Project NameCheck standard configuration

Project NameCheck enforces naming standards. This and the following pages describe how to configure it to conform to your own naming conventions.

NameCheck configuration pages

Scopes
Types, Controls and Modules
Special
Misc
Practical issues

Terminology

Prefix, base, suffix: Names in your project consist of a prefix, a base name, and a suffix. Not every name has all of these. Some name might have a prefix+base, another might have base+suffix, and a special name might have no prefix nor suffix at all. Prefixes and suffixes tell you what scope the name has and what data type it is.
Scope: The scope where a name is available. It can be global, private, local, etc.
Type: The data type of a variable or function, such as Integer or Object. The class of a control, such as TextBox. The type of a module, such as Form, Class or Integer.

Project NameCheck is all about enforcing the scope and type prefixes/suffixes for all names in your project—the way you want. It is especially useful for enforcing Hungarian style naming standards, but can also be configured to allow other standard types.

General settings

Start the configuration on the Misc page. When you have made enough changes, hit the Test button to try the settings on some examples. You might also want to try them against your projects every now and then to learn how the settings work.

Project NameCheck miscellaneous configuration

First you need to specify what kind of things you wish to include in the standard. Your basic options are:

Check scope: Include scope checking in the standard.

Check type: Include data type checking in the standard.

If you check scope or type (but not both), you have 2 ways to build a name: with a prefix or with a suffix.

If you check scope and type, you have 6 ways to build a name: with a prefix, with a suffix or a mix.

Check type	Check scope	Order	Prefix	Suffix	Mixed prefix + suffix
On	Off		Type + base	base + Type
Off	On		Scope + base	base + Scope
On	On	Scope first, type second	Scope + Type + base	base + Scope + Type	Scope + base + Type	Type + base + Scope
Type first, scope second	Type + Scope + base	base + Type + Scope

Check type

Check scope

Order

Prefix

Suffix

Mixed prefix + suffix

Off

Type + base

base + Type

Off

Scope + base

base + Scope

Scope first, type second

Scope + Type + base

base + Scope + Type

Scope + base + Type

Type + base + Scope

Type first, scope second

Type + Scope + base

base + Type + Scope

How do you determine if you should use prefixes, suffixes or a mix? It depends on the settings on the preceding pages, namely pages Scopes, Types, Controls, Modules and Special.

Scopes
Types, Controls and Modules
Special
Misc
Practical issues

Not checked

The following names are not checked under any of the settings.

Event handler names. These are usually named as Control_Event. Thus, event handler naming depends on the control and event names.
Event names, as defined by the Event statement. Events have no type, and they are often Public by scope.
DLL procedure names, as defined by the Declare statement. These names are imported to your project from library files.
Parameters in event handlers and procedures that implement an interface. These parameter names are originally declared somewhere else, in the declaration of the event or the interface.
The Value parameter of a .NET Property Set block, as it's the default parameter name.
Names affected by a DefType statement. If the data type of a name depends on what letter its name starts with, it doesn't make sense to enforce additional naming rules on it. The DefType statements are available in VB 3-6.
.NET Operator names

Ignore tab

There are special names that you may not want to use according to your standards. Examples could be integers i and j. Add any such names to the Ignore page.

Ignore special cases via comment directives

You can also exclude portions of code from Project NameCheck by using the '$PROBHIDE NAMECHECK comment directive.

More about Project NameCheck