twinBASIC Update: August 8, 2021

Highlights include a revamped references list UX, a 100%-twinBASIC-compatible Printers object replacement, and news on unit testing and documentation.

twinBASIC Update: August 8, 2021

On April 23, 2021, I helped Wayne Phillips introduce the world to twinBASIC at the Access DevCon Vienna conference.  I boldly predicted that twinBASIC (along with the Monaco editor) would replace VBA and its outdated development environment by 2025.  With that goal in mind, this weekly update is my attempt to keep the project fresh in the minds of the VBA development community.

Every Sunday, I will be providing updates on the status of the project, linking to new articles discussing twinBASIC, and generally trying to increase engagement with the project.  If you come across items that should be included here, tweet me @NoLongerSet or email me at mike at nolongerset dot com.


Highlights

Improvements to the Reference List User Experience

The References list in Project Settings is now split into two separate windows.  In addition to the changed user interface, it's also now possible to import type libraries from the file system via the [Import from file...] button.

Around the Web

VS Code now offers an integrated testing API

This was a prerequisite for first-class testing support in twinBASIC.  Now that Visual Studio Code offers an integrated testing API, Wayne can hook into this feature to provide a testing framework for twinBASIC.

If you're interested in Unit Testing support in twinBASIC, subscribe to the associated twinBASIC GitHub issue.

BSPrinter OCX Compatible with twinBASIC

Frequent contributor to the twinBASIC GitHub issues page, EduardoVB, recently updated his VB6 Printer object replacement component, BSPrinter.  According to EduardoVB:

[The BSPrinter OCX] provides full printing support for twinBASIC with 100% backward compatibility.

For sample code and further information, see here.

Calling all technical documentation authors

If you have the time and inclination to help build the product documentation for twinBASIC, check out the Documentation discussion.

Changelog

Here are the updates from the past week.  You can also find this information by installing the twinBASIC VS Code extension and clicking on the Changelog tab of the extension page:

[v0.10.3988, 7th August 2021]

[v0.10.3985, 7th August 2021]

[v0.10.3965, 6th August 2021]

[v0.10.3962, 6th August 2021]

[v0.10.3950, 6th August 2021]

[v0.10.3920, 6th August 2021]

[v0.10.3900, 4th August 2021]

[v0.10.3881, 2nd August 2021]

All original code samples by Mike Wolfe are licensed under CC BY 4.0