VB Law 6.2 Release Notes

This page documents the service patches, bug fixes and enhancements made to the VB Law 6.2 product editions. (Note: Service patch updates can only be applied to an existing full installation of a VB Law product edition. Only the latest service patch need be applied.)

VB Law Workstation 6.2 (VBWork62.exe)

WS6230.zip (627K) Patch 6.2.0030 posted 03-Jan-2007 Fixed: The parser did not support multi-line comments joined using the continuation character '_' but instead treated the continuation lines as code lines. Fixed: The parser did not support Property declarations which omitted '()' after the property name. Fixed: The parser did not support whitespace after method and argument names but before an opening '(' character. Fixed: Error 35601 occurred for source files referenced in the project file by a UNC filename instead of a relative filename.

Patch 6.2.0023 posted 23-Jun-2005 Fixed: Error 76 - Path not found in function SaveDocument in module ReportsEngine which could occur when the path to the VB project file contained a folder having a period (.) in the name. Fixed: Error -2147467259 - Method '~' of object '~' failed in function SetCBToolIcon in module IDEMenus which occurred for a small number of users. Fixed: Error 521 - Can't open Clipboard in function SetCBToolIcon in module IDEMenus which sometimes occurred. Enhanced: Added HKEY_CURRENT_USER configuration setting to optionally locate the main VB Law menu item as a sub-menu on the Tools menu item. Set the PlaceMenuOnToolsMenu value at HKCU\Software\Visible Progress\VB Law\6.2\VBLWork to 1 to add the VB Law menu to the Tools menu rather than the IDE main menu bar. Enhanced: Minor change to licencing to facilitate certain customer scenarios.

Patch 6.2.0019 posted 28-Feb-2005 Fixed: Occasional error 9 when unloading the Add-In after resetting menus within the VB IDE.

Patch 6.2.0018 posted 09-Feb-2005 Enhanced: Improved warning message for missing project references. Enhanced: Cosmetic branding changes.

Patch 6.2.0017 posted 02-Nov-2004 Fixed: Corrected issue where an unauthorised component violation could sometimes be raised even though the component in question had been added to the authorised components list. Fixed: Go to source action would sometimes not go to the correct location in the source. Fixed: Corrected issue where following hibernation, the VB Law menu could be duplicated in the VB IDE. Enhanced: Improved performance of internal collection classes. Enhanced: Ensured that on first use, the sample rulebase is offered by default to select in the review options dialog.

Patch 6.2.0015 posted 12-May-2004 Fixed: 'File' object 'CommentHeader' property incorrectly returned null if a source file contained only a single code line (or no code lines) after the file comment header block. Fixed: Incorrect handling of empty argument lists when a continuation character was used to break a line between the opening '(' and closing ')' of an argument list. This could occasionally cause spurious violations to be reported unnecessarily for non-existent arguments.

Patch 6.2.0014 posted 17-Mar-2004 Fixed: Error -2147220990 - No such item in function SetupProject module C_ResultsDB.cls when attempting to review a Visual Basic project group.

Patch 6.2.0013 posted 12-Feb-2004 Fixed: Error 5 in function AddProjectFileComponent occasionally when reading the Visual Basic project file at the start of a review.

Patch 6.2.0012 posted 24-Nov-2003 Fixed: Error 424 in function m_evtProjects_ItemAdded in module IDEHelper. This error would sometimes occur when a project was opened in the IDE and the Visual SourceSafe Add-In was set to ask whether or not to get latest from checked-in source.

Patch 6.2.0011 posted 02-Oct-2003 Fixed: Error -2147220990 in function m_evtIDE_ProjectRemoved in module WorkstationApp followed by Error 424 in function m_evtProjects_ItemAdded in module IDEHelper. This error would occur whenever a new project was loaded into the IDE and the Visual SourceSafe Add-In was set to ask whether to get latest from checked-in source. Fixed: 'IsEventProcedure' property incorrectly returned False for MDI forms causing sample rule 151 to raise unnecessary violations. Fixed: Unauthorised keyword violations were incorrectly raised when appearing in comments or string literals.

Patch 6.2.0010 posted 28-Sep-2003 Fixed: Error 52 in function FolderExists (modUtilFunctions) followed by error 76 in CreateFullPath (modUtilFunctions) when the project folder was located on a network server and a UNC path was used.

Build 6.2.0008 posted 10-Jul-2003 VB Law Workstation 6.2 release.

