Compatibility with VDS 5

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Although retaining backward compatibility with Visual DialogScript 5 has been an important consideration when developing VDS 6, some changes have been unavoidable, or necessary in the interest of improvement. The following changes may require modification of code before programs will work correctly after migration to VDS 6.

 

•Standard command and function names may no longer be shortened, even when the short name is #DEFINEd.
•The BINFILE command and @BINFILE function have been superseded by new generic input/output commands and functions like WRITE and @READLINE, which also support console input/output.
•Resource names are no longer restricted to 8 characters in length, and the compiler will not automatically truncate them.
•Programs created using VDS 6 require Internet Explorer 5.01 or later to be installed on the host computer, as some functionality makes use of non-redistributable Microsoft components that are part of Internet Explorer 5.01.
•Some extensions developed for VDS 5 may fail when used with VDS 6 because they check for the specific version number.
•The syntax for specifying pull-down menus has changed, to allow the menu specification to be built up using a variable. The syntax is now consistent with that for popup menus. The menu item list is now a single parameter to the DIALOG POPUP command. Items are separated using vertical bars '|' and the components of each item description are separated by semicolons.
•The format of the TRACKBAR dialog element has changed, as the minimum and maximum value can now be specified.
•TIMERs now use @DATETIME-compatible floating point values instead of formatted strings, for easier comparison and manipulation.
•For consistency with other window commands and functions, @WINACTIVE and @WINCLASS now return a window class name prefixed by a # character, the format used to distinguish it when it is used as a window identifier.
•The @FORMAT function now returns values that may be left- or right-justified to the minimum number of characters specified, using spaces. This may result in "not a valid number" errors, where @FORMAT has been used to round a value that is subsequently used in a calculation. The new @FROUND function should be used instead.