Getting Started with VB6
Getting Started with VB6
Visual Basic 6.0, released in 1998, is Microsoft's rapid application development (RAD) tool for building Windows desktop applications. It remains widely used for business applications and COM component development.
Installing Visual Basic 6
- VB6 is part of Visual Studio 6.0. Insert the VS6 CD and run setup.
- Choose Custom installation and select Visual Basic 6.0.
- Install Service Pack 6 (SP6) after setup — it fixes numerous bugs and adds Windows 2000/XP compatibility.
Your First Application
- Launch Visual Basic 6 and select Standard EXE from the New Project dialog.
- A blank form (
Form1) appears in the designer. - From the Toolbox, drag a TextBox and a CommandButton onto the form.
- Double-click the button to open the code editor. Enter:
Private Sub Command1_Click() MsgBox "Hello, " & Text1.Text & "!", vbInformation, "Flamenet" End Sub - Press F5 to run. Type your name and click the button.
Project Types
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Standard EXE | Windows desktop application (.exe) |
| ActiveX DLL | In-process COM component (.dll) |
| ActiveX EXE | Out-of-process COM component (.exe) |
| ActiveX Control | Reusable UI control (.ocx) |
| Data Project | Database-focused project with Data Environment |
IDE Overview
- Toolbox: UI controls — Label, TextBox, ComboBox, ListBox, PictureBox, Timer, etc.
- Properties Window: Set design-time properties for the selected control.
- Project Explorer: Shows all forms, modules, and class modules in the project.
- Immediate Window: Type VB statements at runtime for quick debugging (Ctrl+G).