New features in VB.NET New features in VB6 Invalid key 'Retained' message

VB5 / VB6

• Open an Oracle ODBC database using ADO and list the records in a table (3K)
• Experiment with color transformations on a color wheel (7K)
• Compress a text date of the form DD-MM-YYYY into three bytes (4K)
• Make an alarm notification application (in Romanian) (7K)
• Use a one-time pad to encipher and decipher text (3K)
• (VB.NET) Make a permanent image that you do not need to redraw in the Paint event handler (6K)
• (VB.NET) Draw an image on a form whenever the form paints or resizes (6K)
• Make a list of favorite Web links (55K)
• Make circular forms jump all over the screen (12K)
• Save and restore settings in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE part of the registry (4K)
• (VB.NET) Draw random circles on a form (5K)
• Get an application's class name (2K)
• Draw a bar graph (6K)
• Make the computer search a maze (6K)
• Read values from an INI file using a class (4K)
• Display file copy progress using an associated server program (7K)
• Drag items from one list to another (5K)
• Copy data from an Access database into an Excel spreadsheet (14K)
• Resize controls when their from resizes (3K)
• Save and restore a user-defined type quickly (3K)
• Compare string operations (6K)
• Display a one-to-many relationship in a database using the Data control (13K)
• Let the user moves items from one FlexGrid control to another (9K)
• Use the Microsoft Scripting Control (3K)
• Tile an MDIForm's background (6K)
• Start the system's screen saver (2K)
• Search for values in a FlexGrid control and sort it by columns (5K)
• Draw using a "bristly brush" (18K)
• Calculate the number of years, months, days, etc. between two dates (5K)
• Calculate the difference between two dates or count down (3K)
• Create shortcuts on the desktop or in the Start menu (3K)
• Save and restore FlexGrid column widths (2K)
• Convert VB6 projects to VB5 projects easily (2K)
• Open a file using the application appropriate for its extension (.doc, .txt, .htm, etc.) (3K)
• Time the Count the Mondays contest entries (12K)
• Routines for type casting (2K)
• Display textual drag icons easily (4K)
• Find the system's color depth (bits per pixel) (2K)
• Initialize the random number generator in a very "random" way (6K)
• Make the WebBrowser control print (3K)
• Color FlexGrid entries greater than a certain value (9K)
• Drag items from one position in a list to another (3K)
• Parse a delimited string using a parser class (4K)
• Copy the desktop pattern onto a form (2K)
• Convert VB source code into HTML code (4K)
• Find records in a database (7K)
• Sort the lines in a file (4K)
• Run a program redirecting its output to a file (2K)
• Search a directory for a file using a class (5K)
• Retrieve stock quotes from the Web (3K)
• Quickly view graphic files (by James Rushing) (297K)
• Display a directory hierarchy using a TreeView control (6K)
• Activate an MDI child form from code (2 K)
• Randomize a 2-dimensional array (3K)

• Change the height of a ComboBox's dropdown area (2K)
• Remove the selected items from a multi-selection ListBox (2K)
• Select a color with red, green, and blue scroll bars (2K)
• Make a slightly enhanced maze game (4K)
• "Lock" the computer until the user types a password (5K)
• Make a simple maze game (3K)
• Build a calculator (4K)
• Use Windows messages to read the choices in a ComboBox (2K)
• Save and restore a ComboBox from a file (2K)
• Trigger an event at 5, 10, 15, ... minutes after the hour (3K)
• Make a ComboBox's dropdown area wider than its text area (2K)
• Use BitBlt, StretchBlt, and PaintPicture and compare their speeds (19K) PaintPicture takes roughly 10 times as long!
• Display a Web document in the system's default browser (2K)
• Change the TextBox cursor blink rate (2K)
• Draw a black and white bitmap using SetBitmapBits and save the results to a file (2K)
• Hide a form's menu bar (2K)

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• Change the background color of text in an Rich Text Box (7K)
• Make a simple search form for a RichTextBox (4K)
• See what word the mouse is over in a RichTextBox (3K)

