Integrated Development Environment for Visual Basic 6.0 Users

Visual Basic 2008 is fully integrated into the Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 integrated development environment (IDE), which differs in several ways from the Visual Basic 6.0 IDE.

Window and Layout Changes

In Visual Basic 2008, the standard arrangement of windows is different than it was in Visual Basic 6.0. If you prefer the Visual Basic 6.0 arrangement, you can set it by manually arranging the windows—the next time you open the IDE, your arrangement is preserved.

In Visual Basic 6.0, the IDE is set to MDI (multiple-document interface) layout by default; you had the option to set it to SDI (single-document interface) layout. In Visual Basic 2008, the default layout for the IDE is the Tabbed documents layout; SDI layout is no longer supported. To change to the MDI layout, on the Tools menu choose Options, and on the Environment, General tab, select Multiple documents.

In Visual Basic 6.0, you can control the docking behavior for some tool windows by choosing Options from the Tools menu. In Visual Basic 2008, all windows are dockable by default; you can control their behavior with the Dockable command on the Windows menu.

There are also some differences in the available windows between Visual Basic 6.0 and Visual Basic 2008.

The following table shows some Visual Basic 6.0 windows and their Visual Basic 2008 equivalents.

Menu Changes

Menu commands in Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 are standardized for all languages; in some cases, Visual Basic 6.0 menu commands are replaced by different commands in Microsoft Visual Studio 2005.

In Visual Basic 6.0, all menu commands are visible at all times but are dimmed when out of context; in Visual Basic 2008, the set of available commands differs according to context.

The following table lists some common Visual Basic 6.0 commands and their Visual Basic 2008 equivalents.

Visual Basic 6.0	Visual Basic 2008
Add-Ins, Add-In Manager	Tools, Add-in Manager
Debug, Add Watch	Add Watch (context menu only)
Debug, Edit Watch	New implementation. Watches are edited in the Watch window.
Debug, Run To Cursor	Run To Cursor (context menu only)
Debug, Set Next Statement	Set Next Statement (context menu only)
Debug, Show Next Statement	Show Next Statement (context menu only)
Edit, Complete Word	Edit, IntelliSense, Complete Word
Edit, Find	Edit, Quick Find
Edit, Find Next	Edit, Quick Find
Edit, Indent	Edit, Advanced, Increase Line Indent
Edit, Insert File	Edit, Insert File As Text
Edit, List Constants	Edit, IntelliSense, List Members
Edit, List Properties/Methods	Edit, IntelliSense, List Members
Edit, Outdent	Edit, Advanced, Decrease Line Indent
Edit, Parameter Info	Edit, IntelliSense, Parameter Info
Edit, Quick Info	Edit, IntelliSense, Quick Info
Edit, Replace	Edit, Quick Replace
File, Make ProjectName	Build, Build ProjectName
File, Make Project Group	Build, Build Solution
File, Print Setup	File, Page Setup
File, Recent files list	File, Recent Projects
File, Remove Project	Edit, Remove
File, Save Project Group	File, Save SolutionName or File, Save All
File, Save Project Group As	File, Save SolutionName As
File, Save Selection	File, Save Selected Items
Format, Size to Grid	New implementation. Controlled by Snap to Grid environment option.
Help, Microsoft on the Web	Community, Developer Center
Project, Add Class Module	Project, Add Class
Project, Add Data Environment	New implementation. Data Environment is not supported.
Project, Add Data Report	New implementation. Data Reports are not supported.
Project, Add DHTML Page	New implementation. DHTML Pages are not supported.
Project, Add File	Project, Add New Item or Project, Add Existing Item Note   In Visual Basic 6.0, the file itself is added to the project; in Visual Basic 2008 a copy of the file is added.
Project, Add Form	Project, Add Windows Form or Project, Add Inherited Form
Project, Add MDI Form	Project, Add Windows Form or Project, Add Inherited Form
Project, Add Property Page	New implementation. Property Pages are not supported.
Project, Add User Document	New implementation. ActiveX Documents are not supported.
Project, Add Web Class	New implementation. Web Classes are not supported.
Project, Components	New implementation. Components are managed in the Toolbox.
Project, References	New implementation. References are managed in Solution Explorer.
Project, Remove item	Edit, Delete Note: "Remove item" removed the item from the project but not from disk; "Delete" deletes the item.
Run, Break	Debug, Break All
Run, End	Debug, Stop Debugging
Run, Restart	Debug, Restart
Run, Start	Debug, Start Debugging
Run, Start With Full Compile	New implementation. You can still run without debugging by pressing CTRL+F5.
Tools, Add Procedure	New implementation. Procedures are added in the Code Editor.
Tools, Menu Editor	New implementation. The Menu Editor is replaced by the MainMenu and ContextMenu components.
Tools, Procedure Attributes	New implementation.
Tools, SourceSafe	File, Source Control
View, Call Stack	Debug, Windows, Call Stack
View, Color Palette	New implementation. There is no Color Palette window.
View, Data View Window	New implementation. There is no Data View window.
View, Definition	Go To Definition (context menu only)
View, Form Layout Window	New implementation. There is no Form Layout window.
View, Immediate Window	Debug, Windows, Immediate
View, Last Position	New implementation. Use Bookmarks
View, Locals Window	Debug, Windows, Locals
View, Object	View, Designer
View, Project Explorer	View, Solution Explorer
View, Watch Window	Debug, Windows, Watch
Window, Arrange Icons	New implementation.
Window, Cascade	Only available in MDI layout mode.
Window, Tile Horizontally	Only available in MDI layout mode.
Window, Tile Vertically	Only available in MDI layout mode.
Window, Window list	Windows

Keyboard Mapping Changes

Keyboard mappings in Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 are based on a settings profile that you choose the first time you load the IDE. If you chose the Visual Basic profile, the keyboard mappings will be the same as in Visual Basic 6.0. You can change the keyboard mappings or restore them to their original settings in the Tools, Options dialog box. For more information, see Visual Studio Settings.

See Also

Other Resources

Customizing the Development Environment

Debugger Roadmap

Help for Visual Basic 6.0 Users