Project Files - What are they?  (Visual Studio 6)

A Visual Basic project is not just a single file. Besides the usual Project (.vbp extension) and Form (.frm extension) files, there are often several other file types that are essential to the project which Visual Basic creates as they are needed. In fact most projects consist of at least three of the following files types:

Project (.vbp) file. One per project. The project file is simply a list of all the files (usually with the explicit path to those files) and controls associated with the project, as well as information on the Visual Basic environment options that you set. This information is updated every time you save the project. All of the files and objects listed in a project file can be shared by other projects as well.

Form (.frm) files. One for each form in your project. Form files contain textual descriptions of the form and its controls, including their property settings, and the code from their event procedures. They also contain form-level declarations of constants, variables, and external procedures; event and general procedures.

Binary data (.frx) files. One for each form in your project. Stores binary data for forms that have controls with properties that have binary data values, such as an Image control which contains a graphic file.

Standard Module (.bas) files. One for each standard module. Standard modules can contain public or module-level declarations of types, constants, variables, external procedures, and public procedures (it’s where the Global variables for a project are declared).

Class Modules (.cls) files. One for each class module. Class modules are similar to standard modules, except that they have no visible user-interface. You can use class modules to create your own objects. Class modules can include code for methods and properties associated with an object you define.

Resource (.res) file. One per project. Resource files contain bitmaps, text strings, or other data that you can change without having to re-edit your code. For example, if you plan to change your application to a foreign language, you can keep all of the user-interface text strings and bitmaps in a resource file, and then simply change the resource file and recompile your program instead of changing your entire application one form and control at a time.

Windows Layout (.vbw) file. Only found in Visual Basic version 5 and higher. This file is created whenever you close a visual basic Project (whether you modify it or not). It stores information about the positions of open windows in the Visual Basic development environment. This file is not an important part of a project, and does not need to be included with the above project files when backing them up to a floppy disk or another computer.