Visual Basic questions

[PassnThru]

This may not be the right forum but it isn't web programming. I have Office 2000 professional and have been using Access to create small applications. I don't like to do it this way because:
1. I have to start Access to run the application. I would rather have the application stand and run on its own.
2. I can't let other people use the app unless they have Access.
I have been thinking about picking up a copy of Visual Basic .NET (standard) and using it. What I would like to know is:
1. Can I create stand alone .exes.
2. Are the applications distributable to other PCs.
3. I know VB supports multiple databases (SQLServer, Oracle, etc.). But does it come with a database or do I have to spring for that also?
Any other advice on PC programming languages is welcome. Bear in mind that I am just doing little personal applications. At this time I am not coding for hire and we are not talking about enterprise scale applications here. Even if VB is not as powerful as other languages I want to hit the ground running without putting alot of time into it. I do enough programming at work that requires recurrent training.
Thanks.

[vass0922]

1. Yes you can create standalone exe's IF they have the .NET framework installed. If you're running with Win9x clients I wouldn't suggest using .NET because MS is dropping support for Win9x.

2. Yes they are also distributable
3. VB/VB.NET also supports making a database connection to MS Access so no worries here you shouldn't have to do any migration at all

Something else you may consider, instead of using a full blown application, you may consider making a webpage (using ASP or ASP.NET) so you won't have to worry about distributing an application.
IIS comes with Windows 2000 server, so you won't have to pay for that either.

Good luck
Let us know if you have any more questions.

[PassnThru]

Not even sure if I have the .NET framework installed. I think I have skipped that on Windows updates in the past. I also have ME and know several people with 98 boxes so that could be a problem I guess. I believe MS extended support for Win9X though so it shouldn't be a big deal.
Glad to hear they are distributable. I was disappointed to learn that I had to have the developers edition of Access to distribute apps. I was worried that the standard edition of VB would be the same.
As for connecting to Access I would probably rewrite those apps anyway. Good practice for learning - only worry about syntax - not file structure and program flow. Does VB come with a database or does it use something in Windows?
Sorry for what are probably such simple questions but my PC programming experience is very limited. Although I deal with systems and programming on a daily basis it is within enterprise level applications. My database experience is with Oracle. All my programming currently is done within PeopleSoft.

[vass0922]

" developers edition of Access to distribute apps"
If you're releasing to the public for $$$$ then yes this maybe true.

If this is just for an intranet application, this is not true.
I'm assuming you'll be pointing all users to the same database on a network server?
(yes this is totally possible)

VB does not come with its own database, but you CAN tie into Access just fine or if you're more experienced with Oracle you can migrate the DB into Oracle and plug into it there.

[PassnThru]

So are you saying that I 'could' build stand alone apps with Access that would run on a computer without Access? That would be interesting - I was never able to find a way to do it.
These would not be an internet apps - no browser required (or wanted actually). There would not be a server - just individual machines so a centrally located database is not feasible. I am doing this at home - not at work.
So - if I understand you correctly about the database - my only option would be to use the Access to create the appropriate files (tables) and link to them within the VB application. So that would prevent me from putting the app on a machine that did not have Access? Or is Access only required to define the tables and not required at run time. Am I reading that right?
As for Oracle, it would be great to have my own Oracle database software at home but it's a little overkill for what I want to do. Any free databases out that I can hook into with VB?

[vass0922]

This is at your home, so you're going to be sending this application out to other people at their homes/businesses?

Then yes you'd have to have a developer access version if you dont' want to install access on their machine.

OpenOffice is free for personal use..
MySQL is free, but not necessarily something you want to install on a client machine.

Would using standard text files suffice?
Maybe try learning XML to work as a local database, its quite popular for that these days.

[PassnThru]

Yes - at home. And 'clients' in this case would be defined as friends and family. Of course, as I gained experience if an opportunity arose to make some cash from it I can always be bought.
As for text files, I want full database functionality with keys, record locking, SQL, etc. I don't think I can get that with text files for data storage.
I will look into XML for the database - no experience with that but it could be the ticket.
I didn't know that MySQL was free - will have to look into that as well.
I think you have really cleared it up for me. As I understand it I would have to have database software (like MySQL) to define my tables and hold my data. I could then use VB to create the front end for the database. If I wanted to distribute the application then I would have to install my VB application on the machine as well as a copy of MySQL and I would assume the appropriate ODBC drivers. I realize that it would be a little more complicated than that but those are the required components so that clears it up quite a bit.
Thanks for hanging in there with me vass - been a big help.

[secureweb]

If you get VB6, you can create standalone access 2000 based apps without bothering with the .net framework, just the vb6 runtimes. VB.net is just a scam, IMHO, not back compatable.

[PassnThru]

Good point - I've been looking around for the 'older' version. Unfortunately NewEgg only carries the .NET version. Had to order some other stuff so I was going to get it all at the same time.
BTW - I'm not sold on VB - don't have any experience with it other than some basic stuff within Access. Any open source or free tools (like vass0922's XML suggestion) that would give me similar functionality and be easy to learn would be worth looking into.

[secureweb]

A search on e-bay gives 171 returns for VB6, with prices ranging from 1.99 to 50.00
If you don't want to learn anything major, and be fairly portable as to which system you are able to run it on, go with VB6. you can pretty much forget newbie linux users, though.
If you want it to be a client/server/universal thing, use msql and PHP/perl, possibly.
and there is always Java.