VB Law Batch Processor 6.2 (VBBtch62.exe)

BP6230.zip (400K) Patch 6.2.0030 posted 03-Jan-2007 Fixed: The parser did not support multi-line comments joined using the continuation character '_' but instead treated the continuation lines as code lines. Fixed: The parser did not support Property declarations which omitted '()' after the property name. Fixed: The parser did not support whitespace after method and argument names but before an opening '(' character. Fixed: Error 35601 occurred for source files referenced in the project file by a UNC filename instead of a relative filename.

Patch 6.2.0021 posted 23-Jun-2005 Fixed: Error 76 - Path not found in function SaveDocument in module ReportsEngine which could occur when the path to the VB project file contained a folder having a period (.) in the name. Enhanced: Minor change to licencing to facilitate certain customer scenarios.

Patch 6.2.0019 posted 09-Feb-2005 Enhanced: Cosmetic branding changes.

Patch 6.2.0018 posted 02-Nov-2004 Fixed: Corrected issue where an unauthorised component violation could sometimes be raised even though the component in question had been added to the authorised components list. Enhanced: Improved performance of internal collection classes. Enhanced: Ensured that on first use, the sample rulebase is offered by default to select in the review options dialog.

Patch 6.2.0016 posted 12-May-2004 Fixed: 'File' object 'CommentHeader' property incorrectly returned null if a source file contained only a single code line (or no code lines) after the file comment header block. Fixed: Incorrect handling of empty argument lists when a continuation character was used to break a line between the opening '(' and closing ')' of an argument list. This could occasionally cause spurious violations to be reported unnecessarily for non-existent arguments.

Patch 6.2.0015 posted 17-Mar-2004 Fixed: Ensure project objects in memory are released after each project is reviewed.

Patch 6.2.0014 posted 12-Feb-2004 Fixed: Error 5 in function AddProjectFileComponent occasionally when reading the Visual Basic project file at the start of a review.

Patch 6.2.0013 posted 02-Oct-2003 Fixed: 'IsEventProcedure' property incorrectly returned False for MDI forms causing sample rule 151 to raise unnecessary violations. Fixed: Unauthorised keyword violations were incorrectly raised when appearing in comments or string literals.

Patch 6.2.0012 posted 28-Sep-2003 Fixed: Error 52 in function FolderExists (modUtilFunctions) followed by error 76 in CreateFullPath (modUtilFunctions) when the project folder was located on a network server and a UNC path was used.

Build 6.2.0009 posted 10-Jul-2003 VB Law Batch Processor 6.2 release.

VB Law 6.2 (VBLaw62.exe)

AD6211.zip (569K) Patch 6.2.0011 posted 23-Jun-2005 Enhanced: Minor change to licencing to facilitate certain customer scenarios.

Patch 6.2.0010 posted 09-Feb-2005 Enhanced: The default view is now Category View when opening a rulebase. Enhanced: Now automatically opens the last rulebase used. Enhanced: Automatically launches the help file on first ever use. Enhanced: Cosmetic branding changes.

Patch 6.2.0009 posted 02-Nov-2004 Enhanced: Improved performance of internal collection classes.

Patch 6.2.0008 posted 28-Sep-2003 Fixed: Error 9 when clicking on Stereotypes tab of the data type tags list editor dialog. Fixed: Current edit was lost during tag editing when clicking elsewhere on the dialog rather than tabbing to next field. Fixed: Clicking the window close (X) button when editing name tags did not close the dialog.

Build 6.2.0007 posted 10-Jul-2003 VB Law 6.2 release.

What's new in VB Law 6.2?

Improved Support For Enforcement Of Commenting Conventions

The following enhancements have been made to improve support for writing coding conventions to enforce commenting conventions:

Parser 'File' object now includes a new 'HeaderComment' property.

Parser 'Source' object now includes a new 'CommentBlock' property.

Inclusion of many new sample rules to enforce commenting conventions.

Improved Naming Conventions

The following enhancements have been made to naming conventions:

Enhanced object hierarchy containing many new objects which greatly reduce the need to write rule conditions.

Selection of naming convention object / property values from drop-down lists.

Each rule can now be marked as case sensitive or case insensitive.

Each rule can now include a list of known names to ignore.

Inclusion of many new sample rules to demonstrate naming conventions.

New Array Tag

A new 'Array Tag' has been introduced which may be used in the construction of prefix/suffix rules for array items. The array tag is linked to the 'IsArray' property of parser objects. The chosen value for this tag can be entered on the Data Type Tags dialog and will be returned for any parser object whose 'IsArray' property value is set to True. A null string is returned if the parser object does not contain an 'IsArray' property or whose 'IsArray' property value is set to False.

