Total Visual SourceBook Reviewer's Guide
Thank you for your interest in Total Visual
SourceBook. FMS is pleased to provide you with this Reviewer’s Guide to assist
you in your evaluation of this exciting new version of our award-winning code
development tool set. The contents of this document are organized as follows:
Contents
Additional documentation in included with the Total Visual
SourceBook product, including a printed User’s Guide and online help
system.
Total Visual SourceBook is based on our award-winning Total
Access SourceBook and Total VB SourceBook products. Both the Access
version and its VB6 counterpart are among our most successful
products, despite the fact that developers are traditionally averse
to commercial code libraries.
Indeed, if you keep track of third party offerings for these
platforms, you have no doubt seen code libraries come and go for
both Access, Office, and Visual Basic 6.
What makes Total Visual SourceBook different? We've succeeded where others failed for several reasons:
- ActiveX controls notwithstanding, you still have to write lots
of code.
- No other product offers an integrated code solution.
- Existing code libraries require frameworks and complex
dependencies, and do not represent realistic levels of testing and
quality assurance.
- The breadth and quality of code is often lacking in code
libraries that are often not much more than pieces from previous
projects, magazine articles, and Internet postings.
- Consistency and documentation is not up to the standards
required by developers.
- Restrictive licensing in other products makes it difficult or
cost-ineffective to use library code in projects.
Components are only a Partial Solution
The Access and Visual Basic tools market is saturated with
component based solutions. The idea of inserting components into
your projects, whether in the form of ActiveX controls or DLL
libraries, while attractive, is only a partial solution.
Regardless of how full featured a given component is, the bottom
line remains: you have to write code. Additionally, writing
applications that require multiple external OCX files leads to
installation, deployment, and maintenance problems. Often, a pure
code solution is the most reliable and distributable solution.
The over-reliance on components is exacerbated by the fundamental
problems of code: it is hard to write, expensive to test, and
represents the highest exposure to risk of defects and maintenance
problems.
In our development efforts at FMS we have realized that components
offer a good solution in limited situations. But the majority of
functionality in any modern desktop application requires code.
Total Visual SourceBook addresses these issues by identifying
coding as the key budgetary item in a development project and
solving the problem with a completely integrated code solution.
Total Visual SourceBook is an
Integrated Code Solution
Some code libraries get onto your desktop in the form of simple
text files containing source code. Other approaches simply dump
their entire code base into your project. Products based on such
techniques are obviously less than optimal. Total Visual SourceBook
takes another approach.
The product’s Code Explorer provides a complete
user-interface for viewing, searching and storing code. Spend a few
minutes using the Code Explorer and you will see what we mean. All
code is visible in the treeview, with full details and examples of
how the code works and how to use it.
The Search tool makes finding code a snap, and the Export
tool is completely integrated with the Visual Basic integrated
development environment.
Total Visual SourceBook's
Code Repository is the natural extension of the Code Library.
With the Code Repository, you can save your own customized versions
of our code or add your own. Full support is included for adding
classes, modules and procedures, and user-defined categories.
You can use the Code Repository to manage your code, example code,
and reference documentation. And since the Total Visual SourceBook
is multi-user ready, you can share your code within your programming
team—the ultimate vehicle for code re-use!
No Complex Dependencies
How often do you search for code
solutions in a book or magazine, only to find that the solution
requires many dependent files and modules? Worse still, tracking
down and fixing those dependencies can take longer than writing the
code yourself.
For example, much of the code listed in books requires additional
modules, DLL files, or other libraries. Code listings in magazines
are usually incomplete and require that you visit the web to get the
complete (and compilable) solution.
Even when you have all the code, add a simple module to your
project may require adding another module or class to compile, which
may require another module. A simple piece of code may end up
requiring a huge amount of linked classes and modules, of which most
of the code is unnecessary. Of course, trying to find what’s
necessary and what’s not could take a great deal of time and effort,
which is what you’re trying to avoid.
Total Visual SourceBook solves this problem by following a simple
cardinal rule: every class and module is completely
self-contained. This means that you do not have to track down
dependencies to use one of our solutions—just insert the single
class or module into your project and you're ready to go!
Of course, within a class or module, there are likely to be
dependencies, and Total Visual SourceBook clearly shows these.
