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  1. #1
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    Hosting vb6 applications in the cloud

    Ideally we would like to connect to a web hosting service via Google Chrome or similar, and run our VB6 applications. I have come across a number of hosting services which provide Windows Server 12, 14 etc in the cloud. I presume you simply install your VB6 application on the server and run it from a browser.
    Has anyone had any experience with this and can anyone recommend "the best" host for this service.

    I have also had some exposure to "Go-Global" which allows a similar hosting situation using your own server (running a VB6 application) with users connecting to you via Google Chrome or similar

    Appreciate any comments on these subjects please.

  2. #2
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    Re: Hosting vb6 applications in the cloud

    Quote Originally Posted by George1111 View Post
    Appreciate any comments on these subjects please.
    I am wondering why you don't modernize rather than trying to keep apps going with 1998 vintage VB6 technology.

  3. #3
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    Re: Hosting vb6 applications in the cloud

    Back in the early 2000's I undertook to "modernise" to .Net. After a short time Microsoft changed their .net system and my software didn't work any more. So I upgraded and did a take 2.
    After a short time Microsoft changed their .net system again and my software didn't work any more. So I upgraded again and did a take 3.
    In the meantime I was supporting several hundred VB6 accounting systems using the system I developed over 5-6 years.
    Then I found Visual Web Gui which promised an upgrade path for VB6. Microsoft's upgrade path up until then was NON EXISTANT - REWRITE FROM SCRATCH.
    After a few years, Visual web gui was abandoned. Microsoft then also started to abandon some of their NEW IDEAS - eg, Silverlight. So you see, which platform and which language should I be modernising to ?
    Are you able to suggest something that may still be there in 5 years time ? No one can because Microsoft are hell bent on change. This philosophy is entrenched in their Office Products, development products, etc etc.
    There is no concern for the user at all. Rebuy - Relearn - Reinvent the wheel - that's what MS believes in.

    What I believe in is a system that continues to work - Its called VB6.

    AND I know it can run in the cloud.

    So why would I rewrite years and years of developed and bug free software ?
    You must understand that we are self employed. We do not have a fat cheque coming in from an employer. Ie, We need to make our own income.
    Should we just STOP - Hibernate for 5 years and re-invent the wheel which keeps turning nicely ?

    And end up with exactly what I have now.

    Think back to the promises of .Net. "You can make applications that run on the Internet"

    How does that help when I can now access a Microsoft Server in the cloud which runs Windows Server, MS SQL Server, and VB6. Why would I modernise to a different programming language ?

    So many VB6 programmers upgraded to the .Net platform for what reason ? Some were taught that at school and didn't know about VB6 - I'll forgive them for that.

    Watch this space for the NEW Microsoft languages of the future - eg, F# - now thats modern - Who is going to abandon all their good work and change to that - after all, it is MODERN.

    Today all you hear about is HTML5. Until HTML6,7,8 are released.

    I just want to know who is offering the best solution for something that was not available in 2002 but is available now in 2019.

    But then, if I had succeeded in changing to .Net, does that mean that I would be writing apps with 2002 vintage .Net technology ?

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    Re: Hosting vb6 applications in the cloud

    Btw, in 2002 .NET was barely usable. In fact, it wasn't really usable until .NET 2.0 came out and I believe that was in 2003. There have many improvements since then.
    I am thinking that 2003 was .Net 1.1 and 2005 was .Net 2.0 and 2008 had the option of using 2.0 3.0 or 3.5

    Sorry, I meant to click on reply must have clicked edit without realizing it.
    Last edited by DataMiser; November 5th, 2019 at 03:08 PM.

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    Re: Hosting vb6 applications in the cloud

    I think you are right about .Net 2002 - much like my experience with VB3 - quite off-putting

    I should have waited as I did with VB and finally started things cooking with VB5.

    Why can't VB6 Source be compiled to whatever .Net gets compiled to ? (Because no one has written the compiler yet ?)

  6. #6
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    Re: Hosting vb6 applications in the cloud

    Quote Originally Posted by George1111 View Post
    I think you are right about .Net 2002 - much like my experience with VB3 - quite off-putting

    I should have waited as I did with VB and finally started things cooking with VB5.

    Why can't VB6 Source be compiled to whatever .Net gets compiled to ? (Because no one has written the compiler yet ?)
    VB.Net is simply a different language, more specifically how it interacts with the .Net runtime is different than how VB6 interacts with its interpreter.

    The syntax is similar, but programmatically things are approached very differently.

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    Re: Hosting vb6 applications in the cloud

    I dabbled a bit with the first RC of VB.Net. I liked some of it and disliked other parts. I waited until the 2003 version to start actually using it. 2003 version worked fine, 2005 was better and apps written in 2003 could be easily moved to 2005 as needed, same when moving on up to 2008. Unfortunately most of the VB.Net work I was doing was for Windows Mobile and support was dropped after 2008 so I stuck with 2008 for a long time. I have of course used most of the later versions. Mostly using C# in the later versions. I have not had any version come out and not work with code I had written in the previous versions be it Vb or C# aside from the lack of Windows Mobile support in 2010 and later versions and of course 2008 still works just fine.
    Always use [code][/code] tags when posting code.

