This is not about EntLib and not about Smart Client specifically, but we expose some plans soon around working on VB6 --> .NET guidance focused on Enterprise customers' LOB apps.

Part of the challenge with this guide will be finding and keeping to the line that exists between:

  • The 6 tomes of 8000 tips & tricks (which would be ludicrous for PAG to attempt building, rather we'd work with the community to work on this in a way that is consumable by different audiences, so the expertise, the credit, and the liveliness of the data is all driven by current demand)
  • Fluffy guidance - The high-level blurbage of "VB.NET is good for you there's tools 'here' (link to some tool) and articles 'here' (link to some article)"

We want neither of these - In the end, good guidance will have to include:

  • Some process guidelines (deciding, planning, preparing, implementing, verifying, etc)
  • Some app structure guidance guidance (vertical & horizontal partitions, interop and migration, implementation, design & architecture tradeoffs, etc)

Some of the characteristics we want to make sure 'percolate' the work is:

  • Explicitly tackle 'Choose your own migration strategy' - helping you identify where you're currently at, and what is the right destination against your goals
         - maybe all you can afford, or need, is a plain line-by-line move. On the other hand, you might want to do something about those 4000 lines of code in Button23_Click, and move them into some other class to have a better design, so this is the perfect opportunity for you. No, this is not about re-architecting for SOA, but just about eliminating sources of cost down the line (and most importantly, letting you choose what plan makes sense for you)
  • Focus on app scenarios - identify the shape of the app you start with and want to end with as a way of making the technical content more relevant (app scenarios include Windows-COM+-SQL, ASP-COM-SQL Windows-SOAP Toolkit-ASP page etc... example use-case scenarios include reporting, CRUD, transactions, office addins, you get it)
  • Highlight learnings from the collective experience - what are the common pitfalls, patterns, and antipatterns, in this type of effort.
  • Make the content usable - provide checklists, how-tos, etc.
  • Make the content 'extensible'  - we're still looking into how this will happen but I'd oh so much like a wiki focused around this topic to exist out there. Otherwise we'll have to look into creating one, I guess. Hint hint nudge nudge.
  • ...ah other things but it's too late right now and you get the jist of it. We'll be working with many community folks on this and we'll be presenting them pretty soon.

A good friend of mine, and someone I trust for foresight and insight, referred me to the "I've saved a nickel" Windows 2003 commercial. (If anyone has a video capture of it pls let me know) The point is, the economies of scale you could get out of just squeezing some savings from the VB6 app as it moves to .NET are huge. AGH, you see? That sounded like a marketing dude.  ... Looking forward to this project.