New Visual Basic to add database and Net features

The next release of Visual Basic, version 6.0, will add new features thatmake it easier for developers to create Web server applications and connectto databases through a new OLE-DB interface. Visual Basic 6.0, which is dueSeptember 2nd, was shown off this week at TechEd, Microsoft's yearlydeveloper conference. While there are no major user interface enhancements(the product uses the same shell as 5.0), the enhancements to Visual Basic6.0 are primarily found under the hood, so to speak. Visual Basic 6.0 nowsupports ActiveX Data Objects (ADO), an implementation of OLE-DB, as itsprimary data source provider, so that it can work more easily with a widerange of data sources, including databases, spreadsheets, email, IndexServer, and others, while providing a fast and lightweight way to work overthe Internet.

Program manager David Stutz says that Visual Basic 6.0 will be able to create server applications using the same familiar forms-based interface ituses to create regular apps. New debugging tools allow Transaction Serverapps to be debugged right in the Visual Basic IDE