A member of the BaCon forum created a utility to convert Pencil .ep files to BaCon HUG assisted forms. I carried on with the idea but using VB6 IDE as the GUI builder and translating the .frm files to IUP for a cross platform GUI. Jose Roca from the PowerBASIC forum created this very helpful list of VB6 components.
I hope to have something to show soon.
There are three broad categories of controls in Visual Basic:
a) Intrinsic controls, such as the command button and frame controls. These controls are contained inside the Visual Basic .exe file.
b) ActiveX controls, which exist as separate files with a .ocx file name extension. These include controls that are available in all editions of Visual Basic (DataCombo, DataList controls, and so on) and those that are available only in the Professional and Enterprise editions (such as Listview, Toolbar, Animation, and Tabbed Dialog). Many third-party ActiveX controls are also available.
c) Insertable Objects, such as a Microsoft Excel Worksheet object containing a list of all your company's employees, or a Microsoft Project Calendar object containing the scheduling information for a project.
Intrinsic Controls
The following table summarizes the intrinsic controls found in the Visual Basic toolbox.
CheckBox Displays a True/False or Yes/No option. You can check any number of check boxes on a form at one time.
ComboBox Combines a text box with a list box. Allows a user to type in a selection or select an item from a drop-down list.
Command button CommandButton Carries out a command or action when a user chooses it.
Data Enables you to connect to an existing database and display information from it on your forms.
DirListBox Displays and allows a user to select directories and paths.
DriveListBox Displays and allows a user to select valid disk drives.
FileListBox Displays and allows a user to select from a list of files.
Frame Provides a visual and functional container for controls.
HScrollBar and VScrollBar Allow a user to add scroll bars to controls that do not automatically provide them. (These are not the same as the built-in scroll bars found with many controls.)
Image Displays bitmaps, icons, or Windows metafiles, JPEG, or GIF files; acts like a command button when clicked.
Label Displays text a user cannot interact with or modify.
Line Adds a straight-line segment to a form.
ListBox Displays a list of items that a user can choose from.
OLE container Embeds data into a Visual Basic application.
OptionButton The Option Button control, as part of an option group with other option buttons, displays multiple choices, from which a user can choose only one.
PictureBox Displays bitmaps, icons, or Windows metafiles, JPEG, or GIF files. It also displays text or acts as a visual container for other controls.
Shape Adds a rectangle, square, ellipse, or circle to a form, frame, or picture box.
TextBox Provides an area to enter or display text.
Timer Executes timer events at specified time intervals.
As they are contained inside the Visual Basic .exe file, and not in an OCX, they can only be used with VB6.
Standard ActiveX Controls
The Learning edition of Visual Basic contains a number of ActiveX controls (referred to as standard ActiveX controls) that allow you to add advanced features to your applications. ActiveX controls have the file name extension .ocx and can be used in your project by manually adding them to the toolbox.
The following table summarizes the standard ActiveX controls available in the Learning edition of Visual Basic.
ADO Data Control ADODC Creates a connection to a database using ADO. Assignable to the DataSource property of other controls such as the DataGrid.
Common dialog CommonDialog Provides a standard set of dialog boxes for operations such as opening and saving files, setting print options, and selecting colors and fonts.
DataCombo DataCombo Provides most of the features of the standard combo box control, plus increased data access capabilities.
DataGrid DataGrid A grid control that allows can be data-bound to a data source such as the ADO Data Control. Reading and editing the recordset is possible.
DataList DataList Provides most of the features of the standard list box control, plus increased data access capabilities.
Microsoft Hierarchical FlexGrid MSHFlexGrid A read-only grid control that can be bound the Data Environment designer to show hierarchical recordsets.
These can be used with PB, but except the Common Dialogs, require the use of a OLE Container to host them.
ActiveX Controls
ADO Data Control
The ADO Data Control is similar to the intrinsic Data control and the Remote Data Control (RDC). The ADO Data Control allows you to quickly create a connection to a database using Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects (ADO).
Animation Control
The Animation control allows you to create buttons which display animations, such as .avi files, when clicked. The control can play only AVI files that have no sound. In addition, the Animation control can display only uncompressed .avi files or .avi files that have been compressed using Run-Length Encoding (RLE).
CommonDialog Control
The CommonDialog control provides a standard set of dialog boxes for operations such as opening and saving files, setting print options, and selecting colors and fonts. The control also has the ability to display help by running the Windows Help engine.
CoolBar Control
A CoolBar control contains a collection of Band objects used to create a configurable toolbar that is associated with a form.
DataCombo Control
The DataCombo control is a data-bound combo box that is automatically populated from a field in an attached data source, and optionally updates a field in a related table of another data source.
DataGrid Control
Displays and enables data manipulation of a series of rows and columns representing records and fields from a Recordset object.
DataList Control
The DataList control is a data-bound list box that is automatically populated from a field in an attached data source, and optionally updates a field in a related table of another data source.
DataRepeater Control
The DataRepeater control functions as a scrollable container of data-bound user controls. Each control appears in its own row as a "repeated" control, allowing the user to view several data-bound user controls at once.
DateTimePicker Control
The DateTimePicker control enables you to provide a formatted date field that allows easy date selection. In addition, users can select a date from a dropdown calendar interface similar to the MonthView control.
