This contains the Microsoft Recommended naming conventions for Objects, and Variables in Visual Basic 6.0.
Why is this here? I believe it is always important to follow some standard when coding, and if your job involves VB programming, then I'm sure you will agree that it definitely makes code easier to read and understand. Most if not all, IT jobs will require you to follow a set of standards while writing your code.
The Visual Basic Coding standards have changed over the years but they are still about the same, with the Scope and Type identifiers to tell if a variable is global, module or local, and what the data type of the variable is. I remember the previous set of standards used only a single character type identifier. (most of the code in this site still uses the old standard, I just have not caught on to the new one yet.) The new standard of the 3 character type identifier makes VB's standards more like that of Visual C++. (I doubt this is coincidence.)
| Visual Basic Naming Standards |
| Control type | prefix | Example |
| 3D Panel | pnl | pnlGroup |
| ADO Data | ado | adoBiblio |
| Animated button | ani | aniMailBox |
| Check box | chk | chkReadOnly |
| Combo box, drop-down list box | cbo | cboEnglish |
| Command button | cmd | cmdExit |
| Common dialog | dlg | dlgFileOpen |
| Communications | com | comFax |
| Control (used within procedures when the specific type is unknown) | ctr | ctrCurrent |
| Data | dat | datBiblio |
| Data-bound combo box | dbcbo | dbcboLanguage |
| Data-bound grid | dbgrd | dbgrdQueryResult |
| Data-bound list box | dblst | dblstJobType |
| Data combo | dbc | dbcAuthor |
| Data grid | dgd | dgdTitles |
| Data list | dbl | dblPublisher |
| Data repeater | drp | drpLocation |
| Date picker | dtp | dtpPublished |
| Directory list box | dir | dirSource |
| Drive list box | drv | drvTarget |
| File list box | fil | filSource |
| Flat scroll bar | fsb | fsbMove |
| Form | frm | frmEntry |
| Frame | fra | fraLanguage |
| Gauge | gau | gauStatus |
| Graph | gra | graRevenue |
| Grid | grd | grdPrices |
| Hierarchical flexgrid | flex | flexOrders |
| Horizontal scroll bar | hsb | hsbVolume |
| Image | img | imgIcon |
| Image combo | imgcbo | imgcboProduct |
| ImageList | ils | ilsAllIcons |
| Label | lbl | lblHelpMessage |
| Lightweight check box | lwchk | lwchkArchive |
| Lightweight combo box | lwcbo | lwcboGerman |
| Lightweight command button | lwcmd | lwcmdRemove |
| Lightweight frame | lwfra | lwfraSaveOptions |
| Lightweight horizontal scroll bar | lwhsb | lwhsbVolume |
| Lightweight list box | lwlst | lwlstCostCenters |
| Lightweight option button | lwopt | lwoptIncomeLevel |
| Lightweight text box | lwtxt | lwoptStreet |
| Lightweight vertical scroll bar | lwvsb | lwvsbYear |
| Line | lin | linVertical |
| List box | lst | lstPolicyCodes |
| ListView | lvw | lvwHeadings |
| MAPI message | mpm | mpmSentMessage |
| MAPI session | mps | mpsSession |
| MCI | mci | mciVideo |
| Menu | mnu | mnuFileOpen |
| Month view | mvw | mvwPeriod |
| MS Chart | ch | chSalesbyRegion |
| MS Flex grid | msg | msgClients |
| MS Tab | mst | mstFirst |
| OLE container | ole | oleWorksheet |
| Option button | opt | optGender |
| Picture box | pic | picVGA |
| Picture clip | clp | clpToolbar |
| ProgressBar | prg | prgLoadFile |
| Remote Data | rd | rdTitles |
| RichTextBox | rtf | rtfReport |
| Shape | shp | shpCircle |
| Slider | sld | sldScale |
| Spin | spn | spnPages |
| StatusBar | sta | staDateTime |
| SysInfo | sys | sysMonitor |
| TabStrip | tab | tabOptions |
| Text box | txt | txtLastName |
| Timer | tmr | tmrAlarm |
| Toolbar | tlb | tlbActions |
| TreeView | tre | treOrganization |
| UpDown | upd | updDirection |
| Vertical scroll bar | vsb | vsbRate |
| Variable Naming Conventions |
Visual Basic uses a Scope and Type identifier to prefix each variable name, so it is easy to tell the data type of the variable and where the variable is declared. The Scope can be one of three things:
| Scope | Prefix | Example |
| Global | g | gstrUserName |
| Module-level | m | mblnCalcInProgress |
| Local to procedure | None | dblVelocity |
The Type identifier follows the Scope identifier and will enable anyone looking at your code to instantly know the data type of all your variables without having to look for the variables declaration. The following is a list of the data types and their prefixes:
| Data type | Prefix | Example |
| Boolean | bln | blnFound |
| Byte | byt | bytRasterData |
| Collection object | col | colWidgets |
| Currency | cur | curRevenue |
| Date (Time) | dtm | dtmStart |
| Double | dbl | dblTolerance |
| Error | err | errOrderNum |
| Integer | int | intQuantity |
| Long | lng | lngDistance |
| Object | obj | objCurrent |
| Single | sng | sngAverage |
| String | str | strFName |
| User-defined type | udt | udtEmployee |
| Variant | vnt | vntCheckSum |
So if you had a global variable named "Counter" and it is a long, you would name the variable "glngCounter" Anyone looking at this variable would instantly know the variable is global to the whole project and would know it is a long. In a multi-developer environment this type of standard is a must, or else there will be considerable time lost while each developer keeps referring to the variable declarations.
