Datasheet
Product Highlights
Features by Edition
System Requirements

Datasheet

Product Highlights

Microsoft Visual Basic development system is the most productive tool for creating fast business solutions for Windows® and the Web. A comprehensive, rapid application development environment helps developers quickly create and deploy client/server applications, plus easily program for the Internet using familiar Visual Basic programming tools and techniques.

Tap into productivity and performance.

  • Program with the world's most popular programming language to quickly create high-performance applications and components in a RAD environment.
  • Build fast, native-code applications and components that use the same world-class compiler technology as in the Microsoft Visual C++® development system. Applications can be optimized for speed and size, and in many other ways, to improve performance even more.
  • Make your applications and components thread-safe without the rigors of manual thread management.
  • Increase development speed and productivity with IntelliSense® technology. On-the-fly syntax and statement completion using features such as Complete Word, Quick Info, and DataTips®.
  • Easily create a broad range of COM components, including ActiveX® controls as well as middle-tier and server-side components.
  • Use your Visual Basic skills in the Microsoft Office 97 suite and in third-party applications that license Microsoft Visual Basic Applications Edition.

Easily create data-centric applications.

  • Quickly develop rich data forms, or use the new integrated Report Writer to develop sophisticated, hierarchical reports, all with drag-and-drop ease.
  • Create reusable data access components using the new Data Environment¾ for use across multiple projects, in other development tools, or on the Web¾ that automatically take advantage of data binding.
  • Build a wide variety of applications for the mobile user. Write client/server applications that work with databases whether or not they are connected to a LAN or to the Web. Visual Basic 6.0 now supports the Microsoft universal data access interface with ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) version 2.0.
  • Achieve a new level of productivity when working with hierarchical data with the enhanced FlexGrid control. Easily display master-detail data in a way that allows you to expand, collapse, hide, or show information.

Increase efficiency with integrated Visual Database Tools.

Visual Basic 6.0 provides integrated Visual Database Tools such as Data View window, Query Designer, and the Database Designer - all accessible without leaving Visual Basic.

  • Use the comprehensive, newly integrated Visual Database Tools to perform your most common database activities - without leaving
    Visual Basic.
  • View tables, modify data, and create SQL queries within the development environment for any ODBC- or
    OLE DB-compliant database.
  • Use the fully integrated Database Designer to visually design and modify live database schemas and other objects for Microsoft SQL Server™ 6.5 or later and Oracle 7.3.3 or later databases.
  • Use the Query Designer to visually create queries and perform sophisticated database tasks without having to learn the SQL language.
  • Create, edit, and modify stored procedures, all from within the Visual Basic environment. As in the Visual Basic Code editor, SQL syntax is color-coded and immediately checked for correctness. This makes the SQL code easier to read and less prone to errors.
  • Interactively debug Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 or later stored procedures and triggers at the same time, and on the same workstation, as you develop and debug your applications.

Start building Internet applications today.

With Visual Basic 6.0, you can create powerful applications for the Internet, accessible from any browser on any platform.

  • Use the experience you've gained programming Windows-based applications in a RAD environment to move your code and applications to the Web.
  • Build Web applications and components running on Microsoft Internet Information Server that are accessible from any browser on any platform.
  • Deploy Internet applications and components quickly and easily using the Package and Deployment wizard.

Experience enhanced Internet functionality with Dynamic HTML.

  • Benefit from rich presentation support, including dynamic layout, graphical transitions, robust typography, scrolling and automatically resizing forms, and more.
  • Create event-driven Dynamic HTML pages for use in Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0. The new Dynamic HTML Page designer lets you program highly interactive Web pages as easily as Visual Basic forms.
  • Distribute software automatically and leverage both Dynamic HTML and the browser user interface.
  • Easily integrate the Web, including Dynamic HTML pages, into Visual Basic applications using Internet Explorer 4.0 WebBrowser control.

Achieve scalability in the Enterprise.

  • Build on a world-class platform using the power and reliability of industry-standard tools. Microsoft Visual Basic tightly integrates with the Microsoft BackOffice® family, which provides a dependable and safe environment for robust enterprise applications, whether stand-alone, for intranets, or for the Internet.
  • Take advantage of the Windows NT® platform. Provide native code applications for systems that run on Windows 95 and Windows NT operating systems, including Intel and DEC Alpha platforms.
  • Visually model complex application architectures and component interfaces with the easy-to-use Visual Modeler. The Visual Modeler also generates code and lets you regenerate code as you evolve and refine your models.
  • Build better solutions using the Windows NT Option Pack. Microsoft Transaction Server 2.0, Microsoft Internet Information Server 4.0, and Microsoft Message Queue Server let you build sophisticated, multiuser business applications for the Web, a LAN, or both.
  • Use Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 Developer Edition, a scalable, high-performance database management system for Windows NT- based systems, to prototype and test enterprise applications.
  • Secure your source code using Microsoft Visual SourceSafe™. Visual SourceSafe provides easy-to-use, secure, project-oriented version control. Now any size team can increase productivity and easily protect documents, source code, and content for the Web or PC.

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