Q170154: INFO: VB 6.0 Readme Part 10: Extensibility Issues
Article: Q170154
Product(s): Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows
Version(s):
Operating System(s):
Keyword(s): kbreadme kbAddIn kbRegistry kbVBp kbVBp600 kbVS600
Last Modified: 11-JAN-2001
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The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Visual Basic Learning Edition for Windows, version 6.0
- Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows, version 6.0
- Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows, version 6.0
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SUMMARY
=======
The information below includes the documentation and workarounds for Visual
Basic 6.0. This information can also be found in the README.htm file that ships
with Visual Basic 6.0 on the Visual Basic 6.0 CD-ROM. Please see the REFERENCES
section of this article for a list of the Microsoft Knowledge Base articles
relating to the Visual Basic 6.0 readme.
Following is a list of all parts of the readme file:
Part 1. Important Issues - Please Read First!
Part 2. Data Access Issues and DataBinding Tips
Part 3. Control Issues
Part 4. Language Issues
Part 5. Samples Issues
Part 6. Wizard Issues
Part 7. Error Message Issues
Part 8. WebClass Designer Issues
Part 9. DHTML Page Designer Issues
Part 10. Extensibility issues
Part 11. Miscellaneous Issues
Part 12. Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS) Issues
Part 13. Dictionary Object
Part 14. Visual Component Manager
Part 15. Application Performance Manager
MORE INFORMATION
================
"Command-Line Safe" Add-In Behavior
-----------------------------------
You can use the Load Behavior box in the Add-In Manager to control how and when
an add-in loads in Visual Basic:
- Loaded/Unloaded -- either loads or unloads a selected add-in when the box is
checked or unchecked.
- Load On Startup -- indicates whether the selected add-in should load when the
Visual Basic IDE is started.
- Command Line -- indicates whether an add-in should load when Visual Basic is
started from a command line, either through a DOS prompt or a script.
When you select Command Line load behavior for an add-in, you may get the
following warning message:
"The selected add-in has not been confirmed to be 'command-line safe', and
may require some user intervention (possible UI). Do you wish to proceed?"
This occurs when you select an add-in for Command Line load behavior that was not
declared by the author of the add-in to be "command line safe" when it was
created. (This can be indicated with the Add-In Designer through a checkbox.)
"Command-line safe" means that the add-in is registered in a way to indicate that
it contains no user interfaces that require user input when Visual Basic is
invoked through a command-line. A user interface can interfere with the
operation of unattended processes (such as build scripts).
If you don't indicate that an add-in is command-line safe (even if it is
command-line safe), when a user selects your add-in and then Command Line in the
Load Behavior box, they'll receive the warning message. This isn't a serious
problem, but merely a warning to the user that the selected add-in might
possibly contain UI elements that can pop up unexpectedly and halt their
automated scripts by pausing for user input.
Manually Setting Add-In Registry Values
---------------------------------------
You can also manually set the command-line safe flag (as well as the other
values) for an add-in through the Windows registry.
NOTE: You should not attempt to directly manipulate any Windows registry entries
unless you are familiar with doing so. Setting an invalid registry entry can
cause problems with Windows, even preventing you from being able to load
Windows.
In Visual Basic 6.0, the key that holds add-in information is located in:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Visual Basic\6.0\Addins\<add-
in.name>.
For Visual Basic 6.0, the LoadBehavior DWord values are:
- None = 0
- Startup = 1
- Command Line = 4
- Command Line / Startup = 5
There is also an additional DWord value that indicates whether the add-in is
command-line safe: CommandLineSafe. A value of 1 indicates the add-in is
command-line safe, while a value of 0 (the default) indicates that it is not
command-line safe. A value of 0 is implied if you forget to check the
command-line safe box in the Add-In Designer since the default value of 0 is
assumed, and the add-in isn't considered command-line safe.
So, to demonstrate how to use these values to indicate that a fictitious add-in
(My.Addin) is command-line safe and to have it load when Visual Basic is started
by command-line, you would set the following registry values, using a tool such
as RegEdit:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Visual Basic\6.0\Addins\My.Addin
"FriendlyName"="A friendly name for your add-in"
"Description"="This value describes the add-in"
"LoadBehavior"=dword:4
"CommandLineSafe"=dword:1
Using the Add-In Designer
-------------------------
Visual Basic 6.0 includes a new tool, called the Add-In designer, to aid you in
creating add-ins. To open it:
- Create a new add-in project.
- In the Project Explorer, under Designers, is a designer called Connect.
Double-click it to activate the Add-In designer.
Unfortunately, context-sensitive help currently isn't available for the Add- In
designer. Help topics are available, however. You can find the appropriate
topics by searching for Add-In Designer in the MSDN index. You should see a list
of three associated topics:
- "Using the Add-In Designer"
- "General Tab (Add-In Designer)"
- "Advanced Tab (Add-In Designer)"
For more information, search online, with Search titles only selected, for
"Registering Add-Ins" in the MSDN Library Visual Studio 6.0 documentation.
Add-In Designer: More Information About Specifying Satellite DLL
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When creating an add-in with the Add-In designer, you can specify a DLL on the
Advanced tab. Be sure, however, to type only the name of the DLL file, and not
its fully-qualified path. For example:
MyAddinName.DLL
not:
Addins\MyAddinName\MyAddinName.DLL
Localized Satellite DLLs
------------------------
If you create a localized satellite DLL, you should also create a resources
directory and a locale ID directory for the satellite DLL and install the DLL in
the appropriate directory. The schematic for such a path is:
<AddIn Directory>\Resources\<Locale ID>\<MySatellite.DLL>
For example, a satellite DLL for the German version (Locale ID = 1031) would go
into the directory:
C:\Program Files\MyAddin\Resources\1031\MyAddinName.DLL
REFERENCES
==========
For additional information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:
Q170164 : INFO: VB 6.0 Readme Part 1: Important Issues - Read First!
Q170163 : INFO: VB 6.0 Readme Part 2: Data Access/Databinding Issues
Q170162 : INFO: VB 6.0 Readme Part 3: Control Issues
Q170161 : INFO: VB 6.0 Readme Part 4: Language Issues
Q170160 : INFO: VB 6.0 Readme Part 5: Samples Issues
Q190046 : INFO: VB 6.0 Readme Part 6: Wizard Issues
Q170158 : INFO: VB 6.0 Readme Part 7: Error Message Issues
Q189539 : INFO: VB 6.0 Readme Part 8: WebClass Designer Issues
Q190249 : INFO: VB 6.0 Readme Part 9: DHTML Page Designer Issues
Q170154 : INFO: VB 6.0 Readme Part 10: Extensibility Issues
Q170157 : INFO: VB 6.0 Readme Part 11: Miscellaneous Issues
Q170156 : INFO: VB 6.0 Readme Part 12: Transaction Server (MTS) Issues
Q191792 : INFO: VB 6.0 Readme Part 13: Dictionary Object
Q191791 : INFO: VB 6.0 Readme Part 14: Visual Component Manager
Q191790 : INFO: VB 6.0 Readme Part 15: Application Performance Explorer
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Keywords : kbreadme kbAddIn kbRegistry kbVBp kbVBp600 kbVS600
Technology : kbVBSearch kbAudDeveloper kbZNotKeyword6 kbZNotKeyword2 kbVB600Search kbVBA600 kbVB600
Issue type : kbinfo
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