This contains the Microsoft Recommended naming conventions for Objects, and Variables in Visual Basic 6.0.
Why is this here? I believe it is always important to follow some standard when coding, and if your job involves VB programming, then I'm sure you will agree that it definitely makes code easier to read and understand. Most if not all, IT jobs will require you to follow a set of standards while writing your code.
The Visual Basic Coding standards have changed over the years but they are still about the same, with the Scope and Type identifiers to tell if a variable is global, module or local, and what the data type of the variable is. I remember the previous set of standards used only a single character type identifier. (most of the code in this site still uses the old standard, I just have not caught on to the new one yet.) The new standard of the 3 character type identifier makes VB's standards more like that of Visual C++. (I doubt this is coincidence.)
Visual Basic Naming Standards
Control type
prefix
Example
3D Panel
pnl
pnlGroup
ADO Data
ado
adoBiblio
Animated button
ani
aniMailBox
Check box
chk
chkReadOnly
Combo box, drop-down list box
cbo
cboEnglish
Command button
cmd
cmdExit
Common dialog
dlg
dlgFileOpen
Communications
com
comFax
Control (used within procedures when the specific type is unknown)
ctr
ctrCurrent
Data
dat
datBiblio
Data-bound combo box
dbcbo
dbcboLanguage
Data-bound grid
dbgrd
dbgrdQueryResult
Data-bound list box
dblst
dblstJobType
Data combo
dbc
dbcAuthor
Data grid
dgd
dgdTitles
Data list
dbl
dblPublisher
Data repeater
drp
drpLocation
Date picker
dtp
dtpPublished
Directory list box
dir
dirSource
Drive list box
drv
drvTarget
File list box
fil
filSource
Flat scroll bar
fsb
fsbMove
Form
frm
frmEntry
Frame
fra
fraLanguage
Gauge
gau
gauStatus
Graph
gra
graRevenue
Grid
grd
grdPrices
Hierarchical flexgrid
flex
flexOrders
Horizontal scroll bar
hsb
hsbVolume
Image
img
imgIcon
Image combo
imgcbo
imgcboProduct
ImageList
ils
ilsAllIcons
Label
lbl
lblHelpMessage
Lightweight check box
lwchk
lwchkArchive
Lightweight combo box
lwcbo
lwcboGerman
Lightweight command button
lwcmd
lwcmdRemove
Lightweight frame
lwfra
lwfraSaveOptions
Lightweight horizontal scroll bar
lwhsb
lwhsbVolume
Lightweight list box
lwlst
lwlstCostCenters
Lightweight option button
lwopt
lwoptIncomeLevel
Lightweight text box
lwtxt
lwoptStreet
Lightweight vertical scroll bar
lwvsb
lwvsbYear
Line
lin
linVertical
List box
lst
lstPolicyCodes
ListView
lvw
lvwHeadings
MAPI message
mpm
mpmSentMessage
MAPI session
mps
mpsSession
MCI
mci
mciVideo
Menu
mnu
mnuFileOpen
Month view
mvw
mvwPeriod
MS Chart
ch
chSalesbyRegion
MS Flex grid
msg
msgClients
MS Tab
mst
mstFirst
OLE container
ole
oleWorksheet
Option button
opt
optGender
Picture box
pic
picVGA
Picture clip
clp
clpToolbar
ProgressBar
prg
prgLoadFile
Remote Data
rd
rdTitles
RichTextBox
rtf
rtfReport
Shape
shp
shpCircle
Slider
sld
sldScale
Spin
spn
spnPages
StatusBar
sta
staDateTime
SysInfo
sys
sysMonitor
TabStrip
tab
tabOptions
Text box
txt
txtLastName
Timer
tmr
tmrAlarm
Toolbar
tlb
tlbActions
TreeView
tre
treOrganization
UpDown
upd
updDirection
Vertical scroll bar
vsb
vsbRate
Variable Naming Conventions
Visual Basic uses a Scope and Type identifier to prefix each variable name, so it is easy to tell the data type of the variable and where the variable is declared. The Scope can be one of three things:
Scope
Prefix
Example
Global
g
gstrUserName
Module-level
m
mblnCalcInProgress
Local to procedure
None
dblVelocity
The Type identifier follows the Scope identifier and will enable anyone looking at your code to instantly know the data type of all your variables without having to look for the variables declaration. The following is a list of the data types and their prefixes:
Data type
Prefix
Example
Boolean
bln
blnFound
Byte
byt
bytRasterData
Collection object
col
colWidgets
Currency
cur
curRevenue
Date (Time)
dtm
dtmStart
Double
dbl
dblTolerance
Error
err
errOrderNum
Integer
int
intQuantity
Long
lng
lngDistance
Object
obj
objCurrent
Single
sng
sngAverage
String
str
strFName
User-defined type
udt
udtEmployee
Variant
vnt
vntCheckSum
So if you had a global variable named "Counter" and it is a long, you would name the variable "glngCounter" Anyone looking at this variable would instantly know the variable is global to the whole project and would know it is a long. In a multi-developer environment this type of standard is a must, or else there will be considerable time lost while each developer keeps referring to the variable declarations.
