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- BUG: INVALID FILE FORMAT ERROR WHEN RUN VB APP'S EXE FILE Q101261
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
- The information in this article applies to:
-
- - The Microsoft Visual Basic programming system for Windows, version 3.0
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- SYMPTOMS
- --------
- You may encounter the following error when running a Visual Basic
- executable (EXE) file:
-
- Invalid file format
-
- Or you may encounter the following error when loading a Visual Basic
- project or form:
-
- Error loading '<form filename>'. A control could not be loaded due
- to a load error. Continue?
-
- CAUSE
- -----
- This problem will occur when you have installed a new version of a
- custom control and the internal property list of the control has
- incorrectly changed in a way that breaks backward compatibility.
-
- This problem is known to occur when you have installed the Visual
- Basic version 3.0 GRID.VBX file over an earlier version of the grid.
- Specifically, the problem will occur for an existing Visual Basic
- application, built using a previous version of the grid, that sets the
- HelpContextID property of the grid.
-
- In the case where the problem occurs when you load a project into
- Visual Basic that contains a grid, the problem will only occur when
- the form file(s) containing the grid have been saved in binary format.
-
- This problem is also known to occur when using Visual Basic version
- 2.0 and the CMDIALOG.VBX control. For more information on this problem,
- query on the following words in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
-
- VBASIC and PROF and DEMO and CMDIALOG.VBX and INVALID and FILE and FORMAT
-
- WORKAROUND
- ----------
- There are several ways that you can work around this problem:
-
- If you are using a Visual Basic version 3.0 application and you encounter
- this problem, you can:
-
- - Acquire an updated copy of GRID.VBX from Microsoft. The grid (GRID.ZIP)
- is available in the MSBASIC forum on CompuServe in LIB 5.
-
- - Replace the Visual Basic version 3.0 of GRID.VBX with an earlier
- version. A disadvantage of this strategy is that applications requiring
- the Visual Basic version 3.0 grid will not run.
-
- If you are a developer of a Visual Basic version 3.0 application that uses
- the grid, you can:
-
- - Acquire an updated copy of GRID.VBX from Microsoft. The grid (GRID.ZIP)
- is available in the MSBASIC forum on CompuServe in LIB 5. You will need
- to build your application using this grid.
-
- - Rename GRID.VBX to a different name such as MSGRID3.VBX and rebuild the
- application using the renamed grid. A disadvantage of this strategy is
- that the grid will not be automatically updated when a new version of
- the grid (such as a version of the grid containing bug fixes) is
- released.
-
- The following shows the date, time, size, and version number of the
- GRID.VBX file that leads to this problem:
-
- Date: 28-APR-1993
- Time: 12:00 a.m.
- Size: 44667
- Version: Not Marked
-
- The following shows the date, time, size, and version number of the
- GRID.VBX file that fixes this problem:
-
- Date: 15-JUNE-1993
- Time: 5:26 p.m.
- Size: 45136
- Version: 03.00.0538
-
- STATUS
- ------
- Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the Microsoft
- Visual Basic programming system for Windows, version 3.0
-
- More Information:
-
- Steps to Reproduce Problem
- --------------------------
- 1. Start Visual Basic or from the File menu, choose New Project (ALT, F, N)
- if Visual Basic is already running. Form1 is created by default.
-
- 2. Add a Visual Basic version 1.0 or 2.0 version of GRID.VBX to Form1.
-
- 3. Put a grid control (Grid1) on Form1
-
- 4. Set the HelpContextID property of Grid1 to 1 (or some non-zero value).
-
- 5. From the File menu, choose Make EXE File (ALT, F, K) and create an EXE
- called PROJECT1.EXE.
-
- 6. Replace the older version of grid with the Visual Basic version 3.0
- version of GRID.VBX, which has a date and time of 28-APR-1993 12:00 am.
-
- 7. Run the PROJECT1.EXE file created in step 5.
-
- You should encounter an "Invalid file format" error. If you replace the
- Visual Basic version 3.0 grid with the version of the grid used in Step 2
- and re-run PROJECT1.EXE, the program should run correctly.
-
-
-