BUG: Visual Basic Does Not Create an EXE File After Compiling (189833)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Visual Basic Learning Edition for Windows 5.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Learning Edition for Windows 6.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows 5.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows 6.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows 5.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows 6.0
This article was previously published under Q189833

SYMPTOMS

An EXE file is not created even though no errors are produced after compiling a Visual Basic application that includes a resource file.

CAUSE

This will occur when including a resource file which contains a "Version" resource.

RESOLUTION

Remove the "Version" information from the resource file.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this bug and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

Creating the Resource File:

Create a resource file that includes a "Version" resource using a text editor and resource compiler, such as those provided with Microsoft Visual C++. The compiled resource file will have a .res file name extension.

One method of generating a .res file to reproduce this bug would be to use Microsoft Visual C++ 5.0 while following these steps:
  1. Start Visual C++ 5.0 and create a new MFC AppWizard (EXE) project named Res1.
  2. Click OK, Finish, and then the OK button again.
  3. Under the Build menu, select Build Res1.exe.

    A "Res1.res" file should be generated in the Debug directory under the Res1 project Directory. By default, this directory would be "C:\program files\DevStudio\my projects\Res1\debug."
Create the Visual Basic Application:
  1. Create a new Standard EXE project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
  2. Select Add Files from the Project menu, then add the "Res1.res" file created above.
  3. Select Make Project1.exe from the File menu.

    At this point, Visual Basic will compile and appear to write an EXE file. No EXE file is actually generated because the resource file contains a "Version" resource. To alleviate this problem, remove the "Version" resource from the .res file by using Visual C++ 5.0. Rebuild the "Res1" project and add the new resource file to the Visual Basic project.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:5/13/2003
Keywords:kbbug kbpending KB189833
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.