NOTE: this page has been superceded by the version at the new site.

Promises, promises...

On the Site

In ActiveX Controls

vbAccelerator S-Grid Control
- Added VB6 demonstration projects for this VB grid control.
vbAccelerator ListBar Control
- A new VB6 version plus fixes to ensure icons are positioned correctly.
vbAccelerator Neo-Caption Component
- Skin the entire non-client area of a VB form for a radical appearance.
vbAccelerator Transparent AVI Player
- Play any AVI file, choose a transparent colour and tile a bitmap into the transparent area.
The IconMenu DLL
- The simplest way to get icons into VB menus. Check this out!
Using cNewMenu.DLL to create SysTray Menus with Icons
- Fixes ensure you can dismiss the menu and it works on large font systems.
vbAccelerator Icon Editor Control
- Add Icon Editing to any application.
Drop-Down Form Control
- Turn any VB ToolWindow into a drop-down form, which can optionally be dragged off and floated.

In Common Controls Library

TreeView Control
- Added VB6 binaries and samples plus many new features including drag and drop
Tab Control
- Added VB6 binaries and samples plus fixed keyboard and focus support in this control
vbAccelerator ImageList Control
- Added VB6 binaries and samples plus some minor bug fixes

In Code Libraries

CommonDialog/Direct
- Improved VB6 Binaries and Samples
Two code-only solutions for CommonDialogs
- Ditch those dependencies and run with pure VB code.
Introduction to the freeware Info-ZIP libraries
- Using the free Info-ZIP DLLs to add zipping and unzipping to VB applications.
Unzipping files
- A complete unzipping demonstration application with reusable unzipping class code.
Zipping files
- A zipping demonstration with reusable zipping class code.
Compressing and Expanding with zLib.DLL
- In memory compression using the excellent zLib.DLL
Multi-threading in ActiveX EXEs
- How to persuade VB to run code in another thread the easy way
Icons without forms and document association icons in VB
- Adding icons and document icons to any type of VB executable, whether it has a form or not.
Set the Show In Taskbar property at Run Time
- Use a Windows Hook to modify the style of a window whilst it is created
Setting a UserControl's BorderStyle
- Add support for 8 BorderStyles to your controls with this drop-in code - no other changes required!
Common Dialogs and Hooks
- Added code to ensure hooked dialogs resized correctly for systems with Large Fonts
cRegistry Class
- Fixed an error with the document Icon Association code and description
Command Lines, Associations and Running One Instance of your App
- Same fixes as for the cRegistry class
Systray the Easy Way
- Ensure the menu dismisses when you click on the desktop; plus support for systems with Large Fonts.

In vbMedia

Streaming WAV player
- Playing audio asynchronously through a stream enables you to play .WAVs of any size.
Saving VB Pictures to JPEG
- Code updated for version 1.1 of Intel's IJL Library plus new in-memory JPEG samples added.

In Internet

XML Property Bag
- Persist any object to XML using this excellent and simple code.

As you will have noticed, vbAccelerator has lain dormant in a period of Silent Running in an attempt to evade enemy detection and depth charges for the last two months.

Luckily the risk has passed so we can now reveal the latest selection of code:

In ActiveX Controls

vbAccelerator S-Grid Control
- A VB6 binary for the ultimate free-source VB grid control, plus 15 bug fixes.
RichEdit 2.0/3.0 Control
- The first release in a series associated with the RichEdit control. Using the Zoom function with RichEdit 3.0
- An example of using the vbAccelerator RichEdit control to access version 3.0 functionality.
Using the Outline function with RichEdit 3.0
- Another example of using the vbAccelerator RichEdit control to access version 3.0 functionality.
Getting the Text Object Model (TOM) from RichEdit 3.0
- Demonstrates how to access the excellent Word-style TOM interface for manipulating text and formatting in the RichEdit control.
vbAccelerator ListBar Control
- A super accurate Outlook-style ListBar control.
Free-Threaded In Progress Indicators
- Free-threaded in-process components which keep running when VB has stopped. Netscape/Knight-Rider In-Progress Control
- Displays a continuously scanning bar.
Animated Cursor In-Progress Control
- Animates a multi-frame cursor (.ANI)

In Common Controls Library

TreeView Control
- an exceptional all VB TreeView control from Dan Litwin and vbAccelerator, offering Outlook Folder List and IE Favorites modes and much more.
Adding InfoTips to a Microsoft ListView Control
- A simple subclassing technique for accessing InfoTips.
Using Non-MS ImageLists with the Microsoft TreeView Control
- Demonstrates how to use a real API ImageList or SystemImageList with the standard TreeView.

