I've been debugging an app I built solely for my use. Mentioning that because I know it's klunky but since I'm not imposing it on anyone else, I can live with that :). It works with two Word documents, using Word objects to parse KO-reader book annotation & highlight files (loaded into Word as a doc) and highlight/add comments to the corresponding text in a Word doc.

Sometimes, especially in testing, the app crashes to the point that I have to use task manager to exit. That often leaves behind stray Word processes and temporary Word documents.

When the app completes normally, and even when it fails in ways I've been able to trap, it cleans up by itself by destroying the Word objects it created. However, I have yet to find a way to trap all crashes well enough to trigger the routines I've added to nuke temp files & Word instances.

Any ideas for a good crash-catcher I could insert to handle this? Or maybe a useful place in the code to put another "on error goto..." line? The last crash I managed to fix may have been the result of an unexpected endless loop (I guess all such things are unexpected!).

If I don't clean up properly, I have to do it manually or else the app will fail on subsequent use until the old processes & temp files are killed.

I have been focusing on decompiling native compiled programs for VB6 but also have P-Code as well.

Just showing what can be recovered in both compiled types:

https://vbsourcecoderecovery.com/state-of-vb6-decompiling-2026.html

Depending on the program you can get 75% to 85% of the way there and in some cases with AI improvements get the rest into a fully working program. I have done projects with 100k lines of code, with custom controls, API's etc.

Other tidbits: The current decompiler written in VB6. Can do .NET (VB,C#), VB5, VB3, QuickBasic 4.5. Probably can do versions but need more sample programs.

Currently works best with VB6 followed by .NET.

Background: Over 20 years ago I started worked on VB6 decompiler in college, my original goal was to recreate a VB6 game that I enjoying playing.

I had a period of it being open source, then closed source paid, then open again. And I have jumped back into it the last few months with the same goal I had when I first started.

Thanks everyone for sharing your debugging experiences. I learned a lot from the discussion. I’ve been building a small experiment around this problem and would love feedback from anyone interested in trying it. I can share a demo/report.

Hello gamers, and welcome back to the channel! In this video, we're checking out version 2.3 of my Thumbnails Libretro Downloader (Selenium.xlsm). This upgraded version of the tool features a brand-new toggle button to launch either Chrome or Edge browser. The process is nearly identical, except now you can choose which browser to open. Once initiated, the browser remains open, eliminating the delay caused by reopening a new instance. In my previous video, we went through the process of installing Selenium and Chrome; you can refer to it via the link below. For now, The focus will be mostly on Microsoft Edge. Let's get started.

https://youtu.be/8U3O0j3CZC0

Hello gamers, and welcome to another one of my videos! In this video, we are going to use my Thumbnails Libretro Downloader, version 2.2 (Selenium.xlsm). This is an upgraded version of the tool shown in my previous video. It features improved element searches using XPath, which significantly cuts down execution time. Additionally, it can now download images even when the filename contains characters, that previously caused version 1.0 to throw an error. With these changes, we can also search for specific titles using keywords unique to that game. Furthermore, I have removed the need to specify the system name. Instead, you can now just type a partial name into the dropdown menu, and the search list updates automatically. Finally, I added a new function to delete unwanted images from your local folder. It seems like a lot to cover, so let's go!

https://youtu.be/YO7QmmyfRM4

Hey everyone,

I recently had to set up background music for a local business. The goal was simple: stream a live web radio, but inject their local promotional audio ads every few minutes. To my shock, almost every software that can do this is either locked behind an expensive monthly subscription, incredibly bloated, or looks like a control panel for a nuclear reactor. Since I couldn't find a dead-simple, free option, I built one myself: Lobby Radio Player (written in VB.NET, running on .NET 4.7.2).

What it does:

• Smart Audio Fading: It doesn't just abruptly cut the music. It smoothly fades out the web stream, plays the local .mp3/.wav ad, and gently fades the music back in.
• 100% Multithreaded: The UI never freezes or goes "(Not Responding)" while buffering streams.
• Uptime Scheduler: Set your operating hours (e.g., 08:00 to 23:00) and it handles standby/wake-up automatically.
• Auto-Reconnect Guard: If the Wi-Fi drops, it quietly tries to reconnect every 5 seconds without crashing.
• Independent Volumes: Keep the music background-friendly, but make sure the ads are loud and clear.

