 ByVal nHeight As Integer, ByVal hSrcDC As Integer,
 ByVal XSrc As Integer, ByVal YSrc As Integer,
 ByVal dwRop As Long) As Integer

Dim ShowIt%

3. Add a Picture Box control to Form1. Picture1 is created by
  default. Set its ScaleMode property to 3-Pixel.
4. Add a Timer control to Form1. Timer1 is created by default. Set
  its Interval property to 25.
5. Add the following code to the Timer event for Timer1 (note that
  the Ret =3D line must be typed as a single line of code):

Private Sub Timer1_Timer()
  Dim Ret As Integer
  If (ShowIt% =3D 30) Then
      Picture1.CurrentX =3D 0
      Picture1.CurrentY =3D Picture1.ScaleHeight - 30
      Picture1.Print ShowText$
      ShowIt% =3D 0
  Else
      Ret =3D BitBlt(Picture1.hDC, 0, 0, Picture1.ScaleWidth,
          Picture1.ScaleHeight - 1, Picture1.hDC, 0, 1, SRCCOPY)
      ShowIt% =3D ShowIt% + 1
  End If
End Sub

Run the program by pressing the F5 function key. After a short time,
the text "This line of text scrolls vertically." will be displayed in
the Picture Box control. Each time the Timer control reaches 25, the
line of text will be scrolled upward in the Picture Box control.

Additional References
Tip 45: Using BitBlt to Display Bitmaps
"BITBLT: Tests the BitBlt Function." (Sample Code, Sample City,
 Visual Basic Samples)
Knowledge Base Q71104. "How to Use Windows BitBlt Function in
 Visual Basic Application."

Tip 83: Listing Fields and Associated Properties for an Attached

2007-07-22T20:57:00.002-07:00

* VB-CODE (1)

Abstract
This article describes a sample user-defined Access Basic function
that you can use to retrieve all field names and their associated
properties for an attached Microsoft=AE Access=AE table.

More Information
This article assumes that you are familiar with Access Basic and with
creating Microsoft=AE Access=AE applications using the programming tools
provided with Microsoft Access. For more information on Access Basic,
please refer to the Building Applications manual for Access 2.0 and
the Introduction to Programming manual for Access 1.x.

The example program below uses tools in Visual Basic=AE to get
information from a Microsoft Access database.

Example Program
This program demonstrates how to create and use the sample
ListFieldProperties() function.

1. Open the sample database NWIND.MDB. (This database can usually be
  found in the C:\ACCESS\SAMPAPPS directory.)
2. From the File menu, choose New, and select Module.
3. Enter the following code to create the ListFieldProperties()
  function:

Function ListFieldProperties ()
  Dim MyDB As Database
  Dim MyTable As TableDef
  Set MyDB =3D DBEngine(0)(0)
  Set MyTable =3D MyDB.TableDefs("Categories")
  For X =3D 0 To MyTable.Fields.Count - 1
  Debug.Print MyTable.Fields(X).Name
      For Y =3D 0 To MyTable.Fields(X).Properties.Count - 1
          Debug.Print Chr(9) & MyTable.Fields(X).Properties(Y).Name
      Next Y
  Next X
End Function

4. From the View menu, choose Immediate Window.
5. In the Immediate window, type the following line and press the
  ENTER key:

? ListFieldProperties()

The name of each field in the Categories table will be displayed along
with that field's properties.

Additional References
"Name Property." (Product Documentation, Office Developer's Kit 1.0,
 Microsoft Access 2.0, Language Reference)
"Using Properties." (Product Documentation, Office Developer's Kit 1.0,
 Microsoft Access 2.0, Advanced Topics)

Tip 82: Retrieving Multiple Filenames from the Common Dialog Control

2007-07-22T20:57:00.001-07:00

* VB-CODE (4)

Abstract
The Common Dialog control in Visual Basic® allows you to display an
Open File dialog box. You can select one or more filenames from the
Open File dialog box to use within your Visual Basic program. This
article explains how you can retrieve multiple filenames from the
dialog box, parse them into separate strings, and display them in a
List Box control.

Parsing Filenames from the Common Dialog Control
In a Visual Basic® application, you can use an Open File dialog box
to allow your users to select a file. Using the Open File dialog box,
users can select the drive and directory, as well as the individual
files they want to use. To select a file, the user simply clicks the
filename. The dialog boxs FileName property can be used in your
program to determine the name of the selected file.

If the Flags property of the Common Dialog control is set to a value
of 512 (&H200), the user can select a group of files to work with. To
select multiple files, the user would hold the Shift key down while
clicking the mouse on each filename. As with selecting a single file,
the FileName property of the dialog box would return the names of all
the selected files. Each filename is separated by a space character.
The InStr function can be used within a Do-While loop to parse, or
extract, each individual filename from the FileName property. Assuming
that the filenames are stored in the string called FileNames, we can
tell the InStr function to search through the string until it finds a
space character. To extract a single filename, you need to first save
the position in the target string that you are starting to search from
(this is the beginning of the filename). Then you would use the InStr
function to search for the first space character in the string. If a
space character is found, you can use the starting position and the
position returned by InStr to extract that single filename.

Example Program

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add a Common Dialog control to Form1. CommonDialog1 is created by
  default.
3. Add a List Box control to Form1. List1 is created by default.
4. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by
  default.
5. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
  Dim DelimPos As Integer
  Dim FileNames As String
  Dim NextName As String

  CommonDialog1.Flags = &amp;H200&
  CommonDialog1.Action = 1
  CommonDialog1.Filter = 1

  FileNames = CommonDialog1.FileName

  Do While Len(FileNames) > 0
      DelimPos = InStr(FileNames, " ")
      If DelimPos = 0 Then
          NextName = FileNames
          FileNames = ""
      Else
          NextName = Mid$(FileNames, 1, DelimPos - 1)

          FileNames = Mid$(FileNames, DelimPos + 1)
      End If
  List1.AddItem NextName
  Loop
End Sub

Run the example program by pressing the F5 function key. Click the
command button to call up the Open File dialog box. Type a filename
such as *.* and click the OK command button. Select several files
from the file list by holding the SHIFT key down and clicking each
individual filename. Click the OK command button when you have
selected several files. The files you selected will be displayed in
the List Box control.

Tip 81: Repairing and Compressing a Microsoft Access Database from

2007-07-22T20:56:00.001-07:00

* VB-CODE (3)

Abstract
Within a Visual Basic® application, you can compress and repair a
Microsoft® Access® database (.MDB) file. This article explains how you
can accomplish these two tasks in Visual Basic.

Repairing and Compacting Access Files
On occasion, a Microsoft® Access® database file can become damaged.
For example, a database can become damaged if the computer system is
powered down without first closing the database file. The
RepairDatabase statement provided in Visual Basic® can be used to
repair a previously corrupted database file. You need only pass the
name of the .MDB file to the statement to repair it.

When records are deleted from a database file, the file can become
defragmented. You can compress a defragmented database file by using
Visual Basic's CompactDatabase statement. CompactDatabase's main
purpose is to compress a Microsoft Access file, but it can also be
used to change the database's sort order, encrypt/decrypt the
database, or create a Microsoft Access 1.0 compatible file.

The CompactDatabase statement requires four arguments, as follows:

SourceFile  The database's complete path and filename.
DestFile    The database's new path and filename.
Locale      The sorting order to be used.
Options     Set to one of the following values:
          DB_ENCRYPT    Encrypt database.
          DB_DECRYPT    Decrypt database.
          DB_VERSION10  Create a compatible Access 1.0 database
                        file.

When the CompactDatabase statement is executed, it copies each valid
record from the original database file to the new database file. Note
that these two filenames must be different and that the security
settings of the original file are automatically transferred to the
new file.

Example Program
The program below shows how to repair and/or compact a Microsoft
Access database (.MDB) file. To repair a damaged database file, click
the "Repair" command button; to compress (remove deleted records) a
database file, click the "Compact" command button.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add a Common Dialog control to Form1. CommonDialog1 is created by
  default.
3. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by
  default. Set its Caption property to "Repair".
4. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
  On Error GoTo Repair_Error
  Dim MDB_Name As String

  CommonDialog1.Filter = "Access (*.mdb)|*.mdb"
  CommonDialog1.Flags = &H1000
  CommonDialog1.FilterIndex = 1
  CommonDialog1.Action = 1

  If CommonDialog1.FileName <> "" Then
      Screen.MousePointer = 11
      MDB_Name = CommonDialog1.FileName
      RepairDatabase (MDB_Name)
      Screen.MousePointer = 0
      MsgBox "Database repaired successfully", 64, "Repair"
  End If
  Screen.MousePointer = 0
  Exit Sub
Repair_Error:
  MsgBox "Error when repairing database", 16, "Error"
  Screen.MousePointer = 0
  Exit Sub
End Sub

5. Add a second Command Button control to Form1. Command2 is created
  by default. Set its Caption property to "Compact".
6. Add the following code to the Click event for Command2:

Private Sub Command2_Click()
  On Error GoTo Compact_Error

  Dim MDB_Name As String
  Dim MDB_NewName As String
  Dim MDB_Local As String
  Dim MDB_Options As String

  MDB_NewName = "c:\dummy.mdb"
  CommonDialog1.Filter = "Access (*.MDB)|*.mdb"
  CommonDialog1.Flags = &H1000
  CommonDialog1.FilterIndex = 1
  CommonDialog1.Action = 1

  If CommonDialog1.FileName <> "" Then
      MDB_Name = CommonDialog1.FileName
      CompactDatabase MDB_Name, MDB_NewName & MDB_Local & MDB_Options
      Kill MDB_Name
      Name MDB_NewName & MDB_Local & MDB_Options As MDB_Name
      MsgBox "Database compressed OK", 64, "Compact"
  End If
  Exit Sub
Compact_Error:
  MsgBox "Unable to compress database", 16, "Error"
  Exit Sub
End Sub

Tip 80: Drawing Borders Around Controls

2007-07-22T20:55:00.001-07:00

* VB-CODE (2)
Abstract
You can draw borders of any width around controls such as Text Boxes
to give the control a three-dimensional look. This article explains
how to add a border to a control.

Using a Pen and Brush to Draw Borders
Through functions included in the Windows® application programming
interface (API), you can draw borders around controls in your Visual
Basic® application. The CreatePen function can be used to draw lines
(solid, invisible, dotted) and the CreateSolidBrush function can be
used to fill areas of an object.

After you have created a pen and brush to use with the specific
object (such as a Text Box control) that you want to draw filled
lines around, you need to determine the coordinates of the bounding
rectangle around the target object. Next, you must intercept the
Windows WM_PAINT message. The WM_PAINT message triggers Visual
Basic's Paint event. The message is sent to a window when the window
needs to have its client area redrawn. The Message Blaster custom
control can be used to process the WM_PAINT message. For information
on the Message Blaster custom control, see the reference materials
listed at the end of this article. Once the Paint event has been
triggered, the control is redrawn with the desired borders around
its perimeter.

