CompuServe Messages

Ted, I'm sure you're probably right about the API calls question, but there are precedents for my concern. An app I wrote in QuickBASIC about a year ago uses a large number of documented INTERRUPT calls. That application now does not work with DOS 5.0. I'm still working on solving the problem. That's why I'm sticking as far as possible with internal VB properties and commands. They can't do it all, of course, so I've used API and GDI calls when I need them, or when they can do something not available directly in VB. I'm sure that sticking with the basic calls will lead to a 3.1-compatible app. I am concerned, however, with the reliance on external calls to perform basic functions. It's been my experience that only a very small percentage of programmers in QB *ever* used the INTERRUPT command….Ever! Luckily, QB offered its own tools in sufficient quantity to make it unnecessary. Similarly, I expect that the bulk of VB programmers will not go to external calls either. And there's the rub. Exploring StretchBlt, with the help of Don Funk, leads me to the conclusion that very few people will be able to figure that one out on their own. It's non-intuitive in the extreme. I did a demo of using the tools (BMPKIT.ZIP in Library 1), to help out those users who are not able to work this thing out. Still….how many VB users are using this forum? A tiny percentage of VB owners, I suspect. This is not obscure stuff, either. Being able to print bitmaps to a standard device is essential for a graphical language. MS's omission of that feature is still incomprehensible to me. It seems so basic that it leads me to question motives here. Too difficult to implement? No, that can't be it…MS could have made those calls, keeping life simple for VB users. I really like VB a lot, and will be developing in it from now on. I'm just going to be glad when the next version appears. George