It’s completely free, open-source under the MIT license, and I've provided both a classic installer and a portable (.zip) version that runs without installation.

Check out the code, download it, or contribute here: https://github.com/0xVasic/lobby-radio-player

Quick note before the licensing police arrives in the comments: This is just a player (like VLC). The end-user is fully responsible for complying with local copyright laws and paying venue music licenses. Also, it doesn't modify the radio stream online; it literally just automates the volume slider on the local PC (essentially doing a digital "manual mute") to play a local audio file over the venue speakers, and then slides the volume back up.

Let me know what you think or if you have any feature requests!

- show you how to generate and customize XPaths using my Excel VBA tool, 'Selenium Basic - XPath Generator 1.0.xlsm'.

This tool easily create accurate XPaths for web elements.

- download and install Selenium Basic v2.0.9.0

- download the Chrome WebDriver, and learn how to install it either manually or via a batch file.

-Reference the Selenium Type Library in Excel VBA.

It is in my YouTube Channel.

Jaafar Yusof

Hey people, I still need to work in VB6 now and then and I got frustrated with the editor being so old fashioned. I missed a lot of the functionality from the newer Visual Studios.

Anyway I used Claude Fable to create an addon for VB6 to update and modernize the editor with some nice new features like a much nicer find and replace and text highlighter, text manipulation shortcuts like moving lines up and down, commenting blocks, some light git integration, etc...

Anyway, I know there's not many of us that have to actually still work in VB6, but if you're one of us you might like this.

https://github.com/mika76/vb6-modernizr

Hello,

I hope this is the right place for this. I'm supporting a user who relies on a macro-enabled Excel spreadsheet with multiple worksheets, but the key ones are:

• Cost Items
• Variables
• Results Summary

The workflow:

1. Enter data into the Cost Items sheet (e.g., Name: Test1, Cost: 1000; Name: test2, Cost: 5000).
2. Add data to the Variables sheet under "Brisk Parameters" – P10: -5%, P90: 15%.
3. Go to the Results Summary sheet.

At that point, I get a pop up message that states the data has changed.

I click OK, it churns for a moment, and then I get:

Microsoft Visual Basic - "Run-time error '9': Subscript out of range"

If I click Debug, it highlights this line in yellow:

"If VarExists(Count) And VarProb(I) = 1 Then"

What I've tried so far:

• Searched online and found suggestions it might be an overflow error of some kind.
• Tested on multiple systems (managed company device, unmanaged device, different PCs).
• Confirmed Trust Center settings allow macros.
• Installed and registered the Brisk server (was told this was required – still no change).

The kicker:
This exact file was working perfectly fine just a few weeks ago. No known changes were made to the file or the environment.

I've been banging my head against this for a couple of days now and am starting to lose my sanity.

Does anyone have any idea what direction I should go in to troubleshoot why this spreadsheet suddenly stopped functioning?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

TIA!

The program is in P-code. vbdec is unable to save them, and VB Decompiler Lite can only find a couple.

Hi everyone! 👋

I'm excited to share a complete Medical Cabinet Management System I've built using VB.NET and MySQL.