However, this is the exception, not the rule. You can always count
on the ability to export a single class or module and have it work.
Consistent, Fully-Tested Code
Another trap that other code libraries fall into is a lack of
consistency—the code uses different styles, naming conventions, and
procedure interfaces throughout. You won't find this problem in
Total Visual SourceBook. All of the code uses the same style,
formatting, naming conventions and commenting style.
Most importantly, all of the code is extensively tested. You can
use the code in your projects with confidence.
Complete, Standardized Documentation and Examples
Extensive documentation is included for each class and module. Details
include reference material on how to use the code, common
programming issues, and links to other information sources related
to the code. Every class and module also has a fully functional
example module that shows how to use the code in your project.
No-Nonsense, Royalty-Free Distribution Rights
What good would a code library be without redistribution rights that
are non-restrictive and easy to understand? You can include our code
in your projects on a royalty-free basis as many times as you like.
Total Visual SourceBook is licensed on a per-developer basis, with
cost-effective multiple license and site-license discounts. For
complete information on Total Visual SourceBook license, visit our
web site at www.fmsinc.com.
Total Visual
SourceBook Simply Does It Better
Total Visual SourceBook is the most comprehensive professional
source code library ever assembled for the Access, Office, and VB6
community. We are extremely pleased that our design goals are validated
by developers around the world. We invite you to read what our customers have to say
about SourceBook.
"Total Visual SourceBook is a valuable tool that I refer to
frequently. It is not only an easy to use reference for reliable
code, it also uses good coding practices that have improved the
quality of my own procedures and applications."
- Norm Chezem, Roseville, CA
"I like to have such a great companion in a close environment.
Excellent idea from FMS to share their knowledge and experience with
other developers."
- Alex Dybenko, Russia
“SourceBook is my constant companion as I work on Visual Basic
projects. I’ve never seen a product that addresses the exact needs
of a Visual Basic developer as perfectly as Sourcebook. It’s truly a
must-have for the up-to-date developer!”
- Michael Groh, Technical Editor-Access/Office VB Advisor Magazine
“I was very pleased with SourceBook. As a new VB developer, this
product helped me climb the learning curve significantly faster.
Seeing how other professionals approached the problem was like
getting a personal tutorial.”
- Steve Boyd, HelpFactory, Inc.
“Congratulations on another great product! I am excited to see
FMS entering the Visual Basic market. I have been using Total Access
software for several years now. Each FMS product that I have
purchased has been well designed, useful, and every one of them has
garnered a permanent spot in my developer toolbox. SourceBook is no
exception. Thoughtful design, tons of useful routines, and attention
to details are just some of the highlights of this program.”
- Walt Ritscher, Crystal Design Software
“I have been a great fan of your product, Total Access SourceBook.
Your new product, is even better! This is a MUST HAVE for all VB
developers. There is probably no other product on the market that
can save VB developers as much development time. I will be
recommending this product to developers wholeheartedly.”
- Tom Howe, Control Center Computing, Inc.
“The product is an extremely valuable aid for anyone doing serious
development in VB with the greatest feature being that you can
customize/extend the code to meet your needs which is something that
is not possible with most third-party products.”
- Jeremy Adams, ECX Programmers
“I was very impressed with SourceBook. It was very easy to merge our
corporation’s code library into SourceBook. If you use one function
from SourceBook, it pays for itself!”
- Stephen Forte, The Aurora Development Group
“The thing I liked best about the product is that it worked well for
me, a novice VB user. I have been a heavy user of your Total Access
Products and SourceBook has helped me make the transition into VB!”
- Nick Jongebloed, IMNET Systems
“Why reinvent the wheel? Here is what you need, both for newbies
and professionals! Don’t program without it!”
- Asbjoern Aamot, Microsoft MVP for Visual Basic
For the Developer:
- The built-in code library ships with hundreds of ready to run
modules, covering every aspect of application development. Given the
time it takes to write, debug, and document code, Total Visual
SourceBook pays for itself even if you only use a few of the
included routines!
- All our code is fully tested and uses a consistent set of
standards. You can plug in the code and its ready to go!
- Total Visual SourceBook stores your code for you. Add your code
from files, other developers, or directly from your project.