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    Re: Hosting vb6 applications in the cloud

    Quote Originally Posted by DataMiser View Post
    I dabbled a bit with the first RC of VB.Net. I liked some of it and disliked other parts. I waited until the 2003 version to start actually using it. 2003 version worked fine, 2005 was better and apps written in 2003 could be easily moved to 2005 as needed, same when moving on up to 2008. Unfortunately most of the VB.Net work I was doing was for Windows Mobile and support was dropped after 2008 so I stuck with 2008 for a long time. I have of course used most of the later versions. Mostly using C# in the later versions. I have not had any version come out and not work with code I had written in the previous versions be it Vb or C# aside from the lack of Windows Mobile support in 2010 and later versions and of course 2008 still works just fine.
    I also do the major part of my development for Mobile Applications.

    The way I have dealt with passing data back and forth from people in the field (in my case salespeople selling food products), is to use a website and pass data via FTP - From the Head Office - To the Head Office. eg, A salesperson takes an order on their mobile device (I like to use Windows Touch Screen laptops/tablets), and sends the order, when they are in a good internet reception area, to the website via FTP. Back in the head office a program runs every 5-10 minutes checking to see if any orders have been placed (using FTP). Orders get downloaded via FTP, and passed to the accounting system to process Picking Slips, Invoices, etc.

    How simple can that be - AND reliable - AND it doesn't matter if your HO System is up when the orders are sent from Salespeople.

    This idea has worked for me since around 2002, when .Net was still just an idea.

    Its true that salespeople don't get to see the exact quantity on hand of items they sell during the day - but they do get to see what was the stock on hand at the beginning of the day - more than good enough for most Mobile Food Order Taking systems (we synchronise Customers and Stock at the beginning of the day.)

    There literally hundreds of examples of FTP programs at Planetsourcecode.com for VB6 and VB.Net

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    Re: Hosting vb6 applications in the cloud

    I used a custom client server with a VB6 server on the PC and a VB.Net client which runs on Windows CE and Windows Mobile devices. Prior to .Net I tried it in VB5 and 6 but did not work well, moved to eVB for a while which worked ok but was device specific moved to .Net 2003 in 2004 and have built hundreds of mobile apps in VB.Net since then.

    My approach depends on the client needs in some cases it uses real time connections to the server and in most cases uses a store and forward method. All communications used are with TCP and custom handshaking routines. These include methods for single transactions, queries, batches and file transfers as needed.
    Last edited by DataMiser; November 5th, 2019 at 09:37 PM.
    Always use [code][/code] tags when posting code.

  10. #10
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    Re: Hosting vb6 applications in the cloud

    Sure ftp is one approach, but if scaling is important it may not scale well by today's standards.

    In addition, why manually stand up ftp servers and handle offline/online retry handshaking logic when newer technologies handle it all for you?

    For example, service bus technologies handle offline storage scenarios and automatically send the data message when online. To the developer, it's fire and forget. It also scales and supports 10,000+ messages per second.

    For mobile, there's Xamarin which supports building applications for multiple mobile devices.

    I did some pretty cool stuff back in the day using C++ and DCOM, but I could leverage today's technologies and do it with way less effort in C#.

    It's really amazing how far things have progressed and taking a look at .Net in 2001 or 2008 really gives no idea of what exists now or the ease of development that is available today.

    You know, developers are an interesting breed - in that they seldom can recognize what they don't know.

  11. #11
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    Re: Hosting vb6 applications in the cloud

    I did take a look at Xamarin but only briefly. I have written a few apps in .net 2010, 2015 and 2017 using C# in all of those versions. I also use B4A and B4J B4A can very quickly turn out an app for Android I found it much easier to get up and running with it than with Xamarin.
    Always use [code][/code] tags when posting code.

  12. #12
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    Re: Hosting vb6 applications in the cloud

    Quote Originally Posted by DataMiser View Post
    I did take a look at Xamarin but only briefly. I have written a few apps in .net 2010, 2015 and 2017 using C# in all of those versions. I also use B4A and B4J B4A can very quickly turn out an app for Android I found it much easier to get up and running with it than with Xamarin.
    That's because you have always been a great VB6 programmer !

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    Re: Hosting vb6 applications in the cloud

    Quote Originally Posted by George1111 View Post
    That's because you have always been a great VB6 programmer !
    Thanks, not sure I would go that far though. I can hold my own, most of the time anyway , definitely better at VB6 than any other language I use.
    Always use [code][/code] tags when posting code.

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    Re: Hosting vb6 applications in the cloud

    [QUOTE=For example, service bus technologies handle offline storage scenarios and automatically send the data message when online. To the developer, it's fire and forget. It also scales and supports 10,000+ messages per second.[/QUOTE]

    Hi Arjay

    This sounds promising. "Fire and Forget". Is this what Xaramin does for you ? Or is there a simple way to do the same ? (from a Mobile Application when sometimes you cant even connect to the Internet because the service is bad or even actually out for a few hours).

  15. #15
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    Re: Hosting vb6 applications in the cloud

    They are separate technologies that you can combine. Xamarin for mobile app development and service bus with Azure.

    I did a seach for "xamarin offline storage" and came up with Enable offline sync for your Xamarin.iOS mobile app.

    Btw, not sure the above link uses Azure service bus, but it doesn't matter if it's painless syncing.
    Last edited by Arjay; November 7th, 2019 at 09:47 PM.

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