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I have an old VB6 project that is still alive and needs some attention at the moment, but I don't know anything about VB6 and I am just wondering how to preview a .frm file from the project.

I also have the .vbp file if that could be of any help.

I know I can open the files in a text editor (e.g. Notepad++) but is there a way to actually preview the form (like the designer in Visual Studio for WinForms)?

EDIT: Is there a way to make changes to a form?

Apostrofix
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    VB6 had its own IDE for form layout/design if that is what you mean by Preview. Do you not have VB6 installed? You'll need it to recompile any changes – Ňɏssa Pøngjǣrdenlarp Mar 06 '15 at 14:11
  • @Plutonix By saying "had", you mean that it is gone? – Apostrofix Mar 06 '15 at 14:15
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    no, just that VB6 was released in 1998, is old and basically a legacy product. I still have it on my machine, but not sure too many others still do. Your VB6 code/project wont work with modern Visual Studio versions, if that is what you were hoping – Ňɏssa Pøngjǣrdenlarp Mar 06 '15 at 14:16
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    re EDIT: you will absolutely need a copy of VB6 (as well as a design time license for any custom control packages) in order to recompile changes you make. (or hire someone with a copy). – Ňɏssa Pøngjǣrdenlarp Mar 06 '15 at 14:30
  • @Plutonix Thanks, it's my lucky day - one of the IT departments in our company have a licensed copy. – Apostrofix Mar 06 '15 at 14:32
  • The product is licensed to a specific developer. It isn't legal to share it around. – Bob77 Mar 06 '15 at 15:19

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As you say, you can view .frm and .vbp files in a text editor. These include most of the information about the from.

As far as I know however the only way to actually view and edit the forms is with the Visual Basic 6 IDE. I'm not entirley sure how to best go about acquring a copy howvever.

Re: Edit. You can change the .frm files using any text editor. But that's not going to do you any good without the IDE to compile the changed source.

CMaster
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  • Yeah, from what I found on the Internet, some people say that a copy can be found on ebay. However, that doesn't sound like solution that a company would choose. – Apostrofix Mar 06 '15 at 14:22
  • Here's how to get VB6: an answer (by me) to a related question http://stackoverflow.com/a/3620630/15639 – MarkJ Mar 06 '15 at 15:33
  • AFAIK although I am not a lawyer it is legal to buy a copy on ebay provided the seller uninstalled VB6. The license is transferable AFAIK. – MarkJ Mar 06 '15 at 15:34
  • To be legal they have to provide everything that came in the original package, including any books and MSDN Library CDs. – Bob77 Mar 07 '15 at 18:16