Viewing VB 6 Source Code of .exe file?

[JockVSJock]

Taking VB 6.0 at the local community college. The teacher sent out a .exe file and I want to look at the
source code to see how he did a few things. Somehow he has locked it down, is there anyway I can do this?

I've tried right-clicking and viewing properties but that didn't do anything.

thanks

[tampabay420]

Are you talking about the Visual Basic source file(s) or are you talking about the compiled .exe file... if you are trying to decompile the .exe- good luck, i don't think it's easy... if you are viewing teh source files, he might have used "Source Safe" a third party application that works with VisualBasic (and other Visual Studio apps) to lock/protect there source code... again, i don't think you can decompile a visual basic executable... the best you could do is either Hex it or debug? either one sin't really going to help you much... good luck

[(V)/\><]

you could use a program called SmartCheck, by NuMega, to trace the execution of the program. its output is extremely detailed for debuging and is the next best thing to the source code. (it practically is the source code when you look at it enough)
http://www.compuware.com/products/numega/index.htm

NOTE: make sure you have a good look around in the programs settings to make sure it reports only what you want. i'd recommend suppressing system API and OLE calls, as with most scripting languages, they are quite numerous.

[ii-monk]

Well i don't think that some(n)one can see the source code of any programme made by M$'s progz languages and Borland's. If you would then we would already knew the source code of Windows (at least Win 3.1, 95...and maybe newer because they had the win.exe) then there wouldn't be fact the chaos with this ****ing M$'s source code. I'm sick with this company. SUPPORT OPEN-SOURCE at least of the Windows.
Thank you.

[mark_boyle2002]

I tried this recently on one of my own programs.

What you are trying to do is decompile the program.

Youy need a VB decompiler. (Not available after VB 3)

If you look at www.majorgeek.com there is a decompiler which works upto 3.

I would try this you might get lucky.

M

[proactive]

Originally posted here by tampabay420
he might have used "Source Safe" a third party application that works with VisualBasic (and other Visual Studio apps) to lock/protect there source code...

I didn't know you could do that with SourceSafe... How does it work, does it encrypt the source code? Have you got a link to somewhere with more info?

I used to use the software in my job but I never learnt it's advanced functions, only used it for source control. What you just described sounds like a cool feature as source code is valuable and might best be stored encrypted.

Originally posted here by JockVSJock
Taking VB 6.0 at the local community college. The teacher sent out a .exe file and I want to look at the
source code to see how he did a few things. Somehow he has locked it down, is there anyway I can do this?

Your only option here is to ask your teacher for the source-code. To see the source-code of a VB 6 .exe file you would need a decompiler, and they do not exist. If you look for it in Google you might find some promising links, but you'll soon find out they are all just crap. It is true though, that there were decompilers for early versions of VB. But I don't know how good they were...

[tampabay420]

proactive->

Protect documents among team members.
Check in and check out file locking securely protects files from accidental overwrite by preventing more than one user from modifying the same file at the same time.

taken from http://msdn.microsoft.com/ssafe/prodinfo/features.asp

to clear things up

[proactive]

Thank you!

[XDrack]

My sugestion is, "Ask to youre teacher how they did the thing you need to now". Thats the easyest thing you can do. Because to do an hex analisis or decompiling, you will need advanced knowledge, and too much time to spend.

Or you can find on the internet for a specific question, about the thing you need to now that they did.
xDrack

[CXGJarrod]

Originally posted here by tampabay420
proactive-> taken from http://msdn.microsoft.com/ssafe/prodinfo/features.asp

to clear things up

MS Visual Sourcesafe is for version control, not for protecting your source code. We use it extensively here to archive projects and to share the files in between users in the office.

From http://msdn.microsoft.com/ssafe/prodinfo/overview.asp

Visual SourceSafe 6.0c is the ideal version control system for any development team using Microsoft Visual Studio® .NET. Historically, problems within the team development environment stem from the inability to work comfortably in a setting sensitive to their projects and source code. While every project requires an adequate level of software management, the costs and overhead associated with file-based version control often outweigh the benefits. By providing project-oriented software management, Visual SourceSafe enables teams to develop with the confidence that their projects and files will be protected. It's simple enough to use right out of the box, and it's integrated with the development environment developers already work in.

Integrated features of Visual SourceSafe enable developers to access the full power of team development features—all from within the familiar Visual Studio environment they already use. Many features trigger automatically, such as when a file is about to be changed, providing a safety net for team members and ensuring the protection of the project.

Visual SourceSafe also provides an extensive feature set designed to save time and money through reliable source code control. It enables development teams to automatically protect and track their most valuable source code, documentation, binaries, and all other file types as they change throughout the software life cycle. For example, check in and check out file locking securely protects files from accidental overwrite by preventing more than one user from modifying the same file at once.