MORE INFORMATION
Lightweight Controls Must Be Borderless
When creating a lightweight User control by setting the Windowless property
to True, the BorderStyle property is invalidated. By definition a
lightweight control has no border.
If you first set the BorderStyle property to anything other than 0 - None
and subsequently change the Windowless property to True, you will receive
an error message "Windowless UserControls only support BorderStyle = None".
Run Time Error 711: Compiled .Exe Doesn't Contain Information About
Unreferenced Control Causing Controls.Add to Fail
Problem:
- Create a new Standard EXE. Form1 is created by default.
- Add a user control to the project.
- Add the following code:
Dim WithEvents x as VBControlExtender
Private Sub Form_Load ()
Set x = Controls.Add ("Project1.Usercontrol1", "XX")
x.Visible = True
End Sub
- On the File menu, click Make Project1.exe (Don't run the project.)
- Run the EXE.
Result: You get an error (711) stating that Project1.Usercontrol1 is an
invalid ProgID since no info about it can be found in the exe.
Solution: Before compiling the project, under the Project menu, click
Project1 Properties. On the Make tab, clear the "Remove information
about unused ActiveX controls" check box.
Remarks
By default, ActiveX controls that are referenced but not placed on any type
of form at design time are not available for Controls.Add at runtime or in
an executable.
Hierarchical FlexGrid Control: ColWordWrapOption, ColWordWrapOptionBand,
ColWordWrapOptionFixed, ColWordWrapOptionHeader Properties
The following properties are part of the Hierarchical FlexGrid control's
feature set but are not documented in the control's help:
ColWordWrapOption, ColWordWrapOptionBand, ColWordWrapOptionFixed,
ColWordWrapOptionHeader. Descriptions and syntaxes for these properties are
found below. Settings for all properties are the same, and can be found at
the bottom of the topic:
ColWordWrapOption Property
Returns or sets a value that specifies how text is wrapped in a specified
column.
Syntax
object.ColWordWrapOption (Index) = integer
The ColWordWrapOption property syntax has these parts:
Part Description
----------------------------------------------------
object An object expression that evaluates to a Hierarchical
FlexGrid control.
Index Long. The number of the column to get or set word wrap
on. The value must be in the range of -1 to Cols - 1.
Setting this value to -1 selects all columns.
integer A numeric expression that determines how words will wrap,
as shown in settings.
ColWordWrapOptionBand Property
Returns or sets a value that specifies how text is wrapped in a specified
band.
Syntax
object.ColWordWrapOptionBand (BandNumber, BandColIndex) = integer
The ColWordWrapOption property syntax has these parts:
Part Description
----------------------------------------------------
object An object expression that evaluates to a Hierarchical
FlexGrid control.
BandNumber Long. The number of the band to get or set word wrap on.
The value must be in the range of 0 to Bands - 1.
BandColIndex Long. The number of the column to get or set word wrap
on. This optional parameter defaults to -1, indicating
all columns in the band. Valid values are -1 to Cols -1.
integer A numeric expression that determines how words will wrap,
as shown in settings.
ColWordWrapOptionBand Property
Returns or sets a value that specifies how text is wrapped in a specified
band.
Syntax
object.ColWordWrapOptionBand (BandNumber, BandColIndex) = integer
The ColWordWrapOption property syntax has these parts:
Part Description
---------------------------------------------------------------
object An object expression that evaluates to a
Hierarchical FlexGrid control.
BandNumber Long. The number of the band to get or set
word wrap on. The value must be in the range
of 0 to Bands - 1.
BandColIndex Long. The number of the column to get or set
word wrap on. This optional parameter
defaults to -1, indicating all columns in the
band. Valid values are -1 to Cols -1.
integer A numeric expression that determines how
words will wrap, as shown in settings.
ColWordWrapOptionFixed Property
Returns or sets a value that specifies how text is wrapped in a specified
fixed column.