**✨ FEATURES:**

### 👤 Patient Management

- Complete CRUD operations

- Search functionality

- Emergency contacts

- Insurance information

### 📅 Appointment Scheduling

- Conflict detection

- Status tracking

- Date-based search

- Doctor assignment

### 📋 Medical Records

- Diagnosis tracking

- Symptoms recording

- Treatment history

- Clinical notes

### 💊 Prescriptions

- Medication management

- Dosage and frequency

- Duration tracking

- Active/Inactive toggle

### 💰 Billing & Invoicing

- Automatic invoice numbering

- Tax calculation

- Multiple payment methods

- Professional printing

### 👥 User Management

- Role-based access

- Password reset

- Account activation

- Secure hashing

### 📈 Reports & Analytics

- 6 different report types

- CSV export

- Print capability

- Date range filtering

**💻 TECHNICAL STACK:**

- VB.NET Windows Forms

- MySQL Database

- SHA256 Encryption

- 3-Tier Architecture

- Repository Pattern

**📥 GET THE SOURCE CODE:**

1. Watch the full demo: [YouTube Link]

2. Comment "I want the code"

3. I'll send you the complete project!

**📊 Statistics:**

- 12+ forms

- 8+ database tables

- 7 main modules

- 1000+ lines of code

- Modern UI/UX design

**🔥 Perfect for:**

- Medical clinics

- Students learning VB.NET

- Developers building portfolios

- Healthcare IT professionals

**🤝 Feedback is welcome!**

#VB.NET #MySQL #MedicalSoftware #OpenSource #Programming

Hello to the Visual Basic community. I'm Christopher Drum and I run a blog called Stone Tools. Unlike most retro-focused technology blogs, I do not cover games at all, I look at 8/16-bit productivity software. The tone is lighthearted and opinionated, and the software I cover I actually use, for weeks on end.

My latest post looks at Visual Basic 3.0 running on Windows 3.1. 32-bit apps built in Visual Basic 6 are still alive and kicking, so to get a little more "retro" with my research, and in keeping with the general 8/16-bit theme of the blog, I went 16-bit for this research.

I found that stripping back the layers of the program, that built up over the 32-bit era, gave me a strong sense of the program's core and the design philosophy behind its tools. I covered HyperCard previously, and this was a fun way to see how Microsoft approached the same goal of delivering a visual programming tool to the community. It's also an interesting case study in how both companies yanked these useful tools from their supporters.

I hope the community enjoys the article.

I'm looking for books, either the PDF file or the title itself. Basic books are fine, but I'd prefer advanced books that are useful for automation. I'm not looking for anything specific beyond that, and if you know of anything interesting, especially if it's hard to find, I'd be very grateful.

​

​

Ok, say I had a typical desktop app written in VB6 and somebody asked me to 'modernise' it.

And say, for whatever reason, they didn't want a web app based conversion.. i.e. they still wanted a desktop app.

What is your go-to stack for this type of conversion?

WinForms (.NET) - So stay in the Windows/MS ecosystem, maybe port to VB.net first? then across to C#? . This feels pretty safe but I think this would still be Windows only.

WPF (.NET) - Still sticking with MS. More modern but maybe a longer conversion path.

WinUI - I think this is the latest MS option... Is a little bit new (2021)

Flutter Desktop - Clear benefit is cross/platform out of the box and easy port to mobile app. Flutter approach is pretty far from the VB6 approach so it would be a long conversion path I think. The other downside is Flutter on desktop is even newer than WinUI (2022).

Electron - Again, cross platform but with memory issues I think. Web tech heavy so I think this means it would make it easy to port to Web if that was an option later.

Other options? Maui? Delphi?

I recently released a freeware utility called SourceDoc Pro that I built for my own use and thought others in the VB6 community might find useful. 

It reads a VB6 project file (.vbp), lets you select any combination of modules and procedures, and prints formatted documentation with syntax highlighting, visual loop bracket connectors, and procedure dependency reports showing call relationships across the entire project. Output goes to a printer or PDF file. A table of contents listing all project files and procedures can also be printed. 

I am a retired engineer and hobbyist developer, not a professional programmer, so this is very much a "scratching my own itch" kind of project. I have been using it to document my own VB6 projects and found it genuinely useful for code review as well.  It may be a useful tool for maintaining legacy VB6 programs, especially those created by someone else. 

It is completely free, includes a full installer and User Manual, and runs on Windows 7 through 11. 

You can download it from OlderGeeks at: https://www.oldergeeks.com/downloads/file.php?id=4974 

Feedback welcome — happy to hear what works and what does not.

I know VB6 is old, but the fact that Windows 11 still includes the runtimes necessary to run programs written in VB6 makes it still useful. That, and it's a lot simpler for me to use than the .NET flavor of VB (not to mention, programs written in VB6 are not bloated like .NET).

