VB3 FAQ: CDK

This article was previously published under Q126729

This article covers some of the most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about technical issues for Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows. You can find this and other FAQ articles by querying on the keyword "FAQ." You can find additional general references in the Microsoft Knowledge Base by searching on "article list."

1. Q. How do I create my own custom controls?
   
   A. Visual Basic 3.0 Professional Edition ships with the Control Development Kit (CDK), which allows you to create a custom control, that is, a VBX. However, to use the CDK you also need a C compiler that can create Windows DLLs. Visual C++ comes with a project option for building a VBX. You might find the following references useful when creating a Custom Control (VBX):
   Programming Windows 3.1
   by Charles Petzold
   ISBN 1-55615-395-3
   Windows Programming Power with Custom Controls
   by Paul Cilwa & Jeff Duntemann
   ISBN: 1-088357-00-4
2. Q. How do I create an OLE control?
   
   A. Visual C++ 2.0 comes with the OLE CDK, which will allow you to create an OLE control. It also comes with the Control Migration Pack, which will help in transforming a VBX control written in C into an OLE control.
   
   For additional information, please see the following article(s) in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
   113895  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/113895/EN-US/ ) Intro to Microsoft OLE Custom Control Architecture & Tools
   This article discusses OLE controls and their future within Visual Basic and Windows.
3. Q. How do I create a 32-bit VBX?
   
   A. You can't. Ever. You can, however, create both 16-bit and 32-bit versions of OLE controls (OCXs). Visual C++ 2.0 supports this with the OLE Control Development Kit.
4. Q. How do I create a 16 bit OCX? VC++ 2.0 is 32-bit only, right?
   
   A. Yes, Visual C++ 2.0 is 32-bit only. But it also ships with Visual C++ 1.51, which includes some bug fixes to 1.5 (our 16-bit compiler), and support for the OLE Control Development Kit. It also has a mechanism (the Control Migration Pack) for migrating the source code to a VBX you've created into an OCX via the AppWizard with relatively little effort.