Is there anyway to disable the vb.net (2008) express popup for converting older projects as well as the security warning to browse the project? I'm fairly new to vb.net so of course I download lots of examples to learn off of and it is BEYOND annoying to have to convert every demo and then click ok to browse the code.
Is there no way to set defaults for this?
I don't know if it's possible, but I don't recommend it anyway. The conversion process is there to make sure that your code works as expected in newer versions.
VB does a lot behind the scenes to make the project work. Stuff we never see unless we go looking for it. These things can change between versions (namespaces and classes get added or removed, renamed or restructured), and if you don't convert, you could find yourself with an application that does nothing useful...
Related
I'm currently trying to compile an old program (made with C++ builder 2 or 3) with the "current" Embarcadero RAD Studio XE2.
So, I was wondering whether there is an easy way to use the old code, as Borland once claimed to be fully compatible to lower versions... however I couldn't find a "project-file", only source-code (.cpp, .h, .res, etc.).
I tried to "add to project" the main .cpp, however there seem to be some wrong include-paths... it also seem to use the OWL-package and includes its important source-files...
I'm a bit confused which type of main project I have to open first, since you need to open a new project before adding the source to it. As the running .exe has a GUI, I tried a Form-Window first, but it may be better to use a console or service as the real form is produced within the code as far as I understand.
So, after installing OWL and correcting the include-paths, do you think it should be running fine? Or is there something else to take care of?
If your old project was using OWL, you're probably well outside of the supported upgrade path.
That being said, valid C++ code should still compile and work and I've heard of people using OWL with recent versions of C++Builder. (via OWLNext)
Regarding your confusion as to which type of project to use, I believe a console application would be your best bet. A forms application is completely wrong, that will bring in the VCL and give you no end of problems trying to reconcile the different windowing systems. A service application is a completely different beast as well, and isn't meant for GUI applications. A console application should work, but you'll need more. The OWLNext project has a wiki that should help quite a bit.
I just downloaded the trial for this application and it doesn't seem to work. I went through the Quick Setup guide and it all looked great. Now when I place my cursor on a member of any type and press Ctrl+Shift+D it does nothing. I placed it on top, inside, etc... Nothing. If I press Ctrl+Shift+A (twice) on top of the member it tells me to place it "in the line of the form MyType myVariable;". I'm not quite sure what this means unless it's referring to C# but this project is VB.NET which it doesn't seem to recognize. Anyone else have this issue? I was hoping it would make things easier since I've read that it can document an entire document rather than having to member by member.
Using VS 2010 Premium.
Drop me an email to support (at) atomineerutils.com with a bit of example code that exhibits the problem, and I'll help you sort it out.
(edit)
Please note that AtomineerUtils only officially supports VB 9 onwards, although where the syntax of earlier versions is compatible (i.e. in most cases), it will still work perfectly well.
I've now investigated this, and I can't repeat the documentation behaviour you have mentioned - it works as expected for me. (However, I did find and fix a regression introduced to the Visual Basic handling in a recent version - a small coding glitch that meant some methods could be incorrectly documented as constructors, so thanks for indirectly helping me find this issue!)
All I can suggest is that if you see a problem in any application, the best (and often only) way to get it fixed is to let the author know!
I've got the very same problem as this question: Edit Xaml while debugging with a twist.
My debug session usually runs some code while I need to change stuff in the XAML, and if I detach all, as recommended as answer in that question, the debugged program might run on, but the WCF services which are also hosted in the debugger will be stopped immediately.
And without service my programm usually last mere seconds.
So, is there a way to exit xaml files during debugging? I don't care for debug and continue, I'm aware the changes will take effect only after a restart of the app. I just need to type in some stuff so I won't forget and am annoyed that I have to use an external editor instead of VS.
I always use another tool. Like notepad++ or expression blend.
You can configure this by right clicking the file -> open with. Or with expression blend you get the open in expression blend option and its pretty good for xaml anyways.
if you need dynamic build you can take a look at project Roslyn
more info here
"Developers could also use the output of such software to do tasks like refactor, or reorganize, their code more easily, to add C# and Visual Basic functionality to programs written in other languages. It also adds dynamic typing to the statically typed C# and Visual Basic, allowing developers to add objects and new variables to a program on the fly."
I have tried converting many projects from vb.net 2005 to vb.net 2008, and not a single one has ever made it. Why do you think they even bothered to include this tool if it is very clearly broken? I mean, it can convert some code okay, but I can never load Design view properly, and it'll almost never compile without error.
Whats the point in putting in a broken tool? I thought Microsoft products were always backwards-compatible? Do they have any requirements before running the wizard?
Generally projects won't compile because the compiler/language/environment has changed, not because there's anything wrong with the project files.
I typically use vspc to convert project files, but I'm usually converting them from vs2008 to vs2003, which Visual Studio cannot do.
I've never had any trouble with the conversion wizard, but I mostly use C#.
What specific errors do you get?
Also, do you mean from VB6? If so, here's the answer:
VB6 and VB .Net (any version) are quite different. The VB Upgrade Wizard will try to convert what it can, and show you exactly what still needs work.
If the conversion tool is actually broken (I've had mixed success using it in the past, with the success rate being inversely proportional to the overall complexity of the project), then one reason to include it anyway is to convince developers to start new projects using the latest version of Visual Studio, and not to start them with an older version and hope that the upgrade process will be seamless.
