Hi Mike,
I apologize if this comes across as a troll-like question. I certainly
don't mean for it to be.
I don't believe in trolls ;-)
Personally, I am really more familiar with web-coding languages like
Perl, and executable languages like Java, rather than VB. The program
I'm going for here is just basically an installer program for total
newbies: when they insert the CD, it would run my program which would
give them the option of installing Internet Explorer, ICQ, and a
series of other programs. The reason for my interface is that a great
many of the people I'm sending this CD to wouldn't have the slightest
idea on how to even get to D:, much less how to open the programs
there.
Well that is a totally different kettle of fish then, I am suprised that you
are installing onto Windows systems that don't have Internet Explorer on
them. But fair enough, the only other option for a dependentless
application would be a lower level language, such as C, but you could even
find an application out there that is designed for such a purpose.
For example, have you ever bought a computer magazine? They have the menu
systems on them, and they are completely customizeable, that is why you see
the same menu for magazine to magazine. All the dependencies can be
included on the CD and it will run straight away, that is exactly what they
were designed for. And they were designed using a low level language.
Web applications, like something made with Perl or Flash, wouldn't
work because the user will most likely not have a browser installed,
much less any supporting options like Flash. Java is obviously not
going to work, either, since it's very unlikely that they would have a
Java interpreter installed.
ACK, though a little suprising.
I may be totally way off base here, but I thought that the whole point
of VB was to create simple GUI applications like this? Is that just
something that 6.0 would be used for? If so, what is different about
.NET that makes it so much more powerful? It didn't appear that much
different from 6.0 (I only have a little experience with 6.0, though),
so what makes it so much more powerful to make it worth the Framework
requirement?
Nope, totally wrong there. VB has never claimed to be low level, that is
why it is far more attractive to most people, because allot of hard work has
been completed already. .NET langauges are high level langauges, with the
exception of C++ .NET of course which can be a mixture of both. High level
langauges are easier to develop in than low level languages but they have
dependencies (the bits that have been done for you).
"The Framework" is very powerful in the sence that it standardizes
interfaces, imagine older programs, programmers found many different ways of
acomplishing the same task, producing very diverse and unpredictable code.
..NET applications are supposed to use the same interfaces, so providing they
are used correctly you will allways get the same results.
VB6 uses VB runtimes, which are pretty much the same thing only they do not
contain anywhere near the level of functions for the programmer, you have to
use Win32 API's to do most of the complicated work. The Framework is
supposed to be a replacement for the Win32 API's also, but you still need
them in certain circumstances.
I know this isn't the right NG for this, but would VB 6.0 be the
program I'm looking for? If not, I'm open to any suggestions!
I would get a magazine, such as Computer Shopper, and take a look at the
menu that comes with it! Or any crappy magazine that has thousands of
useless programs on it, accessable through a customizeable interface, or
look on the net for one!
The hard work has already been done for you!
Nick.
--
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"No matter. Whatever the outcome, you are changed."
Fergus - September 5th 2003
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