Time to get serious about supporting VB database apps?

[Dan Kegel]

What would it take to really support MS database client apps
in Wine?  The situation is not copacetic; everywhere you
turn, it's easy to find enough problems to stop the average VB
database app.

I tried installing a real world small government app.
It used VBSQL.OCX, and required a file from
the SQL 7.0 Client redistributables.
Here's the script I used to install it (yikes):
http://www.kegel.com/wine/initvbapp.sh.txt
I lost touch with the guy who needed this app,
presumably he gave up because it was so hard to install under Wine.
Here are all the bugs related to mdac installation:
http://bugs.winehq.org/buglist.cgi?product=Wine&long_desc_type=substring&long_desc=mdac_typ

Another VB database app installed (after some effort),
but failed with an "automation error".
http://bugs.winehq.org/buglist.cgi?long_desc_type=substring&long_desc=automation+error

Other VB apps use "dbgrid32", and a small sample app that
uses that currently fails.  See
http://bugs.winehq.org/buglist.cgi?short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=dbgrid32.ocx

Perhaps it's time to create an open source torture test in VB 6 that
exhibits as many of these problems as possible, and
use that as a regression test in Wine.

Anyone willing/able to take that on?  Roderick Colenbrander
wrote the DBGRID32.OCX test; perhaps he'd be willing to
write an expanded set of tests?
- Dan

-- 
What does Linux need to succeed on the desktop?  See http://kegel.com/linux/comfort