VSM - January 2002 Getting Started column
"Understand Visual Inheritance"
Stan Schultes - stan@vbexpert.com

The sample code for this column includes three directories. AboutBase is a reusable AboutBox form component. AboutTest is a test app for the AboutBase component. SplashTest inherits and subclasses the AboutBase component to use both as a splash screen and an About box.

To load the sample code on your machine, you must have the .NET Framework Beta 2 or later installed. You don't need to have Visual Studio .NET installed to run the sample code, but the article assumes VS.NET for VB development. Unzip the three project zip files into the same directory. Unzip each into a subdirectory to create three directory trees: AboutBase, AboutTest, and SplashTest.

To open the AboutTest sample app, double-click the AboutBase.sln file in the AboutBase directory. These projects are integrated into one solution file. Changes to the AboutBase component are reflected in the AboutTest project the next time you run it.

Second is SplashTest, a project that inherits and subclasses the AboutBase component. 

*NOTE* You'll need to make a change to the file named SplashTest.vbproj.user. Modify the item named like this: <Settings ReferencePath = ...> to point to the AboutBase \bin directory on your machine. For example, if your project path is c:\vbnet\AboutBase, change the above setting to:
<Settings ReferencePath = "C:\VBNet\AboutBase\bin\" >
Save the file when you're done.

To open SplashTest, double-click the SplashTest.sln file in the SplashTest directory. If you change AboutBase, you need to manually update the AboutBase component in the SplashTest project. First shut down the SplashTest project, then copy the \AboutBase\bin\AboutBase.* files to the \SplashTest\bin\ directory. Then restart the SplashTest project.

When you try to open the frmAbout form in SplashTest, you may get an error like this:
"Could not transform licenses file 'licenses.licx' into a "C:\...\licenses.licx"
To fix this error, open the SplashTest licenses.licx file and delete any lines that contain this value:
PublicKeyToken=null
Then save the .licx file. The frmAbout form should then open with no problem. I expect that this is a bug in the development environment.

