Salmon King Seafood (SKS)

Salmon King Seafood is a fictional seafood wholesaler. SKS is the Visual Basic 6 desktop application that runs its orders, inventory, and customer records.

This project is a reference application for legacy modernization. It packs the VB6 patterns that show up in real line-of-business systems: an MDI shell, ActiveX controls, ADO data binding, and a shared SQLite database. GAP Velocity AI uses applications like this one to demonstrate assessment and migration from VB6 to modern .NET, including C# WinForms and Blazor.

Run the application

SKS is a VB6 executable. Build and run it on Windows with Visual Basic 6.

Prerequisites: Windows (32-bit or 64-bit), Visual Basic 6, the ActiveX controls under Dependencies, and the 32-bit SQLite3 ODBC driver.

1. Install Visual Basic 6 and the ActiveX controls listed under Dependencies.
2. Install the SQLite3 ODBC Driver. The application opens Orders.db with that driver. See SQLite3 ODBC Driver setup.
3. Open SKS.vbp. The startup object is Sub Main.
4. Run the project from the SKSVB6 folder so the relative database path Orders.db resolves.

SQLite3 ODBC Driver setup

The driver is not bundled with VB6 or Windows.

• Download it from http://www.ch-werner.de/sqliteodbc/
• Install the 32-bit build (sqliteodbc.exe, not sqliteodbc_x64.exe). VB6 applications are always 32-bit, so they need the 32-bit driver even on 64-bit Windows.
• To check the install, open the 32-bit ODBC Administrator (C:\Windows\SysWOW64\odbcad32.exe on 64-bit Windows) and look for SQLite3 ODBC Driver on the Drivers tab.

Common error: [Microsoft][ODBC Driver Manager] Data source name not found and no default driver specified at startup means the driver is missing or the 64-bit build was installed instead of the 32-bit one.

SKS.exe in this folder is a prebuilt copy of the same application. Run it from SKSVB6 as well, so it can find Orders.db.

On startup, Sub Main opens the database and signs in as Allan Cantillo, an administrator (acantillo). The shell then shows a splash screen for about three seconds and opens Create Order. A login form (frmLogin) is included and checks the Users table, but the startup path does not display it. This automatic sign-in is for demonstration only and would need to be replaced by a real login in a production system.

What you can do

The main window is an MDI form titled Sales Agent. Every other screen opens from its menu.

Menu	Command	What it does
File	Manage Customers	Add, edit, and search customer records
File	Manage Suppliers	Maintain supplier contacts and payment terms
Orders	Create Order	Build a customer sales order with line items, tax, and freight
Orders	Create Invoice	Find an order and turn it into an invoice
Orders	Add Stock Order	Create a purchase order against a supplier
Orders	Add Stock to Inventory	Receive a stock order into inventory
Inventory	Inventory Update	Add quantity for a product
Inventory	Inventory Adjust	Correct on-hand quantity and price
Maintenance	Manage Products	Maintain the product catalog
Maintenance	Manage Users	Create users and assign an access level
Help	About	Application name, version, and www.gapvelocity.ai

Customer, supplier, and product screens use a toolbar (Add, Edit, Save, Delete, Search, Cancel), control arrays, an ImageList, and an ADO Data Control. Text boxes are data-bound to Orders.db. Order and inventory screens use labels, text boxes, combo boxes, and an MSFlexGrid, and they write changes with ADO recordsets.

Supporting dialogs open from those screens: product search, add-product, and the order or receipt detail windows.

Screenshots

Add Stock Order (Orders > Add Stock Order): create a purchase order against a supplier.

Suppliers (File > Manage Suppliers): supplier contacts and payment terms.

Customers (File > Manage Customers): add, edit, and search customer records.

Add product: dialog for adding a product to an order.

Inventory update (Inventory > Inventory Update): add quantity for a product.

Receive stock (Orders > Add Stock to Inventory): receive a stock order into inventory.

Create invoice (Orders > Create Invoice): find an order and turn it into an invoice.

Search: search dialog used by the customer, supplier, and product screens.

How it is built

Piece	Role
SKS.vbp	VB6 project file. Startup is Sub Main in modMain.bas.
modMain.bas	Connection string, current user, and status-bar logging
modConnection.bas	Shared ADO connection and the two ExecuteSql helpers
modFunctions.bas	Shared UI helpers
frmMain.frm	MDI shell and menus
Orders.db	SQLite database. Keep it in the working directory.

Data access uses ADO 2.5 through this ODBC connection string:

DRIVER=SQLite3 ODBC Driver; Database=Orders.db; LongNames=0; Timeout=1000; NoTXN=0; SyncPragma=NORMAL; StepAPI=0;

Dependencies

The project references these libraries. Paths inside SKS.vbp point at a specific machine, so VB6 may ask you to re-locate a control the first time you open the project.

• Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects 2.5
• Microsoft Data Formatting Object Library 6.0
• Microsoft Data Binding Collection (MSBIND.DLL)
• Windows Common Controls 6.0 (MSCOMCTL.OCX) — toolbar, status bar, ImageList, ListView
• Windows Common Controls-2 6.0 (MSCOMCT2.OCX)
• Common Dialog Control 6.0 (COMDLG32.OCX)
• Masked Edit Control 6.0 (MSMASK32.OCX)
• ADO Data Control 6.0 (MSADODC.OCX)
• DataList Controls 6.0 (MSDATLST.OCX)
• DataGrid Control 6.0 (MSDATGRD.OCX)
• FlexGrid Control 6.0 (MSFLXGRD.OCX)
• Chart Control 6.0 (MSCHRT20.OCX)
• SQLite3 ODBC Driver

Database

Orders.db already contains sample customers, suppliers, products, stock, orders, and users. The same schema is copied under Requirements/netFramework and Requirements/netCore for migrated builds.

Area	Tables
People	Customers, Providers, Users, Levels
Catalog	Categories, Products, ProductsByCustomer, ProductsByProvider
Sales	OrderRequests, OrderRequestDetails, Invoices, InvoiceDetails
Receiving	OrderReceptions, OrderReceptionDetails
Stock	Stocks, StockLog, ManualStocks, Warehouses

Project layout

SKSVB6/
  SKS.vbp              VB6 project
  SKS.exe              Prebuilt executable
  *.frm / *.bas        Forms and modules
  Orders.db            SQLite database
  Media/               Logos, toolbar icons, and screen captures
  *.VBCSln             WinForms upgrade layouts (.NET Framework, .NET, VB.NET)
  Requirements/        Database copies and .NET project stubs for a migrated build

Modernizing this application

SKS is the kind of VB6 system GAP Velocity AI assesses and modernizes: desktop UI, COM controls, and a relational data model that need to keep their behavior on .NET. Typical target is C#, Blazor, and Azure.

The Requirements folder holds companion files for that path: Orders.db plus App.config for .NET Framework (netFramework) and .NET (netCore), the .NET Framework project files (SKS.vbproj / SKS.csproj), and WebMAP.option.

The three .VBCSln files in the repository root (SKS_WinForms.VBCSln, SKS_WinForms_NETCore.VBCSln, and SKS_Winforms_VBNet.VBCSln) describe WinForms upgrade layouts for this project.