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• This is a link to a Visual Basic Function that converts Rich Text to HTML
• Automatically build Web pages (28K)
• Encipher text, part 2 (6K)
• Make the Haunted Maze game (55K)
• Save an icon file in 1, 4, 8, or 24 bit color (7K)
• Convert a number into binary, hex, and octal (4K)
• (Updated) Convert a number into binary (3K)
• Call a Visual Basic DLL to process an ASP request (4K)
• (Updated) Animate a complex moving object (70K)
• Convert a number into binary (3K)
• Let a client program get an instance to an object running in another executable (6K)
• Let the user grab part of the screen and save it in a JPEG file (26K)
• Fill a large area one pixel at a time using the SetBitmapPixels routine (6K)
• (VB.NET) Fill a large area one pixel at a time using a Bitmap object in VB.NET (3K)
• Unzip a bunch of Zip files in separate directories (4K)
• Winner for ActiveX Control Contest (80K)
• Join two tables in different databases (10K)
• Solution to Web mining contest (293K)
• Manage MDI children using a toolbar (4K)
• Make an Explorer-like display of files (7K)
• Make the "LGame" (10K)
• Display text with a toggleable icon next to each line (like setting break points in VB) (15K)
• Make a "Spot Game" (8K)
• Write an Excel file without using Excel (48K)
• Send data to currently running instance using same executable (8K)
• Use a small map window to let the user view a larger picture (26K)
• Read a menu structure given its window handle (6K)
• Print text files from a Web page (9K)
• Make a graphing calculator (15K)
• Use a subclassing class to hook Windows messages (7K)
• Make a sorted collection class (4K)
• Make an improved button control (13K)
• Make a "transparent" form (9K)
• Make a button class that shows its borders only when the mouse is over it (6K)
• Solve the equation SEND + MORE = MONEY (4K)
• Make buttons display the picture under them (18K)
• Manage menus in an MDI application, approach 1 (5K)
• Manage menus in an MDI application, approach 2 (5K)
• Make a form shaped around hollow text and a PictureBox (10K)
• Use resource files (127K)
• Find regular expressions in text (4K)
• Make a TextBox accept only digits (3K)
• Print a TreeView control's data (4K)
• Find a window using part of its title string (4K)
• Use objects to handle errors, profiling, and cursors (5K)
• Display rotated text on top of a picture (19K)
• A pong game (6K)
• Display thumbnails and view pictures (19K)
• Make a Web server program (15K)
• Save a bitmap into a .ico file (6K)
• Simulate a dot matrix scrolling text (7K)
• Start a program inside another program's MDI form (3K)
• Make a ping pong program (160K)
• Find all ways to pick N out of M items (3K)
• Animate an icon and put a form in the system tray (6K)
• Play CD, Wave, and Midi files with volume control (9K)
• Provide print preview for RTF files (20K)
• Reference properties by name in controls you build (3K)
• Work with transparent and translucent images (18K)
• Write Excel files directly without using Excel (45K)
• Download stock quotes from quote.yahoo.com (7K)
• Overlay an image on another using a simple mask (5K)
• Watch a file or directory for changes (5K)
• Create a metafile (3K)
• Provide a Web search page using the Pauper's Search Engine (5K)
• Create a singleton object within a single project (3K)
• Create a singleton object using a server project (4K)
• Start a program inside another (3K)
• Redirect a program's standard input and output (99K)
• Execute commands in a console window (3K)
• Draw a custom menu (by Sami Samhuri) (5K)
• Allen Copeland's ComboPack demonstrate lots of useful techniques (40K)
• Make another graphics viewer using a different interface (9K)
• Build master/detail records using an auto-incremented key (8K)
• Control another application (CompuServe) (3K)
• Get multiple counts from a single SQL statement (6K)
• Allow the user to customize a toolbar (5K)
• Give MDI child forms different toolbars (7K)
• Save and restore a TreeView from a file (7K)
• Tell when an application is activated or deactivated (2K)
• Know when a ComboBox is about to drop down (3K)
• Maximize another application (3K)
• Kill another application (3K)
• Add an About dialog to the system menu and create menus at run time (5K)
• (VB4 only) Draw rotated text on the printer (3K)
• Encipher text (3K)
• Resize a multi-line TextBox to make all lines visible (2K)
• Start another program and wait until it finishes (2K)
• Make a CompuServe mailing list (2K)
• Build a screen saver (5K)
• Draw on an MDI parent form's background (2K)