In Code Libraries

CommonDialog/Direct
- New! Updated code and VB6 Binary.
Common Dialogs and Hooks
- Two excellent samples courtesy of Mark Grimes to properly implement a VB File-Open and a Picture Preview File Dialog.
Common Dialogs and Templates
- Use dialog resources to create highly customised File-Open Dialogs. From Cayce Cochran.
Browsing For Folders
- Use the standard Windows dialog or customise it to create any style you want.
Loading Arbitrary data from resources in local or external libraries
- Learn how to keep small, hardcore resource data in EXEs and DLLs and use it at will.
Creating Single Pixel Dotted Lines and Dithering Areas.
- Demonstrates how to draw lines like the Tree Lines in the TreeView control.

In vbMedia

Saving DIBSections to Bitmaps at the Correct Colour Depth
- Demonstrates routines to manipulate colour depth including Octree Colour Quantisation, and also how to save bitmaps in native Win32 BMP format.

In Articles

Two new articles added:
LinkSpoof
- A sample demonstrating how to override VB6's Linker to link in precompiled C++ or assembler code into your VB6 executable.
Component Base Addresses
- Covers the why and how of component Base Addresses, including a discussion of the performance impact and how to determine Base Addresses of existing objects.

Type Libraries

Applications, Utilities and Toys

There are two new utilities for download this month:
Animated Cursors
- a whole raft of useful animated cursors to add to your app.
VB Type Library Registration Utility
- Updated the download to the latest version of the code.

Links

This release was been delayed by holidays, work, the Flinstones Week on Cartoon Network, home decoration and almost anything else you can think of.

But now we're back, there is of course quite a bit of new stuff to snack on. Are you ready?

Preview!
The vbAccelerator Drop-Down Form Control allows you to use any form as a drop-down form, and also provides Office style drag and float functionality for the drop-down window. The official release is due in October, but until then why not give it a try?

In ActiveX Controls

Calendar Control
- A new, flexible calendar control from Mike Gainer.
TextBoxEx Control
- An extended TextBox created directly from the API with a cool Text Editor sample. Also from Mike Gainer.
Flat List Box Headers
- Drop in this class and you can make all your header controls draw in the cool, flat, DevStudio style.
Hierarchy Selector Control
- Updated with new background image support (courtesy of VB Thunder) and now easier to use with new properties and methods.

In Common Controls Library

vbAccelerator ImageLists with MS ListView
- Tom Esh shows how to do it.
vbAccelerator StatusBar Control
- A minor update to (cough, cough) make the control work in a compiled EXE. Doh!
Header Control
- New! VB6 Binary.

In Code Libraries

Subclassing Without The Crashes
- New! VB6 Binary.
Control over Window Sizing and Moving
- Adds 6 new moving and sizing events and lets you control moving and sizing smoothly.
Keep Form Titlebars in Focus when ToolWindows are shown.
- Does exactly what it says on the tin!
vbAccelerator Hook Library
- Take low level control over Windows events with this library
vbAccelerator Accelerator Control
- Respond to Alt+Back Arrow and other difficult to get to Accelerator keys with this control.
Malloc in VB
- Use a COM implementation of this C runtime library exposed from the shell to store data the hard way.
Store Objects against a Control's Tag or ItemData property
- Use a TypeLibrary to create much faster alternatives to the collection.
Simpler UserControl Tab Trapping
- A new DLL to implement IOLEInPlaceActiveObject, so you can control the Tab key in VB controls.
Windows Shapes From Bitmaps
- Change the shape of a window from a Bitmap.
Create new GUIDs
- from Dion Wiggins. Very useful if you need globally unique ID numbers!

In vbMedia

Saving VB Pictures to JPEG
- A minor fix to this library ensures it works with all images, not just the ones that were x4 across!

Tips

Type Libraries

Applications, Utilities and Toys

There are two new utilities for download this month:
VB Type Library Registration Utility
Office Toolbar Icon Extractor

Links