Updating type specifiers

[peter11]

I have been told that the "%" is a "type specifier". and it is a leftover from pre-Visual versions of Basic.

How would update the following code for VB6?
Dim ratx%(2, 2), raty%(2, 2), ratpos%(2, 2)

 

[RickSpr]

You can still use the type specifiers, of course, but if you want to update your code, it would look like this:
Dim ratx(2, 2) As Integer, raty(2, 2) As Integer, ratpos(2, 2) As Integer

The type specifiers and corresponding data types are:
% - Integer
& - Long
! - Single
# - Double
$ - String
Other data types (e.g. Date, Boolean) were never assigned a type specifier.

Type specifiers occur in 5 contexts that I can think of.
1. In Dim statements; translate as shown above.
2. After variables names elsewhere in code; just remove the type specifier character.
3. In Const statements, after the constant value; translate as follows:
Const Pi = 3.14159# -> Const Pi As Double = 3.14159
4. (Rare) After function names in their declarations; translate as follows:
Function F!(Value As Integer) -> Function F(Value As Integer) As Single
5. (Rare) After function names in function calls; just remove the type specifier character.

Rick Sprague

 

[rvBasic]

Just for completeness and history: There also is a Deftype statement that you can place in the General Section of a Module and that types a variable, based on its initial character.

DefStr A - Q defines all module's variables that start with letters A through Q as Strings.

Other Deftypes are: DefBool, DefByte, DefInt, DefLng, DefCur, DefSng, DefDbl, DefDate, DefObj and DefVar.

This too is history: The statement is no longer supported (and for good reasons) in VB.NET
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