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October 2011

Control characters in ASCII and Unicode
Tens of odd control characters appear in ASCII and Unicode charts. CR, LF, ESC, CAN... what are all these codes for? Should I care about them? This is an in-depth look into control characters in ASCII and its descendants, including Unicode, ANSI and ISO standards.

Number list
A list of decimal, binary, octal, hexadecimal, ternary, quaternary and dozenal numbers.

September 2011

Visustin: Educational price available
Aivosto offers special pricing to students, faculty and staff. The software is identical to the regular full version. Special license terms apply. Now available: Visustin v6 Standard Educational.

August 2011

Flow chart symbols
Flow charts are a useful tool for software documentation. This article introduces flow chart symbols for source code visualization. These symbols let you visualize the structure of a function, statement by statement.

March 2011

Visustin v6.10 flowcharts Visual Basic 2010
Visustin has received a syntax update. Flowchart the latest and greatest language features of Visual Basic 2010, Matlab 7.11, NASM 2.09 and Perl 5.12. Option to export flow charts to Visio 2010.

December 2010

Data types in VB and .NET
This is a technical look into the numeric data types supported by classic Visual Basic, VBA, VB.NET and the .NET framework. Surprising peculiarities and a data type conversion diagram are included.

Reduce errors with parameters
Many programming errors are related to improper use of procedure parameters. Declare parameters properly in order to avoid unnecessary errors in your Visual Basic programs.

November 2010

Project Analyzer v10 reveals rotten logic in Visual Basic code
Programming errors are inevitable. How to find errors before users do it? Project Analyzer v10 reveals questionable logic in Visual Basic programs: Loops that don't loop, conditionals that execute unconditionally, parameter values being inadvertently overwritten, read instructions not preceded by a write, write instructions not followed by a read, unreachable lines, inaccurate constants, ... Keep the users happy by fixing your code in advance. Other improvements include support for Visual Basic 2010 and Office 2010 VBA, and .NET assembly analysis.

May 2010

Mainframes: Analyzing IBM legacy systems
To maintain, migrate or rewrite existing legacy system one needs to understand their structure and functionality. Gathering in-depth knowledge on existing complex, potentially undocumented code takes time without proper tools such as the ones presented in this article.

March 2010

Optimize string handling in VB6 - Part III
Processing strings with Visual Basic 6.0 can get considerably faster if you know the tricks. Part III of this article studies the performance of Left$, Mid$ and Right$ in detail. We learn to quickly examine individual characters with Asc and AscW. We check out the differences between Asc/AscW and Chr/ChrW. We also see how a badly placed pair of extra parentheses can degrade performance.

February 2010

Visustin v6 creates PDF flow charts from 36 programming languages
Flowchart your most complex files with Visustin v6. Or just individual functions. Create PDF flow charts or print in high quality. The new version adds support for JCL, Matlab, PL/I, Rexx and SAS. Visustin v6 includes a syntax update for 19 languages. It supports latest syntax features and statements. The syntax update covers Visual Studio 2008, including VB2008 and C# 3.0 with LINQ.

Optimize PDF files - Part II [article]
Your applications can write incredibly small PDF files if you know what you're doing. Users expecting multimegabyte PDFs will be pleased to find out your application requires only tens of kilobytes, even just a few kilobytes, for a simple PDF report.

January 2010

Project Analyzer v9.0.09: Overflow crash fixed. Download new version.
An important bug fix is available for Project Analyzer. An overflow error and crash could occur at startup. The bug only occurred on certain computers. If Project Analyzer crashed on you without ever starting up, please download the new version. If Project Analyzer starts up on your machine normally, it is not necessary to download this update.

Project Analyzer v9.0.08 minor update available
Welcome year 2010 and Project Analyzer v9.0.08. Improvements involve the Need report, Option Private Module (VBA), Partial Private Sub (VB.NET) and REM (VB.NET). The update is a free download for existing users of Project Analyzer v9.

October 2009

Project Analyzer v9.0.07 minor update available
Project Analyzer has been updated to v9.0.07. This version provides improves analysis of large systems and creates optimized PDF reports. Several bugs and crashes have also been fixed. The update is a free download for existing users of Project Analyzer v9.

September 2009

CodeSMART discontinued
CodeSMART is no longer available from Aivosto starting 1 October 2009.

Source+ discontinued
Source+ 2000 is no longer available from Aivosto starting 1 October 2009.

April 2009

RegExpr documentation updated
RegExpr v1.12 has been updated with Online Help and documentation in HTML Help format. Documentation is now compatible with Windows Vista too. Previous functionality has been preserved, no new features or fixes at this time.

February 2009

ActiveXplorer sale: 50% off
ActiveXplorer v4 is now available for half the previous price.