New Scope Tags

Scope tags have been enhanced to include two new tags which may be used in the construction of prefix/suffix rules for procedure arguments. You may now specify a tag for "ByRef" arguments and a tag for "ByVal" arguments.

Improved Name Tag Editing

VB Law Administrator now uses a grid control when editing name tags making it far quicker and easier to edit name tag details. Examples to demonstrate usage may also be entered against name tags and descriptions may be specified for control tags. Examples and descriptions will be listed within rulebase documentation.

Review Results 'VBLaw' Folder

To avoid cluttering project source folders with VB Law reports and results, VB Law now creates a 'VBLaw' sub-folder within the project folder when the 'Use Project Folder' checkbox is checked on the Results tab of the Review Options dialog.

Tolerance Failure Reporting

Source file reports now list reasons for tolerance failure including the tolerance setting and the actual value for each failed tolerance setting.

Source Line Numbers On Violation Report

Source file reports now list the source line number for violations when appropriate.

VB Law 6.2 Upgrade Notes

Obtaining New 6.2 Serial Numbers

If you are an existing VB Law customer and have not yet received your new 6.2 serial numbers, please request them by e-mail to support@visibleprogress.com stating your name, company name and existing VB Law product(s) and serial number(s). Please allow 24 hours for processing.

Upgrade Considerations

Rulebase Compatibility: The features added to VB Law 6.2 require additional information to be stored in a rulebase file. As a consequence of the additional information, rulebase files created by VB Law 6.2 cannot be used by previous versions of VB Law although VB Law 6.0/6.1 rulebase files can be used by VB Law 6.2.

Review Results Are Incompatible With VB Law 6.2: The Review Results database files generated by previous versions of VB Law are incompatible with VB Law 6.2 and therefore cannot be viewed by VB Law Workstation 6.2. Likewise, results generated by VB Law 6.2 cannot be viewed by VB Law 6.0 and 6.1 users. It is thus necessary to perform a fresh review for each project to generate a new results database which is compatible with the additional features supported by VB Law 6.2. (Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.)

Upgrading VB Law 6.0/6.1

To upgrade a previous version of VB Law to version 6.2, perform the following steps:

• Download VBLaw62.exe
• Virus check it. We virus check all files uploaded to our web site, however, we recommend that all files downloaded from the Internet should always be checked for viruses before installation.
• Close all running instances of Visual Basic and VB Law Administrator.
• Take a backup copy of all your rulebase files. (Note: The VB Law sample rulebase 'sample.law' will be replaced by the updated 6.2 version.)
• Run VBLaw62.exe. The installer will detect the previous installation and default the installation path to the previous location (we recommend that you do not change this).
• After the installation, both VB Law Administrator and VB Law Workstation will revert to 30 day trial versions and you must activate them again using the new 6.2 serial numbers provided.
• Should you encounter any problems or difficulties during the upgrade, please do not hesitate to report them to support@visibleprogress.com.

Upgrading VB Law Workstation 6.0/6.1

To upgrade VB Law Workstation to version 6.2, perform the following steps:

• Download VBWork62.exe
• Virus check it. We virus check all files uploaded to our web site, however, we recommend that all files downloaded from the Internet should always be checked for viruses before installation.
• Close all running instances of Visual Basic.
• Run VBWork62.exe. The installer will detect the previous installation and default the installation path to the previous location (we recommend that you do not change this).
• After the installation, VB Law Workstation will revert to the 30 day trial version and you must activate it again using the new 6.2 serial number provided.
• Should you encounter any problems or difficulties during the upgrade, please do not hesitate to report them to support@visibleprogress.com.

Upgrading VB Law Batch Processor 6.1

To upgrade a previous version of the VB Law Batch Processor to version 6.2, perform the following steps:

• Download VBBtch62.exe
• Virus check it. We virus check all files uploaded to our web site, however, we recommend that all files downloaded from the Internet should always be checked for viruses before installation.
• Close all running instances of Visual Basic.
• Run VBBtch62.exe. The installer will detect the previous installation and default the installation path to the previous location (we recommend that you do not change this).
• After the installation, VB Law Btach Processor will revert to the 30 day trial version and you must activate it again using the new 6.2 serial number provided.
• Should you encounter any problems or difficulties during the upgrade, please do not hesitate to report them to support@visibleprogress.com.