Visual Basic .NET/Visual Basic 6 to .NET Function Equivalents
The information provided here is intended to help Visual Basic 6 developers who are making the switch to Visual Basic .NET and who wish to learn how to accomplish tasks without the use of the Microsoft.VisualBasic namespace (which contains all of the legacy Visual Basic 6 functions).
Do not be mistaken; by using functions in the Microsoft.VisualBasic namespace, you are not using "old code," because all of those functions map to their new equivalents within the .NET Framework. The main benefit of avoiding these functions is so you can familiarize yourself with the namespaces contained in the .NET Framework.
If you would like to remove the Microsoft.VisualBasic namespace, you can do one of two things:
- Manually remove the import every time you start a new project.
- Create a project template that does not include the Microsoft.VisualBasic namespace.
To create a template, take look at these links:
Notes
edit- Some functions listed here may not be exact equivalents, but are the closest that are available.
- You are encouraged to use the Object Browser (F2) to explore the .NET namespaces yourself.
- Click on any of the .NET equivalent functions to visit Microsoft Developer Network and find out more information about that function.
Miscellaneous
edit| Visual Basic 6 | .NET Equivalent |
|---|---|
| App.Path | Application.StartupPath |
| CallByName | Type Object.InvokeMember |
| Circle | Graphics Object.DrawEllipse |
| Collection | Collections.Hashtable, Collections.Dictionary |
| Command | Environment.GetCommandLineArgs |
| DoEvents | Application.DoEvents |
| Environ | Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable |
| Err | Deprecated - Use Exception object and Try ... Catch ... End Try statement |
| Error | Exception Object.Message |
| GetSetting | Deprecated - Look into Configuration.ConfigurationSettings |
| IIf | Deprecated |
| InputBox | Deprecated - Make your own form |
| Len | Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.SizeOf |
| MsgBox | MessageBox.Show |
| RGB | Color Object.FromArgb |
| SavePicture | Image Object.Save |
| SaveSetting | Deprecated - Look into Configuration.ConfigurationSettings |
| SendKeys | SendKeys.Send |
| Shell | Process.Start |
| Switch | Deprecated |
| TypeName | Any Object.GetType.ToString |
| Unload | Deprecated |
| VarType | Any Object.GetType |
Strings
editFiles & Directories
edit| Visual Basic 6 | .NET Equivalent |
|---|---|
| ChDir | IO.Directory.SetCurrentDirectory |
| CurDir | IO.Directory.GetCurrentDirectory |
| Dir | IO.Directory.GetFiles, IO.Directory.GetDirectories, IO.Directory.Exists, IO.File.Exists |
| EOF | IO.StreamReader.Peek = -1 |
| FileAttr | Deprecated - Use StreamReader or StreamWriter |
| FileCopy | IO.File.Copy |
| FileDateTime | IO.File.GetLastAccessTime, IO.File.GetCreationTime |
| FileLen | IO.FileStream Object.Length |
| GetAttr | IO.File.GetAttributes |
| Loc | IO.Stream Object.Position |
| LOF | IO.Stream Object.Length |
| MkDir | IO.Directory.CreateDirectory |
| RmDir | IO.Directory.Delete |
| SetAttr | IO.File.SetAttributes |
Arrays
edit| Visual Basic 6 | .NET Equivalent |
|---|---|
| Filter | Array.BinarySearch |
| UBound | Any Type of Array.GetUpperBound(0) |
Date & Time
edit| Visual Basic 6 | .NET Equivalent |
|---|---|
| DateAdd | Date Object.Add |
| DateDiff | Date Object.Subtract |
| Now | DateTime.Now |
Math
edit| Visual Basic 6 | .NET Equivalent |
|---|---|
| Abs | Math.Abs |
| Atn | Math.Atan |
| Cos | Math.Cos |
| Exp | Math.Exp |
| Fix | Math.Truncate, Math.Floor (for negative numbers), Math.Ceiling (for positive numbers) |
| Int | Math.Floor |
| Log | Math.Log |
| Randomize | Deprecated - Random Object is automatically randomized declared |
| Rnd | System.Random Object.Next |
| Round | Math.Round |
| Sgn | Math.Sign |
| Sin | Math.Sin |
| Sqr | Math.Sqrt |
| Tan | Math.Tan |