FAQ: Non-technical Questions About Visual Basic 3.0Last reviewed: September 25, 1997Article ID: Q126733 |
The information in this article applies to:
This article covers some of the most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about non-technical issues for Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows. You can find this and other FAQ articles by querying on the keyword "FAQ." You can find additional general references in the Microsoft Knowledge Base by searching on "article list." 1. Q. What is Visual Basic? A. Visual Basic is a programming language developed by Microsoft to be the fastest way to create Windows applications. It provides a point- and-click integrated development environment that allows users to create a custom user interface without a single line of code. Code can be added to the forms and controls to cause them to respond to the user's actions. Visual Basic (VB) was designed from the start to be extensible and there are currently hundreds of VBXs (Visual Basic eXtensions) on the market (commercial, shareware and free) to implement new features. Visual Basic include the Access 1.1 Jet engine, which allows VB to connect to Access, FoxPro, Paradox, BTrieve, and dBASE databases. The data control and data-aware controls allow you to access your database via controls with little or no code. The Data Manager is a utility that can help you design your databases. The Setup Wizard helps you create distribution disks for your applications. 2. Q. Where do I get Visual Basic? A. Visual Basic for Windows should be available through your local software vendor. If you can't find a copy in your area, contact Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400 and they can connect you with a vendor. 3. Q. Where can I place an order or get upgrade and pricing information about Microsoft Visual Basic version 3.0 for Windows? A. For information regarding product updates, prices, and sales, please call the Microsoft Sales Information Center (MSIC) at the following number. Note that no technical support is provided on this line. - In the United States, call (800) 426-9400. - In the United Kingdom, call 0734-270000. 4. Q. What is the current version of Visual Basic for Windows? A. Visual Basic for Windows is currently at version 3.0. There has been no upgrade to this version although there have been some updated files posted (listed elsewhere in this document). Visual Basic for Windows ships in a Standard and Professional Edition. 5. Q. What are the differences between the Standard and Professional Editions? A. The core features of the Professional and Standard Editions are the same. Programs written in either will be identical. Differences consist entirely of additional features available in the Professional Edition. For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: ARTICLE-ID: Q113334 TITLE : Differences Between VB 3.0 Standard & Professional Editions 6. Q. Where can I get the latest updates for Visual Basic files? A. You can identify available updates by searching for the pointer article in the Knowledge Base (described elsewhere in this document). Search on the keyword UPD or SOFTLIB. To get the latest release of Visual Basic updated files, download the appropriate file (the updates are all stored as self-extracting *.EXE files) from the Microsoft Software Library (MSL) on the following services: - Microsoft's World Wide Web site on the Internet On the www.microsoft.com home page, click the Support icon Click Knowledge Base, and select the product Enter kbfile <FILENAME>.EXE, and click GO! Open the article, and click the button to download the file - Internet (anonymous FTP) ftp ftp.microsoft.com Change to the Softlib/Mslfiles folder Get <FILENAME>.EXE - Microsoft Download Service (MSDL) Dial (425) 936-6735 to connect to MSDL Download <FILENAME>.EXE For additional information about downloading, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: ARTICLE-ID: Q119591 TITLE : How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from Online Services 7. Q. What is the Knowledge Base? What are the Qxxxxx numbers that people refer to and where can I find Microsoft article? A. The Knowledge Base is a collection of articles written by Microsoft Support Engineers (and others) on a wide range of product- specific issues. It is designed to attempt to put all of the "known" issue information at your fingertips. The Qxxxxx numbers are the ID numbers of the articles. You use this number when searching the Knowledge Base. You can find the Knowledge Base on the following services: - Microsoft's World Wide Web Site on the Internet On the www.microsoft.com home page, click the Support icon. Click Knowledge Base and follow the instructions on that page. - The Microsoft Download Service (MSDL) For additional information about downloading, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: ARTICLE-ID: Q115780 TITLE : VB3: VB Articles on ftp.microsoft.com on the Internet 8. Q. How do I find a summary of Knowledge Base articles by topic? A. Search for the text "Article List" in the title text, and you will retrieve a group of articles that list other Knowledge Base articles grouped by topic. 9. Q. What can you tell me about the next version of ... A. Stop! The answer is, we can tell you nothing. We cannot discuss unannounced products. That is standard Microsoft policy. Individuals involved in Beta testing our products our bound by a similar non- disclosure agreement, which REQUIRES that they not discuss the product. 10. Q. What is Visual Basic for Applications? A. Visual Basic Programming System, Applications Edition is not a stand-alone product, but a built-in programming language for Microsoft applications. It is currently available in Microsoft Excel 5.0 and Project 4.0. It replaces the older macro languages of these products and provides a uniform programming interface to the outside world. Visual Basic 3.0 can completely control the operation of Microsoft Excel and/or Project via OLE Automation command using the Visual for Applications commands. 