Example Program
The program below shows how to add a three-dimensional look to a Text
Box control. This program draws a filled line across the top and down
the right-hand border of the Text Box.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add a Text Box control to Form1. Text1 is created by default.
3. From Visual Basic's Tools menu, select Custom Controls and add the
  MSGBLAST.VBX to your Toolbox. Add a Message Blaster control to
  Form1. MsgBlaster1 is created by default.
4. Add the following Dim, Constant, and Declare statements to the
  General Declarations section of Form1 (note that each Private
  Declare statement must be typed as a single line of code):

Const PS_SOLID = &H0
Const WM_PAINT = &HF

Private Declare Function DeleteObject Lib "GDI" (ByVal hObject
 As Integer) As Integer
Private Declare Function SelectObject Lib "GDI" (ByVal hDC
 As Integer, ByVal hObject As Integer) As Integer
Private Declare Function Polygon Lib "GDI" (ByVal hDC
 As Integer, lpPoints As POINTAPI, ByVal nCount
 As Integer) As Integer
Private Declare Function CreateSolidBrush Lib "GDI" (ByVal crColor
 As Long) As Integer
Private Declare Function GetDC Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd
 As Integer) As Integer
Private Declare Function CreatePen Lib "GDI" (ByVal nPenStyle
 As Integer, ByVal nWidth As Integer, ByVal crColor
 As Long) As Integer

Dim TX As Integer
Dim TY As Integer
Dim DC_FRM As Integer
Dim PT1() As POINTAPI
Dim PT2() As POINTAPI

5. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form1:

Private Sub Form_Load()
  MsgBlaster1.hWndTarget = Form1.hWnd
  MsgBlaster1.MsgList(0) = WM_PAINT
  MsgBlaster1.MsgPassage(0) = -1
End Sub

6. Add the following code to the Form_Activate event for Form1:

Private Sub Form_Activate()
  TX = Screen.TwipsPerPixelX
  TY = Screen.TwipsPerPixelY
  DC_FRM = GetDC(Form1.hWnd)
  Get_Rect
End Sub

7. Add the following code to the MsgBlaster1_Message event (note that
  the Private statement must be typed as a single line of code):

Private Sub MsgBlaster1_Message(MsgVal As Integer, wParam
 As Integer, lParam As Long, ReturnVal As Long)
  Shadow
End Sub

8. Create a new procedure called Get_Rect. Add the following code to
  this procedure:

Sub Get_Rect()
  ReDim PT1(6) As POINTAPI
  ReDim PT2(6) As POINTAPI

  PT1(0).X = Text1.Left / TX
  PT1(0).Y = Text1.Top / TY
  PT1(1).X = (Text1.Left) / TX + 2
  PT1(1).Y = (Text1.Top) / TY - 2
  PT1(2).X = (Text1.Left + Text1.Width) / TX + 2
  PT1(2).Y = (Text1.Top) / TY - 2
  PT1(3).X = (Text1.Left + Text1.Width) / TX + 2
  PT1(3).Y = (Text1.Top + Text1.Height) / TY - 2
  PT1(4).X = (Text1.Left + Text1.Width) / TX
  PT1(4).Y = (Text1.Top + Text1.Height) / TY
  PT1(5).X = (Text1.Left + Text1.Width) / TX
  PT1(5).Y = (Text1.Top) / TY
End Sub

9. Create a new procedure called Shadow. Add the following code to
  this procedure:

Sub Shadow()
  hbr = CreateSolidBrush(RGB(125, 125, 125))
  hpen = CreatePen(PS_SOLID, 1, RGB(125, 125, 125))

  r = SelectObject(DC_FRM, hbr)
  r = SelectObject(DC_FRM, hpen)
  r = Polygon(DC_FRM, PT1(0), 6)
  r = SelectObject(DC_FRM, rbrush)
  r1 = DeleteObject(r)
  r = SelectObject(DC_FRM, rpen)
  r1 = DeleteObject(r)
End Sub

10. Add a new module to the project. Module.Bas is created by default.
11. Add the following POINTAPI structure to Module.Bas:

Type POINTAPI   '4 bytes
  X As Integer
  Y As Integer
End Type

Additional References
"Advanced Programming in Visual Basic 3.0 (Accessing the Windows
 API)." (Conferences and Seminars, Tech·Ed, March 1994, Visual
 Basic)
"Message Blaster: Processing Messages in Visual Basic." (Technical
 Articles, Visual Basic Articles)
"Tips and Tricks for Visual Basic." (Conferences and Seminars,
 Tech·Ed, March 1994, Visual Basic)
"Using MSGBLAST.VBX Control to Process Windows Messages from VB."
 (Knowledge Base and Bug Lists, Visual Basic for Windows KBase,
 Miscellaneous Related Information.)

Tip 79: Closing All MDI Child Windows at One Time

2007-07-22T20:54:00.001-07:00

* VB-CODE (1)

Abstract
This article explains how you can simultaneously close all child
windows of a running Visual Basic® application.

Using the Count Property of MDI Forms
The multiple document interface (MDI) feature of Visual Basic® allows
you to create applications that have multiple forms within a single
parent form. This allows you to use the multitasking functions of the
Windows® operating system in your programs.
The Windows Notepad is an example of an MDI application. You can open
several text files at one time and move between each document with a
click of the mouse.

When you create a child form while your program is executing, you must
also remember to close all the open child windows before your
application terminates. Otherwise, you could cause some unforeseen
problems with other applications.
The count property of a control, such as a form, can be used to
determine how many members of that particular collection exist. In
this case, the collection refers to the child forms of the parent
form. We can, therefore, determine how many child forms exist in our
application program by executing a statement such as:

X = Forms.Count

After this statement executes, the variable X will contain the number
of child forms that we have created. It is important to decrement this
value by one because the count starts with the value of one, not zero.
Once we know how many child forms we have created within our
application program, we can use the TypeOf statement in a loop to
close each child form that exists. The TypeOf statement is used to
determine the type of object you are dealing with. In this case, we
want to find out if the object is a form (Form1, the name of the
child form).

The final step to removing the child forms from the parent form is to
use the Unload statement. Therefore, to remove all child forms from
our program while it is running, we simply check each object in the
form, making sure that it is indeed a child form of the MDI form, and
execute an Unload statement to close the form.

Example Program
The following program shows how to close all child forms at one time.
Run the program by pressing the F5 function key. The MDIForm1 form is
displayed. Double-click the client area of MDIForm1 to create a child
form (Form1). Do this until you have several child forms visible on
the screen. Click the "Close Children" menu option to close all child
windows.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
  Set the MDIChild property to True.
2. From Visual Basic's Insert menu, click "MDI Form" to create a
  Multiple Document Interface form. MDIForm1 is created by default.
3. Add the following code to the DblClick event for MDIForm1:

Private Sub MDIForm_DblClick()
  Dim X As New Form1
  X.Show
End Sub

4. From Visual Basic's Tools menu, click Menu Editor. Set the Caption
  field to "&Close Children" and the Name field to "mnuClose".
5. Add the following code to the mnuClose_Click event:

Private Sub mnuClose_Click()
  Dim X As Integer
  For X = (Forms.Count - 1) To 0 Step -1
      If TypeOf Forms(X) Is Form1 Then
          Unload Forms(X)
      End If
  Next X
End Sub

6. From Visual Basic's Tools menu, select Project Options. Set the
  StartUp Form to MDIForm1.

Additional References
"Opening and Closing MDI Windows." (Product Documentation, SDKs, The
 Windows Interface GuidelinesA Guide for Designing Software)

Tip 78: Retrieving the Names of All Printers

2007-07-22T20:53:00.000-07:00

* VB-CODE (4)
Abstract
When Windows® is executed, it uses the WIN.INI initialization file to
determine what printer is attached to the computer system. This
article explains how to determine the names of all printers as stored
in the Devices section of the WIN.INI file.

Populating a List Box Control with Printer Names
You can retrieve the names of all printers attached to the computer
system by using the Windows® application programming interface (API)
GetProfileString function. To declare this function in your Visual
Basic® application, include the following Declare statement in the
Global Module or General Declarations section of your program:

Private Declare Function GetProfileString Lib "Kernel" (ByVal
 lpAppName As String, ByVal lpKeyName As Any, ByVal
 lpDefault As String, ByVal lpReturnedString As String, ByVal
 nSize As Integer) As Integer

(Note that this Declare statement must be typed as a single line of
code.)
The GetProfileString function requires five arguments, as follows:

lpAppName         A string containing the section name. Not case-
                sensitive.
lpKeyName         A string containing the entry name to retrieve. Not
                case-sensitive. If this is a long value set to zero,
                a list of all entries found in the specified section
                will be returned in lpReturnedString.
lpDefault         A string containing the default value to return if
                no entry is found.
lpReturnedString  A string buffer that will hold the information the
                function retrieves.
nSize             An integer value set to the maximum number of
                characters to be stored in lpReturnedString.

Calling the GetProfileString function returns an integer value. This
value is a count of the number of characters that were stored in the
lpReturnedString buffer, but does not include the terminating NULL
byte. (Each entry returned in lpReturnedString is terminated by a NULL
character.) When your program is retrieving more than a single entry,
the last entry in the buffer is marked with two consecutive NULL bytes
to signal the end of the list.
Because we want to retrieve the names of all printers stored in the
devices section of the WIN.INI file, we would execute the following
statement:

RetVal = GetProfileString(Section, 0&, "", Buffer, Len(Buffer))

This tells the GetProfileString function to retrieve all entries
stored in the "devices" section of WIN.INI (notice the 0& argument to
tell the function to provide us with a list of the entries).

Example Program
The example program below populates a List Box control with the names
of all printers attached to the computer system.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following Declare statement to the General Declarations
  section of Form1 (note that this Declare statement must be typed
  as a single line of code):

Private Declare Function GetProfileString Lib "Kernel" (ByVal
 lpAppName As String, ByVal lpKeyName As Any, ByVal
 lpDefault As String, ByVal lpReturnedString As String, ByVal
 nSize As Integer) As Integer

3. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form1:

Private Sub Form_Load()
  Dim RetVal As Integer
  Dim Buffer As String
  Dim Section As String
  Dim Start As Integer

  Buffer = Space$(1024)
  Section = "devices"
  RetVal = GetProfileString(Section, 0&, "", Buffer, Len(Buffer))

  Do Until Left$(Buffer, 1) = Chr$(0)
      Start = InStr(Buffer, Chr$(0))
      List1.AddItem Left$(Buffer, Start - 1)
      Buffer = Right$(Buffer, Len(Buffer) - Start)
  Loop
End Sub

4. Add a List Box control to Form1. List1 is created by default.

Additional References
"Querying Windows for Printer Information." (Books and Periodicals,
 Inside Visual Basic Articles [Cobb])
Knowledge Base Q105839. "Changing WIN.INI Printer Settings from VB
 Using Windows API."
Knowledge Base Q75639. "Accessing Windows Initialization Files from
 Visual Basic."

Tip 77: Determining the Amount of RAM Installed in a Computer

2007-07-22T20:52:00.000-07:00

* VB-CODE (3)

Abstract
You can use the Windows® application programming interface (API)
MemManInfo function to determine how much random access memory (RAM)
is installed in the computer system. This article explains how to
retrieve the amount of RAM.

How Much Memory Do You Have?
The Windows® application programming interface (API) MemManInfo
function can be called to determine how much random access memory
(RAM) is installed in your computer. This function is included in the
TOOLHELP.DLL file.

To use the MemManInfo function in a Visual Basic® application, you
must declare the function as follows:

Private Declare Function MemManInfo% Lib "Toolhelp.dll" (lpmmi
 As TagMemManInfo)

The MemManInfo function takes only one argument: a structure that will
hold information about the memory manager. The number of pages of
memory is stored in the wPageSize field of this structure. We need
only multiply the number of pages found by a value of 4 to calculate
how much RAM is installed.