CodeSMART 2009 for VB6 released
The VB6 version of CodeSMART has been updated to version 2009.

January 2009

Visustin v5.02
Maintenance release with fixes for COBOL, VB, ASP, LotusScript, Python and Windows Vista. Version history

November 2008

Image formats compared [article]
This article compares common image file formats from a software developer's perspective. Which format is the best for my job? Which format produces the smallest files?

Optimize PDF files [article]
Large PDF files are slow to download and they consume too much bandwidth. Create smaller PDF files by following a few easy rules. You can possibly decrease the size of PDF files by several hundreds of kilobytes.

October 2008

Find hidden VB flaws with Project Analyzer v9
Locate errors and omissions before they turn into a nightmare on the users' machines! Project Analyzer v9 is an automated Visual Basic code review system. It helps you locate problematic functions and bad logic in your applications. Over 250 code review rules examine your code thoroughly to find lines that don't make perfect sense. Unnecessary and missing branches. Unconditional decisions. Partially unused code. Bad class design. Improperly chosen variables. Incomplete declarations. Incorrect use of Enums. Save money by fixing bugs and preventing new ones from getting born!

September 2008

CodeSMART 2009 released
CodeSMART 2009 for VS.NET is a Visual Studio add-in for VB.NET, C# and C++ developers. The new version improves on XAML.

January 2008

Visustin v5.01
First maintenance release. Some bug fixes for C#, XSLT and Editor. Version history

Project Analyzer v8.1.02
First bug fix update since initial release in March 2007. A couple of minor fixes.

November 2007

Draw and edit flow charts with Visustin v5
Draw flow charts — or generate them from your source code! Visustin v5 is a tool that visualizes your programs as flow charts. In addition to automated flowcharting, the built-in Visustin Editor lets you draw and edit flow charts manually. Design complex systems. Understand legacy projects. Document decision processes and workflows. The new Visustin v5 can run fully automated flowcharting jobs. You can integrate flowcharting as a part of your application's build process to keep technical documentation always up-to-date.

August 2007

VB Watch v2.0.10 runs on Windows Vista
Support for Windows Vista has been added to VB Watch, the error handling, profiling and debugging tool for Visual Basic 6.

June 2007

Analyze C# code with CodeSMART 2007
Review your C# solution for dead code, optimization flaws and coding standard infringements. Set User Interface standards. Enforce commenting standards. Find references. Write better code faster with this Visual Studio .NET productivity add-in.

April 2007

Ecological software development
How to develop software in an ecological way? Cut development costs and save the Earth.

March 2007

Print VB code with Project Analyzer v8.1
Print your Visual Basic source code in color and in multiple columns. Analyze Office 2007 VBA code. Find recursive procedures. Diagram your VB programs with Visio 2007.

February 2007

Visustin v4.03 exports to Visio 2007
Visustin can now export flow charts and UML style activity diagrams to the new Microsoft Visio 2007.

January 2007

Optimize string handling in VB6 - Part II [article]
Make your Visual Basic apps process text fast as lightning. Part II of this article dives deep into the performance of the VB6 String functions. We learn the functions to use and the ones to avoid. We also learn how to call the Windows Unicode API functions and how to build really, really huge strings without crashing our VB6 apps.

User Interface bug tests [article]
Test your Windows applications for common bugs in the User Interface (UI). This article shows 10 ways to find nasty bugs.

VB InStr [article]
InStr is a powerful VB string function. It's the perfect way to search and test strings in robust Visual Basic applications. This article shows how to call InStr to perform advanced text processing tasks quickly. The article also discusses case insensitivity, vbTextCompare, Option Compare Text and InStr related bugs.

November 2006

Press room opened
Press releases about Aivosto tools.

Visustin v4 builds UML style Activity Diagrams
Visustin shows your code as activity diagrams and flow charts. The new version flowcharts 29 programming languages, including Visual Studio 2005, assembler, Clipper, LotusScript, PowerScript, PureBasic, Python, REALbasic and Visual FoxPro. Visustin exports flow charts to PowerPoint and Word and creates Visio diagrams automatically.

RegExpr for VB/VBA: New lower price
Use regular expressions in Visual Basic 6.0. RegExpr for VB adds powerful string search and replace capabilities to VB6. New price: $99 (was $129).

September 2006

Optimize loops [article]
Loops make programs run slowly. A few unoptimal lines can make an app run at a snail's pace. This article presents performance tricks for squeezing the max speed out of your code. The focus is on processing data arrays in loops. We restructure loops, rebuild function calls, fine-tune conditionals, choose fast operators, pre-calculate values and access arrays the proper way.

