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The Latest

Finding Variable Values

Question: Data1.Recordset.FindFirst “LastName = ‘Quayle’”Ok that works fine. Why can’t I:Data1.Recordset.FindFirst “LastName = VarLN”where VarLN is a variable which the user has just provided? I get error 3070, “Can’t bind

Clearing the Contents

Question: Is there an easy way to clear a combo box’s contents, other than using the Clear method? Answer: One of my users suggested that if you add a space

Copying a Database

Question: What’s an easy way to make a copy of a currently open database? I’ve got open recordsets all over the place that I don’t want to close. Answer: Simply

Using SelText Property

Question: I can’t figure out how to add (runtime) a string variable into a textfield that already contains text.My thought was: Text1.Text = Text1.Text + “STRING VAR”this will obviously only

Detecting Microsoft Video for Windows

Question: I need to inquire if Video for Windows has been installed beforeattempting to play an AVI file. How can I do this? Answer: All versions of Windows keep track

Hiding Mouse Pointer at Run-time

Question: During run-time, for a particular reason, how do i hide/unhide mouse pointer? Answer: Here’s how to hide the Mousepointer:The Declaration:Declare Function ShowCursor Lib “User” (ByVal bShow As Integer) As

Creating a Generic Handler

Question: I am trying to write a generic error handler and would like some way of determining which proceedure or function the error has occured so that the generic error

Setting System Time

Question: I am trying to sync my system time with the servers time usingwinsock. but I need an API call that allows you to set your system date and time.

Type Mismatch Error

Question: I have an SQL statement in my program that looks like this:data3.recordsource = “SELECT id, date from reservations where (date = ‘” & maskededit1.text & “‘) and (id =

Using Dropdown Control in TrueGrid Pro

Question: I am using a Truegrid and implementing their Value list, combo box. I fill the list in code and would like to be able to have the “pick-list” drop

Inserting a Duplicate Record

Question: When creating a database (using the Access 1.1 engine) and selecting a field to be a primary index and requiring a unique index value, what will happen when the

Using Function Pointers/Dynamic Functions

Question: In Access 2.0 there is an Eval() function which will automatically evaluate numeric expressions. This functionality does not appear to exist in VB 4. I found an article in

ODBC Slowdown

Question: I am trying to create a “proof of concept” Visual Basic Project.In it, I am using a VB front end to access and maintain data in anORACLE 7 database

Wait Window

Question: My VB application accesses Oracle on VAX and it takes atleast15 secs to get connected to Oracle. How can I display a waitwindow/msgbox/form while it is trying to connect

Creating a Help File for an Excel Document

Question: I am trying to include a button in an Excel worksheet that will allow the user to click in to receive help infilling out the spreadsheet form properly. However,

Showing, Loading, and Unloading

Question: I have forms that I want to load, unload, and then load again. I use Show and Unload to do this. After I unload the form and try to

Using Large Dynasets

Question: I have a VB app that I use to correct records on an Rdb database on a VAX. I am using Microsoft’s TCP/IP and DEC’sODBC drivers. Our databases can

Using Help

Question: I cannot get the WinHelp API to work. “Bad DLL Convention” but I appear tobe doing everything right (including correction to WinAPI help declaration).Any suggestions? Answer: You could try

Maintaining Focus on a Command Button

Question: I see that an input box appears to maintain a focus on one the command buttons even when entering text. How is this done? Answer: What you are seeing

Using 3.0 Files in 4.0

Question: How do I upgrade my version 3.0 files to version 4.0? Answer: If you open your 3.0 project in any variant of VB 4.0, it will ask you if

Scrolling Image

Question: I cannot seem to find any documentation on how to scrollthe contents of a page. Can you help? Answer: The Visual Basic Knowlege Base, which is installed with Visual

Inserting Control Characters

Question: How do I insert carriage return (Chr(13)) and line feed (Chr (10)) in a text box at run-time? Answer: Just use the ampersand (&) and add them to the

Adding Fields to Existing Database

Question: How do I add new fields to an existing table in an Access 2.0 databasewithout losing data that already exists in the table/database? I knowhow to add fields, (the

Saving Data Before Exit

Question: If a user closes an application via the control box at the top LH side of a window, I would like to offer the user 3 choices:They can save

Using ToolTips

Question: How do I program the ToolTips (text that appears when the cursor is over a toolbar button) ? Answer: You should look into the Tips control from Mabry Software.

Putting More Controls on a Form

Question: If you are designing a program, but there is not enough room on a form even when it is maximized, what can you do? Answer: If you use a

Creating Long Delays

Question: I’ve been trying to create a simulator – it requires as close to real-time operation as possible. I have a couple of questions about timers.How do I activate a

Creating Huge Arrays with ReDim Keyword

Question: I am loading a file which is basically a list of numbers into an array. The array is declared as a string. I keep getting an “out of string

Source Control Tools

Question: We are developing a decent sized application in VB with a couple of programmers. We are looking for a way to have all of the programmers work on the

Selecting Visual Basic vs. Visual C++

Question: Where would you use Visual Basic over Visual C++? Answer: Well, personally, I’d almost always use VB over VC++ for a few reasons: Ease of use – it’s much