I'm not saying this is why Microsoft would include a broken conversion wizard, but you never know. If you'd like me to delete this answer, Mr. Ballmer, just let me know.
Does anyone know of an alternative IDE for Sybase Powerbuilder? It feels pretty clunky, after working with VS2008 and Eclipse.
If not, has anyone successfully worked with this language outside the IDE? I'm not against using a simple text editor, but I find edit-import-regenerate-test-export-edit is clunkier than simply using the Powerbuilder editor.
To date, the only tools I have had any success with are:
PowerGen, for builds (with NUnit and CruiseControl.NET)
ConTEXT, which has syntax highlighting for Powerbuilder
PBL Peeper, which has some interesting features not present in the IDE
EDIT: I added a bounty to draw some wider attention to the question. It would be a very nice thing to have, if it exists.
EDIT: Well that was disappointing. The bounty apparently did not cause even 1 new person to look at the question.
None that I'm aware of, although you could probably use a source control tool, edit in your source control repository, and Get Latest Version from the PB IDE to shorten your text editor cycle. Be warned that there are hacks required to edit anything over 128 ASCII. (My guess is that this is to allow everything Unicode to be source controlled in the most restrictive source control tools.)
As Paul said, PB12 is coming with based on the Visual Studio shell, and will include things like collapsible code blocks, Intellisense, etc.... However, for PB12, this will only be used for WPF targets and a few .NET-type targets (like assemblies), last I heard. Win32 targets will continue to use the "classic" IDE.
Good luck,
Terry.
P.S. Thanks for the PBL Peeper compliment.
The PowerBuilder IDE is clunky, but I don't think developing completely outside the PowerBuilder IDE is a good idea. I think there are just too many dependencies right now.
However, the IDE for PowerBuilder 12 will be built using Microsoft's Visual Studio Isolated Shell so it ought to be much better when that is released. Also, I believe they'll be doing away with the PBL format which ought to make source control much easier to work with.
Certainly something to watch.
What I do is right-click the object and edit source. Then I copy the text and paste it into Notepad++ to edit. I copy and paste back to PowerBuilder, then I can save and see any errors. I've got a fairly decent User Defined Language for PowerScript if anyone's interested.
Added:
Please be aware that I've seen the PB Source editor corrupt DataWindows. They were all large DataWindows. To be safe always export DataWindows to edit.
One tool that will most probably make your PB experience way better is Visual Expert, which provides a good source browser. Such a tool should have been integrated into the PB IDE a long time ago, IMHO. Only problem is that it's not free, as opposed to the other tools you mention.
Regarding using external source editors, you can probably take advantage of OrcaScript, which is a scripting language that lets you perform actions such as export and import of PB objects from outside of the IDE. It will require some effort, but you can setup a basic dev env using batch files with ORCA scripts and some additional external tools. However, this setup will lack any visual editing capabilities, which means no (feasible) GUI or DW work. If you're mostly into NVOs, it could work. But then if that's the case, why use PB in the first place?...
I too have heard PB12's use of VS will be limited to some .NET stuff, which will probably benefit only a very small portion of the PB programmers community. I'm afraid the rest of us are stuck with the awful IDE for years to come.
Other than exporting the source and editing it I don't know of another IDE for PB. One problem you may have is that the exported source contains a lot of syntax that is not documented in the manuals. The PB IDE generates this code but there is no support for creating it by hand. I think you are stuck with the PB IDE
In my modest five Years of experiences starting with Powerbuilder 5/6, now using PB 10, I tempt to :
build my own browser from the classdefinition object based on Powerbuilder
tried to use autohotkey in order to open datawindows comfortable (we have several thousands in the project and i am two-finger-driven)
truly investigated in the idea using an external editor/IDE suppoted by an autohotkey script which is undermined by sybase allowing only mouse-click-usage of PB
using Visual Expert which is neither a truly integration in the IDE, nor is really worth in analyzing datwindow/powerscript interaction
ending by build hopes on PB12 Visual Studio, which lacks - depending on compatibility issues - ...
... i came to the conclusion that there will be no chance in improving Powerbuilder to an state-of-the-art language
In my philosophy - I obtained during those years - I distinguish between two types of OOP-oriented languages:
the one that award using object-orientation like C#, Python, Ruby (C++) etc. and very much the Java-Eclipse/Netbeans-Universe does
the other one that punish using object-orientation like Powerbuilder and the old Visual Basic, for example (which is causative the OOP-Idea comes afterwards and is "plugged in").
Especially the demand that all object should always be compiled (regenerated) and that you could't work with ancestors and descandants concurrently makes it painful to use real OOP.
...In memory of the good old Unix(Solaris)/C++ days...
I was researching a replacement solution that would be similar to PowerBuilder and I came across two that caught my eye.
The first was 'React Studio' https://reactstudio.com/ which I found via Alternativeto.net .
And the second was from an ad at the top of some Google searches but it was similar enough and looked good enough at first glance for me to want to take a closer look at it, and it's called 'Servoy' https://servoy.com/ .
Still researching but I currently have React Studio at the top of our list.
The TextPad editor has a syntax definition file for PowerBuilder 6.x contributed by anr#aon.at that I downloaded for free and customized several years ago. It works fine for later versions (including 8), doing keyword color highlighting on PowerScript srx files. Editing large source files in PB could get it to crash so it's usually safer, faster and more convenient to export to srx file, edit outside the IDE then re-import.