🚀 go-pugleaf

I just got my VBDOS/pro on Friday and have been pretty pleased with
it so far, I have a few problems that maybe the MS guys who read this
group can answer.

	1) TRNSLTE really locks my machine up bad everytime I run it
	but it seems to get through most of the steps, it creates the
	.MAK file with only the forms in it and outputs text files, but
	doesn't merge the text to the forms before locking up.  
	I have a 386-40 with 4meg ram and Trident SVGA running a 
	sstor compressed SCSI drive.
	2) Sometimes running/compiling goes real fast and sometimes it
	absolutely crawls, taking several minutes to run/compile.  
	It doesn't seem consistent in compile times, I guess is what
	I am trying to say.  Even if I don't change any code the binding
	step only increments the line counter once every 5-10 secs or so
	SHould it be this slow?
	3) It took forever to find any mention of SENDKEYS in the manual.
	I figured it wasn't supported but thought it should be easier to 
	find.
	4) One other problem I had was a line that looked like this:
		Sell_Form.Hide : ' Hide this form
	the editor kept changing this to a line label like this
	Sell_Form.Hide:			' Hide this form
	I couldnt get it to work right until I moved the comment down.
	This worked fine with VBwin

Other than these small problems VBDOS is great, I ported about 10k lines
of code over to DOS in no time, all I had to change were the SENDKEYS, and
touchup most of the forms.  This is exactly what I needed, so I can support
older computers with non-windows abilities.  

Thanks MicroSoft, 
-Al

In article <Oct.2.12.59.56.1992.5401@gandalf.rutgers.edu> cermak@gandalf.rutgers.edu (Rob Cermak) writes:
>What is the difference between VB/DOS standard and VB/DOS professional...

1.  Speed.  Pro has: 286 and 386/486 code optimization, alt math for floating
point math as much as 300% faster than Std.
2.  Capacity.  Both Std and Pro will use EMS/XMS within the environment
but Std cannot make an .EXE larger than 640K.  Pro uses the same MOVE
overlay technology that MS C/C++ 7.0 has (can keep multiple
overlay segments in memory at once, unlike the PDS overlay system that
could only store one overlay).
3.  Power.  Integrated database engine(ISAM), tools for creating custom
controls (Std can only USE custom controls), CodeView, MS Source Code
Profiler, Charting toolkit (charting based on MS Excel charting), Font
Toolkit with several Bitstream (tm) fonts in various sizes, Help Toolkit
that makes it easy to add hypertext on-line Help to your apps, Setup
toolkit that lets you create attractive Setup programs, Matrix Math toolkit,
etc.

>I was lead that the VB/DOS Pro was to be released at an educational
>price of $49.95.  When I ordered, I thought for sure I would get the
>VB/DOS professional after they looked up my previous information and
>found that I was using MS PDS BASIC 7.1 -- I didn't ask for a down grade.
Sorry if that was confusing.  The vast majority of all academic users
do not need Pro power so we do not make an academically priced
Pro product (nor did we ever make a PDS acad priced version).
Pricing recap:
VB/DOS Std Edition.  $199 Suggested retail.  $99 upgrade from QB, PDS,
   VB/Win, any commercial version of Basic (excludes QBasic, BasicA, and
   GWBasic), or any Borland language.
VB/DOS Pro Edition.  $495 SRP.  $199 upgrades from same.
VB/DOS Academic Single User Edition.  $49.95.  Absolutely identical to
   Std ... same files, same docs, etc.
VB/DOS Academic 10 pack.  $199.  One set of 3.5" and one set of 5.25"
   Std disks, 1 set of Std docs, and a license to duplicate 9 more sets
   of disks.
Note that you can get the regular priced AND upgrade boxes from your local
software store (Egghead, CompUSA, Software City, etc.), or a mail order software
house like Programmer's Paradise, Programmer's Shop, or Programmer's
warehouse.  The price of the regular priced versions may be a little different
but the upgrade boxes will be about the same price regardless of whom you
buy from (incl. directly from MS).

>
>Before I send it back...please tell me the added features and if this
>SWITCH is going to cost me additional $$ (plus POSTAGE!).
The switch will cost you the difference between the academic priced
box ($49.95) and the Pro upgrade ($199).  Not sure about the postage.
Call MS at 800-992-3675 for details.