Syntax
object.ColWordWrapOptionFixed(index) = integer
The ColWordWrapOptionFixed property syntax has these parts:
Part Description
----------------------------------------------------
object An object expression that evaluates to a Hierarchical
FlexGrid control.
index Long. The number of the column to get/set word wrap on.
This optional parameter defaults to -1. Valid values are
-1 to Cols -1.
Integer A numeric expression that determines how words will wrap,
as shown in settings.
ColWordWrapOptionFixed Property
Returns or sets a value that specifies how text is wrapped in a specified
fixed column.
Syntax
object.ColWordWrapOptionFixed(index) = integer
The ColWordWrapOptionFixed property syntax has these parts:
Part Description
------------------------------------------------------------------
object An object expression that evaluates to a
Hierarchical FlexGrid control.
index Long. The number of the column to get/set
word wrap on. This optional parameter
defaults to -1. Valid values are -1 to Cols
-1.
integer A numeric expression that determines how
words will wrap, as shown in settings.
ColWordWrapOptionHeader Property
Returns or sets a value that specifies how text is wrapped in column
headers.
Syntax
object.ColWordWrapOptionHeader(BandNumber, BandColIndex) = integer
The ColWordWrapOptionHeader property syntax has these parts:
Part Description
--------------------------------------------------------------------
object An object expression that evaluates to a
Hierarchical FlexGrid control.
BandNumber Long. The number of the band to get/set word
wrap on. The value must be in the range of 0
to Bands - 1.
BandColIndex Long. The number of the column to get/set
word wrap on. This optional parameter
defaults to -1 indicating all column headers
in the band. Valid values are -1 to Cols -1.
integer A numeric expression that determines how
words will wrap, as shown in settings.
Settings
The settings for integer are:
Constant Value Description
------------------------------------------------------------
flexSingleLine 0 (Default) Displays text on a
single line only.
flexWordBreak 1 The lines are automatically
broken between words.
flexWordEllipsis 2 Truncates text that does not
fit in the rectangle and adds
ellipsis.
flexWordBreakEllip 3 Breaks words between lines and
sis adds ellipsis if text doesn't
fit in the rectangle.
Hierarchical FlexGrid Control: ColIsVisible and RowIsVisible Properties are
Read Only
The ColIsVisible and RowIsVisible properties are read-only properties and
cannot be set programmatically. You can use the properties to test whether
a column or row is visible, and hide the column or row, if appropriate, as
show below:
With MSHFlexGrid1
If .ColIsVisible(1) Then .ColWidth(1) = 0
If .RowIsVisible(1) Then .RowHeight(1) = 0
End With
Hierarchical FlexGrid Control: Additional Settings for GridLines,
GridLinesBand, GridLinesFixed, GridLinesHeader, GridLinesIndent, and
GridLinesUnpopulated Properties
Two additional settings are possible for the following properties:
ridLines, GridLinesBand, GridLinesFixed, GridLinesHeader,
GridLinesIndent, GridLinesUnpopulated Properties. The possible settings
are show in the table below:
Constant Value Description
---------------------------------------------------------------
flexGridDashes 4 Dashed Lines. Sets line style
between cells to dashed lines.
flexGridDots 5 Dotted Lines. Sets line style
between cells to dotted lines.
Remarks:
These settings can be used in addition to flexGridNone, flexGridFlat,
flexGridInset and flexGridRaised.
DataRepeater Control: Setting Public Properties Affect only the Current
Control
When creating a user control to be used in a DataRepeater control, be aware
that public properties of the control will be set only on the current
control (the "live" control with the focus). For example, if you expose the
Font property of a user control, at run time, resetting that property (as
shown in the example code below) will only affect the current control in
the DataRepeater control. The font of repeated controls will not be
affected.
Private Sub Command1_Click()
' Only the current control's Font will be affected.