Code is stored with detailed management information, and our
powerful search feature means you will never again have to dig
through your hard disk to find code.
- Because it’s source code, it’s entirely open. Developers can
treat the code as a black box and just call it, or enhance it to
their specific needs. No ActiveX control can provide this kind of
flexibility!
- No one will use all the code we provide, but many developers
will learn a great deal by simply examining our code. Just seeing
examples of handling ADO, Outlook, FTP sites, or XML files can
result in better insight into the issues and inspiration to
implement new features.
- Total Visual SourceBook works in Visual Basic 6, and every
Office program that supports VBA. You have instant access to
ready-to-run code, plus all your code from VB, Access, Excel,
Outlook – you name it!
For the Development Team:
- Total Visual SourceBook is a multi-user system. All members of
your team can share code in real time. New project code can be
merged into Total Visual SourceBook with the press of a button.
- Leverage your valuable existing source code assets by putting it
into the Code Repository. Give every member of your development team
access to the code your the team has written.
- Stop reinventing the wheel. Between the extensive code library
in Total Visual SourceBook and your code, chances are good
that your developers can lookup lots of code they need.
- Eliminate the hassles of junior team members asking senior
members every time they need to write new code since they can look
it up themselves. More importantly, eliminate the mistakes junior
members make by writing code that already exists (and is better).
- Store your code with confidence. Authors can freely add and edit
their code while preventing others from editing it so the new hire
doesn’t damage your code.
For the Entire Enterprise:
- We spent thousands of developer-hours creating the code you need
today. Your entire enterprise can become more productive instantly,
as you shave months off your enterprise product timelines.
- With built-in multi-user functionality, all teams within
the enterprise can share a common source-code library.
- With our new Code Packaging technology, entire teams can share
code, especially among disconnected developers who may not
have access to your internal network.
The Astonishing Breadth of the Code Library
Our library offers an extensive collection of VBA routines that
address every major area of application development. The Code
Explorer makes it easy to find the code you need and insert it
directly into your projects. The Code Library contains:
-
200+ modules and classes
- 45+ Categories
- 100,000+ lines of code
- Almost 20,000 lines of example code
Unlike the code found in books, magazines, and on the web, our code
is fully tested, thoroughly documented, and is consistently written specifically
for VBA and VB6 developers.
Best of all, you can use the code in your projects royalty-free.
What's New in Total Visual SourceBook
2007
Host Enhancements
Total Visual SourceBook 2007 includes full
support for Access/Office 2007, 2003,
2002, and 2000, plus VB6. You have one central source for VBA/VB6 source code
regardless of which development platform you use.
Browser Enhancements
Total Visual SourceBook allows you to customize the error
handling in the included code to match your coding style.
Code Enhancements
The latest version of Total Visual SourceBook includes tons of new code, including code
for Access/Office 2007, enhanced code for Outlook, ADO, DAO, ADPs,
the new ACCDB database format, the web, and more.
View a partial list
| Feature |
Benefit |
| Code Library with 100,000+ lines of code |
With quick access to pre-tested, fully documented code, you
can quickly integrate solutions into your projects. And
because the source code in Total Visual SourceBook covers every
major area of application development, you can quickly find a
solution to almost any programming challenge. |
| All code is fully tested |
Unlike code resources on the web and in magazines, which are
often outdated and under-tested, the source code available in
Total Visual SourceBook has undergone multiple levels of
testing. This ensures that the code will work in your project
without the additional overhead of testing. |
| All code is fully documented |
Extensive notes on all code, including full procedure
references for every procedure and ready to run example code,
means that you can quickly understand how to use the code. |
| Our Exclusive Code Explorer makes finding the right code
quick and hassle-free |
The Code Explorer offers a familiar Windows Explorer-like
interface. You can navigate through categories, modules,
classes, and procedures easily, or use the built-in search tool
to find code by keywords or author. |
| Our Code Repository allows storage of developer code |
Because Total Visual SourceBook provides full support for
storing your own code, you’ll never again have to waste time
searching through past projects to find code you know you’ve
already written. With the Code Repository, all your code is
stored in a central location, with full support for tracking
information such as author and creation and modification dates.
