The first of the three volumes in this box set, Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Language Reference compiles all the language features of today's Visual Basic, from basic data types and built-in control types (their methods, properties, and events) to advanced material (such as conditional compilation directives). If you've ever had trouble remembering a string function or working with Visual Basic Variant, this first volume can help you get the right information fast.

The second volume, Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Component Tools Guide, isn't a dictionary, but an in-depth, useful tutorial to Visual Basic programming--and even to deploying ActiveX components, the technological heart of Visual Basic. After a basic tour of ActiveX controls, the text introduces each of the more than two dozen built-in ActiveX controls that ship with Visual Basic 6, from fancy widgets, such as the new DateTimePicker and Coolbar controls, to older favorites, such as the Animation and UpDown controls.

Component Tools Guide looks at the considerable support for building ActiveX components--ActiveX servers (in both DLL and EXE formats), custom reusable ActiveX controls, and even ActiveX documents (suitable for use inside Internet Explorer 4). This guide discusses support for Internet applications using Dynamic HTML (DHMTL), how to connect to data sources in ActiveX controls, and how to build server-side components for Internet Information Server (IIS). You can still create "fat clients," but this reference shows you the better way to develop with Visual Basic using ActiveX and the Internet.

The last volume of the set, Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Controls Reference, returns to reference mode with a convenient listing of the properties, events, and methods for more than two dozen standard Visual Basic controls, from user interface objects such as grids, list, and tree views to Internet transfer controls and those that provide database access. The book clearly explains each control's property, method, and event.