Microsoft DataGrid Control 6.0

DataGrid control is the not the default item in the Visual Basic control toolbox, you have add it from the VB6 components. To add the DataGrid control, click on the project in the menu bar and select components where a dialog box that displays all the available VB6 components. Select Microsoft DataGrid Control 6.0 by clicking the checkbox beside this item. Before you exit the dialog box, you also need to select the Microsoft ADO data control so that you are able to access the database. Lastly, click on the OK button to exit the dialog box. Now you should be able to see that the DataGrid control and the ADO data control are added to the toolbox. The next step is to drag the DataGrid control and the ADO data control into the form.

Before you proceed , you need to create a database file using Microsoft Access. Here I created a file to store my the information of my books and I name the table book.
Now you need to connect the database to the ADO data control. To do that, right click on the ADO data control and select the ADODC properties
Next click on the Build button and the Data Link Properties dialog box will appear . In this dialog box, select the database file you have created, in my case, the file name is books.mdb. Press test connection to see whether the connection is successful. If the connection is successful, click OK to return to the ADODC property pages dialog box. At the ADODC property pages dialog box, click on the Recordsource tab and select 2-adCmdTable under command type and select book as the table name, then click OK.
Finally you need to display the data in the DataGrid control. To accomplish this, go to the properties window and set the DataSource property of the DataGrid to Adodc1. You can also permit the user to add and edit your records by setting the AllowUpdate property to True. If you set this property to false, the user cannot edit the records.


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Visual Basic-6 has emerged as one of the standard Windows Programming Language and it has become a must for all Software people for developing Applications in Visual Environment. So it is, one must learn Visual Basic-6.

What is our Objective in this Courseware?


The Overall Objective in this Courseware is to give a Hands-on Approach to develop different projects in Visual Basic-6.0 using intrinsic, professional and user–created ActiveX controls and also develop projects using databases, DAO’s, ADO’s, DLL’s, Documents, Crystal Reports etc. covering almost all the essential features of VB-6 Professional Edition. After reading one lesson any interested reader will be able to get complete hands-on experience with the VB project and get a sense of fulfilment and achievement. Learning by doing is the motto with which this courseware is written. After giving a short introduction about VB-6 we will explain how to create and execute a project in VB using some intrinsic ActiveX controls. Creating and executing projects will be the central theme of all the lessons which we will be giving in this courseware.

What is Visual Basic-6?


Visual Basic-6 has its origin in Basic which was developed round about the year 1960, when high level languages were just being introduced to the computer community. Microsoft has made it extremely powerful by gearing all its good features to the Windows environment. Starting with the version 3 and then with 4, and then with 6, Visual Basic is now at version 6. Basic is a Procedure Oriented Language intended to implement single tasks in text based environment whereas Visual Basic is an Event Driven Language intended to implement Projects or Applications containing multiple tasks in Windows Environment.

What can Visual Basic do for you?

Visual Basic can serve as an ideal front end tool for the clients to interact. It has got connectivity mechanisms for all types of databases situated far and wide in a network and so it can cater to the needs of a large body of clients. Using the latest ActiveX technologies, it can integrate the functionalities provided by other applications like Word Excel and other Windows. Its internet capabilities provide easy access to documents and applications across the internet. Above all it embodies the Object Oriented Technology, which is the cutting edge technology for all the present day developments in the Software World. The final application is a true EXE file and so can be freely distributed.


Structure of VB-6 Projects:


We said earlier that VB-6 implements projects or applications. A project is developed using one or more Forms. A Form is simply a window containing one or more Controls. Controls in VB consist of labels, text boxes, list boxes, combo boxes, scroll bars etc. which are the constituents of windows environment. It is only the controls that give VB, its immense power and so there is a lot of interest in creating more and more powerful controls. ActiveX controls mark a significant development in controls technology. In fact all controls in VB-6 are ActiveX controls, which have the extension .ocx. These controls have properties whose values can be initialized at design time and also varied during run time. The properties are something like variables. The controls are activated by codes written in a high level language. By associating our problem variables with the properties of the controls, our problem variables can be manipulated to give the problem solution. In summary we can say that a VB project is made of forms, controls and their properties and codes.

Integrated Development Environment:

The working environment in VB is often referred to as the Integrated Development Environment or IDE, because it integrates many different functions such as design, editing, compiling and debugging within a common environment. Since all our projects are developed only in the IDE, let us now have a brief look at its features. You will be able to understand their uses at the time of building projects. The VB IDE looks as shown in the figure.