You can also store notes and example code for your code
solutions. |
| Repository is multi-user ready |
Multiple developers within an organization can add code to
the Repository. This means that every developer on a project
team has access to both the built-in source code provided by
FMS, and the resources developed by other team members. This
translates to improved productivity as developers eliminate
redundant work, and share the knowledge of the team. Team code
use also encourages developers to use the same coding techniques
and style. |
| Multi-user Code Tracking |
Since code can be tracked by author, and creation and
modification dates, managing code histories and multiple
revisions is a snap. Additionally, developers can mark their
code as “read-only” to prevent inadvertent changes by other
developers. |
| Full integration with Visual Basic and all Microsoft Office
VBA hosts |
The Total Visual SourceBook Explorer integrates directly
into the Visual Basic Integrated Development Environment (IDE).
Available from the add-ins menu in VB and Office applications,
you can work with Total Visual SourceBook while in the Visual
Basic editor and export code to, or import code from, your VBA
projects. Total Visual SourceBook can also be run as a
standalone program, which is ideal for situations where Visual
Basic is not running or is not available. |
| Code Packaging makes sharing code a snap |
New in Total Visual SourceBook our Code Packaging
technology. You can select any items from your code library, and
we’ll create a standalone file with all your code, comments,
examples, and contact information. Then, post this via email, on
your web site, or on a shared drive. Your recipient can import
the code package into their installation of Total Visual
SourceBook and instantly have new code or the latest version! |
Total Visual SourceBook's source code library contains an
extensive set of ready to run code. This section highlights the
solutions that are available.
ActiveX
Data Objects (ADO)
ADO is now established as the data access layer of choice. Total
Visual SourceBook has thousands of lines of code for working with
ADO against both SQL Server and the Jet database engine. Code is
included for working with connections, commands, queries,
recordsets, and more.
Data
Access Objects (DAO/Jet Engine)
Work with Jet/Access databases and objects, attached/linked tables,
ODBC data sources, and security. Repair, compact, encrypt, and
decrypt databases. Extract minimum, maximum, average, and other
statistical results from tables. Find duplicates in tables, retrieve
random records, and use recordsets in index order. Detect record
numbers and counts, and export data to external files. Get object
definition information including table structures, index layouts,
and query definitions.
Access
2007
New code for working with Access 2007 is included. Code for working
with forms, reports, macros and modules makes it easy to get you
Access application up to speed in record time. Also included is a
full set of information routines to find out exactly how your
database is structured.
Outlook
2007
Need to send a simple email? No problem: code is included for
sending mail with Outlook 2007. What about advanced emailing with
multiple destinations, cc/bcc addresses and attachments? That's
covered too, along with code for dealing with the Calendar,
Contacts, and event scheduling.
Excel
2007
Fully-functional class modules make working with Excel data super
easy. Code is included to create, modify and save workbooks,
transfer data from tables to cells, and a full range of printing and
formatting options.
Word
2007
Need to customize your mail merges? How about programmatically
creating documents, or modifying existing ones? Our code for Word
makes document management and creation as easy as plugging in a
module.
VB
Application Techniques
Launch and monitor programs, access e-mail and web pages, handle
multiple instances of programs, close forms on exit, and handle
debugging from VB’s editor.
VB
Forms and Controls
Move captionless forms with a mouse. Save and restore size and
position. Make forms transparent. Supercharge treeview and listbox
controls. Enhance VB controls with binary searches, dropdown
routines, incremental searches, and string finds. Set text box
controls to filter alpha or numeric values, force upper or lower
case, and save/retrieve values to/from disk.
Graphics
Use the Windows Graphical Device Interface (GDI) to draw arcs,
chords, ellipses, flood fills, and more. Draw control edges and
individual pixels, fill rectangles, perform gradient fills, and tile
and rotate pictures and text. Simulated control routines make it
easy to blast lightweight windowless controls onto your forms for
optimum performance.
Date
& Time
Perform business day math including user-defined holidays. Work with
dates and times using native commands. Provide your application with
date conversion and validation routines.
Error
Handling
Maintain state information about your application for current
procedure name, the call stack, error information, and system
information. Implement our error handler to provide detailed
information written to a file when your application encounters an
error.
