The future of VB and of my databases

[Alex via AccessMonster.com]

Though this is a section to discuss forms, it is also about programming so
I'll post this question here.

Has been a lot of time that I've been hearing about the question of how VB
will evolve (or not!) in the near future and I have a few access databases
running on my department, using Access 2000 and 2003. On the top of what
version of VB are they running as I have no idea? And what will happen to my
databases when I upgrade to Access 2007 and Windows Vista? Will they stop
working? How different is VB.NET or VB2005 from VB6?

Thank you in advance.

Alex

 

[Douglas J Steele]

Like all Access 2000 and 2003, Access 2007 uses VBA. While the graphical
user interface for Access 2007 is significantly different than for previous
versions of Access, your application will likely work fine with it.

There are significant differences between VB6 and VB.Net and VB 2005 (which
is also VB.Net). In fact, in my opinion it's a bit of a misnomer calling the
new versions "VB".

 

[Miguel Alexandre via AccessMonster.com]

Thanks Douglas (I'm happier now!). But what version of VB(A) does Access use
currently?

Like all Access 2000 and 2003, Access 2007 uses VBA. While the graphical
user interface for Access 2007 is significantly different than for previous
versions of Access, your application will likely work fine with it.

There are significant differences between VB6 and VB.Net and VB 2005 (which
is also VB.Net). In fact, in my opinion it's a bit of a misnomer calling the
new versions "VB".

Though this is a section to discuss forms, it is also about programming so
I'll post this question here.

[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]

Alex

 

[Miguel via AccessMonster.com]

Thanks Douglas (I'm happier now!). But what version of VB(A) does Access use
currently?

Like all Access 2000 and 2003, Access 2007 uses VBA. While the graphical
user interface for Access 2007 is significantly different than for previous
versions of Access, your application will likely work fine with it.

There are significant differences between VB6 and VB.Net and VB 2005 (which
is also VB.Net). In fact, in my opinion it's a bit of a misnomer calling the
new versions "VB".

Though this is a section to discuss forms, it is also about programming so
I'll post this question here.

[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]

Alex

 

[Douglas J Steele]

I get the impression that you think VB and VBA are the same thing. They're
not.

In any case, Office 2003 uses Visual Basic for Applications version 6.3.

--
Doug Steele, Microsoft Access MVP

(no e-mails, please!)

Thanks Douglas (I'm happier now!). But what version of VB(A) does Access use
currently?

Like all Access 2000 and 2003, Access 2007 uses VBA. While the graphical
user interface for Access 2007 is significantly different than for previous
versions of Access, your application will likely work fine with it.

There are significant differences between VB6 and VB.Net and VB 2005 (which
is also VB.Net). In fact, in my opinion it's a bit of a misnomer calling the
new versions "VB".

Though this is a section to discuss forms, it is also about programming so
I'll post this question here.

[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]

Alex

 

[Sam Hobbs]

I get the impression that you think VB and VBA are the same thing. They're
not.

Note that I am not the person that asked the question.

I know that VB and VBA are not the same, but they sure seem to have a lot in
common that is the same. I sure get confused looking at VB 6 documentaton
that is actually VBA documentation or something like that. The documentation
sure seems to think that there is a lot that is the same for both. A VB
project (most or all of them) have a reference to VBA.

If they have nothing in common then there are plenty of things that can
easily confuse us. If they do have as much in common as it seems, then the
question is what version of VB corresponds with VBA? I think it is a valid
question but it might not be easily answered.

 

[Sam Hobbs]

Companies such as Microsoft and IBM must often decide whether to continue
support of "legacy" software or to liberate software to allow new
technology. For software such as VBA that Microsoft provided as the only
practical solution for macro programming of their most popular software,
they are not so foolish as to break the existing software that we have
developed.

Microsoft often nudges us forward to newer versions, but dropping support of
VBA would create such a limitation that the majority of current users would
be unable to upgrade, even if they were hit by the force of a tornado.

 

[Miguel via AccessMonster.com]

I apologize for my ignorance but then what was the issue about the transition
from VB6 to VB.NET ("sign the petition", etc) and why, as far as I can
understand, that didn't affect VBA ?

Miguel

Companies such as Microsoft and IBM must often decide whether to continue
support of "legacy" software or to liberate software to allow new
technology. For software such as VBA that Microsoft provided as the only
practical solution for macro programming of their most popular software,
they are not so foolish as to break the existing software that we have
developed.

Microsoft often nudges us forward to newer versions, but dropping support of
VBA would create such a limitation that the majority of current users would
be unable to upgrade, even if they were hit by the force of a tornado.

Though this is a section to discuss forms, it is also about programming so
I'll post this question here.

[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]

Alex

 

[Sam Hobbs]

I don't know. I am sorry if my comments did not help.

If you have a question about what I said then specify what part of what I
said you don't understand.

I apologize for my ignorance but then what was the issue about the
transition
from VB6 to VB.NET ("sign the petition", etc) and why, as far as I can
understand, that didn't affect VBA ?

Miguel

Companies such as Microsoft and IBM must often decide whether to continue
support of "legacy" software or to liberate software to allow new
technology. For software such as VBA that Microsoft provided as the only
practical solution for macro programming of their most popular software,
they are not so foolish as to break the existing software that we have
developed.

Microsoft often nudges us forward to newer versions, but dropping support
of
VBA would create such a limitation that the majority of current users
would
be unable to upgrade, even if they were hit by the force of a tornado.

Though this is a section to discuss forms, it is also about programming
so
I'll post this question here.

[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]

Alex

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

You're correct that the differences are small.

If I had to guess, I'd say that the current version of VBA is close to VB6.