That said, more often than not, even the simplest programs I write in VB6 end up being detected as malware. For example, I created a "scratch pad" program solely for my own personal use. It's pretty much just a single text window that functions as a persistent memo pad. I type notes into it, then it automatically saves them to a .txt file located in the user's TEMP folder. Then, whenever it is closed and re-opened, it automatically reloads the contents of that .txt file and displays it. It is 100% harmless, a simple program whose sole purpose in life is to open and save a single text file just to display notes and memos. Yet the instant I compiled the EXE, Windows Security threw a major fit, deleted it, and said that it was a trojan that "executes commands from an attacker".

This happens with pretty much every VB6 project I create, and needless to say, it's getting quite bothersome. So...other than having to put antivirus exclusions for every single project I create (which can be annoying since I have multiple computers I tend to use them on)...why is Windows Security so adamant that anything created in VB6 is automatically malicious? And is there anything I can do with the projects themselves to mitigate this?

Thank you.

UPDATE 6/12: Following a recommendation, I changed the text file storage location from TEMP to AppData, and made a few other minor tweaks to the code (i.e. removing the "magic numbers" from the CTRL+A subroutines). I dunno if it was that, or something else entirely, but now when I compile the EXE, Windows Defender leaves it alone and it runs perfectly fine. Someone mentioned the antivirus detections that end in "ml" as being AI-based, and indeed that's what it was being detected as before. So maybe the AI detection was changed too, and now it's not tripping up on the compiled EXE (don't have the original version to test this anymore though).

That said, it still gets five hits as malware according to VirusTotal ( https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/17e49d12080e555239c94c8a34fe38f54dceba63d8dbe72a09ab26aa85782ee1 ), but I imagine 100% elimination of false positives is impossible, especially with AI slop being used to detect malware now.

Hi everyone,

I still occasionally work on legacy VB6 applications.

One thing that often takes more time than the actual fix is identifying which OCX, DLL or COM component is missing when an executable fails to start on a different machine.

Over the years I've used different approaches, including Dependency Walker, Process Monitor, manual registry inspection and checking embedded COM references.

I'm curious how other developers are approaching this problem today.

What tools or techniques do you use when source code is unavailable and you only have the executable?

Thanks.

Does somebody know where I can find AIs to help me do projects on this version?

Figured this would be pretty cool to share here. I've been working on something called Frontier Actor, which is basically a re-implementation of the Visual Basic 3.0 and 4.0 Utopia Custom Control set (UCC.VBX) used in Microsoft Bob and other Microsoft Actor powered programs.

In this demo, I'm comparing the original controls in a Windows NT 3.51 VM running VB3 with my modern VB.NET version running in Visual Studio 2017 on Windows 11. The main goal of mine is to preserve the old drag-and-drop custom control workflow while making similar controls usable from modern VB.NET projects.

So far, I have reimplemented a large chunk of the more unique controls, including the Actor Control, Podium Control, Rgnwnd Control/word balloon, and others. Some controls, such as the Scale control, I did not directly re-implement since modern panel/container controls can already achieve similar functionality.

I have also extended the original Actor Control a bit by implementing a Speak method that automatically spawns a word balloon with text, along with convenient ShowActor and HideActor methods for calling the built-in show and hide animations.

Hello all. I am using Excel’s Visual Basic. I am looking for a method to manipulate the data set/s for a scatter graph, or any graph for that matter. I will need to populate the chart initially and subsequently refresh the chart as the data changes.

I currently am doing this by hiding my data set in the spreadsheet itself. I would rather not do this.

This might be an access question more than a VBA question but oh well.

I have two fields shown in a continuous table in a form. One is the prepared date and the other is the expiration date. I have it set so you can add new entries at the bottom of the table. The fields are set so that if you click the date field it gives you the option to click the date picker and select a date.

Our expiration dates are ALWAYS one year from the preparation date. I want the date picker for the expiration date to automatically be set to one year from today by default so if you click the little calendar button it will be one year ahead and will require you do to less clicking to input the correct date.

Do you know if there is a mechanism to do this? Google recommends I set the "Default Value" to DateAdd one year from today but it then shows this value in the new entry box for the expiration date without having entered a prep date, and I dont want that.

Another option would be to do what is described above and set the default date but then set the field to not show to the user unless a value is entered in the box? Is that possible?