Example Program
The example program below shows how to retrieve the amount of RAM
installed in the computer system.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form1:

Private Sub Form_Load()
  Dim R As Long
  Text1.Text = "Total RAM installed: "
  R = GetRAMSize
  Text1.Text = Text1.Text + Str(R)
End Sub

3. Add a new module to the project. Module.Bas is created by default.
4. Add the following code to the Module.Bas file:

Type TagMemManInfo
  dwSize As Long
  dwLargestFreeBlock As Long
  dwMaxPagesAvailable As Long
  dwMaxPagesLockable As Long
  dwTotalLinearSpace As Long
  dwTotalUnlockedPages As Long
  dwFreePages As Long
  dwTotalPages As Long
  dwFreeLinearSpace As Long
  wPageSize As Integer
End Type

Private Declare Function MemManInfo% Lib "Toolhelp.dll" (lpmmi
 As TagMemManInfo)

Function GetRAMSize() As Long
  Dim mmi As TagMemManInfo
  mmi.dwSize = Len(mmi)
  x% = MemManInfo(mmi)
  If x% <> 0 Then
      GetRAMSize = mmi.dwTotalPages * 4
  Else
      GetRAMSize = 0
  End If
End Function

5. Add a Text Box control to Form1. Text1 is created by default.

Additional References
"Windows Questions and Answers." (Books and Periodicals, Microsoft
 Systems Journal, 1994 Volume 9, March 1994 Number 3)
"FREEMEM2: Displays System Memory Information."  (Sample Code, Book
 and Periodical Samples, Microsoft Systems Journal Samples,
 1994 Volume 9)

Tip 76: Detecting Right Mouse Button Clicks on List Box Controls

2007-07-22T20:51:00.000-07:00

 VB-CODE (2)

Abstract
When using a List Box control in a Visual Basic® application, the user
can click on an item with the left mouse button. That item then
becomes selected. This article explains how you can select items with
the right mouse button instead of the left mouse button.

Intercepting Right Mouse Button Click Events
The LB_GETITEMRECT message can be used to determine which item in a
List Box was selected. This message retrieves the coordinates of a
bounding rectangle for the selected item in the List Box control. To
invoke this message, you must tell it the entry number, starting at
zero, whose dimensions you want to retrieve, as well as a RECT
structure that will hold the coordinate information.

To determine which item a user clicked on with the right mouse button,
you trap the MouseUp event. The MouseUp event can be used to determine
which mouse button was pressed and the mouse's current X and Y
coordinates on the form or control.
Once we have determined the mouse's position over the List Box control,
we can use the Windows® application programming interface (API)
SendMessage function to return the index number of the item the mouse
was positioned over when the MouseUp event was triggered.

Example Program
The example program below displays a List Box control on a form.
Whenever you click the right mouse button on an item in the List Box,
the message "Right Click on" is displayed in the Text Box along with
the index number corresponding to the selected item.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form1:

Private Sub Form_Load()
  List1.AddItem "Item #1"
  List1.AddItem "Item #2"
  List1.AddItem "Item #3"
End Sub

3. Add a List Box control to Form1. List1 is created by default.
4. Add the following code to the MouseUp event for List1 (note that
  the Private lines must be typed as a single line of code):

Private Sub List1_MouseUp(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer,
 X As Single, Y As Single)
  Dim Item%
  If (Button = 2) Then
      Item% = GetRClickedItem(List1, X, Y)
      If (Item% = LB_ERR) Then
          Text1.Text = "ERROR"
      Else
          Text1.Text = "Right Click on " + Str(Item%)
      End If
  End If
End Sub

5. Add a Text Box control to Form1. Text1 is created by default.
6. Add a new module to the project. Module.Bas is created by default.
7. Add the following code to the Module.Bas file (note that the
  Private and If lines must be typed as a single line of code):

Type RECT
  Left As Integer
  Top As Integer
  Right As Integer
  Bottom As Integer
End Type

Global Const WM_USER = &H400
Global Const LB_GETITEMRECT = (WM_USER + 25)
Global Const LB_ERR = (-1)

Private Declare Function SendMessage Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd
 As Integer, ByVal wMsg As Integer, ByVal wParam
 As Integer, lParam As Any) As Long
Function GetRClickedItem%(MyList As Control, X As Single, Y As Single)

  Dim ClickX%, ClickY%, Ret&, CurRect As RECT
  ClickX% = X \ Screen.TwipsPerPixelX
  ClickY% = Y \ Screen.TwipsPerPixelY
  i% = 0
  Do While True
      Ret& = SendMessage(MyList.hWnd, LB_GETITEMRECT, i%, CurRect)
      If (Ret& = LB_ERR) Then
          GetRClickedItem% = LB_ERR: Exit Function
      End If
      If (ClickX% >= CurRect.Left) And (ClickX% <= CurRect.Right) And           (ClickY% >= CurRect.Top) And (ClickY% <= CurRect.Bottom) Then            GetRClickedItem% = i%: Exit Function        End If        i% = i% + 1    Loop End Function  Additional References Programmer's Reference Volume 3: Messages, Structures.   "LB_GETITEMRECT". (Product Documentation, SDKs, Windows 3.1 SDK) "List Box Controls." (Technical Articles, Windows Articles, User   Interface Articles, Controls) "MouseDown, MouseUp Events". (Product Documentation, Office   Developer's Kit 1.0, Visual Basic 3.0 Professional Edition,   Language Reference)

Tip 75: Invoking Menu Items in Other Applications with SendMessage

2007-07-22T20:50:00.000-07:00

* VB-CODE (1)

Abstract
Within a Visual Basic® application, you can execute a menu item in
another Windows®-based program. This article explains how to use
several Windows application programming interface (API) functions to
execute menu commands.

Executing Menu Commands
In some situations, you may need to actuate an application, such as
Notepad, and execute one or more of that application's menu commands.
The Windows® application programming interface (API) provides several
functions that enable you to perform this type of operation in Visual
Basic®.

- The Windows API FindWindow function can be used to determine the
handle of the application that contains the menu item you want to
execute. FindWindow returns an integer value containing the
application's handle.
- You also need to retrieve the handle associated with the target
window's menu. The GetMenu function will return the handle as an
integer value.
- Once you have the target window's menu handle, you need to determine
the entry's position in the menu and retrieve the handle of the
pop-up menu. In the example program below, we want to retrieve the
handle of the File menu selection. Therefore, we would call the
GetSubMenu function with zero as the entry's position. The first
entry in every pop-up menu always begins with entry number zero.
- Next, we want to retrieve the ID number of the specific menu entry
we want to execute. We retrieve this ID number by calling the
GetMenuItemID function with the entry's position specified as one
(the position of the Open menu selection in the pop-up menu).
- The final step is to make the target application the active
application and to issue the SendMessage function, which in turn
sends a WM_COMMAND message to the target window. The WM_COMMAND
message is set to the target application's window to execute the
File/Open command.

Example Program
The following example program executes another application's menu
commands. This program assumes that the Windows Notepad application
program is already running in memory. This program uses SendMessage to
execute the File/Open menu selection in Notepad.
When you execute the program, click the Command Button. After a second
or two, you will see that Notepad has been activated and that its Open
File dialog box is displayed on the screen.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following Constant and Declare statements to the General
  Declarations section of Form1 (note that each Declare statement
 should be typed as a single line of code):

Private Declare Function FindWindow Lib "User" (ByVal lpClassName
 As Any, ByVal lpWindowName As Any) As Integer
Private Declare Function GetMenu Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd
As Integer) As Integer
Private Declare Function GetMenuItemID Lib "User" (ByVal hMenu
As Integer, ByVal nPos As Integer) As Integer
Private Declare Function GetSubMenu Lib "User" (ByVal hMenu
 As Integer, ByVal nPos As Integer) As Integer
Private Declare Function SendMessage Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd
 As Integer, ByVal wMsg As Integer, ByVal wParam
 As Integer, lParam As Any) As Long
Const WM_COMMAND = &H111

3. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by
  default.
4. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
  Dim hWnd As Integer
  Dim hMainMenu As Integer
  Dim hMenu As Integer
  Dim MenuID As Integer

  hWnd = FindWindow("NotePad", "Untitled - NotePad")
  If hWnd = 0 Then Exit Sub

  hMainMenu = GetMenu(hWnd)
  hMenu = GetSubMenu(hMainMenu, 0)
  MenuID = GetMenuItemID(hMenu, 1)
  AppActivate "Untitled - NotePad"
  X& = SendMessage(hWnd, WM_COMMAND, MenuID, 0&)
End Sub

Additional References
Knowledge Base Q71281. "How to Implement a Bitmap Within a Visual
 Basic Menu." (Development Library, Knowledge Base and Bug Lists)
Knowledge Base Q113475. "How to Get a Window Handle Without Specifying
 an Exact Title." (Development Library, Knowledge Base and Bug Lists)
Windows Help Authoring Guide for Word for Windows 2.0. "Choosing Help
 with the Keyboard." (Development Library, Unsupported Tools and
 Utilities)
"Adding Pop-Up Menus to Your Programs." (Development Library, Books
 and Periodicals, Inside Visual Basic Articles [Cobb])

Tip 74: Scrolling Through Two List Box Controls Simultaneously

2007-07-22T20:49:00.000-07:00

* VB-CODE (4)

Abstract
You can add code to your Visual Basic® application to allow a user to
scroll through the contents of two separate List Box controls at the
same time. This article explains how you can add this functionality to
your program.

The TopIndex Property of List Box Controls
When using a List Box control, the user can click the mouse on the
scroll bar to move up or down the list of items. If the user clicks
the mouse on an individual item, that item is said to be selected. The
ListIndex property is a unique value that represents the selected
item's position within the List Box.

You can also scroll through a List Box control by using the TopIndex
property. This property, however, can only be changed at run time, not
during design time. The TopIndex property moves you through the items
in the List Box control. In other words, it works just as if the user
had used the scroll bar.
Let's assume that you have two List Box controls on a form in your
Visual Basic® application. As you scroll through the items in the
first List Box control, you want to also scroll through the same items
in the second List Box control.

In an application, you can use the TopIndex property to move a
specific item in the List Box control so that that item appears at
the top of the List Box. The following statement, for example, moves
the third item in the List Box to the top of the control:

List1.TopIndex = (2)

In the example program below, we want to scroll through both List Box
controls at the same time. To do this, we use a Timer control so that
the second List Box control is updated as soon as the item is selected
in the first List Box control.

We first use a static variablethat is, a variable whose contents do
not change when we exit a procedureto keep track of the currently
selected item in the first List Box. Each time a new item is selected
in the List Box, this variable is set to that item's TopIndex value.
Next, we set the ListIndex property of the second List Box control
equal to that of the first List Box control. This highlights the two
items in each List Box that have the same ListIndex value. It doesn't
matter what the actual item is the items are both selected based on
their position within the controls.

Each time you select an item in the first List Box, that same item is
also selected in the second List Box.

Example Program
This example program shows how to scroll through the contents of two
List Box controls simultaneously.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following code to the General Declarations section of
  Form1:

Option Explicit
DefInt A-Z

3. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form1:

Private Sub Form_Load()
  Dim X As Integer
  'Initialize two list boxes with alphabet
  For X = 1 To 26
      List1.AddItem Chr$(X + 64)
  Next X
  For X = 1 To 26
      List2.AddItem Chr$(X + 64)
  Next X
  timer1.Interval = 1
  timer1.Enabled = True
End Sub

4. Add a List Box control to Form1. List1 is created by default.
5. Add a second List Box control to Form1. List2 is created by
  default.
6. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by
  default.
7. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Private Sub Command1_Click()
  End
End Sub

8. Add a Timer control to Form1. Timer1 is created by default.
9. Add the following code to the Timer1 event for Timer1:

Private Sub timer1_Timer()
  Static PrevList1
  Dim TopIndex_List1 As Integer

  'Get the index for the first item in the visible list.
  TopIndex_List1 = List1.TopIndex

  'See if top index has changed.
  If TopIndex_List1 <> PrevList1 Then
      'Set the top index of List2 equal to List1,
      'so that the list boxes scroll together.
      List2.TopIndex = TopIndex_List1
      PrevList1 = TopIndex_List1
  End If
  'Select the item in the same position in both list boxes.
  If List1.ListIndex <> List2.ListIndex Then
      List2.ListIndex = List1.ListIndex
  End If

End Sub

Additional Information
This article expands upon and is intended to replace Knowledge Base
article Q103809.
"List Box Control." (Product Documentation, Office Developer's
Kit 1.0, Visual Basic 3.0 Professional Edition, Language Reference)
"TopIndex Property." (Product Documentation, Office Developer's
Kit 1.0, Visual Basic 3.0 Professional Edition, Language Reference)

Tip 73: Creating Nested Directories

2007-07-22T20:43:00.000-07:00

* VB-CODE (3)

Abstract

You can use the Visual Basic® MkDir statement to create a new

directory on any floppy or hard disk. This article explains how you

can use this statement to create nested subdirectories, even if part

of the path already exists.

