Coding Assistance

Comments

• Codeman Join Date: 2002-11-21 Member: 9497Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow

  January 2005

  I haven't done VB for a long time (not since uni 2 years ago) so I can't help on the classes thing, but I'm sure I remember using a "LoadPicture" function or something similar to load pictures at runtime...
  
  Here I checked MSDN for you: <a href='http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/vb98/html/vbfctloadpicture.asp' target='_blank'>http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default....loadpicture.asp</a>
  
  Online MSDN is your friend when coding the microsoft way >_<
  
  If you feel VB isn't powerful enough but you want the convenience of designing UI's still, I recommend you take a look at Borland's Delphi - it uses the Pascal language which is easy to learn coming from a VB background (I did this like 5-6 years ago) and it can do almost everything C++ can. There's a lot of tutorials and stuff around for it too (even OpenGL if you're into that sort of thing).
  
  Hope that helps...

  0 Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
• DOOManiac Worst. Critic. Ever. Join Date: 2002-04-17 Member: 462Members, NS1 Playtester

  January 2005

  Are you doing VB6 or VB.net, cause the two are completely different when it comes to classes.
  
  VB.net is a fully OOP (Object Oriented Programming) language, where as in VB6 classes are thrown in kind of as an afterthought..
  
  
  Anyway, the general concept of classes can be discussed regardless of the language, so i'll give you a few bits to get you started:
  
  
  I assume you've done structure data types, where you can stick multiple values in 1 variable, like having a "person" variable, and you can have person.name (a string), person.age (integer), etc. Classes are just an extension of this concept, they are structures with functions too. i.e. person.goDoSomething().
  
  
  I forget the VB syntax, so here's an example in C++ style pseudocode. Its pretty easy and is just meant to give you the basic idea:
  
  <!--c1--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>CODE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='CODE'><!--ec1-->structure person
  {
    Integer age;
    String name;
  }
  // This is a structure, like I was talking about. It can be used like this:
  student = new person;
  student.name = "UltimaGecko";
  student.age = 20;
  
  
  // Now here is a CLASS, which is the same as the above, except that it has functions too!
  class person
  {
    Integer age;
    String name;
    Function Boolean sucksAtInternet(); // function that returns true/false
  }
  
  // You can do the following...
  student = new person;
  student.name = "UltimaGecko";
  student.age = 20;
  
  if (student.sucksAtInternet())
    print "haha, you suck.";<!--c2--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--ec2-->
  
  Again, that was all pseudocode and by no means valid syntax for, well, anything. Its just to show you the idea.

  0 Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
• Swiftspear Custim tital Join Date: 2003-10-29 Member: 22097Members

  January 2005

  I hated VB... although it was the only code engine I ever built a working game in (at least a working game that wasn't a computer assignment)

  0 Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
• UltimaGecko hates endnotes Join Date: 2003-05-14 Member: 16320Members

  January 2005

  Yea, I only have VB6.0. So I would need classes in that, I think they're sort of defined like types...but then there's something about Let, Get, Set and using the functions and a bunch of other stuff I don't remember.
  
  
  
  Specifically, I need two nested types, from my program:
  
  SolarSystem(0,0).Planet(0).Name (or whatever) - except VB doesn't let you nest a second type, that is: .planet(0) would be invalid, you can't have an array there...which is really annoying.
  
  In VB classes are nested all the time (and it makes me wonder why they just didn't let Types be nested).
  
  
  So I've got the
  <!--c1--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>CODE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='CODE'><!--ec1-->Type SolarSystem(iSSMinX to iSSMaxX, iSSMinY to iSSMaxY) as Star
    Type Planet(iSSPlanets) as Bodies 'no nested types...
        Public Name as String              
        Public Radius as Single
    End Type
   
   Public Temperature as Single
  End Type<!--c2--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--ec2-->
  
  
  So I would just make the planet type into a class, and have that nested instead (which would, as helpful as it is, allow me to calculate density and stuff as part of the class instead of functions...except I don't know the syntax for classes).
  
  
  This is what happens when you don't take a programming class in 4 years (although, in reality, I know more about VB now then I did in class).
  
  
  Thanks for the LoadPicture thing, that should probably work.

  0 Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
• Tyrain Join Date: 2003-01-03 Member: 11746Members

  January 2005

  Just as an info: If you want to learn C-based language try C#. It's compiler is Microsoft Visual Studio.Net 2003. As far as I can tell it's much easier than all the other compiler though it's a mircosoft one.

  0 Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
• UltimaGecko hates endnotes Join Date: 2003-05-14 Member: 16320Members

  January 2005

  I have sort of found a solution, but it really drags off on the grammar at the end (like someone spell checked it for the first few pages and then BAM the person sounds like a non-English speaker (with frequent verb tense and subject mistakes), <a href='http://www.developerfusion.com/show/3959/' target='_blank'>here</a>.
  
  I'd appreciate an indepth tutorial on classes in VB6.0, still. Most importantly Let, Get and Set and the the Property keywords (as useful as the above tutorial may be, it starts dropping off just before/during the part I need, and while I could make a class with all public variables, I'd rather not, incase I want to edit it after I'm done).
  
  Why do they have to call them classes? It just makes it so much harder to google, pfffft.

  0 Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome