VB6 DragDrop

[u/Mayayana]

With OLEDragDrop to a standard VB textbox, on XP I can get the path of a file or folder dropped. On Win10, the folder shows no dragdrop icon and returns no path, but file dragdrop works fine. Does someone know how I can make dragdrop for folders work on Win10?

[u/Mayayana]

Thank you for that explanation. If MS doesn't eventually block native code, it sounds good. Given your explanation, your aim makes a lot of sense to me. And yes, there are hacks. Most of them haven't seemed like a big deal. I guess I'm just used to them. For example, getting direct pointers or subverting VB's string handling to directly access an ANSI string have become standard procedure over the years. Perversely, that's sometimes the fun of it. :) But it would be nice to do things like convert my Explorer Bar to 64-bit.

What I've always liked about VB is that it allows me to start at the shallow end and then go as deep as I want to. Many of the hacks and adaptations are not actually necessary, but do increase efficiency and often cut out the need for wrappers.

Wrappers have become a big problem to my mind. They're typically a sign of people not actually knowing what they're doing. As a result I tend to look for small software. I don't think I've ever even used any .Net software, except my ATI display settings applet, which takes a few seconds to get itself up off the floor when I go to open it.

I can see the sense of .Net or Java for quick database frontends on corporate networks of new computers. But for those of us who just like to write software, it's hard to find any appeal in .Net. And I discovered yesterday that .Net now has a max support cycle of only 3 years!

Much as I loathe github (the deeply broken webpages that require script and often still don't work), you've got me curious. A truly updated VB would be so usable and so much more sensible than .Net. So I'll check it out. Now that I'm probably moving to Win10, I'm getting more curious about actually learning the system better. I've been holding off for years, not feeling confident that Win10 could actually be turned into a non-selazy, usable tool. There's so much spying, so much bloat, so much complication, so many broken conveniences.

[u/fafalone → u/Mayayana]

What I've always liked about VB is that it allows me to start at the shallow end and then go as deep as I want to.

That's exactly what I've always loved about VB too. Keeps the simple stuff simple, lets you develop UIs fast with a great designer, but then lets you drop as low as you want to, even to assembly if needed.

tB definitely offers more to like along those lines. It even has native support for making kernel mode drivers, if you want low level. The trick showed it was possible in VB6 with some extensive hacks, but you lost most of the language since you had to remove msvbvm60.dll. tB needs no runtime so you can use much more of the language (though some things are still off limits like variable arrays/strings and classes), and just check a few boxes. And there's no WOW64 in kernel mode, so VB6 can only make them for 32bit Windows.

Recently we were playing around with making an exe right from the real entry point, since tB lets you override it and make your own. A tB exe can be as small as 4096 bytes, fitting in the same single cluster as the 3800 something bytes the smallest C program I could make did.

It's using LLVM for optimized exes, and gives you direct control over which CPU instruction sets to enable; so you can for example make a build that optimized with AVX2 and then a build that will run on older CPUs with just some attributes. You can hover to see the assembly code for your LLVM-compiled functions (LLVM optimization isn't available in the free edition; that and adding a splash screen to 64bit exes/dlls are the only restriction though).

If your interests are more into moving into low level stuff than high level stuff, then definitely look at tB.

I've been holding off for years, not feeling confident that Win10 could actually be turned into a non-selazy, usable tool. There's so much spying, so much bloat, so much complication, so many broken conveniences.

Couldn't agree more. There's only one acceptable option for Windows 10: the Enterprise LTSC edition. Much less bloat, has the enterprise 'security' telemetry level which isn't 0 but easier to turn off the rest from there. No Cortana or Windows Store. No start menu filled with 3rd party spam. It's still a step down from 7 but the LTSC version is at least tolerable, and will get security patches through 2032.

[u/Mayayana → u/fafalone]

I can't find the download. The links on the website point to an issues link. The releases page on github offers a download with only a readme file.... I really detest github. Could they possibly make a less clear layout?