The MkDir Statement

When developing an application in Visual Basic®, you may need to allow

the user to store a data file in a specific directory on disk. The

dirctory can be created with Visual Basic's MkDir statement. The

syntax for this statement is:

MkDir "C:\"

where JUNK is the name of the directory you want to create and C:\ is

the drive you want to create it on. If you want to create a nested

subdirectory, for example C:\JUNK\TEST, you must first create the

JUNK directory and then create the TEST directory. However, if the

JUNK directory already exists, the MkDir statement will interrupt your

application with a "Path/File Access Error" displayed in a message

box.

To prevent this error message from appearing when your application is

creating directories, you can use the On Error and Resume Next

statements. These two statements allow you to trap this access error

and force your Visual Basic program to continue executing as if the

error had not actually occurred.

The example program below creates a directory that is three levels

deep, called "\JUNK\TEST\TEST". The first time the MkDir statement is

executed, it creates the JUNK directory. The second and third times

MkDir is executed, however, it produces Error 76. The Resume Next

statement tells our program to ignore this error each time it is

encountered until we have successfully created the entire directory

structure.

Example Program

This program shows how to create nested directories even if one of

the directories in the path already exists.

 1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.

 2. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by

    default. Set its Caption property to "Create Directory".

 3. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Sub Command1_Click()

    CreateNewDirectory "C:\junk3\test\test"

    MsgBox "Directory was created", 16, "Dir Demo"

End Sub

  4. Create a new function called CreateNewDirectory. Add the following

    code to this function:

 Sub CreateNewDirectory(DirName As String)

    Dim NewLen As Integer

    Dim DirLen As Integer

    Dim MaxLen As Integer

    NewLen = 4

    MaxLen = Len(DirName)

    If Right$(DirName, 1) <> "\" Then

        DirName = DirName + "\"

        MaxLen = MaxLen + 1

    End If

    On Error GoTo DirError

MakeNext:

    DirLen = InStr(NewLen, DirName, "\")

    MkDir Left$(DirName, DirLen - 1)

    NewLen = DirLen + 1

    If NewLen >= MaxLen Then

        Exit Sub

    End If

    GoTo MakeNext

DirError:

    Resume Next

End Sub

Run the program by pressing the F5 function key. When you click the

"Create Directory" command button, the program creates a directory

called "JUNK\TEST\TEST" on drive C. Change the path in the Click event

for Command1 to "C:\JUNK\TEST\TEST2" and run the program a second

time. It will create a second subdirectory called TEST2 under

C:\JUNK\TEST. Notice that Error 76 is ignored by the program. This

error is generated by MkDir when it attempts to create a directory

(in this case, C:\JUNK\TEST) that already exists.

Simple use of CR in VB

2007-07-22T08:19:00.000-07:00

Working with Crystal reports (which comes with VB) is sometimes very simple and sometimes very hard to do. But I have to use it (my boss is telling me that) so I just have given it a quick look. First it looks not very difficult; making a quick and simple report can be done just in - let's say - five minutes. The code I use to show the report is included on this page.
The way I use Crystal Reports is in combination with Visual Basic 5 Enterprise Edition and Sybase as database. I make some tempory views in code (this way the user can give some direction to the report). The reports I make as an example using all the fields that are in the view. That's the work I have to do before it can work. Calling Crystal Reports from the VB application is like this:
make sure you have the component linked to your project and add the control to the form use the following code for calling the control and fill the report with the values:

Public Sub ExecuteSelectedReport(strSelected As String)
   '
   Const PROCEDURENAME As String = "ExecuteSelectedReport"
   On Error GoTo ExecuteSelectedReport_FAIL
   '
   Screen.MousePointer = vbHourglass
   'create view
   If Not SelectGroupReport(strSelected) Then GoTo ExecuteSelectedReport_EXIT
   '
   'open and fill report
   With frmStatistics.CrystalReports
       .ReportFileName = strTMPPath + strSelected + ".rpt"
       .ReportTitle = frmStatistics.txtTitleReport.Text
       .SQLQuery = "SELECT * FROM " + "VIEW" + strSelected
       .PrinterCopies = 1
       .PrinterCollation = crptDefault
       .WindowControls = True
       .WindowBorderStyle = crptSizable
       .WindowControlBox = True
       .WindowState = crptNormal
       .WindowTitle = .ReportFileName
       .Destination = crptToWindow
       .PrintReport
   End With
   '
ExecuteSelectedReport_EXIT:
   Screen.MousePointer = vbDefault
   Exit Sub
   '
ExecuteSelectedReport_FAIL:
   MsgBox Cstr(Err) + Error
   Resume ExecuteSelectedReport_EXIT
End Sub

The procedure 'SelectGroupReport(strSelected)' creates for me the view with the options the user have given (like period etc). The default report is called 'strSelected.rpt'; the view is also created with the same value. For the settings on the CrustalReports control you simple check teh Help-file. It is all there. You see it is not very difficult. Crystal reports gives you a lot of options to show with the report like saving it a text or even as a word document. Most work will be creating the views and making the default reports.

Tip 72: Positioning the Cursor over a Control That Receives Focus

2007-07-22T08:02:00.001-07:00

* VB-CODE (2)

Abstract
The Default property of a Command Button can be used to place the
focus on the control at run time. If this property is set to True, the
Command Button receives the focus; if it is set to False, the Command
Button does not have the focus. In addition, the SetFocus method can
be used to shift the focus to a specific control or form. However, the
mouse pointer's position is not changed. This article explains how you
can position the mouse pointer over the control that has just received
the focus.

Using SetCursorPos to Change Cursor Position
Whenever you use the SetFocus method to move the focus to a different
control or form, the mouse pointer's position is not changed. In many
situations, it would be nice if the position of the mouse pointer
could follow the control that has the focus. We can implement this
feature in a Visual Basic® application by using the SetCursorPos
function provided in the Windows® application programming interface
(API). The Declare statement for the SetCursorPos function is:

Declare Sub SetCursorPos Lib "User" (ByVal X As Integer, ByVal Y As Integer)

As you can see, this function takes two arguments. The X argument
represents the horizontal position of the cursor and the Y argument
represents the vertical position of the cursor. To successfully move
the cursor using SetCursorPos, you must first determine the correct
coordinates to use with the function.
How do we actually determine the position of a control on the screen?
First, we know that the Command Button control has both Width and
Height properties that tell us the exact size of the control; ditto
for the Form control. To calculate the approximate coordinates of the
center point of the Command Button, we can add the left position of
the Command Button to the Form's left position, and divide this value
by the half the width of the Command Button, which gives us the center
position of the Command Button.

However, we also need to adjust the values we calculate for the width
of the form's border and title bar. The final step is to divide this
value we have just calculated by the TwipsPerPixelX and TwipsPerPixelY
values to obtain the control's true center position on the screen. It
is then a simple matter to call the SetCursorPos function to move the
mouse pointer to this new location.
Each time a control receives the focus, the GotFocus event for that
control is triggered. In addition, the focus can be shifted to a
control by clicking that control. In this case, the Click event is
triggered. By including code that positions the mouse pointer at the
center of the control in these two events, you can successfully
position the cursor over any control as soon as it receives the focus.

Example Program
The program below shows how to move the mouse pointer to the control
that has just received the focus.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following Declare statement to the General Declarations
   section of Form1 (note that this Declare statement should be typed
   as one single line of code):

Declare Sub SetCursorPos Lib "User" (ByVal X As Integer, ByVal Y As Integer)

3. Add a Label control to Form1. Label1 is created by default. Set
   its Caption property to "Save Changes?"
4. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by
   default. Set its Caption property to "Yes".
5. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Sub Command1_Click()
   Dim X As Integer, Y As Integer
   X = (Form1.Left + Command2.Left + Command2.Width / 2 + 60) /
        Screen.TwipsPerPixelX
   Y = (Form1.Top + Command2.Top + Command2.Height / 2 + 360) /
        Screen.TwipsPerPixelY
   SetCursorPos X, Y
   Command2.SetFocus
End Sub

6. Add a second Command Button control to Form1. Command2 is created
   by default. Set its Caption property to "No".
7. Add the following code to the GotFocus event for Command2:

Sub Command2_GotFocus()
   Dim X As Integer, Y As Integer
   X = (Form1.Left + Command2.Left + Command2.Width / 2 + 60) /
         Screen.TwipsPerPixelX
   Y = (Form1.Top + Command2.Top + Command2.Height / 2 + 360) /
        Screen.TwipsPerPixelY
   SetCursorPos X, Y
End Sub

Run the program by pressing the F5 function key. Notice that the Yes
Command Button has the focus. Press the TAB key once. The focus has
now been placed on the No Command Button. In addition, the mouse
pointer is positioned over the second Command Button.
Run the program a second time. Using the mouse, click the No Command
Button. The Command Button receives the focus and the mouse pointer
is positioned over the button. This demonstrates that no matter which
one is used to move the focusthe TAB key or the mouse the mouse
pointer can be programmed to follow control that has the focus.

Tip 71: Dragging Controls at Run Time

2007-07-22T07:59:00.000-07:00

* VB-CODE (1)
Tip 71: Dragging Controls at Run Time

May 5, 1995

Abstract
Many Windows®-based applications allow you to move a control, such as
a window, to a new position on the screen. This is accomplished by
clicking the left mouse button on the control and, while holding the
mouse button down, dragging the object to a new location on the
screen. When you release the mouse button, the object remains at the
new screen position. This article explains how you can add this
functionality to your own Visual Basic® applications.

Moving Forms and Other Controls
When you click the mouse button, Visual Basic® triggers its MouseDown
or MouseUp events. When you press the mouse button down, a MouseDown
event is invoked; similarly, when you release the mouse button, a
MouseUp event is invoked. At run time, you can allow a user to
position controls at new locations on the screen by trapping the
MouseDown event for each control.
Each time a control receives the focus or detects mouse movement,
Windows® calls the SetCapture or ReleaseCapture function. The Windows
application programming interface (API) SetCapture and ReleaseCapture
functions set or release the mouse capture, which tells the system
which object is currently being manipulated. These functions can be
used in conjunction with the SendMessage function to position a
control at a new location on the screen.

When an object, such as a form, is moved at run time, Windows
generates a MOVE message. By trapping the MouseDown event for a
control, you can tell Visual Basic to issue a move command to the
operating system. This system command (MOVE) tells Windows to move the
window to the new position.
In the example program below, the user can move both the form and
command button to new locations. When the MouseDown event is triggered
for the control, the ReleaseCapture function is called. Next, the
SendMessage function tells Windows to actually execute the MOVE
command. This anchors the object at its new position on the screen.