DataRepeater1.RepeatedControl.FontName = "Courier"
End Sub
The corresponding code in the user control would resemble the following:
Public Property Get FontName() As String
FontName = txtProductName.Font.Name
End Property
Public Property Let FontName(ByVal newFontName As String)
txtProductName.Font.Name = newFontName
End Property
TabStrip Control: Separators show only when the Style property =
TabFlatButtons
Separators will only appear on a TabStrip control when the Style property
is set to TabFlatButtons. An example is shown below:
Private Sub Form_Load()
With TabStrip1
.Style = tabFlatButtons
.Separators = True
End With
End Sub
Data Report Designer: Error in Event Handling Code
In the topic titled Data Report Events, there is an error in code that
shows how to handle asynchronous errors. For more information, search
online, with Search titles only selected, for "Data Report Events" in the
MSDN Library Visual Studio 6.0 documentation.
The code is found under the heading "Error Events' for Asynchronous Events."
The code omits a "Select Case ErrObj.ErrorNumber" statement. The corrected
code is:
Private Sub DataReport_Error(ByVal JobType As _
MSDataReportLib.AsyncTypeConstants, ByVal Cookie As Long, _
ByVal ErrObj As MSDataReportLib.RptError, ShowError As Boolean)
Select Case ErrObj.ErrorNumber
Case rptErrPrinterInfo ' 8555
MsgBox "A printing error has occurred. " & _
"You may not have a Printer installed."
ShowError = False
Exit Sub
Case Else ' handle other cases here.
ShowError = True
End Select
End Sub
RichTextBox Control: SelPrint Method Has New Argument
The SelPrint method now features a second, optional argument. The syntax
and part descriptions are shown below:
Syntax
object.SelPrint(lHDC As Long, [vStartDoc])
The SelPrint method syntax has these parts:
Part Description
-----------------------------------------------------
object An object expression that evaluates to a
RichTextbox control.
lHDC Long. The device context of the device you
plan to use to print the contents of the
control.
vStartDoc Boolean. Specifies the behavior of the
control regarding startdoc and enddoc printer
control operations, as shown in settings.
Settings
The settings for vStartDoc are:
Constant Value Description
---------------------------------------------------------------
True -1 (Default) The control retains its
original behavior and sends startdoc
and enddoc commands to the printer.
False 0 The control doesn't send startdoc and
enddoc commands, but sends only
startpage and endpage commands to the
printer.
Remarks:
The argument was added to remedy situations when printers do not print with
the default behavior. When the SelPrint method is invoked, both Visual
Basic and the RichTextBox control send startdoc and enddoc commands to the
printer resulting in a nested pair of startdoc/enddoc commands. Some
printers respond only to the first pair of commands and thereby become
disabled when the RichTextbox control sends the second pair. In that case,
setting the vStartDoc argument to False prevents the second pair of
commands from being sent.
Visual Basic 5 Version of MSChart Control Available in Tools Directory
For pre-release users of Visual Basic only:
A Visual Basic 5.0x version of the MSChart control is now included with
Visual Basic. If you need a Visual Basic 5 version of the Chart control,
and you have installed the pre-release version of the MSChart control,
please overwrite the pre-release version with the version contained in the
Tools directory of the Visual Basic CD.
Toolbar Control: Style Property Settings Changed
The Style property settings for the Toolbar control have been changed. The
help topic for the property lists tbrTransparent and tbrRight as possible
settings, however these are not implemented in the current version. The
actual possible settings and descriptions are shown below:
Constant Value Description
--------------------------------------------------------------
tbrStandard 0 (Default) Standard toolbar.
tbrFlat 1 Flat. The borders of a button
dynamically appear when the cursor
hovers over the button.
Visual Basic Run-Time Error 720: Attempting to Add Anything Except a
Control to Controls Collection Causes Run-Time Error
Attempting to add an object that is not a control to the Controls
collection causes run-time error 720. You can only add Visual Basic
intrinsic controls or ActiveX controls to the collection.
To reproduce:
- Create a new Standard Exe. Form1 is created by default.
