Upgrading VB6 to VB.Net
Many companies have difficulties in supporting
obsolete Visual Basic 6 administration systems – making "just a simple change" to a
system becomes a major operation. When maintenance costs mount, upgrading to VB.Net becomes
a viable option.
The upgrade Wizard converting VB6 code to VB.Net 2010 is no longer available – and was
not of much value anyway. VB6 does not readily convert to VB.Net. VB.Net, an object-oriented
computer programming language, is very, very different.
The whole of the VB6 system will need to be rewritten from the ground up.
The Conversion Process
Converting VB6 to VB.Net
- The Back-End database, whether Microsoft Access or SQL Server, will be converted to the latest
version of SQL Server.
- The code for Business logic rules will be extracted and converted into VB.Net code.
- The old grid software will be upgraded to the VB.Net alternative.
- Crystal Reports will be replaced by SQL Server Reporting. Or Microsoft Access Reporting can
be used as a cost effective alternative.
- A Tabbed or Multiple Document Interface (MDI) Framework needs to be chosen. I prefer the more
efficient and user-friendly MDI alternative.
- Converting the data access method to ADO.Net is straight forward.
- A Procedure Library helps speed up the conversion effort and reduces the conversion cost.
The Library includes routines for ADO.Net, Error handling, Form handling, Printing, etc.
- Consistent VB.Net Coding standards and SQL Server Naming Standards are used.
- All ActiveX controls like MSFlexGrid, MSComctlLib, MSComDlg, Stdole, TabDlg, MSDataGridLib,
MSDataListLib, MSADODC, Chart, etc – will be converted to native VB .NET controls.
Converting a legacy application to a fully supported VB.Net platform, will allow a multitude
of new features to be used – like bulk Emailing or viewing records from the Web.
The system will be fast, efficient and user-friendly.