Object Naming Conventions

Objects should be named with a consistent prefix that makes it easy to identify the type of object. Recommended conventions for some of the objects supported by Visual Basic are listed below.

Suggested Prefixes for Controls

Suggested Prefixes for Data Access Objects (DAO)

Use the following prefixes to indicate Data Access Objects.

Some examples:

Dim dbBiblio As Database
Dim recPubsInNY As Recordset, strSQLStmt As String
Const DB_READONLY = 4            ' Set constant.
'Open database.
Set dbBiblio = OpenDatabase("BIBLIO.MDB")
' Set text for the SQL statement.
strSQLStmt = "SELECT * FROM Publishers WHERE _
   State = 'NY'"
' Create the new Recordset object.
Set recPubsInNY = db.OpenRecordset(strSQLStmt, _
   dbReadOnly)

Suggested Prefixes for Menus

Applications frequently use many menu controls, making it useful to have a unique set of naming conventions for these controls. Menu control prefixes should be extended beyond the initial "mnu" label by adding an additional prefix for each level of nesting, with the final menu caption at the end of the name string. The following table lists some examples.

When this naming convention is used, all members of a particular menu group are listed next to each other in Visual Basic’s Properties window. In addition, the menu control names clearly document the menu items to which they are attached.

Choosing Prefixes for Other Controls

For controls not listed above, you should try to standardize on a unique two or three character prefix for consistency. Use more than three characters only if needed for clarity.

For derived or modified controls, for example, extend the prefixes above so that there is no confusion over which control is really being used. For third-party controls, a lower-case abbreviation for the manufacturer could be added to the prefix. For example, a control instance created from the Visual Basic Professional 3D frame could uses a prefix of fra3d to avoid confusion over which control is really being used.