- Add the following code:
Private Sub Form_Load ()
Controls.Add "Excel.Application", "MyExcelApp")
End Sub
- Run the exe.
Result: You get an error (720): Invalid class string.
Hierarchical FlexGrid Control: Correcting Errors Binding a Recordset to the
HFlexGrid
If you receive the following error when trying to bind the Hierarchical
FlexGrid to an ADO Recordset object, "DataSource settings may be
incorrect", try changing some of the behavioral properties associated with
the ADO Recordset Object or Command. For example, change the CursorLocation
property to adUseNone or adUseClient.
Hierarchical FlexGrid Control: How to Change the Font of Individual Bands
Since the same font object is used for the entire grid object, you must
create a new font object to change the fonts of individual bands, rather
than changing the font directly.
For example, this way will not change the font for the individual band:
MSHFlexGrid1.FontBand(1).Name = "Arial"
Since you are directly modifying the font object, this will change the
fonts in all of the bands to Arial.
To change an individual band, first create a new Font object, then assign
that Font object to the FontBand property:
Dim ft As New StdFont
ft.Name = "Arial"
Set MSHFlexGrid1.FontBand(1) = ft
This will change just the band's font to Arial.
Hierarchical FlexGrid Control: Avoiding the display of duplicate headers
By default, the Hierarchical FlexGrid control uses the first FixedRow in
the Hierarchical FlexGrid as a set of headers (which means it displays the
names of the fields bound to each column in this row). Since, by default,
the HFlexGrid control displays one FixedRow, if you enable the display of
headers on Band 0, it will appear as though the header is being duplicated
twice. To avoid this, set the FixedRow property to 0, or clear out the text
values in the first FixedRow using code.
ADO Data Control: FetchProgress and FetchComplete Events Not Implemented
Although the reference topic for the ADO Data Control includes links to the
FetchProgress and FetchComplete events, the events are not implemented for
the control.
DataGrid: SizeMode and Size Properties Do Not Accept Value of 2
(dbgNumberOfColumns)
The reference topics for the Split object's SizeMode and Size properties
refer to a non-existent property value of 2 (dbgNumberOfColumns). Please
ignore this value.
Controls: ImageList Control on Page Designer
When using the ImageList control on a DHTML Page designer, images cannot be
added at design time. If you try to use the following code in an uncompiled
.dll project, you will get the run-time error: -2147418113 (8000ffff),
"Method 'Add' of object images failed".
Private Sub DHTMLPage_Load()
ImageList1.ListImages.Add , , LoadPicture("C:\Winnt\winnt.bmp")
End Sub
However, the code will work when the .dll project is compiled.
MSComm Control: EOFEnable Property Doesn't Stop Data Input
The EOFEnable property determines if the OnComm event occurs when an EOF
character is detected. Contrary to the documentation for the property,
however, input does not stop.
Treeview Control: Node Object's Visible Property is Read-Only
The Visible property of the Treeview control's Node object is a read-only
property. If the node is not visible, you can use the EnsureVisible method
to make it visible, as shown in the example:
Private Sub Command1_Click()
If Not TreeView1.Nodes(10).Visible Then
TreeView1.Nodes(10).EnsureVisible
End If
End Sub
SysInfo Control: Constants Not Supported
The reference topics for the following events have lists of constants that
identify devices and device data.:
- DeviceArrival Event
- DeviceOtherEvent Event
- DeviceQueryRemove Event
- DeviceQueryRemoveFailed Event
- DeviceRemoveComplete Event
- DeviceRemovePending Event
Contrary to the documentation, however, these constants are not supported
by the events or the SysInfo control. The values associated with the
constants listed in the help topics are valid, but the constant names are
not.
User Control: Binary Persistence of PropertyBag Data Causes Page Designer
to Fail
The PropertyBag saves data in binary format. Due to a known problem with
binary persistence and the DHTML page designer, however, such data causes
the page designer and Visual Basic to fail. See Page Designer: Binary
Persistence Issue for more information.