August 2006

CodeSMART 2007 analyzes VB6 forms
CodeSMART has been updated to analyze VB6 forms and controls. Its Designer Analyzer detects inconsistencies with the user interface of your application. Other improvements include a handy tool to add/remove line numbering.

CodeSMART G2 new low prices
Now it's a great time to invest in a Visual Studio add-in that will pay back many times. CodeSMART G2 is now only $189 (was $249). The CodeSMART G2 PACK is down to $295 only (was $349). G2 is a Visual Studio .NET add-in and the PACK covers both VB6 and Visual Studio .NET. With CodeSMART you code faster and smarter in all of C#, C++ and VB.

Project Analyzer tutorial in Finnish pdf
The Project Analyzer tutorial is now available in the Finnish language.
Project Analyzerin käyttöopas on nyt luettavissa myös suomeksi. Opettele analysoimaan ja parantelemaan Visual Basic -ohjelmiasi.

April 2006

Release checklist for programs [article]
This article presents a code review checklist to go through before releasing a program to users.

March 2006

RSS feed available
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Free VB analysis service updated
We will analyze your VB application free of charge. The free analysis offer has been updated to include more reports, such as dead code statistics and file dependency reports.

February 2006

Project Analyzer v8 analyzes VB 2005
Visualize your VB system with Enterprise Diagrams and Visio. Find reusable subsystems, bad non-cohesive classes, 'out' parameters, unnecessary ByRef, unset function return values, variables never written, unused Type fields, dead Enum constants, ... or use the 180 software metrics it reports on your code.

Visustin v3.1 connects with Project Analyzer
Visustin lets you flowchart VB functions directly from Project Analyzer. Just press Shift+F5 in Project Analyzer to run Visustin.

Save memory [article]
Make your programs use less memory without sacrificing their functionality. This article shows a number of tricks to preserve RAM while your program runs.

December 2005

CodeSMART G2
CodeSMART adds support for Visual Studio 2005.

March 2005

CodeSMART 2005
Productivity add-in for VB6 and Visual Studio .NET.

February 2005

Visustin v3 creates large flow charts
Create flow charts for ASP, JSP, PHP and Fortran. Full file visualization for all languages. Bulk flowchart. Export to Visio 2002/2003. Save as Visio document. Robust large chart functionality with zoom, overview panel and mouse wheel. Save as GIF, HTML+GIF and MHT.

Dead code detection and removal [article]
Increase quality, decrease files and save money by removing unused, dead code.

October 2004

Legacy code analysis
Cross-references, call trees, called-by lists, flowcharts and metrics are useful techniques for understanding existing legacy applications.

Counting the statements
To measure the size of an application and to evaluate the work done, count the statements, not the lines.

September 2004

VBA Plug analyzes Visual Basic for Applications
VBA Plug enables Project Analyzer to read Office VBA code.

SQLifter for VB6
SQLifter finds the SQL in a Visual Basic 6.0 project. Understand how your VB6 system uses SQL databases. View the exact SQL used. View the SELECT, UPDATE, INSERT and DELETE locations. Determine where table X is being used in VB. Track down the use of tables and views.

June 2004

ClearSQL released. Edit, format and analyze Oracle PL/SQL scripts.

February 2004

Eval 1.01 is available at a lower new price and with updated license terms.

RegExpr 1.12 is available at a lower new price and with a performance boost.

Visustin v2 exports flow charts to Visio
The new version exports diagrams to Visio and saves images as EMF, WMF or HTML. It can flowchart Perl, T-SQL, PL/SQL and Ada. Other new features include Print Preview and multi-procedure visualization.

January 2004

VB error handling
Turn run-time errors to your benefit! What are the best practices for an error handling scheme for a robust VB application?

How not to optimize in Visual Basic
Optimizing Visual Basic code can be fun or tedious, depending on the way you look at it. Here are some pitfalls to avoid when optimizing.

December 2003

Free code analysis service available for VB.

August 2003

Project Analyzer v7.0 released. Analyze VB.NET 2003, DLLs and string literals. Find duplicate code blocks, dead controls, semi-dead code and mistakes in class design. New ways to use metrics. What's new in Project Analyzer

July 2003

VB Watch v2
Major upgrade with powerful features for profiling, testing, debugging and error handling.

Studio Complete works with Visual Studio .NET 2003
If you have an older version, read the Studio Complete web page for the trick to enabled it for version 2003.

March 2003

CodeSMART 2003
New add-in for Visual Studio .NET available.

Visustin v1.2 gets new languages
The new version adds flow charts for Pascal/Delphi and COBOL, and introduces many smaller improvements.

Refactoring tools
Refactoring means modifying existing source code in a structured and incremental way. This article suggests tools for refactoring.

