VB6 identity crisis

[nutwood33]

Please could someone help me with a very simple question. I use VB macros quite extensively for a variety of data contol tasks in Excel. I'm totally self taught assisted by "Help" and frustration in equal measures.
"Help" tells me I'm using VBA 6.0.8435. I would like to learn more about VB but all the books I look at refer to VB as a seperate program rather than something only accessed through Excel/macros. Is this VB6 I've been using the same program as the books refer to or should I be obtaining a seperate piece of software to continue learning?

[mnemtsas]

Please could someone help me with a very simple question. I use VB macros quite extensively for a variety of data contol tasks in Excel. I'm totally self taught assisted by "Help" and frustration in equal measures.
"Help" tells me I'm using VBA 6.0.8435. I would like to learn more about VB but all the books I look at refer to VB as a seperate program rather than something only accessed through Excel/macros. Is this VB6 I've been using the same program as the books refer to or should I be obtaining a seperate piece of software to continue learning?

You've been using Visual Basic for Applications, which is a subset of Visual Basic. If you want to learn to program applications that are stand alone (rather than part of an Excel workook, a word document, or MS Access) then Visual Basic is what you want to try. The easiest transition from VBA to VB is Visual Basic 6, though this is an old package now, and you'll have trouble buying it anywhere.

There are vba books around if you are interested in learning more about this. My local bookstore has several. I did the same as you, went from VBA to VB. Ask anymore questions you may have.

Mark

[nutwood33]

Ah-ha; Thanks Mark, I suspected something like this. Any good suggestions as to where I could lay my hands on VB6 would be much appreciated.
In the mean while, are there dramatic differences between VBA and it's stand alone parent? Most of the ideas I've gained from the books I've investigated appear to work with VBA although I'm obviously not using the software to it's full potential

[mnemtsas]

Ah-ha; Thanks Mark, I suspected something like this. Any good suggestions as to where I could lay my hands on VB6 would be much appreciated.
In the mean while, are there dramatic differences between VBA and it's stand alone parent? Most of the ideas I've gained from the books I've investigated appear to work with VBA although I'm obviously not using the software to it's full potential

From a base code level, no there is not a lot of difference. However, there are a lot of things in the full VB that simply do not exist in VBA. This includes classes, the way forms are handled, much better access to third party controls, and installation/setup issues. The best way to try it is to suck it and see.

I've got no real idea where to buy VB6 these days. If you become a MSDN subscriber you'll get it that way (as well as the other dev tools). This is several hundred dollars so it's not cheap. However, if you're doing it for work it's a good buy. I'm going to re-subscribe this year.

[nutwood33]

Thanks Mark. This thread has let me know where I'm at. Unfortunately my work is unlikely to come at forking out for my software education as the VBA things I'm up to have been a side line introduced by myself. I'm not complaining as the $'s saved there will undoubtedly find their way into my control to be spent on other interesting gizmos for me to play with.
I'll keep my eyes open for VB6. In this big bad world you never know!

Steve

From a base code level, no there is not a lot of difference. However, there are a lot of things in the full VB that simply do not exist in VBA. This includes classes, the way forms are handled, much better access to third party controls, and installation/setup issues. The best way to try it is to suck it and see.

I've got no real idea where to buy VB6 these days. If you become a MSDN subscriber you'll get it that way (as well as the other dev tools). This is several hundred dollars so it's not cheap. However, if you're doing it for work it's a good buy. I'm going to re-subscribe this year.

[vegaseat]

The VB6 Working Model is floating around for almost free on a CD ROM with a number of books. I picked up "Sams Teach Yourself Visual Basic 6 in 24 Hours" at Borders for $19.99. The VB6 Working Model performs well, but lacks the help files. At least you get to find out if you like it, before you spent the big bucks.

[nutwood33]

Thanks for the tip on the books. I'll do some scouting around. Unfortunately I'm down the bottom of the world in Tasmania so I'm restricted to what I can locate on the net but I'll give it a bash.
I've ordered a couple of VBA books which are in transit so hopefully I'll get that side of things up to speed anyway.
Steve