Major Release: Sunday, 23-Nov-2014

Nov 22, 2014

gmBasic VB6/ASP/COM Processor (V20.03.B2)

Improves accuracy and consistency of generated code to reduce .NET build errors
Adds support for custom CodeStyle.DLL (Naming Conventions, Dictionary to Generics.Dictionary; VB.Collection to Generics.List, Formatting, etc.) Contact us for a demo.
Improves Handling of Controls.Add
Improves Handling of CInt(Date)

gmStudio IDE

Improves handling of gmSL code elements in translation scripts
Adds Semantics Symbols Search
Improves layout of Search Panel
Improves ASP Line counting logic to show LOC details for site script
Adds Compiler Audit Report — shows system model before analyzer modifications
Renames Audit Report to Analyzer Audit Report — shows system model after analyzer modifications
Adds double-click Reference Panel to load interface description file
Improves folder format consistency in project file
Improves handling of floating point numeric constants in IDL generation
Adds Help/Samples menu item
Corrects problem with Help/Documentation menu item
Adds %TaskGuid% Script Variable (e.g. for setting ProjectGuid in .NET project file)
Improves activation of project-specific mega-language files
Begins work to support project-specific licensing
Modifies Trial License limits: VB6=11K LOIC, ASP=5K LOC
Adds ‘Notes’ records to Translation Log Report

Samples

The sample upgrade solutions have been updated and several impressive new samples have been added. All samples produce functional code in both C# and VB.NET (unless noted otherwise).

FMStocks (updated) a set of DLLs and an ASP site that implement simplified stock trading application
Illustrates ASP to ASP.NET upgrade, Shared file Consolidation, and COM Replacements
Waves (updated) a stand-alone graphics/mathematics application
Illustrates upgrading advanced forms, graphics, and mathematics logic
vb3DDefine (updated) a stand-alone graphics/mathematics application
Illustrates upgrading advanced forms graphics and mathematics logic

Sample Rules

Improves GM.ADODB_to_DataLib.dll.xml
Improves GM.EXCEL_Interop.EXE.XML
Improves GM.MSCOMCTL.OCX.xml
Improves GM.MSCOMCT2_Winforms.OCX.XML
Improves GM.SCRRUN.DLL
Improves TabctlTransform.gmsl

gmRuntime Library

Adds members to ADODB Emulation
Adds enums and members to Utils

10/24/2014 Major Release

Oct 31, 2014

New Upgrade Solution Samples!

The sample upgrade solutions have been updated and several impressive new samples have been added. All samples produce functional code in both C# and VB.NET (unless noted otherwise).

WPFScanTool (new) an EXE and DLL that implement a file analysis application
Demonstrates VB6 forms to C#/Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
FMStocks (updated) a set of DLLs and an ASP site that implement simplified stock trading application
Illustrates ASP to ASP.NET upgrade, Shared file Consolidation, and COM Replacements
Waves (new) a stand-alone graphics/mathematics application
Illustrates upgrading advanced forms, graphics, and mathematics logic
vb3DDefine (new) a stand-alone graphics/mathematics application
Illustrates upgrading advanced forms graphics and mathematics logic to C#
Calculator (new) a stand-alone calculator application
Illustrates control arrays and copy/paste through the clipboard
StringEvaluator (new) a stand-alone arithmetic and function evaluator
Illustrates Win32 API replacements, complex logic, and resource management
FileExplorer (updated) an stand-alone implements a simple directory explorer application
Illustrates COM replacement and ActiveX controls to WinForms controls
ScanTool (updated) an EXE and DLL that implement a file/directory analysis application
Illustrates VB6/COM/Win32 to .NET WinForms upgrade.

gmBasic VB6/ASP/COM Processor (V20.02.00)

Improves accuracy and consistency of upgraded code
Improves details stored in COM description files
Improves conditional compilation capability
Improves stub assembly generation

gmStudio IDE

Adds Visual Studio Solution File Generation feature
Improves project-specific metalanguage file management on Settings form
Improves XML handling and use read-only access as appropriate
Improves ScriptRule process with additional features, comments, and samples
Improves IDF log information in References panel
Adds support for using subsystem-specific deployment folder settings from template.xml file
Adds OLE Control interface to meta-language file vbb6control.dcl.xml
Improves resolution of custom translation script path
Improves remote registration and licensing support
Improves missing reference messages in .NET Build Log report
Adds ScriptRule to activate WPF

gmRuntime Library

Adds runtime library support for VB6 Graphics and Forms conventions in WinForms and WPF

Many COM APIs make extensive use of Variants and this can degrade translation quality. In fact, I was recently working on upgrading a commercial VB6 application to C# and I encountered the following error in the C# build log:

ERRNUM: CS0029: Cannot implicitly convert type 'byte' to 'byte[]'
NETSRC: ... frmAttachWindow.cs@287
bbuf = Convert.ToByte(vbuf);
ERRNUM: CS0029: Cannot implicitly convert type 'byte[]' to 'object[]'
NETSRC: ... frmAttachWindow.cs@291
vbuf = sendbuf;

Looking at the VB6 code I find this:

Dim vbuf As Variant
Dim bbuf() As Byte

and later this

vbuf = frmMain.MSComm.Input

I suspect frmMain.MSComm.Input is a member of an MSCOMM control. I look up the definition of this member in the generated interface description file (IDF) for MSCOMM and I find this:

   <class id="IMSComm" parent="IDispatch" default="_CommPort">
...
      <property id="Output" type="Variant" status="InOut"/>
      <property id="Input" type="Variant" status="InOut"/>

And change it to this

   <class id="IMSComm" parent="IDispatch" default="_CommPort">
...
      <property id="Output" type="Byte[]" status="InOut"/>
      <property id="Input" type="Byte[]" status="InOut"/>

I save the updated IDF in my usr folder so it will take precedence over the generated one.

I take a snapshot of the last translation, and I rerun the translation using the new IDF.

Comparing the snapshot (left) to the new results (right) shows the dramatic improvements - and the orginal C# build errors are gone.

gmStudio technology allows a migration team to modify the type information for your COM APIs. This will result in cleaner more correct translations. Modifying type information can also be used to direct the tool to replace COM components with .NET classes. See Custom COM Replacement for additional information.

09/15/2014 Major Release

Sep 15, 2014

gmBasic

Updated translation engine (V20.02B9)
Improved translation accuracy and correctness
Adding CheckMultipleTypes option for alternate processing of variants with multiple types
Improve logic for detecting event handlers from COM interface information
Improve handling of enums used in logical and mathematical expressions

gmStudio

Improve handling of external tool for report file viewing
Improve handling of external tool for file comparison viewing
Improve layout and content on Check for Updates form
Update toolbar button tooltips
Additional improvements in Registration and License Support
Correct logic that preserves user preferences in gmStudio.cfg file during product updates
Correct metalang script processing to read appropriate IDF folder

09/08/2014 public release

Sep 8, 2014