Case Studies
Resolute Forest Products
Profile
Migrating VB6, Winforms, ActiveX DAO, TrueDBGrid5 To Microsoft, .Net, Winforms, ADO and TrueDBGrid 8
Resolute Forest Products was seeking to modernize its long-standing HTR business application, a time card system used across multiple sawmills throughout the country. The application, originally built in Visual Basic 6 more than thirty years ago, consisted of approximately 155,000 lines of executable source code. It was designed to connect with both a Microsoft SQL Server 2016 database and an MS Access database that supported reporting functions.
The Challenge
Given the age of the application and the limitations of VB6, Resolute initiated a project to upgrade HTR to a Microsoft .NET CORE Windows Forms application using Visual Studio. Initial upgrade tools and analysis revealed numerous areas where code changes would be required, primarily because VB6 relied on libraries that were ActiveX that were no longer supported in .NET. These missing libraries produced significant compile errors that needed to be analyzed, resolved, and corrected.
To address these challenges, Resolute created a slimmed-down proof-of-concept version of the HTR application. The goal of this prototype was to isolate and resolve the major compatibility issues and to establish reusable solutions that could later be applied to the main migration phase. Among the most pressing functional problems were the need to update SQL Server ActiveX data access (dao), upgrade the TrueDBGrid control from version 5 to version 8, transition the TreeView component to the .NET TreeView, and correct issues with the application’s status bar.
Resolute required a partner with the expertise to resolve these issues, implement missing functionality, and ensure that the HTR application would operate seamlessly within the new .NET framework while continuing to integrate with both SQL Server and MS Access databases.
CORE Migration's Process
CORE Migration proposed a structured and phased approach, beginning with the assignment of full-time CORE .NET developers dedicated to the project.Â
Phase I involved conducting a detailed assessment of the HTR.NET8 application to measure the scope of errors, quantify the number of modules affected, and determine testing requirements. Phase II involved a proof-of-concept and migrate a small representative sample of the HTR applicaition. This allowed CORE and Resolute to understand all the changes required to the rest of the applicaiton, plan new solutiojns and to address any Haps.Â
CORE Migration’s Solution
Once solutions were established, CORE completed all the error corrections, applied fixes across all modules, refactored code to make it more functional and conducted comprehensive unit and end-to-end testing. Testing efforts were guided by cases provided by Resolute to ensure accuracy and reliability. The process also assumed that no changes would be required to the existing MS Access reports, which were expected to function without modification in the upgraded environment.
Results
The project deliverables included a full assessment of the HTR.NET8 application, outlining all issues and errors identified. CORE would produce research-backed solutions to address compatibility gaps, deliver an upgraded proof-of-concept, and complete the full migration of the HTR application. Additional deliverables included a fully tested system aligned with test cases provided by Resolute, frequent status reports, and hands-on support during the acceptance testing phase.