11. Q. What do I do if I have a problem with Visual Basic? A. You have a number of options for assistance from Microsoft as well as other developers. They include: telephone support, the Internet, and Microsoft Solution Providers. Telephone Support ----------------- Standard support for Visual Basic is now 2 no-charge incidents. Call Microsoft Technical Support for support. This line is available from 6 A.M. to 6 P.M., Pacific time, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. The number is (425) 646-5105 Our Fee-Based support lines offer the same level of support as our Standard lines; however, they are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and can be accessed toll-free via an 800 or a 900 number. Flat fee is $95 on 800 or 900#. - Pay-As-You-Go (credit card) calls: 800-936-5800. - Pay-As-You-Go (by minute) calls: 900-555-2300. There are a number of additional support options and packages that individuals and companies can purchase that may better fit your specific support needs. For more information please contact the Microsoft Sales group at (800) 936-3500. In the United Kingdom, the developer support line is available from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. The number is 0734-271414 The Internet ------------ You can reach Microsoft Technical Support on the Internet at: http://www.microsoft.com/support Microsoft Solution Providers ---------------------------- Microsoft Solution Providers are independent organizations that provide consulting, integrations, customization, development, technical support and training, or other services with Microsoft products. For more information, please call (800) 426-9400. 12. Q. What should I do before I ask for help? A. Read the manuals. The Visual Basic manuals cover every keyword and most common programming situations. This information is also available in the online Help files. Look in the Knowledge Base. The Microsoft Developer Knowledge Base is a tremendous resource for dealing with Microsoft products. Developer Support Engineers at Microsoft create solutions and explain problems or techniques that come up in the course of using Microsoft products. These discussions are written up into articles and placed into the Knowledge Base which is periodically updated. Look at the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list. This file is one of several FAQs made available to the public by Microsoft Technical Support. Its goal is to answer only the MOST commonly asked questions as succinctly as possible. These FAQs are divided by technical areas in Visual Basic. Even if you're a long-time MSBasic native, these FAQs will be useful if only to steer beginners to the quick answers. Isolate the problem. Isolating the problem often leads to the solution. 13. Q. Where else can I get information about Visual Basic? A. Download files are available from the Microsoft Software Library (MSL) on the following services: - Microsoft Download Service (MSDL) Dial (425) 936-6735 to connect to MSDL. Download <filename>. - Internet (anonymous FTP) ftp ftp.microsoft.com. Change to the \softlib\mslfiles directory. Get <filename>.Other potential sources of Visual Basic information include:
- ftp.microsoft.com: /softlib/mslfiles /msdn /msdn/vbtech /devtools/lang/vb/public Microsoft has two services for customers on the Internet: www.microsoft.com (World Wide Web Server) ftp.microsoft.com (FTP server) Both servers are registered in the Internet's Domain Name Service (DNS), so customers merely have to reference any of the servers by name: ftp ftp.microsoft.com In mosaic, connect to: http://www.microsoft.com For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: ARTICLE-ID: Q120734 TITLE : Microsoft Windows NT Internet Servers 14. Q. What are some books that might be of use to a Visual Basic user/developer? A. There are hundreds of relevant books for Visual Basic and programming in general, but, to name a few: Title: Programming Windows Author: Charles Petzold ISBN: 1-55615-264-7 Publisher: Microsoft Press Title: PC Magazine Visual Basic Programmer's Guide to the Windows API Author: Daniel Appleman ISBN: 1-56276-073-4 Publisher: Ziff Davis Press Title: Database Developer's Guide Using Visual Basic 3.0 Author: Roger Jennings ISBN: 0-672-30440-6 Publisher: Sams Publishing For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: ARTICLE-ID: Q118782 TITLE : LONG: Visual Basic and Related Topics Reading List (Complete) 15. Q. How do I apply for the beta program? A. You can request to become a beta site by writing to: Microsoft Corporation Attn: XXXX Beta Test Administrator One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052-6399 where XXXX is the product you want to apply for. Various products within Microsoft have varying capacity to respond to those who are not elected. Unfortunately, due to the volume of requests, the Visual Basic group is not able to inform those who were not selected for the beta. 16. Q. Where can I find out more about Visual Basic certification? A. For information regarding the Microsoft Certified Professional program, the developer certification, or the Visual Basic or Access exams, please refer to the Microsoft Education & Certification Roadmap. Order the file name E&CMAP.ZIP direct from Microsoft by calling (800) 636-7544. 17. Q. How do I send suggestions for product features/improvements to Microsoft? A. Contact the Microsoft Wish Line at (425) 936-WISH [936-9474]. If it takes more than two minutes to describe, you can: a. Fax it to us at 425-936-7329 b. Write to us at: Attn: Microsoft Wish One Microsoft Way Redmond WA, 98052 c. On the World Wide Web at: http://WWW.MICROSOFT.COM/VFOXPRO/vinfo/vffeed.htm 18. Q. If I register, will I be notified of fixes, workarounds, and bugs? A. Microsoft's policy is to notify customers when a new version of the product is released, such as from Word 6.0 to Word 6.0a. This has not occurred with Visual Basic for Windows 3.0. When a small component of the product is modified to address specific problems, we have found it more efficient for all concerned to release that information as a Knowledge Base articles. The Knowledge Base article Q104863 lists all of the updates to Visual Basic for Windows, and how to obtain them. You can also search the Knowledge Base using the keyword UPD to obtain a list of articles describing updates. The essence is that we send out notices of product UPGRADES (for example, 3.0 to 3.0a, or 3.0 to 3.1) but not fixes (the mail traffic would be prohibitive). However, one can search on the keyword BUGLIST and FIXLIST in the Microsoft Knowledge Base and pull up articles for any particular product which tell about all the bugs we know of and what the fixes or workarounds are. |
Additional query words: FAQ
© 1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of Use. |