There are a number of reasons why it makes sense to convert an existing VBVoice IVR application from Visual Basic to Visual Studio .NET:

• True object orientation: Every component in your IVR project is an object, making the application easier to maintain, reuse and extend. Intelligence provides you with instant access to methods and property of every object, along with their prototypes. You learn as you code.
• Built-in exception handling: Errors can be caught at any point in the program flow, no matter where or how deep in the stack they occur. This is far better than returning error codes and passing strings up to calling methods.
• Multi-threading architecture: Since .NET is designed to support multi-threaded operations, this practice can now be implemented effortlessly.
• IDE enhancements: Cross-language interoperability, garbage collection, shared types and many other improvements result in dramatically improved developer productivity.
• Connectivity to enterprise applications via .NET framework and others.

Clearly, converting a Visual Basic application to a (VB) .NET application makes a lot of sense. However, some aspects of the conversion can be somewhat challenging, and this is where our conversion service kicks in.

Are You New to Object-oriented Design?

Even the most seasoned Visual Basic programmers will find peculiarities in converting to VB .NET. The rules have changed - forms that can be opened from thin air and universally global variables are a thing of the past. Everything is an object and must exist within the scope of another object, and all must be within the main start-up object. Forms, like all other objects, must be allocated memory before they are used.

While the real "meat" of your IVR application code won't change, we can help to structure your code so it fits in the object-oriented model. We can save you the frustration of figuring out why your "global" members can no longer be accessed and show just how your project will reshape itself - valuable knowledge for your next .NET project.

Do You Need to Replace COM Objects?

Some COM objects used in VB6 (such as winsock or datagrid) can be quite troublesome to import into .NET and may not behave as previously observed in VB6. However, there are native .NET objects that can do the same tasks in a simpler manner, yet are more powerful and reliable. We can help identify which components should be replaced and find the most logical substitutes.

Do You Want to Convert to More Streamlined C# Code?

Some experienced developers prefer to use C#, rather than the more "wordy" Visual Basic option. Using symbols instead of natural words or phrases, C# can implement the same code with less typing, fewer lines of code and can be visually interpreted or "skimmed" more quickly when reviewing or maintaining. We can help with the simpler (syntax is the same, words are different) or more complex (language-specific methodology) issues that arise when attempting a direct "translation" to C#.

Do You Have Trouble Referencing VBVoice Controls at Runtime?

Some procedures in VBVoice, such as referencing and changing a control's greetings at runtime, or using the VBVFrame's transfer variables, have changed to fit into the object-oriented methodology. We can save you the guessing game of why VBVoice specific code no longer compiles when it is ported to a .NET project.