Well color me impressed, I am still waiting for VB7. I still have nightmares due to my 10 years writing VB6 code but it honestly wasn't that bad. I just wish to stop absent mindedly writing Dim ... as ... in C after 5 years I exclusevly use C. GCS/GE d--(d) s-/+ a C+++ U+++ P-- L+@ E-- W+++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++*      Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X

To illustrate why my question is academic, and, how simple it can be to have multiple static classes in one DLL, and expose your choice of them and their methods, I offer a terse example: 1) create a WinForm class library with multiple static classes and public static methods: TestDLL_1_1_2023 2) compile it 3) in a WinForm app: reference the compiled DLL. 4) use "static using" statements to expose your choice of methods: // expose string methods using static TestDLL_1_1_2023.StupidStringExtensions; // do not expose numeric methods // using static TestDLL_1_1_2023.StupidNumericExtensions; «The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled» Plutarch

thanks, Graeme ! alive yes; kicking limited by having to walk slowly on a walker, extreme weight loss. look forward to your article. cheers, Bill «The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled» Plutarch

If you want an answer that makes any sense at all, you're going to have to add a whole lot more detail to your "question." Asking questions is a skill CodeProject Forum Guidelines Google: C# How to debug code Seriously, go read these articles. Dave Kreskowiak

Why not? Asked in innocent ignorance... Charlie Gilley “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759 Has never been more appropriate.

And now that makes sense to me - especially since your return int is 42 :cool:

WLM is a work of art in comparison. I had one of my neighbors hooked on it until MS deliberately broke it in some Windows 10 update not too long ago. I'd probably reinstall it myself otherwise. I mean, I have the full-blown Outlook that I keep to archive my email, but on my primary desktop, I just want something that's ridiculously lightweight and quick and can notify me when something new has arrived, view it, and then let me decide whether to leave it there (to be archived later in Outlook) or delete it immediately. A few months ago I pondered writing my own, leveraging MS's Graph API, but that apparently doesn't work for Hotmail - only corporate accounts. The built-in client is barely tolerable to do just that. But the quirks are eventually gonna push me over the edge.

For the VC++ side, make sure you have more than just the pre-processor definition. Check out the Project Properties -> General -> Project Defaults -> Character Set setting too. For the VB6 side, I'm pretty sure VB6 uses Unicode to store strings internally (going off of memory). But, that doesn't mean the app is Unicode enabled. The VB runtime will most likely convert the string into whatever code page the system is running. Now, for lower end chars in something like UTF-8 this isn't an issue... BUT... when VC++ says Unicode they mean UTF-16. So there will be a byte alignment issue where the Unicode DLL is treating every two characters as one for your prodId, for instance. I'm not sure of the error you're getting, but if you're looking to interface VB6 with a DLL, you may be better off using Multibyte Character Set (MBCS)[^]. I haven't verified it, but MBCS is probably closer to what VB6 is doing anyway. Jeremy Falcon

Yes. But I posted it here also since the main app is VB6 even though the DLL is VC++ 6.

Not sure if it's the exact same problem, but I joined CodeProject (in 2010) to have a similar question answered (things went downhill from there). See my first ever post on CP: Groupbox in SplitContainer UserControl[^] Henry Minute (who, unfortunately, passed away since) answered with one of his own articles that may be what you want: Designing Nested Controls[^] Later, I wrote some custom controls for work that allowed you to add controls to another control (both design-time and runtime) and even add them from the properties menu after which they were automagically added to your form (like columns of a datagridview). I haven't done any serious WinForms in years though, and I switched jobs a few times and don't have that code anymore, so I can't help you more than this. Hope it helps. Best, Sander Azure DevOps Succinctly (free eBook) Azure Serverless Succinctly (free eBook) Migrating Apps to the Cloud with Azure arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript

Your errors suggest you're using .NET Core or .NET 5, 6, or 7. Unlike in the .NET Framework, .NET Core and .NET do not set the UseShellExecute to true by default - you need to specify it explicitly: private void LinkedLabelClicked(object sender, LinkLabelLinkClickedEventArgs e) { dynamicLinkLabel.LinkVisited = true; System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo { FileName = "http://www.c-sharpcorner.com", UseShellExecute = true, }); } "These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer

I have a couple of ex-girlfriends, and several husbands, who will say the entanglement is a very, very bad thing! Not bragging, just saying.:cool: ed

I can't play Diablo without it, can I? Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

if you are looking for portability without having to install software on the host machine and do not need to share the DB with another process, go with SQLite. it works fantastic, most languages have support baked in, and you can still pass structured queries. last I read I think there is a 4TB limit. if the *.mdb gives you something more that SQLite doesn't have, choose that. to be honest I haven't touched an Access db from code in a couple decades, so I'm not all sure what it offers currently. if you are not worried about portability use SQL express, or a no-SQL DB for document storage. both are good, it all depends on what you plan to do with the data.

Thanks for the catch. Fixed! Thanks, Sean Ewington CodeProject

Dang, great link. Thank you. Charlie Gilley “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759 Has never been more appropriate.