Example Program
The example program below shows how to drag a control, such as a form
or command button, to a new position on the screen.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following Constant and Declare statements to the General
   Declarations section of Form1 (note that each Declare statement
   must be typed as a single line of code):

Const WM_SYSCOMMAND = &H112
Const SC_MOVE = &HF012

Declare Sub ReleaseCapture Lib "User" ()
Declare Sub SendMessage Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer,
  ByVal wMsg As Integer, ByVal wParam As Integer, lParam As Long)

3. Add the following code to the MouseDown event for Form1:

Sub Form_MouseDown(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single,
        Y As Single)
   ReleaseCapture
   SendMessage Form1.hWnd, WM_SYSCOMMAND, SC_MOVE, 0
End Sub

4. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by
   default.
5. Add the following code to the MouseDown event for Command1:

Sub Command1_MouseDown(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, X As Single,
       Y As Single)
   ReleaseCapture
   SendMessage Command1.hWnd, WM_SYSCOMMAND, SC_MOVE, 0
End Sub

Additional References
Knowledge Base Q114593: "How to Move a Form that Has No Titlebar or
                        Caption."

Tip 70: Creating Temporary Files

2007-07-22T07:53:00.001-07:00

 VB-CODE (4)

Abstract
When developing an application in Visual Basic®, you may need to
create a temporary file on disk. This article explains how to use the
Windows® application programming interface (API) GetTempFileName
function to create temporary files.

Managing Temporary Files
The Windows® application programming interface (API) GetTempFileName
function can be used to create a temporary file on a floppy or hard
disk. Files created by this function are not automatically deleted
when your Visual Basic® application terminatesyou must do this using
Visual Basic's Kill statement.

To create a temporary file in Visual Basic, you use the
GetTempFileName function. The Declare statement for this function is
as follows (note that it must be typed as a single line of code):

Declare Function GetTempFileName Lib "Kernel" (ByVal cDriveLetter
  As Integer, ByVal lpPrefixString As String, ByVal wUnique
  As Integer, ByVal lpTempFileName As String) As Integer

GetTempFileName requires four arguments, as follows:

cDriveLetter    An integer value containing the disk drive letter.
lpPrefixString  A string containing the filename prefix. This is a
               standard DOS filename, except that it should be less
               than eight characters long, because it will be padded
               with the wUnique value when the file is created.
wUnique         An integer value containing the number to use to
               append to the eight-character filename prefix. If a
               value of zero is specified, the function generates
               its own random number from the system's current time
               stamp.
lpTempFileName  A string that will hold the name of the newly created
               temporary file. This string should be initialized to
               a length of at least 144 characters.

The GetTempFileName function will create the temporary file on the
first hard disk or on the disk specified by the TEMP environment
variable. You can set the TF_FORCEDRIVE bit of the cDriveLetter
argument to tell the GetTempFileName function to create the file in
the current directory of the specified disk. In all other cases, the
temporary file will be created on the disk specified in the
cDriveLetter argument.
After you call the GetTempFileName function, the file will have been
created on the specified disk. The lpTempFileName buffer will contain
the file's complete path, terminated by the number specified by the
wUnique argument.

Once you have successfully created the temporary file from within
your application, you can isolate the actual filename by issuing
these two statements:

TempFileName = Left(TempFileName, InStr(TempFileName, Chr(0)) - 1)
TempFileName = Trim(Right(TempFileName, Len(TempFileName) - 3))

The first statement uses the InStr function to strip off the last
character returned in the buffer used to hold the filename. This byte
is the value used in the wUnique argument. The second statement
removes the preceding "C:\" drive specifier characters from the
filename.

You should be aware that temporary files created by the
GetTempFileName function remain on the disk until you actually delete
them.

Example Program
The following program shows how you can create temporary files from
within your Visual Basic application. Each time you execute this
program, a new temporary file is created. Be sure to delete these
temporary files from your disk when finished with this program.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following Constant and Declare statements to the General
   Declarations section of Form1 (note that the Declare statement
   must be typed as a single line of code):

Declare Function GetTempFileName Lib "Kernel" (ByVal cDriveLetter
  As Integer, ByVal lpPrefixString As String, ByVal wUnique
  As Integer, ByVal lpTempFileName As String) As Integer
Const TF_FORCEDRIVE = &H80

3. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form1:

Sub Form_Load()
   Dim X As Integer
   Dim Drive As Integer
   Dim Prefix As String
   Dim Unique As Integer
   Dim TempFileName As String
   Dim PathName As String

   TempFileName = Space$(144)
   NewFileName = Space$(144)
   PathName = "C:\WINDOWS"
   Drive = Asc(UCase(Left(PathName, 1))) + TF_FORCEDRIVE
   Prefix = "DATA"
   Unique = 0

   ChDir PathName
   X = GetTempFileName(Drive, Prefix, Unique, TempFileName)
   TempFileName = Left(TempFileName, InStr(TempFileName, Chr(0)) - 1)
   TempFileName = Trim(Right(TempFileName, Len(TempFileName) - 3))
   Text1.Text = TempFileName
End Sub

4. Add a Text Box control to Form1. Text1 is created by default.

Tip 69: Forcing a Picture Control to Use Only a Specific Font

2007-07-22T07:51:00.000-07:00

* VB-CODE (3)

Abstract
When developing an application in Visual Basic® that may be run on
many different computer systems, you may want to ensure that a
control such as a Picture Box is formatted correctly with regard to
the size and type of font used. This article explains how you can use
the Windows® application programming interface (API) SendMessage and
GetStockObject functions to force a control to use a specific font
when displaying text.

Using the GetStockObject Function to Select a Font
Many controls such as Picture Box and Text Box controls have a Font
property. The Font property is usually set by the programmer at
design time to a specific font. However, in some situations, you may
want to force Windows® to use a different font at a specific time in
your program for that control. In such cases, you can use the Windows
application programming interface (API) SendMessage and GetStockObject
functions to tell Windows that a control's Font property is to be set
to a different font.

To change a control's Font property to another font, you use the
GetStockObject function. The Declare statement for this function is
as follows:

Declare Function GetStockObject Lib "GDI" (ByVal nIndex As Integer)
  As Integer

GetStockObject requires only one argumentan integer value containing
the type of stock object you want to use. In our case, we want to use
the ANSI_FIXED_FONT stock object, which has a value of 11. After you
call the GetStockObject function, it returns an integer value. This
value is set to NULL if the function was not successful, or to a
handle that identifies the logical object itself.

In the example program below, we want to force the Picture Box
control to use a fixed font instead of Bookman Old Style, which is
set to a point size of 24, at design time. To set the font to a fixed
font while the program is being executed, we issue the following
statement:

X = SendMessage(Picture1.hWnd, WM_SETFONT, GetStockObject(ANSI_FIXED_FONT), 1)

After issuing this command, anytime we use the Print method to print
text on the Picture Box control, the fixed font is used.

Example Program
The example program below displays a Picture Box control on Form1. The
Print method is used to display the text "This is a test" in the
Picture Box control. Note that the default Font property value is
ignored and the ANSI fixed font is used when the text is displayed in
the control.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following Constant and Declare statements to the General
   Declarations section of Form1 (note that each Declare statement
   should be typed as a single line of code):

Declare Function SendMessage Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer,
  ByVal wMsg As Integer, ByVal wParam As Integer, lParam As Any)
  As Long
Declare Function GetStockObject Lib "GDI" (ByVal nIndex As Integer)
  As Integer
Const ANSI_FIXED_FONT = 11
Const WM_SETFONT = &H30

3. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form1:

Sub Form_Load()
   Dim X As Long

   X = SendMessage(Picture1.hWnd, WM_SETFONT, GetStockObject(ANSI_FIXED_FONT), 1)
   Picture1.Print "This is a test"
End Sub

4. Add a Picture Box control to Form1. Set its Font property to
   Bookman Old Style, point size: 24.

Additional References
Knowledge Base Q75857. "How to Print the ASCII Character Set in
Visual Basic."

Tip 68: Removing Duplicate Items from List Box Controls

2007-07-22T07:50:00.000-07:00

* VB-CODE (2)

Abstract
The Visual Basic® StrComp function can be used in conjunction with
the RemoveItem method to delete entries that are duplicated in List
Box controls. This article explains how you can compare the items in
two separate List Box controls and delete the duplicate entries from
one of the controls.

Comparing the Contents of Two List Box Controls
The AddItem and RemoveItem methods allow you to add or delete items
from a List Box control in Visual Basic®. If the Sorted property of a
List Box is set to True, the items are automatically sorted in
alphabetical order as each new item is added or an old item is
removed.

If you have two List Box controls in your Visual Basic application
and you want to remove the items from the second control that are
already in the first List Box, you can use the StrComp function,
which allows you to compare two strings to see if they are identical.
When using StrComp to determine if two strings are identical, you can
tell the function to ignore uppercase and lowercase differences.
In other words, the function can be told to treat the string "this is
a test" to be the same as or different from the string "THIS IS A
TEST".

If you want StrComp to ignore the case of the strings you are
comparing, use the 1 argument. To make StrComp include the case of
the strings in the comparison, use the 0 argument (that is,
X = StrComp(String1, String2, 0) or X=StrComp(String1, String2, 1).)
In addition, the Option Compare Text command, which you would place
in the General Declarations section of a form or module, tells
StrComp (and other string functions) that all string comparisons are
to ignore the upper- and lowercase differences.

After you call the StrComp function, it returns the status of the
string comparison. StrComp returns one of the following four possible
values:

-1    The first string is less than the second string.
0     The first string is identical to the second string.
1     The first string is greater than the second string.
NULL  Either String1 or String2 is a NULL (empty) string.

Example Program
The program below shows how to remove duplicate items from List Box
controls. When the program is first executed, both List Box controls
contain two entries that are identical. Clicking the "Remove
Duplicates" command button removes the identical items from the
second List Box control.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form1:

Sub Form_Load()
 List1.AddItem "test1"
 List1.AddItem "test2"
 List1.AddItem "test3"
 List1.AddItem "test4"

 List2.AddItem "test1"
 List2.AddItem "test2"
 List2.AddItem "test5"

End Sub

3. Add a List Box control to Form1. List1 is created by default. Set
   its Sorted property to True.
4. Add a second List Box control to Form1. List2 is created by
   default. Set its Sorted property to True.
5. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by
   default.
6. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Sub Command1_Click()
   Call EliminateDupEntries(List1, List2)
End Sub

7. Create a new function called EliminateDupEntries. Add the
   following code to this function:

Sub EliminateDupEntries(First As Control, Sec As Control)
 Dim Findx As Integer
 Dim Sindx As Integer
 Dim Ret As Integer

 Findx = 0
 For Sindx = 0 To Sec.ListCount - 1
   For Findx = Sindx To First.ListCount - 1
       Ret = StrComp(First.List(Findx), Sec.List(Sindx))
      Select Case Ret
          Case 0:
           Sec.RemoveItem Sindx
           Sindx = Sindx - 1
           Exit For
          Case 1:
           Exit For
       End Select
   Next Findx
 Next Sindx
End Sub

Tip 67: Returning Focus to a Specific Control After Executing WinHelp

2007-07-22T07:47:00.002-07:00

* VB-CODE (1)

Abstract
You can add online Help to your Visual Basic® application by using the
Windows® application programming interface (API) WinHelp function.
However, you need to keep the focus on the control that had the focus
just before you executed the WinHelp function. This article explains
how a control can retain the focus after calling WinHelp.

Using Form-Level Variables to Retain Focus
Almost every application developed for Windows® includes a Help
command. In a Visual Basic® application, you can attach a Help command
to a Command Button control. When the user clicks on the Command
Button, your program calls the Windows application programming
interface (API) WinHelp function to display the actual Help file.
After the user exits the Help program, however, the Command Button
control now has the focus. It would be preferable to have the focus
set to the control (such as a Text Box control) that had the focus
before WinHelp was executed.

