VB Compress Pro Features

VB Compress Pro

New Features for 6.10

Full VB6 Support

VBCP V6.10 fully supports all of the new features in VB6, including webclasses, designer files, call by name, etc etc. If you can write it with VB6, you can analyze and optimize it with VBCP Version 6.1.

Project-Specific Configuration Files, Etc.

VBCP can now save project-specific configuration files automatically, so that the settings you want for one project don't interfere with others. Hats off to Steven Hawkins, who called the old-style save/load options "clumsy" and suggested the new scheme. See Managing Configuration Files for info about this and other new config file options.

Ignore Selected Project Files

Users have been asking for years that they be able to instruct VBCP to ignore certain files in projects, ie to not change them in any way. I've always responded that VBCP is intrinsically project-oriented and can't do this, at least not without a huge amount of redesign and rework. While working on V6.1, however, I thought of a relatively easy way to implement this feature, so I did. Moreover, if you use the project-specific config files just mentioned, VBCP will remember which files you select to be ignored. Hats off to David McCarter and Paul Birkbeck, who asked for it most recently and got me thinking about it. See Selecting Files to Ignore for details.

Related File Reporting and Handling

VBCP now includes the names of related files in project reports, and lets you control how related files are handled in the projects built by VBCP. See Related File Handling for details, and hats off to Craig Johnson who pointed out VBCP's weaknesses regarding related files.

Process Embedded User Control Files

Previously, VBCP expected user controls to be in their own project files, and to be included in other projects as compiled objects. As of V6.1, VBCP now accomodates user controls defined within larger projects, and properly resolves project-wide references to their properties, methods, etc. Hats off to Mark Hallerman and Jan Vrielink for the suggestion.

Expanded Item Cross Reference Report

In previous item cross reference reports, VBCP reported the names of all procedures that referred to the item in question; for example, all procedures that reference the global constant Foo. As of V6.1, item cross reference reports now include the names of ALL items that reference the item in question; for example, any other constants defined in terms of Foo, any static array or type element dimensioned using Foo, etc.

Non-standard File Extension Trapping and Mapping

Previous versions of VBCP relied on project file extensions almost exclusively to classify project files by type (form, class, etc), and generally treated all non-standard extensions as modules. I recently discovered that the VB docs are wrong when they say that all post-VB3 file types must be named using the standard extensions; you can indeed use other extensions, and VB will ususally figure out the correct file type. VBCP, however, would not. As of V6.1, the first time VBCP encounters a non-standard file extension in a project, it will ask you to confirm the file type, and whether or not the extension always indicates this file type. Over time, VBCP will thus build a list of all the extensions you use, and what file types they indicate. See Non-standard File Extension Mapping for more info.

Intelligent VB Version Selection and Override

Since VBCP can be configured to automatically run VB when it finishes code generation, it needs to know which version of VB a project is associated with. Since Microsoft has been totally inconsistent in changing the version numbers stored in files, this has never been as easy as it sounds, and since Microsoft just did it again, it just got harder. Although the VB6 docs state that VB6 files say Version 6 inside, they don't - they still say Version 5. In fact, unless a VB6 project uses a webclass file, it is virtually impossible to distinguish it from a VB5 project (note that VB itself can't tell the difference). VBCP V6.1 uses some new tricks to make educated guesses, but it also allows you to override the version it selects and select your own. And if you use project-specific config files, VBCP will remember your selection each time you open the project. See VB Version Selection and Override for more info.

Features

Server mode optimizes VB4 server apps that are, by design, loaded with public stuff that is not referenced internally.
Improve on the C language ASSERT macro. Insert the VB statement of your choice, along with a procedure ID message, into every procedure in the project, including multiple-line assertions.
Match strings. Analyze all embedded strings, then use your rules for length and frequency to convert repeated strings into constants.
Eliminate debug code. Give VB Compress Pro your list of statements, and it removes, marks, or comments them out of the copy it creates to make the EXE, but leave them in the original. Match debug statements on how they end as well as begin.
Maintain and use multiple configuration files.
Tightly integrated on-line help, lets you browse, print, and full-text-search.

Analysis and Reporting

Analyze and report exactly what's in your project and how it's organized; what constants, variables, type defs, API declarations, and procedures are defined; where they are defined; how they are scoped; where they are referenced; and most importantly, whether they are referenced at all.
Generate a wealth of project metrics and other indispensable project management and quality assurance information. Count lines of code by project, by file, and by category. Report file-level default data typing and all VB Option settings (Explicit, Compare, and Base). Report error handling and function data typing, even include a neatly line-numbered copy of the code in the report.
Provide project level file summary with concise description of project files, including list of DLL's in which the project declares procedures and whether or not any of them are called; a list of OLE controls and whether they are used; a list of compile conditions; and a count of files that use (and don't use) Option Explicit.
Two customizable cross-reference reports The Procedure XRef, with sections for each procedure, tell you which identifiers are referenced in each procedure. The Item XRef, with sections for each selected item, tell you where they are referenced.
Name Construction allows control of the level of detail reported about each identifier by making it part of the reported name.
Construct precisely the report you want, with over 150 individually configurable report options, including project, module and procedure level sections and seven possible subsections. Change options and generate a new report in seconds. Integrated WYSIWYG report engine lets you view and print information the way you want it.

Optimization

Create an optimized copy of your code and generate a new EXE. Original code is left intact, but the copy has none of the redundant, unreferenced, and obsolete code that creeps in during development. VB Compress Pro lets you program in VB as if VB supported no-penalty include statements and had intelligent linking.
Project file options identify and eliminate entire files - including forms, classes, modules, and OCX controls and other OLE objects - that are declared but never used.
Sorts, reorganizes and consolidates declarations by type and by compile condition.
Unreferenced item handling options let you comment out or annotate unreferenced code instead of removing it (great with VB color coding); or select interactive, and VBC4 will query you for decisions as it rewrites your code. Configure VBC4 to handle items differently depending on the type of file they are located in.

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VB Compress Pro includes both 16 and 32 bit editions and works with all versions of Visual Basic. VB Compress Pro works with Win 95, Win NT, and Win 3.x.

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