Project manager's toolbox
Reduce development time. Increase team communication. Reuse and modify existing code. Create optimized programs. Enforce standards. Ensure covering tests. Produce complete and correct documentation. Manage maintenance efforts. This article shows how Aivosto tools can help you achieve these tasks.

February 2003

Visustin - New flow chart generator
Visualize your code with flow charts. Understand existing code. Review algorithms. Verify correctness of program logic. Document complex procedures. VB, VB.NET, VBA, C/C++, C#, Java, JavaScript.

ActiveXplorer v4 adds .NET support
Analyze binary files, COM libraries and .NET assemblies. Inspect unknown libraries. Generate HTML Help docs for your own components - no need for manual writing! Review file dependencies and registry entries.

January 2003

Project Analyzer v6.2 ensures proper clearing of object variables and adds a number of other code review rules. The Project Graph add-in now displays form show trees and control/data flow graphs.

December 2002

RegExpr v1.10
Optimized version of the regular expressions module.

November 2002

Writing comments in Visual Basic code
Comments are an ideal way to document source code. We present a lightweight comment format that is easy to learn, clear to read and powerful in describing procedures and modules. It also allows automatic document generation by a source code analyzer.

Optimize string handling
String handling in Visual Basic is slow if done the wrong way. You can add significant performance to string operations by following a few easy tricks.

Regular expressions - An introduction
Regular expressions are a pattern matching standard for string parsing and replacement. Originally missing in Visual Basic, regular expressions are now available for most VB and VBA versions.

September 2002

Restructuring Visual Basic code
You can greatly improve the quality of existing code by restructuring it. This article shows how to arrange code in logical modules and classes, group related functions and data together, and use scope rules to achieve better legibility and maintainability.

Project Analyzer v6.1.05 adds functionality to the Project Graph add-in. Project Graph now allows you to write documents with great flexibility. Save the graphs as bitmap files or metafiles, or copy & paste them to your favorite word processor.

August 2002

Project Analyzer v6.1 released. The Enterprise Edition now analyzes .vbg and .sln files, several projects together, and the use of COM files in VB code. What's new

May 2002

Project Analyzer v6.0 released with .NET support. Now supporting all VB versions from 3.0 to 6.0 and .NET. What's new

Studio Complete released. Coding turbo for Visual Studio .NET. This add-in completes code as you write it.

March 2002

Project Analyzer v5.4.09 available for download. The newest features include "Comments only" source code document generation in Project Printer, VB.NET Compatibility Check update to reflect a few changes in the official release version of VB.NET, and bug fixes.

CodeSMART 2001 FixPack 4 available for download, including several fixes.

November 2001

ActiveXplorer v3 makes HTML Help. Compare files between computers. Peek into ActiveX files and document them as RTF or HTML Help. Clean the system registry. Major new version with new functionality.

EasyPatch 2001 squeezes your updates. Generate and distribute updated files as small patches. The new EasyPatch tool makes patch file generation quick and painless. (discontinued in 2003)

September 2001

10 steps to migrate existing code to VB.NET. Migrating existing VB code to Visual Basic .NET is not just a matter of loading it to the new version. It is essential to work on your code before you open it in VB.NET.

Project Analyzer v5.4.03 Enterprise Edition adds 20 new checks in VB.NET Compatibility Check.

May 2001

Project Analyzer v5.4 Enterprise Edition adds VB.NET Compatibility Check.

CodeSMART 2001 gets lots of new features.

April 2001

ActiveXplorer v2 adds support for ActiveX DLL and EXE servers, deletion of misbehaved components, file compare and HTML reports. Escape from DLL Hell faster than ever!

March 2001

Aivosto CD introduced for backup and demo purposes. (discontinued in 2003)

Project Analyzer Enterprise Edition comes as both team and site license. Make your EXEs small by removing the unnecessary bits automatically.

January 2001

Project Analyzer Enterprise Edition adds problem auto-fix and dead code auto-removal, plus macro language.

EasyAPI lets you call the Windows API like a pro. (discontinued later)

VB Friend 2.0 adds features to write more code in less time. Complete missing code, auto-correct, backup, and get more desktop space.

ActiveXplorer 1.1 adds ActiveX file analysis, document generation, backup, and scripting. Escape from DLL Hell today!

November 2000

ActiveXplorer sees daylight. ActiveXplorer lets you view and manage all ActiveX controls installed on your system.

Aivosto releases major web site face lift.

September 2000

Source+ 2000 - new source code library.

July 2000

VB Watch 1.0 released. Take cover from run-time errors, debug your executables and profile your code!

April 2000

VB Friend 1.1 adds a string completion feature that makes coding faster than ever.

March 2000

Project Analyzer 5.2. New version with new reports and Project NameCheck add-in.

January 2000

CodeSMART add-in. New software for the new millennium!

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