You can force your application to automatically retain a control's
focus by defining a Form-level variable as a control. When the focus
is moved to a different control, such as a Text Box, the Form-level
variable should be set to the control that is getting the focus. Then,
after displaying the Help file, the focus can be set back to the
control by using the Form-level variable.
In the example program below, the focus returns to the Text Box
control each time the Help Command Button is clicked. In other words,
the Command Button never retains the focus.

Example Program
1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following statements to the General Declarations section
   of Form1 (note that the Declare statement should be typed as a
   single line of code):

Const HELP_CONTENTS = &H3
Declare Function WinHelp Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer,
  ByVal lpHelpFile As String, ByVal wCommand As Integer,
  dwData As Any) As Integer
Dim ControlWithFocus As Control

3. Add a Text Box control to Form1. Text1 is created by default.
4. Add the following code to the GotFocus event for Text1:

Sub Text1_GotFocus()
 Set ControlWithFocus = Text1
End Sub

5. Add a second Text Box control to Form1. Text2 is created by
   default.
6. Add the following code to the GotFocus event for Text2:

Sub Text2_GotFocus()
 Set ControlWithFocus = Text2
End Sub

7. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by
   default. Set its Caption property to "Help".
8. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Sub Command1_Click()
 Dim RVal As Integer
 RVal = WinHelp(Form1.hWnd, "c:\vb\vb.hlp", HELP_CONTENTS, 0)
 ControlWithFocus.SetFocus
End Sub

Run the program. There are two Text Box controls and one Command
Button control shown on the form. Notice that Text1 currently has the
focus. Click the Command Button to display the Contents window in
Help. Exit Help. The Text1 control should still have the focus. Move
the focus to the second Text Box control, Text2. Click the Help
command button a second time and exit Help. The second Text Box
control should have the focus. The Command Button control never
retains the focus.

Tip 66: Disabling Task-Switching with the SetSysModalWindow Function

2007-07-22T07:47:00.001-07:00

 VB-CODE (4)

Created: April 24, 1995

Abstract
When developing an application in Visual Basic®, you may need to
perform a task that should not be interrupted. This article explains
how to use the Windows® application programming interface (API)
SetSysModalWindow and LockInput functions to disable task-switching.

Preventing a User from Switching to Another Application
The Windows® application programming interface (API) SetSysModalWindow
function can be used to prevent a user from switching to a different
Windows-based application while your program is executing. The
ALT+TAB, CTRL+ESC, ALT+F4, and ALT+ESC keystroke combinations will
not bring up the Task Manager or any other application these
keystrokes will simply be ignored. For a discussion of the
SetSysModalWindow function, see "Additional References" below.

In addition, the LockInput function can be used to force all input to
your Visual Basic® application only. No other application will receive
any mouse or keyboard data. The Declare statement for the LockInput
function is as follows (note that it must be typed as a single line
of code):

Declare Function LockInput Lib "User" (ByVal hReserved As Integer,
  ByVal hwndInput As Integer, ByVal fLock As Integer) As Integer

The LockInput function requires three arguments:

hReserved  An integer value that must be set to a value of zero.
hwndInput  An integer value containing the window's handle. This is
          the window that will receive all input.
fLock      An integer value set to TRUE (nonzero) to lock input or
          FALSE (zero) to unlock input.

When your program is terminated, you must use the LockInput function
to restore input to other Windows-based programs. In addition, you
must destroy the system modal window; otherwise the user will not be
able to switch to any other Windows-based applications and will have
to reboot the computer system.

Example Program
The program below shows how you can prevent a user from switching to
another Windows-based application while your program is executing.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Set the following properties for Form1:

ClipControls = False
ControlBox = false
MaxButton = False
MinButton = False

3. Add the following Dim and Declare statements to the General
   Declarations section of Form1 (note that each Declare statement
   must be typed as a single line of code):

Declare Function GetActiveWindow Lib "User" () As Integer
Declare Function SetFocusAPI Lib "User" Alias "SetFocus"
  (ByVal Hwnd As Integer) As Integer
Declare Function SetSysModalWindow Lib "User"
  (ByVal Hwnd As Integer) As Integer
Declare Function LockInput Lib "User"
  (ByVal hReserved As Integer, ByVal hwndInput As Integer,
  ByVal fLock As Integer) As Integer
Dim TopHwnd As Integer

4. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form1:

Sub Form_Load()
 Dim X As Integer
 Show
 DoEvents
 TopHwnd = GetActiveWindow()
 X = SetFocusAPI(TopHwnd)
 X = SetSysModalWindow(TopHwnd)
 X = LockInput(0, TopHwnd, 1)
End Sub

5. Add the following code to the Form_Unload event for Form1:

Sub Form_Unload(Cancel As Integer)
 X = LockInput(0, TopHwnd, 0)
End Sub

6. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by
   default. Set its Caption property to "Quit".
7. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Sub Command1_Click()
   X = LockInput(0, TopHwnd, 0)
   End
End Sub

Additional References
Knowledge Base Q72674. "How to Create a System-Modal Program/Window
in Visual Basic." (Development Library, Knowledge Base and Bug Lists)

Tip 65: Separating a Path into Individual Fields

2007-07-22T07:43:00.001-07:00

* VB-CODE (3)

Abstract
When developing an application in Visual Basic®, you may need to ask
the user to enter a fully qualified path, such as when saving a data
file to disk. However, your program may need to determine if the
specified directory and filename are valid DOS names, or you may need
to use the individual elements of the path in some other way. This
article demonstrates how you can write a procedure to extract the
individual path, filename, and filename extension from a fully
qualified path.

Parsing the Elements of a Path
The Visual Basic® InStr and Left$ functions provide the tools you
need to parse, or extract, certain text from a larger text string.
The InStr function lets you search for a specific character within
a text string. If it finds the target character, InStr returns the
character's position in the text string. Once you know where the
target text is, you can use the Left$ function to retrieve only a
specific portion of the original text string. In the example program
below, we want to retrieve the directory name from the path.
Therefore, we first call InStr to search the target string (Full) for
the "\" backslash character. The backslash character tells us that
the name of a directory was specified in the path. If the backslash
character is found, we use the Left$ function to extract this
directory name and store it in the variable Pname. We know that the
name of the directory starts at the string's first position and ends
at the position returned by InStr. This same technique is used to
extract the filename extension from the specified filename, only the

nStr function is told to search for the '.' (period character) and
the Mid$ function is used to extract the actual filename's extension.

Example Program
The following program shows how you can separate a fully qualified
path into separate directory, filename, and filename extension fields.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add a Text Box control to Form1. Text1 is created by default. Set
   its MultiLine property to True.
3. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form1:

Sub Form_Load()
 Dim FullName As String
 Dim X As Integer
 Dim PathName As String
 Dim FileName As String
 Dim ExtName As String

 FullName = "c:\winword\legal\filename.exe"
 X = BreakDown(FullName, FileName, PathName, ExtName)

 Text1.Text = ""
 Text1.Text = "Pathname  > " & PathName & Chr(13) & Chr(10)
 Text1.Text = Text1.Text & "FileName  > " & FileName & Chr(13) & Chr(10)
 Text1.Text = Text1.Text & "Extension > " & ExtName & Chr(13) & Chr(10)
End Sub

4. Create a new function called BreakDown. Add the following code to
   this function (note that the BreakDown line must be typed as a
   single line of code):

BreakDown(Full As String, FName As String, PName As String, Ext As String) As Integer
 If Full = "" Then
     BreakDown = False
     Exit Function
 End If
 If InStr(Full, "\") Then
     FName = Full
     PName = ""
     Sloc% = InStr(FName, "\")
     Do While Sloc% <> 0
       PName = PName + Left$(FName, Sloc%)
       FName = Mid$(FName, Sloc% + 1)
       Sloc% = InStr(FName, "\")
     Loop
 Else
     PName = ""
     FName = Full
 End If
 Dot% = InStr(Full, ".")
 If Dot% <> 0 Then
     Ext = Mid$(Full, Dot%)
 Else
     Ext = ""
 End If
 BreakDown = True
End Function

Tip 64: Changing the Case of Text Entered in a Text Box Control

2007-07-22T07:41:00.000-07:00


Abstract
This article explains how you can force a Visual Basic® Text Box
control to convert all typed text to either uppercase or lowercase
characters.

Forcing Text to Be Uppercase or Lowercase
The Visual Basic® Text Box control allows your program to accept any
ASCII character typed on the keyboard by the user. You can force
Windows® to convert the typed text to either all uppercase or all
lowercase characters.

The Windows application programming interface (API) GetWindowLong and
SetWindowLong functions return or set various types of information
about the style associated with the specified window. Every window in
a Windows-based application has certain attributes that determine how
that window is used within an application. Some of these style
attributes can be changed at run time to modify the behavior of
controls such as the Text Box control.

To determine a window's current style settings, you can use the
GetWindowLong function. The Declare statement for GetWindowLong is as
follows (note that it must be typed as a single line of code):

Declare Function GetWindowLong Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer,
  ByVal nIndex As Integer) As Long

The GetWindowLong function requires two arguments, as follows:

hWnd    An integer value containing the window's handle
nIndex  An integer value containing the type of window information
       you want to retrieve. This value may be one of the following
       constants:
GWL_EXSTYLE   Retrieves the extended window style.
GWL_STYLE     Retrieves the window style.
GWL_WINDPROC  Retrieves the window function's address.

After the GetWindowLong function is executed, a long value is
returned. This value depends on the specific nIndex argument used to
call the function.
To change a window's style, you call the SetWindowLong function. Its
Declare statement is as follows (note that it must be typed as a
single line of code):

Declare Function SetWindowLong Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer,
  ByVal nIndex As Integer, ByVal dwNewLong As Long) As Long

The SetWindowLong function requires one more argument than the
GetWindowLong function, namely, dwNewLong. This long value should
contain the new style value you want to apply to the specified window.
When you want to force a Text Box control to convert typed text to
uppercase characters, you can call SetWindowLong with dwNewLong set
to the constant ES_UPPERCASE. Conversely, to convert all typed text
to lowercase characters, you call SetWindowLong with dwNewLong set
to the constant ES_LOWERCASE. In an actual Visual Basic application,
you would first preserve the control's original window style and then
restore the window's style when your special task has been completed.

Example Program
The program shown below displays two Command Buttons and a Text Box
on a form. Click the "Uppercase Only" Command Button to force all
text typed in the Text Box to uppercase characters. Conversely, click
the "Lowercase Only" Command Button to force typed text to be
converted to lowercase characters.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following Declare statements to the General Declarations
   section of Form1 (note that each Declare statement must be typed
   as a single line of text):

Declare Function GetWindowLong Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer,
  ByVal nIndex As Integer) As Long
Declare Function SetWindowLong Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer,
  ByVal nIndex As Integer, ByVal dwNewLong As Long) As Long

3. Add a Text Box control to Form1. Text1 is created by default.
4. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by
   default. Set its Caption property to "Uppercase Only".
5. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Sub Command1_Click()
 Text1.Text = ""
 X = ChangeCase(Text1, True)
 Text1.SetFocus
End Sub

6. Add a second Command Button control to Form1. Command2 is created
   by default. Set its Caption property to "Lowercase Only".
7. Add the following code to the Click event for Command2:

Sub Command2_Click()
 Text1.Text = ""
  X = ChangeCase(Text1, False)
 Text1.SetFocus
End Sub

8. Create a new function called ChangeCase. Add the following code
   to this function:

Function ChangeCase(TheControl As Control, UpLow As Integer) As Integer
 Const GWL_STYLE = (-16)
 Const ES_UPPERCASE = &H8&
 Const ES_LOWERCASE = &H10&
 Dim Rtn As Long
 Dim EditStyle As Long
 EditStyle = GetWindowLong(TheControl.hWnd, GWL_STYLE)
 If UpLow = True Then
     EditStyle = EditStyle Or ES_UPPERCASE
 End If
 If UpLow = False Then
     EditStyle = EditStyle Or ES_LOWERCASE
 End If
 Rtn = SetWindowLong(TheControl.hWnd, GWL_STYLE, EditStyle)
End Function

Tip 63: Preventing List Box from Redrawing (Refreshing)

2007-07-22T07:40:00.000-07:00

Created: April 24, 1995

Abstract
In a Visual Basic® application you can update the contents of a List
Box control by using the AddItem or RemoveItem methods. However, if
you do not want the contents of the modified List Box to be updated
until all items have been added or deleted, you can use the Windows®
application programming interface (API) SendMessage function to set a
flag (WM_SETREDRAW) telling Windows not to update the control until
you specifically ask it to do so. This article explains how you can
prevent a List Box control from being updated immediately.

