Use this code to determine whether NT is running on its screen saver desktop. NT5 has an SPI function, but this code should work on any NT version: Private Declare

You might occasionally need to execute a group of statements with different and unrelated values of a variable. For example, say you need to verify that a number isn’t a

Most standard controls send WM_CTLCOLORXXXXX messages to their parent when they’re about to draw themselves. VB normally handles these messages and responds appropriately with the ForeColor and BackColor properties that

Question: I often get disconnected for no apparent reason after being online for only ten minutes or so. Is this a normal occurrence? Answer: The reasons for being disconnected can

Question: What is the best software package available for the intermediate programmer to develop Web pages? I have never created a Web page before, but I have about 20 years

Question: I’m designing a new rollover for my menu frame. I have five graphics, and I want them to change colors when the user mouses over them. Also, how do

It’s often the case that you’ll use some derived value in the test section of a for loop. Many times this value will not be changed during the loop, such

Many Web site managers prefer all site visitors to enter their site through the front page. The front page may contain site usage information that all users should see, or

Your database is useless if your clients can’t connect to it. However, keeping all the DLLs necessary in sync with each other has always been a complicated task. Microsoft has

Every STL container uses an allocator that encapsulates the memory model that the specific platform uses. Allocators hide the platform-dependent details such as the size of pointers, memory organization, reallocation

Question: What are frames used for? Answer: Frames came on the scene a few years ago as a way to display information from more than one HTML page at once.

Question: As a Web designer, I’ve used HTML, JavaScript, and DHTML in my projects. But now I see the need for server-side programming/scripts for my near future projects. I did

Question: I have a Web site with a large number of links broken down into categories. This directory has become a nightmare to manage. Is there a way to automate

Question: What is the difference between GIFs and JPEGs and when would you use either in Web development? Answer: GIFs are seen most often on Web sites. They are usually

No product is perfect when it heads out the door. Sooner or later a service pack will be released. When using SQL Server, you should always be on the lookout

When your application generates multiple lines of output and is responsible for manually separating those lines, you may be inclined to insert an instance of the linefeed character (usually represented

Browser plug-ins, such as RealPlayer, Shockwave/Flash, Quicktime, and others, can add multimedia functionality to a Web site and help attract and retain visitors. If a particular visitor doesn’t have a

It is possible to specify the requested storage size of a vector during construction like this: #include using namespace std;int main() { vector vi(1000); //initial storage for 1000 int’s //vi

The memory buffer returned by operator new is guaranteed to have the suitable alignment properties for any type object. This property enables you to construct objects on such a pre-allocated

The java.awt.FontMetrics class provides information on the properties of a font. For example, it can be used to determine how many horizontal pixels are required (i.e., the width) when a

Choosing the right hardware for your server can be a confusing task, especially given the frequency with which Intel and other manufacturers roll out new products. New CPUs, memory chips,

The common extension for an Include file in an Active Server Page is .INC. However, the included page, like the main page, may contain code that you don’t want to

If you’re writing an ActiveX control, you can create properties that return an enumerated value, as in: Public Enum SizeConstants SizSmall = 1 SizMedium SizLargeEnd EnumPublic Size As SizeConstants When

If you heavily use API calls and strictly follow the SDK documentation, you might be tempted to use the GetLastError API to retrieve the error returned by your last API

Visual Basic lets you test the state of mouse buttons only inside a MouseDown, MouseMove, or MouseUp event procedure. To determine the current state of mouse buttons you can use

Private Declare Sub CopyMemory Lib “kernel32” Alias “RtlMoveMemory” (dest As _ Any, source As Any, ByVal bytes As Long)’ Return the low word of a Long valueFunction LowWord(ByVal value As

It is highly unfortunate that Visual Basic doesn’t offer a way to execute a group of statements only when the program is interpreted in the environment or only when it

Using “pure” VB, the only way to build a generic routine that returns the number of dimensions of an array passed as an argument is using a loop that repeatedly

Short-circuit evaluation is an optimization technique automatically adopted by most modern compilers, including all flavors of C++, Borland Delphi and many others. Unfortunately, the Visual Basic compiler is not in

When you build your ActiveX controls and components, Visual Basic automatically creates all the GUIDs as necessary. The same also happens in other cases, without you even realizing it: for