INFO: eVB - Migration Issues for Existing VBCE Applications (260079)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft eMbedded Visual Basic 3.0
This article was previously published under Q260079

SUMMARY

This article discusses known issues surrounding the migration of the Microsoft CE Toolkit for Visual Basic (VBCE) 5.0 and 6.0 projects to eMbedded Visual Basic 3.0 (eVB 3.0).

MORE INFORMATION

I. IDE

A. Form Generates Log File When Loading in eVB 3.0

When you port a project from a previous version of VBCE to the eMbedded Visual Basic 3.0 integrated development environment (IDE), the project generates an error and creates a log file for forms. The log file contains an error message similar to:
Line 8: The property name LinkTopic in Form1 is invalid.
Previous versions of VBCE store the unused LinkTopic property in the form (.frm) file. That file is no longer maintained by eMbedded Visual Basic 3.0. Save the form in the eVB 3.0 IDE to prevent this behavior from occurring the next time you load the project.

NOTE: It is a good idea to keep projects created in previous versions of VBCE in folders separate from those that are intended for use in eVB 3.0. See the "B. Saving Forms" section of this article for more information.

To reproduce the behavior, follow these steps:
  1. Create a Windows CE HPC Pro Project in VBCE 6.0. Make sure it has Form1 included.
  2. Save the project.
  3. Open eMbedded Visual Basic 3.0, and then open the the project you just created in VBCE 6.0. You need to change the filter to *.* in order to locate the .vbp file because the new project files have .ebp extensions.
  4. Select H/PC Pro 2.11 when you are prompted for the platform.
  5. In the Project explorer, double-click on Form1, and note that a message box appears with the following error message:
    Errors during load. Refer to Form1.log for details.
  6. If you open this log in Notepad, you see an error message similar to:
    Line 8: The property name LinkTopic in Form1 is invalid.

B. Saving Forms

If you try to save a form created in a previous version of VBCE and an eMbedded Visual Basic 3.0 form in the same folder with the same name, errors occur if the forms contain a ListBox or a ComboBox control. This occurs because both forms access the same .frx file. In eVB 3.0, forms and projects have new default extensions: .ebf and .ebp, respectively. It is therefore possible to have a Form1.frm file from previous versions of VBCE along side a Form1.ebf file created by eMbedded Visual Basic 3.0. Both files access the same Form1.frx, but the persisted data maintained in the .frx file by the different versions is not the same. This produces errors that may appear in a form log file. To avoid this problem, keep projects created in previous versions of VBCE in separate folders than those intended for use in eVB 3.0. Errors could also occur if you save a project in eVB 3.0 and try to load it in previous versions of VBCE.

C. Menu Editor Has Been Removed

The Menu Editor has been removed from the IDE. Projects created in previous versions of VBCE that contain a menu created with the Menu Editor have the menu removed when opened in the new eMbedded Visual Basic 3.0 IDE. The CommandBar control should be used for H/PC Pro and Palm-size PC 1.2 projects and the menu bar should be used for Pocket PC projects.

D. Porting VBCE Project Loses Data Entered from the Project Properties Make Tab

When you load a project created in a prior version of VBCE, the Application Title and all the Version Information is removed. This includes the Title, Comments, CompanyName, FileDescription, LegalCopyright, LegalTrademarks, and ProductName properties of the Application. The Major, Minor and Revision Version Numbers are also removed.

E. Sub Main Converts to Form

When you open a project created in previous versions of VBCE that uses Sub Main as the Startup object, the Startup object is converted to a form name. This results in the project running but not behaving correctly.

To work around this behavior, use the Project Properties dialog box to change the startup object back to Sub Main.

II. Controls

A. List Property

When you load a project that was created in a prior version of VBCE, the information stored in the List property of the ComboBox and ListBox controls is removed. You can enter data for the List property in eVB 3.0 through the Custom property pages for the ListBox and ComboBox controls. This is the first item in the Properties window for these controls.

B. Text Assigned to a Multi-line Textbox Gets Deleted

Porting a project that was created in prior versions of VBCE and contains a multi-line textbox deletes the design-time Text property. If you add a multi-line textbox in an HPC Pro or a Palm-size PC project and load that project into the eMbedded VB 3.0 IDE, the text is no longer assigned to the textbox. This behavior only occurs to text that is assigned in the IDE at design time. Reassigning and saving the text in the eVB 3.0 IDE fixes the problem.

C. CommandBar Should Not Be Used in Pocket PC Project

If you have an HPC Pro or a Palm-size PC project created in prior versions of VBCE that contains a CommandBar control, and this project is loaded into the eMbedded VB 3.0 IDE as a Pocket PC project, no error is generated. The Pocket PC does not support the CommandBar. You should not be able to use the CommandBar in a Pocket PC project; however, loading the file from previous versions of VBCE automatically adds the control to the Toolbox as if it were supported. If you delete the control from the form, deselect it from the Components list, and then save your project, the control does not appear the next time you load the project.

REFERENCES

For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

260101 INFO: Installation Issues Regarding eMbedded Visual Basic 3.0

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:9/4/2002
Keywords:kbDSupport kbinfo KB260079
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.