Using the WM_SETREDRAW Message
In a Visual Basic® application, you can use a List Box control to hold
items such as names of people. When a user clicks on an item in a List
Box control, that item is highlighted and is said to be selected. If a
List Box's MultiSelect property is set to True, multiple items can be
selected at one time. New items can be added to a List Box control by
using the AddItem method, and items can be deleted using the
RemoveItem method. However, as soon as you use AddItem or RemoveItem,
the List Box's Refresh event is triggered, which in turn updates the
contents of the control. This behavior may not be appropriate in cases
where you want to suppress the updating process while adding,
deleting, or changing a large number of entries.

You can force your Visual Basic application to update the List Box
control at a specific time by using the Windows® application
programming interface (API) SendMessage and SendMessageByString
functions. You must send the WM_SETREDRAW message to the control to
prevent the List Box from being updated. In addition, you must also
send the actual data to the List Box by using the SendMessage
function you cannot use the AddItem or RemoveItem methods, because
these methods will override the WM_SETREDRAW message.

Setting the redraw flag to TRUE turns the redraw function on, and
setting the redraw flag to FALSE turns the redraw function off.
Therefore, in a Visual Basic application that is updating a List Box,
you must send the WM_SETREDRAW message before you actually begin
manipulating the contents of the control. After you have finished
adding or removing items from the List Box control, you can send
another WM_SETREDRAW message to turn the redraw function on again.
This will cause Windows to display the modified List Box control
immediately.

Example Program
The program shown below displays two List Box controls on the form.
You can select items from the first List Box by clicking them. Each
selected item will be added to the second List Box control when you
click the "Show Results" command button.

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. Add the following Constant and Declare statements to the General
   Declarations section of Form1 (note that each Declare statement
   should be typed as a single line of code):

Const WM_SetRedraw = &HB
Const LB_ADDSTRING = &H401

Declare Function SendMessage Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer,
  ByVal wMsg As Integer, ByVal wParam As Integer, lParam As Any)
  As Integer
Declare Function SendMessageByString Lib "User" Alias "PostMessage"
  (ByVal hWnd As Integer, ByVal wMsg As Integer, ByVal wParam
  As Integer, ByVal lParam As String) As Integer

3. Add the following code to the Form_Load event for Form1:

Sub Form_Load()
 Dim X As Integer
 Dim D As Integer
 Dim S As String
 'Add some dummy data to List1
 For X = 0 To 15
     List1.AddItem "Item #" + Str$(X)
 Next X
End Sub

4. Add a Command Button control to Form1. Command1 is created by
   default. Set its Caption property to "Show Results".
5. Add the following code to the Click event for Command1:

Sub Command1_Click()
 'Show updated list box now
 X = SendMessage(List2.hWnd, WM_SetRedraw, 1, 0)
End Sub

6. Add a List Box control to Form1. List1 is created by default. Set
   its MultiSelect property to True.
7. Add the following code to the DblClick event for List1:

Sub List1_DblClick()
   'Disable the Repaint event
   X = SendMessage(List2.hWnd, WM_SetRedraw, 0, 0)
   S = List1.List(List1.ListIndex)
 ' Must use SendMessageByString instead of
 ' List2.AddItem S to prevent redrawing
   D = SendMessageByString(List2.hWnd, LB_ADDSTRING, 0, S)
End Sub

8. Add a second List Box control to Form1. List2 is created by
   default.

FIX: "Could Not Execute Link.exe" Error Message When You Build Large Visual Basic Projects

2007-07-22T07:37:00.000-07:00

SYMPTOMS

You can build small Visual Basic projects successfully. However, if you build a large Visual Basic project, you may receive the following error message:

Could not execute 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VB98\Link.exe'

This problem occurs more often when you build your project under nested folders.

CAUSE

The length of the Link.exe command line exceeds the limitation of the operating system because of the large number of modules that must be linked in your project.

RESOLUTION

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that is described in this article. Only apply it to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0 service pack that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

(http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support)

NOTE: In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The typical support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:

   Date        Time    Version     Size     File name     Platform
  --------------------------------------------------------------
  8-Jan-2002  11:52   6.0.0.9445  1.601 KB VBA6.dll      x86

To install this hotfix, rename the old VBA6.dll file, and then replace it with the new VBA6.dll file that is included in the fix.

WORKAROUND

If the number of modules in your project is not too large, you can build your project executable files into a folder with a short path such as C:\.

APPLIES TO

•	Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Enterprise Edition
•	Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Professional Edition

kbbug kbfix kbqfe kbcompiler kbhotfixserver KB316010

How To Compile VB Programs with Debug Symbols Embedded

2007-07-22T07:32:00.000-07:00

SUMMARY

The "Compile to Native Code" option introduced in Visual Basic versions 5.0 and 6.0 not only improves performance of Visual Basic programs and components, but also makes it possible to debug them with the Visual C++ debugger.

This article shows you how to compile a Visual Basic program or component with embedded debug symbols. By doing so, you simplify the debugging process and avoid the problems associated with mismatched and improperly placed symbols.

MORE INFORMATION

All it takes to compile a Visual Basic program or component with embedded debug symbols is a properly set environment variable, LINK. The key is to set it in such a way that Visual Basic inherits the setting when it is launched. To do this, follow the steps below:

There are several ways to set the LINK environment variable, each of these methods is outlined below:

Windows NT or Windows 95/98/Me

1.	Open an MS-DOS Prompt.
2.	Navigate to the folder containing Visual Basic.
3.	Execute the following command, "set link=/pdb:none" without quotes.
4.	Start Visual Basic from the MS-DOS command prompt.

Windows NT Only

1.	From the Control Panel, select the System icon.
2.	Select the Environment tab.
3.	In the Variable entry, enter "link" without quotes.
4.	In the Value entry, enter the following: /pdb:none
5.	Press Set, then Apply.
6.	Start Visual Basic from the MS-DOS command prompt.

Windows 95/98/Me Only

1.	Make a backup copy of the AutoExec.Bat file.
2.	Open the Autoexec.bat file with Notepad.Exe or any text editor.
3.	Add the following entry to the AutoExec.Bat file: set link=/pdb:none
4.	Save the AutoExec.Bat file.
5.	Execute the AutoExec.Bat file or reboot the machine.
6.	Start Visual Basic. Once the LINK environment variable is set, a Visual Basic project can be compiled with embedded debug symbols. The following steps describe how to create a test program and compile it with embedded debug symbols:

Step-by-Step Example

1.	Create a new Standard EXE project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2.	Add a CommandButton (Command1) to Form1.
3.	Add the following code to Form1: Private Sub Command1_Click() Dim s As String s = App.EXEName Print s End Sub
4.	Select Project1 Properties from the Project menu.
5.	Select the Compile tab.
6.	Select Compile to Native Code, check Create Symbolic Debug Info, and select No Optimization.
7.	Save the project and create Project1.EXE. Note that the EXE is created with embedded debug symbols.

Pemrograman Database dengan ADO Code

2007-07-21T01:09:00.000-07:00

'Deskripsi: Contoh source code untuk menangani database, lengkap dengan
'           fungsi/prosedur menambah, menyimpan, mengedit, menghapus,
'           navigasi, mencari pertama, mencari berikutnya, memfilter, dan
'           menyortir data. Sangat cocok untuk digunakan sebagai template
'           pemrograman database menggunakan coding yang memerlukan
'           validasi data dan penanganan khusus lainnya.
'           Menggunakan reference Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects 2.0 Library
'           dan component DataGrid untuk penanganan data.
'Pembuat  : Masino Sinaga (masino_sinaga@posindonesia.co.id)
'Hari/Tgl : Sabtu, 11 Mei 2002
'Modifik. : Jumat, 31 Mei 2002
'Persiapan: 1. Buat 1 Project baru dengan 2 Form, beri nama frmADOCode
'              dan frmInfo.
'           2. Pada frmData (utilitas database), tambahkan sebagai berikut:
'              * TextBox:
'                - txtFields(0), set properti DataField = NIM
'                - txtFields(1), set properti DataField = Nama
'                - txtFields(2), set properti DataField = Nippos
'                - txtFields(3), set properti DataField = Alamat
'                - txtFields(4), set properti DataField = Tgl_lahir
'              * DataGrid, Name = grdDataGrid
'              * Picturebox, Name = picStatBox, di dalamnya tambahkan:
'                - cmdFirst       (Commandbutton)
'                - cmdPrevious    (Commandbutton)
'                - cmdNext        (Commandbutton)
'                - cmdLast        (Commandbutton)
'                - lblStatus      (Label)
'              * Picturebox, Name = picButtons, di dalamnya tambahkan:
'                - cmdAdd         (Commandbutton)
'                - cmdUpdate      (Commandbutton)
'                - cmdCancel      (Commandbutton)
'                - cmdDelete      (Commandbutton)
'                - cmdEdit        (Commandbutton)
'                - cmdRefresh     (Commandbutton)
'                - cmdAbout       (Commandbutton)
'                - cmdClose       (Commandbutton)
'              * Picturebox, Name = picUtility, di dalamnya tambahkan:
'                - cmdFindFirst   (Commandbutton)
'                - cmdFindNext    (Commandbutton)
'                - cmdView        (Commandbutton)
'                - cmdClearSearch (Commandbutton)
'                - cmdFilter      (Commandbutton)
'                - cmdUnFilter    (Commandbutton)
'                - cmdSortASC     (Commandbutton)
'                - cmdSortDESC    (Commandbutton)
'           3. Pada frmInfo (utk pencarian data), tambahkan sebagai berikut:
'              * Textbox, beri nama Text1, set property Multiline = True
'              * Commandbutton, sbb:
'                - cmdFindFirst   (Commandbutton)
'                - cmdFindNext    (Commandbutton)
'                - cmdClearSearch (Commandbutton)
'                - cmdSimpan      (Commandbutton)
'                - cmdOK          (Commandbutton)
'           4. Tambahkan reference "Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects 2.0 Library"
'              dari menu Project->References...
'           5. Tambahkan component "Microsoft Common Dialog Control 6.0 (SP3)"
'              dari menu Project->Components... pada frmInfo
'           6. Copy-kan coding untuk setiap form yang bertalian
'              (lihat di frmADOCode dan frmInfo di bawah)
'---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dealing with Null Strings in Access Database Fields

2007-07-21T00:20:00.000-07:00

By default Access string fields contain NULL values unless a string value (including a blank string like "") has been assigned. When you read these fields using recordsets into VB string variables, you get a runtime type-mismatch error. The best way to deal with this problem is to use the built-in & operator to concatenate a blank string to each field as you read it.

