When Should I Use Version Compatibility?
Visual Basic provides two mechanisms for maintaining backward
compatibility while enhancing software components — the Version
Compatibility feature and the Implements feature.
Version Compatibility
Visual Basic’s Version Compatibility feature is a way of enhancing
your components while maintaining backward compatibility with
programs that were compiled using earlier versions. The Version
Compatibility box, located on the Component tab of the Project
Properties dialog box, contains three options:
No Compatibility: Each time you compile the component, new type
library information is generated, including new class IDs and
new interface IDs. There is no relation between versions of a
component, and programs compiled to use one version cannot use
subsequent versions.
Project Compatibility: Each time you compile the component the
type library identifier is kept, so that your test projects can
maintain their references to the component project. All class IDs
from the previous version are maintained; interface IDs are changed
only for classes that are no longer binary-compatible with their
earlier counterparts.
Note This is a change in Project Compatibility from Visual Basic
5.0, where all class IDs and interface IDs in the project changed
if any one class was no longer binary-compatible.
Important For the purpose of releasing compatible versions of a
component, Project Compatibility is the same as No Compatibility.
Binary Compatibility: When you compile the project, if any
binary-incompatible changes are detected you will be presented with
a warning dialog. If you choose to accept the warning, the component
will retain the type library identifier and the class IDs. Interface
IDs are changed only for classes that are no longer binary-compatible.
This is the same behavior as Project Compatibility.
If, however, you choose to ignore the warning, the component will also
maintain the interface IDs. This option is only available when the
compiler determines that the change was in the procedure ID or signature
of a method.
Caution You should only choose the Ignore button if you are absolutely
sure that the changes you have made won't break compatibility. If you
aren't absolutely sure, take the safe alternative and choose the Accept
button to allow the interface ID's to be changed.
Important The option to override the compiler's warning represents a
change in behavior from Visual Basic 5.0. It is important that you fully
understand the implications of incompatible changes before proceeding
with this option.
Note When people talk about Version Compatibility, they’re usually
referring to Binary Compatibility.
The appropriate use of these options is described below.
Using the Implements Statement for Compatibility
The Implements statement allows you to add multiple interfaces to class
modules, as described in "Polymorphism, Interfaces, Type Libraries, and
GUIDs" and "Providing Polymorphism by Implementing Interfaces" in "General
Principles of Component Design," and in "Polymorphism" in "Programming
with Objects," in the Visual Basic Programmer’s Guide.
Multiple interfaces allow your systems to evolve over time, without breaking
existing components or requiring massive re-compiles, because a released
interface is never changed. Instead, new functionality is added to a system
by creating new interfaces.
This approach is much more in keeping with the design philosophy of the
Component Object Model (COM), on which the ActiveX specification is based.
Note The Binary Compatibility option of Version Compatibility is useful in
conjunction with Implements and multiple interfaces, to prevent changes to
the default interfaces of your classes.
When to Use Version Compatibility Options
If you decide to use the Version Compatibility feature, you may find the
following rules helpful in determining when to use the different options:
Use No Compatibility to Make a Clean Break
When you begin working on a new version of an existing component, you may
decide that the only way to make necessary enhancements is to break backward
compatibility. In this case, set No Compatibility the first time you compile
your project. This guarantees that you’ll start with a clean slate of
identifiers, and that existing programs won’t mistakenly try to use the
incompatible version.
Before compiling an existing project with No Compatibility, you must also:
Change the file name of your component, so that the incompatible version won’t
over-write earlier versions on your users’ hard disks.
Change the Project Name on the General tab of the Project Properties dialog box,
so that the incompatible component will have a different type library name.
This ensures that the objects the component provides will have unique programmatic
IDs.
These items are discussed in more detail in "Levels of Binary Version Compatibility."
After compiling once with No Compatibility, switch to Project Compatibility to
simplify your development tasks.
Use Project Compatibility for New Development
Use the Project Compatibility setting when you’re developing the first version
of a component. Project Compatibility preserves the type library identifier, so
that you’re not continually setting references from your test projects to your
component projects.
Using Project Compatibility also makes it easier to switch between the component
project and the compiled component when you’re testing.
Project Compatibility is discussed in "Project Compatibility: Avoiding MISSING
References."
Use Binary Compatibility for New Versions of Existing Components
Switch to Binary Compatibility mode when you begin work on the second version of
any component, if you want applications compiled using the earlier version to
continue to work using the new version.
Switching to Binary Compatibility is discussed in the related topic "Providing a
Reference Point for Compatibility."
Don’t Mix Binary Compatibility and Multiple Interfaces
If you use multiple interfaces and the Implements statement to provide backward
compatibility, don’t use Binary Compatibility to modify the abstract interfaces
you’ve defined for use with Implements.
If you enhance any of the interfaces in a component, Visual Basic will change
their interface IDs. The technique of evolving component software by adding
interfaces depends on interface invariance. That is, an interface once defined
is never changed — including the interface ID.
For More Information See "Providing Polymorphism by Implementing Interfaces"
in "General Principles of Component Design" for information about component
software design using multiple interfaces. "Maintaining Binary Compatibility"
describes the versioning system Visual Basic uses to prevent compatibility
problems.
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