PRB: VB 4.0 EXEs Are Different When Compared Byte-by-Byte

• Standard, Professional, and Enterprise Editions of Microsoft Visual Basic, 16-bit and 32-bit, for Windows, version 4.0

SYMPTOMS

When making two executables in a row from the same project no matter how small, the .EXE files will come out with a difference in bytes when using the FC (File Compare) utility. No two executable files created from the same Visual Basic 4.0 source code are identical. While the file sizes may be the same between two .EXE files, a byte-by-byte comparision reveals that the actual .EXE files are different.

CAUSE

Many internal identifiers and GUIDs that may be used in the application are reassigned on every compile. A few of these are written out into the .EXE file in internal tables. Also, the Win32 file format has an entry in it for the time stamp of the executable. This will be set to a different value each time you make a new .EXE file.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

1. Start a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.

2. Choose Make EXE File from the File menu, and specify P1.EXE as the name of the .EXE file.

3. Choose Make EXE File from the File menu again, and specify P2.EXE as the name of the .EXE file this time.

4. Open an MS-DOS box, and change directories to the one that contains both P1.EXE and P2.EXE.

5. Type the following command at the MS-DOS prompt:

   FC P1.EXE P2.EXE