For example:

Dim DB As Database
Dim RS As Recordset
Dim sYear As String
Set DB = OpenDatabase("Biblio.mdb")
Set RS = DB.OpenRecordset("Authors")
sYear = "" & RS![Year Born]

Tip by Matthias Steinbart

Export to Any Type of Database

2007-07-21T00:18:00.000-07:00

Everyone tells you how to import, but even most MS-VB techs start coughing when you ask how to export with DAO! Use this code to get data out to different formats without requiring a complete copy of any DBMS on the user machine.

Create a new project with a command button and a DAO3.5 reference, then copy this code to the button's Click event (snippet assumes the MS sample file biblio.mdb is in the application path):

Dim db as database
Set db = Workspaces(0).OpenDatabase(app.path & "biblio.mdb")
'commented out syntax followed by working example
'db.execute "SELECT tbl.fields INTO [dbms type;DATABASE=path].[unqualified 'filename] FROM [table or tables]
db.execute "SELECT * INTO [dBase III;DATABASE="C:My Documents].[testa] FROM [authors]"

By using the brackets and dot operator, you get a completely proper output in the ISAM database type of your choice. Also, if you choose Text as the database type, the statement creates a Schema.ini for you automatically, or adds a new section for your new data file to a Schema.ini already in the path folder.

Now you can do any kind of export the client wants without using a DBMS on the machine. This makes your life easier when you notice that some of your users running Word97 have problems mail-merging with text files you originally created with traditional (and slower) Write# and Print# methods.

Tip by Robert Smith

How to Speed Up Database Access

2007-07-21T00:17:00.000-07:00

Here is a trick to loop through a recordset faster. Often when looping through a recordset people will use the following code:

Do While Not Records.EOF
Combo1.AddItem Records![Full Name]
Records.Movenext
Loop

The problem is that everytime the database moves to the next record it must make a check to see if it has reached the end of the file. This slows the looping down a great deal. When moving or searching throuch a large record set this can make a major difference. Here is a better way to do it.

Records.MoveLast
intRecCount=Records.RecordCount
Records.MoveFirst

For intCounter=1 To intRecCount
Combo1.AddItem Records![Full Name]
Records.MoveNext
Next intCounter

How To Scroll a Form When VB Forms Are Limited to Screen Size (Q109741)

2007-07-20T22:54:00.000-07:00

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition, 16-bit, for Windows, version 4.0

Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition, 32-bit, for Windows, version 4.0

Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows, versions 5.0, 6.0

Microsoft Visual Basic Learning Edition for Windows, versions 5.0, 6.0

Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows, versions 3.0 , 5.0 , 6.0

Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition, 16-bit, for Windows, version 4.0

Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition, 32-bit, for Windows, version 4.0

Microsoft Visual Basic Standard Edition for Windows, version 3.0

Microsoft Visual Basic Standard Edition, 32-bit, for Windows, version 4.0

SUMMARY

A Visual Basic form cannot be sized larger than the screen. This article explains how to scroll the contents of a form to enlarge the usable area of a form. The sample program below works by scrolling a picture box control which is larger than the form and contains attached controls. When the picture box scrolls, all the attached controls scroll together.

MORE INFORMATION

Step-by-Step Example NOTE: This technique will not work on any version of Windows NT if any of the Visual Basic lightweight controls (for example, Label Control) are children of the scrolling control and positioned outside of the screen's viewing area. This is due to the way that Windows NT handles drawing to nonlogical areas of the screen. To work around the problem, do not use lightweight controls as children of the scrolling control.

Add a horizontal scroll bar control and a vertical scroll bar control to Form1. (The size doesn't matter because the program automatically sizes the scroll bars in the Form Resize event code.
Add a picture box control to Form1. Draw a text box control inside the upper-left corner of the picture box such that when the picture box moves, the text box moves with it.
Select the Text1 box and press the F4 key to display the Properties window. Set the Text1 Index property to 0, which is required at design time to make an array of text controls. You can also enhance this sample program by placing more controls into the picture box. When the picture box scrolls, all the controls scroll.

Add the following code to the Form Load event:

      Sub Form_Load()          ' Make the picture box bigger than the form:          Picture1.Move 0, 0, 1.4 * ScaleWidth, 1.2 * ScaleHeight          ' Position and size the first TextBox:          Text1(0).Move 0, 0, Picture1.Width / 2, Picture1.Height / 20          ' Place some sample controls in the picture box:          Dim i As Integer          For i = 1 To 20             Load Text1(i)             Text1(i).Visible = True             Text1(i).Left = i * Picture1.Height / 20             Text1(i).Top = Text1(i).Left          Next       End Sub

Add the following code to the Form Resize event:

      Sub Form_Resize ()          ' Position the scroll bars:          hscroll1.Left = 0          vscroll1.Top = 0          If Picture1.Width > scalewidth Then             hscroll1.Top = ScaleHeight - hscroll1.Height          Else             hscroll1.Top = ScaleHeight          End If          If Picture1.Height > hscroll1.Top Then             vscroll1.Left = scalewidth - vscroll1.Width             If Picture1.Width > vscroll1.Left Then                hscroll1.Top = ScaleHeight - hscroll1.Height             End If          Else             vscroll1.Left = scalewidth          End If          hscroll1.Width = scalewidth          If hscroll1.Top > 0 then vscroll1.Height=hscroll1.Top          ' Set the scroll bar ranges          hscroll1.Max = Picture1.Width - vscroll1.Left          vscroll1.Max = Picture1.Height - hscroll1.Top          hscroll1.SmallChange = Abs(hscroll1.Max \ 16) + 1          hscroll1.LargeChange = Abs(hscroll1.Max \ 4) + 1          vscroll1.SmallChange = Abs(vscroll1.Max \ 16) + 1          vscroll1.LargeChange = Abs(vscroll1.Max \ 4) + 1          hscroll1.ZOrder 0          vscroll1.ZOrder 0       End Sub

Add the following code to the HScroll1 Change event:

      Sub HScroll1_Change ()          Picture1.Left = -HScroll1.Value       End Sub

Add the following code to the VScroll1 Change event:

      Sub VScroll1_Change ()          Picture1.Top = -VScroll1.Value       End Sub

Start the program (or press the F5 key). Click the scroll bars to scroll the form. Close the form to end the program.

Sumber: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q109741

How To Open a Secured Access Database in ADO Through OLE DB (Q191754)

2007-07-20T22:51:00.000-07:00

The information in this article applies to: 'Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows, versions 5.0 , 6.0 'Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows, versions 5.0 , 6.0 'ActiveX Data Objects (ADO), versions 2.0 , 2.1 SP2 , 2.5 'Microsoft OLE DB Provider for Jet, version 1.0 'SUMMARY 'The native OLE DB provider for Microsoft Access databases that ships 'with Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) version 2.0 or later 'enables you to open a secured Microsoft Access database. 'MORE INFORMATION 'If you are opening a password-protected database, you can use any 'one of the following three syntaxes:


  Dim MyConn As New ADODB.Connection

  MyConn.Provider = "Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0"
  MyConn.Properties("Data Source") = "C:\...\JetPassword.MDB"
  MyConn.Properties("Jet OLEDB:Database Password") = "MyPwd"
  MyConn.Open

             '--- or ---

  Dim MyConn As New ADODB.Connection
  Dim strConn As String

  strConn = "Data Source=C:\...\JetPassword.MDB;" & _
            "Jet OLEDB:Database Password=MyPwd"
  MyConn.Provider = "Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0"
  MyConn.Open strConn

             '--- or ---

  Dim MyConn As New ADODB.Connection
  Dim strConn As String

  strConn = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;" & _
            "Data Source=C:\...\JetPassword.MDB;" & _
            "Jet OLEDB:Database Password=MyPwd"
  MyConn.Open strConn


'If you are opening a database that uses Jet security, you can use
'any one of the following three syntaxes:

  Dim MyConn As New ADODB.Connection

  MyConn.Provider = "Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0"
  MyConn.Properties("Data Source") = "C:\...\JetSecurity.MDB"
  MyConn.Properties("Jet OLEDB:System database") = "C:\...\System.MDW"
  MyConn.Open UserID:="Admin", Password:="MyPwd"

             '--- or ---

  Dim MyConn As New ADODB.Connection
  Dim strConn As String

  strConn = "Data Source=C:\...\JetSecurity.MDB;" & _
            "Jet OLEDB:System database=C:\...\System.MDW"
  MyConn.Provider = "Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0"
  MyConn.Open ConnectionString:=strConn, _
              UserID:="Admin", Password:="MyPwd"

             '--- or ---

  Dim MyConn As New ADODB.Connection
  Dim strConn As String

  strConn = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;"
            "Data Source=C:\...\JetSecurity.MDB;" & _
            "Jet OLEDB:System database=C:\...\System.MDW"
  MyConn.Open ConnectionString:=strConn, _
              UserID:="Admin", Password:="MyPwd"

'NOTE : Jet 3.51 OLEDB provider is designed to open Access 97
'databases only. Jet 4.0 OLEDB provider is designed to open Access
'2000 or Access 97 databases.

'If you must use the Jet 3.51 Provider in the above examples, change
'the provider name to "Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.3.51."

'Starting with Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) version 2.6,
'MDAC no longer contains the following Jet components:

           '-  Microsoft Jet
           '-  Microsoft Jet OLE DB Provider
           '-  ODBC Desktop Database Drivers
          
'For additional information, click the article number below to view
'the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
'Q239114 ACC2000: Updated Version of Microsoft Jet 4.0 Available in
'Download Center
'The "MDAC 2.5 Stack and Windows File Protection" white paper
'contains a full list of the components that are shipped with MDAC
'2.5, along with a discussion of Windows File Protection. Refer to
'this white paper for more information about the Jet dynamic-link
'libraries (DLLs) that are included in MDAC 2.5, which are no longer
'a part of MDAC 2.6.

'For more information about MDAC 2.5 and Windows File Protection, see
'the following Microsoft Web site:
'http://www.microsoft.com/data/mdacwfp.htm

Sumber: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q191754

Working with Crystal Reports: Use CR with MsAccess and Oracle

2007-07-20T22:29:00.001-07:00

Working with Crystal Reports: Use CR with MsAccess and Oracle Campbell, Stanley (Stan); Stanley_Campbell@dscc.dla.mil WEB: http://www.dscc.dla.mil In This Code I have data Stored in a Access.MDB and an Oracle Database. I put these in a Module:

Public MyDataSource As String
Public MyUserID As String
Public MyPassword As String
Public strConnectInformation As String


Getting Ready to Use the Report.

 Dim DateParam As String

  'Reset Crystal Report Selection Criteria.
 CrystalReport1.SelectionFormula = ""
 CrystalReport1.ParameterFields(0) = ""

 'Put Date in Proper Format for Crystal Reports.
 DateParam = Format(DateSelected, "yyyy,mm,dd")

 'Start Crystal Reports Code.
 Call ConnectToCR
 CrystalReport1.ParameterFields(0) = "DateToReport; DATE(" & DateParam &amp; ") ;TRUE"
 CrystalReport1.ReportFileName = "Q:\Daily.rpt"
 CrystalReport1.Destination = 1   'Send to Printer
 CrystalReport1.WindowTitle = "Daily Report"
 CrystalReport1.Action = 1  ' Run Report

I connect to an Oracle Database.

Private Sub ConnectToCR()
 MyDataSource = "Name of Oracle Table"
 MyUserID = "USER"
 MyPassword = "ORACLE"
 'DataSetQualifier = "Name of Oracle Table" & Chr$(0)

 strConnectInformation = "DSN = " & MyDataSource & ";"
 strConnectInformation = strConnectInformation & "UID = " & MyUserID &    ";"
 strConnectInformation = strConnectInformation & "PWD = " &    MyPassword & ";"
 strConnectInformation = strConnectInformation & "DSQ = " '& DataSetQualifier
 CrystalReport1.Connect = strConnectInformation
End Sub