I've been spoiled by Visual studio 2008 and Eclipse and have to do a little maintainence work on a VB6 app.
Does anyone know of an alternative/ updated IDE for VB6?
A rewrite is not an option I'm just fixing a couple of bugs and it's a big codebase.
64
votes
What's wrong with the IDE? It's lightweight :-) It's very fast on any modern hardware. You can debug, it has breakpoints... What are you missing?
– Darrel Miller
What are you really asking? If VisualStudio 2008 has a VB6 IDE available? Answer to that is no. You have to install the VB6 compiler/IDE that is included in the VisualStudio6 setup. (you can select to install just the VB6 part and skip VisualStudio6 for C++ )
– awe
Also worth a look: Rubberduck, an open-source project which adds features like code inspections, refactorings, powerful navigation tools (member-level code explorer, find all references, goto implementation, find symbol, ...), source control, unit testing, a C# port of the original Smart Indenter code that works in 64-bit VBE hosts, and many more features. Works in VBA for now, but VB6 integration is planned. Note, I'm admin on the Rubberduck repository.
– Mathieu Guindon
8 Answers
61
votes
I have never heard of an alternative IDE for Vb6. However, these two (free) VB6 add-ins are indispensable and will make your life easier - especially if there is a lot of code. They are equally effective for VBA in Microsoft Office.
MZ-Tools: provides a superb collection of IDE tools - finding unused variables, unused methods, a great "search all", code snippets. Written by Carlos J. Quintero, to whom I now owe hours and hours of time.
http://www.mztools.com/v3/mztools3.aspx
And SmartIndenter, which takes care of all the auto-indenting. It does one thing and it does it well.
http://www.oaltd.co.uk/Indenter/Default.htm
8
votes
Some time ago I did some research and nothing came up. I don't believe you have have any real alternatives...
But you could consider checking this out: http://www.axtools.com/products/cs2k3vb_screenshots.htm It looks quite promising.
Addin for Visual Basic 6.0 packing more than 50 professional tools and assistants. The Code View Assistant enriches the standard VB6 code editor with branch lines for conditional statements, end-of-line details, and hotspots. Moreover, the Code Analyzer pinpoints dead and slow code, the SmartComplete and AutoText tools help you write code with a proficiency you never dreamed of, while the Enhanced Project Explorer with expanding code and Code Flow View can make accessing a code location the speedy action you always needed. Other tools: Extended Find, Find References, Designer Explorer, Code Formatter, TabOrder Designer (with auto-order), HotKey Designer, Error Handlers Inserter, Exception Protection, Spelling Checker, Strings Reviewer, Comments Conformity Checker, Task List Manager, Code Snippets Manager, Naming Standards Manager.Version 2007 adds Designer Analyzer, User Interface Standard Properties Manager, Library Explorer including Designer Snippets, many enhancements in most subsystems.
8
votes
Because the VB6 IDE does not detect file changes made outside of the IDE, it can be quite difficult to develop code outside of the VB6 IDE, without running the risk of loosing code changes.
But it is possible to run a VB6 project build from the command line so it is possible to do simple VB development using any text editor/IDE capable of running a command an capture it's output.
But for things like GUI changes and debugging there is really no choice but to revert back to the VB6 IDE.
Here is the commands needed to run the build from the DOS prompt:
set PATH="d:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VB98\";%PATH%
vb6.exe /out ErrorFile.txt /make MyProject.vbp
FWIW the Zeus IDE has the ability to import a VB Project file and display the project details into project/workspace tree. It will also run the build an capture the output.
8
votes
Visual Basic Tools For Visual Studio lets you open vb6 project in visual studio 2012/2013, with basic outlining, syntax coloring, and a few more things.
Its a work in progress, but if like me you have some living dead vb6 programs to maintain, it's... intriguing.
Except there's no GUI editor, no debugging. I fear these points (especially debugging) are deal breakers. (Of course, I understand that not everything is possible).
3
votes
Yeah, no alternative IDEs to VB6 afaik. But one indispensable add-in I used was CodeHelp. It gives you tabs! for the windows, easy tab ordering, fullscreen switcher and maybe a mousewheel add-in. Check it out from the Planet Source Code page. And be sure to check the comments for a download to a setup file as I had problems with the source code and the author's site.
3
votes
CodeHelp Add-In 2.2 Amazing VB6 plugin to help organize and coding.
http://www.planetsourcecode.com/vb/scripts/ShowCode.asp?txtCodeId=62468&lngWId=1
2
votes
I used Visual Assist X while programming in VB6. It's a code coloring add-in.
A must have, once you got used to VS2005+
I don't know if VB6 is still supported in current version, so you should take a look and see for yourself (and perhaps get an older version)