Thanks,
Steve Podradchik, Product Manager, VB/DOS

Glad you like VB/DOS.  Not that I'm biased or anything (grin) but I
like it, too.

>
>	1) TRNSLTE really locks my machine up bad everytime I run it
>	but it seems to get through most of the steps, it creates the
>	.MAK file with only the forms in it and outputs text files, but
>	doesn't merge the text to the forms before locking up.  
>	I have a 386-40 with 4meg ram and Trident SVGA running a 
>	sstor compressed SCSI drive.

Ensure that VB/DOS and VB/Win are both in your path.  Also...it's unlikely
that it locks up your machine.  If Translate seems to fail for some
reason while VB/DOS is running, hit Ctrl_Esc to pop back to Windows then
Select "Translate" and hit "ENd Task".  Then kill VB/DOS with a Ctrl-Alt-Del
from the DOS box (assuming Win 3.1).


>	2) Sometimes running/compiling goes real fast and sometimes it
>	absolutely crawls, taking several minutes to run/compile.  
>	It doesn't seem consistent in compile times, I guess is what
>	I am trying to say.  Even if I don't change any code the binding
>	step only increments the line counter once every 5-10 secs or so
>	SHould it be this slow?

No VB/DOS should not be slow.  Ensure that you have your machine configured
for both EMS and XMS memory.  Presumably you have Windows.  The easiest
thing to do is run VB/DOS from a Windows DOS box using .PIF file provided.
This gives your DOS box all the EMS and XMS it can handle.  But check
your config.sys  and look at the C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE line.  Be certain
that you do NOT have NOEMS on that line (many people do).  My Config line
looks like:
DEVICE = c:\DOS\EMM386.EXE RAM
Running under Windows, while certainly not required, also gives
you the adv of virtual memory on 386/486 boxes.

>	3) It took forever to find any mention of SENDKEYS in the manual.
>	I figured it wasn't supported but thought it should be easier to 
>	find.
Oops.  I justed check the docs and on-line myself and
couldn't find it.
Note: Pages 518-543 of the Programmer's Guide includes a very
exhaustive list of all Statments, Methods, Events, and Properties
as they exist for VB/DOS, VB/Win, QB45, and PDS.  But it does
look like we missed one statement.  Will try to correct on next
printing.  Thanks!

>	4) One other problem I had was a line that looked like this:
>		Sell_Form.Hide : ' Hide this form
>	the editor kept changing this to a line label like this
>	Sell_Form.Hide:			' Hide this form
>	I couldnt get it to work right until I moved the comment down.
>	This worked fine with VBwin
>
Believe it or not, that really is a Feature not a Bug.  In VB/Win,
variables cannot have dots in them unless they are part of a TYPE.
For backwards compatibility with QB/PDS, VB/DOS allows variables (and
labels, therefore) to have dots in them.  Following these backward
compatibility rules, VB/DOS correctly interpreted that as a label.
To get it to work in both environments (and save a byte), make the line:
Sell_Form.Hide 'Hide this form
(in other words, kill the colon ... it doesn't do anything anyway)

>Other than these small problems VBDOS is great, I ported about 10k lines
>of code over to DOS in no time, all I had to change were the SENDKEYS, and
>touchup most of the forms.  This is exactly what I needed, so I can support
>older computers with non-windows abilities.  
>
>Thanks MicroSoft, 
>-Al
>
Thanks, Steve Podradchik (VB/DOS product manager)

Thanks for the info on everything.  Do I get a prize or anything for 
finding that SENDKEYS wasn't in there?
Let me ask one other question, I was using SENDKEYS to send a TAB everytime
the user hit ENTER so that on data entry you could whiz through forms.
Without it I have to set the focus to the next textbox in order.  I tried
having the keypress event do something like this
	if keyascii=13 then keyascii=9
but this doesn't work any other way that is that simple?

As for TRNSLTE locking up it really does toast my machine.  It runs the
stuff in DOS and flips back to the windows graphics for a moment and then
the screen turns black with a cursor in the upper left corner, and no
keys or anything will do anything except hitting reset, I'll check 
the things you mention though. 

Sorry I can't quote your article in this editor, but maybe you can 
remember what it said.

Thanks again,
-Al
.