From knosack@park.uvsc.edu Thu Mar 06 09:20:14 1997
From: knosack@park.uvsc.edu (Kris Nosack)
Date: 6 Mar 1997 15:20:14 -0000

Posted-By: auto-faq 3.1.1.2
Archive-name: visual-basic-faq/faq-pointer

Last-Modified: November 24, 1996

================================================================================
Welcome to comp.lang.basic.visual.* (clbv.*)! 

This letter serves as a short introduction to clbv.* and attempts to answer the
following:

	1. what VB newsgroups are there?
	2. VB 4 - what's the scoop?
	3. where can I get the FAQs, and why do people keep telling me to RTFM?
	4. what's the Knowledge Base, "   "   "   "     "      "     " "   "
	5. what's clbv.* netiquette?

Any suggestions on improving this welcome letter are appreciated.

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1. There are 4 newsgroups related to Microsoft's Visual Basic (VB):        
        comp.lang.basic.visual.MISC
                VB methods, controls, language, API, techniques etc
        comp.lang.basic.visual.3RDPARTY
                add-on tools for VB (commercial, shareware, freeware)
        comp.lang.basic.visual.DATABASE
                VB database controls, applications and tools
        comp.lang.basic.visual.ANNOUNCE
                faqs, product announcements, etc
                moderated by vbasic-request@CC.UManitoba.CA

   PLEASE! No cross-posting among the groups :-)

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2. VB 4.0 has been available since Nov/Dec95. You can get information about VB4
   from the following sources on the web:
	http://www.apexsc.com/vb/vb4.html - Carl & Gary's VB4 page
	http://www.microsoft.com/kb/faq/devtools/vb/vb40/ - Microsoft's VB4 FAQ

	http://www.windx.com - VBPJ (Visual Basic Programer's Journal)
	
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3. The clbv.* FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) answer many common
   questions - if you're new to clbv.*, PLEASE CHECK THE FAQS BEFORE POSTING.
        There currently are 3 FAQs for this group:
                1. GENERAL (intro to VB (DOS and Win), and info about
                   comp.lang.basic.visual.* (aka clbv.*)), including
                   recommended books and magazines
                2. VB/DOS
                3. VB/Win - very comprehensive VB3 info, not much VB4 info yet
	They are posted to clbv.* once a month (on the 5th).

*NOTE* The WWW version of the VB/Win FAQ which used to be at
       "http://puta.gurunet.org/vb/" has moved to
       "http://home.sol.no/jansh/vb/default.htm".  You are encouraged to use
       the WWW version as it is may be more current than the text version
       that is posted to the VB newsgroups.
     

        To get the latests FAQs via ftp:
                a) ftp "rtfm.mit.edu" - all parts of the VB FAQ are in the
                   directory "pub/usenet/comp.lang.basic.visual.misc"
        or      b) you can get the FAQs in help file format (.hlp) which
                   contains all the VB/Win FAQS - available from
                   quasar.sba.dal.ca in /www/hlp/vbfaq.hlp
                   NB: the General FAQ is _not_ included, so make
                   sure you get it (via ftp or from clbv.*) as well.

        To get the latests FAQs via WWW:
	        See Carl & Gary's VB HomePage http://www.apexsc.com/vb/ - you 
		can find clbv.* news archives there as well. 

        To get the latests FAQs if you don't have ftp:
                have the VB FAQs e-mailed to you by sending a message to
                "mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu" with ONLY the text
                "send usenet/news.answers/visual-basic-faq/*" in the body of
                the message.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4. The Knowledge Base (KB) is an ever-increasing repository of
   information (in help file format) from Microsoft. You received a small
   version with VB, but it has been expanded SUBSTANTIALLY since then. There
   are three ways to get current KB information:
   	a) To search the latest version of the KB see 
           	http://www.microsoft.com/kb/
	b) A recent (quarterly) KB is included with all levels of the MSDN
	   (Microsoft Developer's Network CD Library). 
	c) If you really must download the lastest version, see
	        ftp.microsoft.com/KBHelp/
		    VBKB_32.EXE 1.8mb 1/30/96 VB 4.0 (32 BIT) 
		    VBKB_16.EXE 5.5mb 1/30/96 VB 4.0 (16 BIT)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

5. The people in clbv.* are very friendly and helpful - and have a great
   sense of humor. Clbv.* 'netiquette' is pretty informal, however there are
   some 'posting guidelines':

        a) state the version of VB you're using (eg. 2.0/3.0/4.0 Ent/Pro/Std);
           the type of VB (VB/Win 16/32-bit, VB/Dos); the database if 
           applicable (eg. Access v1.1/2.0/95); the control if applicable (eg.
           ListBox); the error message you're receiving.

        b) Ensure you check the following sources of information before
           posting:
                - VB manuals/help-files/sample files
                - FAQs / VBTips&Tricks
                - KB
                (nb. search in the above order will almost always find the
                answer, or at least allow to you ask a better question...)

        c) Don't ask for replies via e-mail (if the QUESTION is worth
           posting, the ANSWER will be valuable to everyone in the group).
           Also, it implies YOUR time is more valuable than THEIRS, since
           you're expecting _them_ to read all the posts to see yours, yet
           _you're_ not willing to scan the subjects to see their reply.

        d) when following up on a posting, please delete any non-relevant
           lines from the original post (including header and sig). Posting
           more than 10 lines from the original post is TOO MUCH. Posting no
           lines from the original is TOO LITTLE.

   ALSO, PLEASE REMEMBER THAT EACH TIME YOU POST, YOU'RE ASKING A COMPLETE
   STRANGER TO SPEND TIME HELPING YOU:

        - if the answers you receive are not what you wanted, DON'T
          FLAME!, just post a follow-up note thanking the respondants for
          their suggestions so far, and provide a clarified problem
          statement.

        - if you receive no responses, DON'T PANIC!, give it a couple of
          days: it takes a while for postings to propagate around the
          world; sometimes your posting is similar to one posted in the
          previous couple of weeks and people are sick of the topic (check
          your news server's archive); sometimes your question is a 'toughie'
          which requires some thinking/research time; and sometimes everyone's
          just too busy.

          If you get no reply after a week, try again with additional
          clarification, and consider using the following format:
                i)   FLATTERY SECTION: "I've learned a lot from the FAQs and
                     watching the postings for the last month, but now I have
                     a really tough problem for you gurus"
                ii)  PROBLEM DESCRIPTION: _consise_ description of your problem
                     or question, including a _small_ code fragment if
                     applicable
                iii) BEGGING FOR HELP: "I've checked the FAQs, Help and KB 
                     etc... any advice would be appreciated (please post 
                     reponses to this newsgroup as I don't read my e-mail
                     very often)"

        - if the answers are useful, a quick _e-mail_ thanking the
          respondant(s) is always appreciated

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
---------------------------------------------------------------+
Ayn Shipley, Toronto, Ontario    | Prevent computer viruses... |
ashipley@hookup.net              | ...practice safe sigs       |
-- 
Kris Nosack      knosack@park.uvsc.edu

>>>--->  Be strange, but not a stranger!  <---<<<