Encryption
and Compression
Compress and decompress data using Huffman, LZ, RLE, and UUEncode
algorithms. Encrypt data with serialized passwords. Generate
checksums using CRC16 and CRC32 techniques.
Abstract
Data Types
Create a history list to manage recently used items, or a bit array
to efficiently manage storage. Manage data with queues and stacks.
Data
Type and Unit Conversion
Work with bits, bytes, and binary numbers. Safely convert between
data types, convert units of measure, and convert to and from EBCDIC
and overpunched formats. Convert among binary, octal, and
hexadecimal, and convert to/from Roman numerals.
File
and Disk Operations
Manipulate files, disks, and folders using native commands. Use
the Windows API to get file and disk information, including drive
type, label, serial number, and free and total space. Change drive
labels and detect if a floppy disk drive is ready. Call the Win32
API to use the Windows Explorer shell to provide file and folder
manipulation, work with the Recycle Bin, and get the paths of
various system directories.
Internet
and Web
Work with HTTP and FTP sources and the Internet Explorer and Web
Browser controls for flexible web-enabled applications.
Search
and Sorting
Quick and efficient searching techniques such as Boyer-Moore, fuzzy
matching, MetaPhone and Soundex phonetic matching, and binary and
variant searches. Sorting code is rounded out with the standard
bubblesort, quicksort and shell sort algorithms.
String
Handling
Parse, tokenize, and de-tokenize string data. Perform search and
replace operations, evaluate command line arguments, and concatenate
strings much faster than standard string routines. Generate
random passwords, get number suffixes as text, pad, strip, and
remove nulls from strings.
Plus Hundreds of additional solutions including:
Printing
and Fonts
Windows
Common Dialogs
Math
and Statistics
Multimedia
Extensions
VB
Menus
Windows
Registry
System
Information
Clipboard
Operations
Windows Help
Screen Capture
Enhanced MessageBox
INI
File Operations
Windows
Shutdown
Change
Resolution
Dictionary
Support
Total Visual SourceBook is a completely integrated source code
solution, offering quick access to built-in and user-defined code
through a common interface, called Code Explorer. Use Code Explorer
to find, export, search, manage and store code.
On the left of the Code Explorer, a treeview control allows you to
browse through all categories, modules, classes, and procedures. As
you select items in the treeview, the information pane on the right
displays the code, reference material, example code, and details
about the code.
The bottom pane shows search results and user-defined bookmarks.
Full menu, toolbar, and tooltip support makes the entire interface
intuitive and easy to learn.
To make code readable, Code Explorer support full syntax
color-coding, just like your Visual Basic editor.
Finding Code with the Search Tool
Although navigating through code is easy with the treeview pane, there
are times when you want to find specific code by searching for
keywords or phrases.
Total Visual SourceBook provides full searching capability. You can
search by keyword or phrase, and narrow searches using any of the
following criteria:
- Search in one or all categories of code
- Limit searches to whole word or partial word
- Search for the specified keyword(s) in the code description
text, the code itself, or the example code
In addition, the code you enter into the Total Visual SourceBook
repository can be searched by:
- Creation and modification dates
- The name of the developer who created or last modified the code
Using the Code in Your Visual Basic Projects
Once you locate the code you need, exporting the code to your
Visual Basic project is easy. Code Explorer's Export Tool allows you
to specify which object in your project should receive the code. Or,
you can send the selected code into a new class or module.
The following screen shows how the Export dialog lists all objects
in your open project and allows you to create a new object, or add
the selected Total Visual SourceBook code to an existing object:
Additionally, you can export to the clipboard, a file, or to
Windows Notepad.
Other Features
Code Explorer also supports a variety of additional features:
- The Bookmark feature allows you to add bookmark notes to any
category, module, class, or procedure for easy reference.
- The Details tab shows code dependencies of a procedure on other
procedures.
- Filter the treeview to display built-in code, user code, or
both.
- Built-in administration features allow the code databases to be
repaired and compacted.
- Toolbars are customizable.
- Code can be printed directly from Code Explorer.
- Use the Options menu to customize almost all aspects of the
interface.
In addition to providing a comprehensive set of built-in Visual
Basic code, Total Visual SourceBook also provides powerful
repository features. Using the repository, you can add your own
categories, modules, classes, and procedures.
