Graphic Design by Dave Sherman

#VisualBasic F.A.Q. - Revision 1
(Frequently Asked Questions)

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Table of Contents 

1. Preface
   1. What is #VisualBasic?
   2. IRC you say. So how do I get there?
   3. Who made this wonderful FAQ?
   4. Where can I get a copy?
2. General Questions
   1. What is Visual Basic?
   2. Where can I get Visual Basic?
   3. What is the latest version, and is it worth upgrading?
   4. Why VB? How does it compare to other languages?
   5. What are some other good sources for information?
3. The Voices Of Experience ( Tips From The Pros )
   1. Dave Sherman
   2. Charles Haeberle
4. Common Questions/Issues With Visual Basic
   1. Working With Controls
      1. How do I save and read to textboxes?
      2. How do I stop the textbox from beeping when I press enter?
      3. How do I use multiple colors in a textbox?
      4. How do you set tabs in a listbox?
      5. How do I find a particular word in a textbox and change it?
      6. How do I scroll a textbox like the mIRC channel window?
      7. How do I add a VBX/OCX to my project?
      8. How do I make something happen at regular intervals?
      9. How do you add/remove items from a listbox?
      10. How do you add/remove items from a combobox?
      11. How do you add/remove items from a listview control?
      12. How do I turn on full-row-select in a listview control?
      13. How do you create controls at run-time?
   2. Working With Files
      1. How do I find out how big a file is?
      2. How do I delete a file?
      3. How do I rename a file?
      4. How do I copy a file?
      5. How do I move a file?
      6. How do I check to see if a file exists?
   3. Configuration
      1. How do I read/write INI Files?
      2. How do I read/write to the System Registry?
      3. So which is best to use?
   4. Working With Databases
      1. Why shouldn’t I use the Data Control? What should I use then?
      2. Why is there only one record in my recordset?
      3. How do I put a picture in my database?
      4. How do I add an ODBC data source in code?
   5. Working With Graphics
      1. How do I load/display a picture off my hard drive?
      2. How can I put a picture on a button?
      3. How do I put bitmaps on menus?
      4. How can I tile a bitmap?
      5. How can I tile a bitmap on a MDI form?
   6. Working With Multimedia
      1. How do I play an animation?
      2. How do I play Midis?
      3. How do I play Waves?
   7. Miscellaneous
      1. How do I generate random numbers?
      2. How do I center a form on the display?
      3. How do I pause a program?
      4. How do I run a program from VB?
      5. How do I pause until it’s done?
      6. How do I shut it down now that it’s done?
      7. How can I use a variable on more then one form?
      8. Is there any way to pass a variable to another form apart from using global variables?
      9. Why does my program not close correctly when the user closes it? ( It still shows up when I press Ctrl-alt-del. ) 
      10. How do I change the size of an array?
      11. How do I change the size and not lose my data?
      12. How to find the path of the executable?
      13. How do I call a help file from my program?
      14. Why does my program say wrong version of runtime DLL?
      15. Why can't my friend run the program I wrote?
      16. How do I copy/retrieve things to/from the clipboard?
      17. When I use the IIF function, I am getting errors in my program when I give the program to a friend...why?
5. Advanced Questions/Issues With Visual Basic
   1. General Questions
      1. How do I make my window always stay on top?
      2. How can I set a minimum size a user can resize my form to?
      3. How do I shutdown/restart windows?
      4. How do I create/delete/change a shortcut?
      5. How do I work with the dialup networking stuff?
      6. How do I make help files?
      7. How do you duplicate forms like mIRC does?
      8. How do I make my program not close when someone pushes the x?
      9. How do I make the mouse cursor invisible?
      10. Can a VB Application be an OLE server?
      11. How do I remove my program from the tasklist/taskbar?
   2. Coding Techniques
      1. Why should I use Option Explicit?
      2. What is passing by reference and value?
      3. Why should/shouldn't I use gosub and goto?
   3. Windows API
      1. What is the Windows API?
      2. How do I use the Windows API?
      3. What is a callback?