DBCombo Control
The DBCombo control is a data bound combo box with a drop-down list box which is automatically populated from a field in an attached Data control, and optionally updates a field in a related table of another Data control. The text box portion of DBCombo can be used to edit the selected field.
DBList Control
he DBList control is a data bound list box which is automatically populated from a field in an attached Data control, and optionally updates a field in a related table of another Data control.
FlatScrollBar Control
The FlatScrollBar control is a mouse-sensitive version of the standard Windows scroll bar that offers two-dimensional formatting options. It can also replace the standard Windows three-dimensional scroll bar. The FlatScrollBar provides increased interactivity when using the scroll arrows and the scroll box.
ImageCombo Control
The ImageCombo control is a picture-enabled version of the standard Windows combo box. Each item in the list portion of the control can have a picture assigned to it.
ImageList Control
An ImageList control contains a collection of ListImage objects, each of which can be referred to by its index or key. The ImageList control is not meant to be used alone, but as a central repository to conveniently supply other controls with images.
ListView Control
The ListView control displays items using one of four different views. You can arrange items into columns with or without column headings as well as display accompanying icons and text.
MAPIMessages Control
The messaging application program interface (MAPI) controls allow you to create mail-enabled Visual Basic MAPI applications.
MAPISession Control
The messaging application program interface (MAPI) controls allow you to create mail-enabled Visual Basic MAPI applications.
Masked Edit Control
The Masked Edit control provides restricted data input as well as formatted data output. This control supplies visual cues about the type of data being entered or displayed.
Microsoft Internet Transfer Control
The Internet Transfer control provides implementation of two of the most widely used protocols on the Internet, HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
MonthView Control
The MonthView control enables you to create applications that let users view and set date information via a calendar-like interface.
MSChart Control
A chart that graphically displays data.
MSComm Control
The MSComm control provides serial communications for your application by allowing the transmission and reception of data through a serial port.
MSFlexGrid Control
The Microsoft FlexGrid (MSFlexGrid) control displays and operates on tabular data. It allows complete flexibility to sort, merge, and format tables containing strings and pictures. When bound to a Data control, MSFlexGrid displays read-only data.
MSHFlexGrid Control
The Microsoft Hierarchical FlexGrid (MSHFlexGrid) control displays and operates on tabular data. It allows complete flexibility to sort, merge, and format tables containing strings and pictures. When bound to a data control, MSHFlexGrid displays read-only data.
Multimedia MCI Control
The Multimedia MCI control manages the recording and playback of multimedia files on Media Control Interface (MCI) devices. Conceptually, this control is a set of push buttons that issues MCI commands to devices such as audio boards, MIDI sequencers, CD-ROM drives, audio CD players, videodisc players, and videotape recorders and players. The MCI control also supports the playback of Video for Windows (*.avi) files.
PictureClip Control
The PictureClip control allows you to select an area of a source bitmap and then display the image of that area in a form or picture box. PictureClip controls are invisible at run time.
ProgressBar Control
The ProgressBar control shows the progress of a lengthy operation by filling a rectangle with chunks from left to right.
RemoteData Control
Provides access to data stored in a remote ODBC data source through bound controls. The RemoteData control enables you to move from row to row in a result set and to display and manipulate data from the rows in bound controls.
RichTextBox Control
The RichTextBox control allows the user to enter and edit text while also providing more advanced formatting features than the conventional TextBox control.
Slider Control
A Slider control is a window containing a slider and optional tick marks. You can move the slider by dragging it, clicking the mouse to either side of the slider, or using the keyboard.
SSTab Control
The SSTab control provides a group of tabs, each of which acts as a container for other controls. Only one tab is active in the control at a time, displaying the controls it contains to the user while hiding the controls in the other tabs.
StatusBar Control
A StatusBar control provides a window, usually at the bottom of a parent form, through which an application can display various kinds of status data. The StatusBar can be divided up into a maximum of sixteen Panel objects that are contained in a Panels collection.
SysInfo Control
The SysInfo control allows you to respond to certain system messages sent to all applications by the operating system. Your application can then adapt to changes in the operating system if necessary.
TabStrip Control
A TabStrip control is like the dividers in a notebook or the labels on a group of file folders. By using a TabStrip control, you can define multiple pages for the same area of a window or dialog box in your application.
Toolbar Control
A Toolbar control contains a collection of Button objects used to create a toolbar that is associated with an application.
TreeView Control
A TreeView control displays a hierarchical list of Node objects, each of which consists of a label and an optional bitmap. A TreeView is typically used to display the headings in a document, the entries in an index, the files and directories on a disk, or any other kind of information that might usefully be displayed as a hierarchy.
UpDown Control
An UpDown control has a pair of arrow buttons which the user can click to increment or decrement a value, such as a scroll position or a value in an associated control, known as a buddy control.
Winsock Control
The Winsock control, invisible to the user, provides easy access to TCP and UDP network services. It can be used by Microsoft Access, Visual Basic, Visual C++, or Visual FoxPro developers. To write client or server applications you do not need to understand the details of TCP or to call low level Winsock APIs. By setting properties and invoking methods of the control, you can easily connect to a remote machine and exchange data in both directions.