Additionally, since Code Repository is multi-user ready, you can
share your code with your entire development group, and use other
developer’s resources. Code is tracked by author, creation date, and
modification date—this means you can quickly locate code you need,
or manage code across a multiple developer team.
Major Code Repository Features
Total Visual SourceBook allows you to add:
- Categories: Organize your code by areas of application
development, or store your code in one of the built-in categories.
- Class modules: Full support is provided for class modules with
storage of declarations, properties, methods, and private
procedures.
- Standard modules: Add entire modules, including declarations,
and sub and function routines.
- Procedures: Add any type of procedure: property Let/Get/Set,
Function, Sub, or method.
- User Notes: Add your own notes that explain how to use the code
or other implementation notes.
- Example code: Add your own example code to illustrate to other
developers the best way to use your code.
- Existing code: Import existing code from a file or a project.
Manage Code Groups
Total Visual SourceBook stores source code in two Microsoft Access
databases that make up the Code Group:
- The built-in code (the library source code that ships with the
product) is stored in the FMS Code Database.
- The code you add through the Code Repository is stored in the
User Code Database.
One of the most powerful features Total Visual SourceBook is that
you can create and use multiple Code Groups. For example, you can install the
product on your laptop computer, and on a shared network drive.
In this configuration, you have access to the built-in code, along
with your own code even when you are not connected to the network.
You can also connect to the Code Group stored on the network to
access your organization's shared code assets.
As another example, you can install the product on your local
computer and create several Code Groups on your local drive to
manage code for each project you work on. Then, as you work on each
project, you can connect to that project's individual Code Group. Of
course, this scenario eliminates the usefulness of a common shared
repository of code, but does allow such compartmentalization if you
need it.
To manage the use of multiple Code Groups, Total Visual SourceBook
offers a Join option. This option allows you to “join” any Code
Group that you can see on your file system.
This feature eases the management tasks associated with code that
crosses several projects, or several development groups. With Total
Visual SourceBook, you have complete control over your enterprise
code assets.
New in Total Visual SourceBook is Source Code Exchange (SCE)
technology. SCE makes it easy to package code, along with notes, examples, and
author information, for distribution to other SourceBook users.
SCE Distribution is
ideal for working in disconnected environments.
Although Total Visual SourceBook provides seamless code sharing for
your entire team, there are situations where you or other developers
may not have access to the same shared drive. In this case, you can
simply package your latest codebase as an SCE file and distribute it
to remote team members. Before you know it, everyone is in sync.
SCE technology
supports code synchronization
When you import and SCE file into Total Visual SourceBook, the
program scans the contents and compares it against the code already
in your database. To handle conflicts with existing code, you can
choose to overwrite, skip, or create new for each module or class.
SCE Files are compact
and self-documenting
SCE files use XML and compression technology to remain as small as
possible for distribution over the web or with email. Additionally, when
you create an SCE file, you can specify author name and contact
information, notes, and copyright information.
System
Requirements
Total Visual SourceBook has the following system requirements:
- Hardware and operating system supported by Microsoft Access and
Visual Basic.
- 15 MB free disk space to install the product, and additional
disk space to store your code databases.
- Internet Explorer 4.01 or higher.
Total Visual SourceBook does not require Microsoft Office or Visual
Basic to be installed in order to run.
Product Packaging
Total Visual SourceBook ships on CD, and includes a printed user’s
manual, extensive online help, and an automated installation
program.
Licensing and Pricing
Total Visual SourceBook is licensed on a per developer
basis. Total Visual
SourceBook is also part of FMS’ Total Visual Developer Suite, Total VB
Enterprise Suite, Total Access Developer Suite, and Total Access Ultimate Suite.
Refer to Total Visual SourceBook
Pricing for details.
Total Visual SourceBook represents the state of the art in
integrated code solutions. With its extensive built-in code, and
powerful repository features, it offers VBA and VB6 developers a total code
solution.
Built upon the foundation of the most successful commercial VBA/VB6
code library, Total Visual SourceBook provides unprecedented power in code use
and management. We invite you to put the product through its paces, and contact
us if we can provide any additional assistance in evaluating or deploying Total
Visual SourceBook.
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