We think Visual C++ 6.0 was the best dev env ever made, but it had some weaknesses, so we kept improving it. VC6 Ultimate is a non-official collection of 500+ fixes, tweaks and new features for Visual C++ 6.0. These improvements make VC6 Ultimate an outstanding C++ IDE. Let's celebrate VC6's 20th anniversary by sharing it to the world.
- Fully portable and Win7/10 compatible
- Multicore version of VC7.1 compiler (It's fast)
- Real-time highlighting and diagnostics
- Real multicursor editing
- Improved UX and UI, including DarkSkin Theme
- Free (as in free beer)
- Every feature/change has a toggle
- Perfectly integrates with Whole Tomato's Visual Assist X.
- More at VC6 Ultimate's homepage and below.
- Execute "create_shortcuts.js". It will create two shortcuts to launch VC6 Ultimate, one with the VC7.1 compiler and one with the VC6 Compiler.
- If you want to enable Visual Assist X, open a cmd with administrator rights. Go in "VisualUltimate/AddIns/Visual Assist X" and execute "regsvr32 VAssist.dll". Visual Assist X is shipped with VC6 Ultimate but obviously without a purchased license. Please note that VC6 Ultimate is only compatible with this exact version of Visual Assist X.
- It's an internal spare time project so don't expect everything to work in every setup, but feel free to reach out by email, discord, or to report any issue you may encounter.
For convenience, VC6 Ultimate includes a pre-installed Visual C++ 6.0 Enterprise Edition. You could also apply VC6 Ultimate as a patch on your original VC6 distribution.
If you are seeking for the original VC6 files (you lost the original installation CDs), the following external links can help:
- Original CDS here or here
- Instructions to install on modern windows
- MSDN Library for VC6
- VC6 Service Pack
Each feature can be enabled or disabled. Only take what you like, but be aware we can not check every combination.
Fine-grained Clang code highlighting customization: 50+ configurable coloring rules, plus underlining and markers.
Display on-the-fly Clang Error Messages directly in source code edition view.
VC6 Ultimate has advanced multicursor editing.
Feature | Details | Demo |
---|---|---|
Enable Custom Code Blocks Display | ||
Highlight Odd Lines Background | ||
Extend Background Color to Full Lines |
Feature | Details | Demo |
---|---|---|
Improve the parsing of numeric values | ||
Parse assembly hexadecimal values correctly (e.g. "10h") |
Feature | Details | Demo |
---|---|---|
Insert closing ) after ( | ||
Insert closing } after { | ||
Insert closing ] after [ | ||
Insert closing " after " | ||
Insert closing ' after ' | ||
Surround selection on / | ||
Surround selection on * | ||
Surround selection on ( | ||
Surround selection on { | ||
Surround selection on # |
Feature | Details | Demo |
---|---|---|
Enable Ultimate Output | ||
Use Ultimate 'Macros' Tab | ||
Use Ultimate 'Build' Tab | ||
Use Ultimate 'Debug' Tab | ||
Use Ultimate 'Clang' Tab | ||
Auto Set Debug Tab as Current | ||
Enable Enhanced Output Window Colors |
Feature | Details | Demo |
---|---|---|
Avoid "Could not find the file [filename]" messages | ||
Don't display the "The thread ... has exited with code ..." message | ||
Don't display the "The program '...' has exited with code ..." message | ||
Don't display the "Error executing ..." message | ||
Don't display the "Deleting intermediate files and output files ..." message | ||
Delete logs at start | ||
Redirect seemingly useless debugger messages | ||
Redirect specific debugger messages depending on type |
Feature | Details | Demo |
---|---|---|
GoToNextErrorTag/GoToPrevErrorTag jump on errors only | ||
Add Output Tab for Visual Assist References | ||
Avoid splitting long Output lines | ||
OutputDebugString("\0xC") clears the output debug panel | ||
Enable Extended Text Formatting using OutputDebugString (e.g. "\ftFF00FFHello\f/t") | ||
Display Format Colors in Text |
Feature | Details | Demo |
---|---|---|
Save Workspace when saving all source files | ||
Change Source File Jumps in DSP File | ||
Remove Unnecessary Lines in DSP File | ||
Avoid overwriting non-modified files | ||
Save Workspace Settings (.OPT) in XML format (.SETTINGS) | ||
Load Workspace Settings (.OPT) from XML format (.SETTINGS) | ||
Save .OPT Settings in XML Files | ||
Remove Workspace Settings file (.OPT) | ||
Force Build Tools order inside .DSP File | ||
Allow .NET Project Importation (.sln/.vcproject) | ||
Save 'General' Settings per computer |
Feature | Details | Demo |
---|---|---|
Disable 80 columns limit in resource files (.rc) | ||
Open resource files (.rc) in text mode |
Feature | Details | Demo |
---|---|---|
Double-clicking a Breakpoint in breakpoints list jumps to its location | ||
Display breakpoint's surrounding code | ||
Use a fixed-width font in breakpoints list | ||
Append breakpoint's corresponding source code in breakpoints list | ||
Fix: Auto Breakpoint Location | ||
Increase breakpoints list height |
Feature | Details | Demo |
---|---|---|
Use Visual Ultimate "Find In Files" | ||
Customize "Find in Files" Font | ||
Show Matching Lines in scrollbar | ||
Increase MRU List Size from 16 items to 64 | ||
Remove '\VCProject' from default search folder | ||
Restore Dialog's Size and Position | Can be saved per computer | |
Return line number AND character position | ||
Code Line | ||
Active Code Line |
Feature | Details | Demo |
---|---|---|
Resizable 'Replace' Dialog | ||
Restore Replace Dialog's Size and Position | Can be saved per computer | |
Resizable 'Find' Dialog | ||
Restore Find Dialog's Size and Position | ||
Save Position per computer | Can be saved per computer |
Feature | Details | Demo |
---|---|---|
Disable "Cannot access the ClassView information file." message | ||
Disable "Do you want to close all documents?" confirmation | ||
Avoid "The project settings have changed since the last build. Would ..." confirmation | ||
Disable "Lines ending with only a carriage return have been detected ..." message | ||
Disable "The file '%s' is unicode and cannot be read." message | ||
Disable "The file contains invalid characters that will be converted to '.'s" message | ||
Disable "One or more files are out of date ... Would you like to build them?" message | ||
Auto-answer "Yes" to "This file does not exist. Do you want to build it?" message | ||
Set a Build Complete Sound | Can be disabled when VS has focus | |
Build Up-to-date Sound | Can be disabled when VS has focus | |
Build Warning Sound | Can be disabled when VS has focus | |
Build Error Sound | Can be disabled when VS has focus | |
Modify Watches expansion threshold for requiring confirmation |
Feature | Details | Demo |
---|---|---|
Use Ultimate Docking | ||
Double-Clicking the Title Bar Toggles FullScreen (Maximize) instead of Docking |
Feature | Details | Demo |
---|---|---|
Enable Dropping Files in 'FileView' tree | ||
Ask for adding to Hg | ||
Check Hg Before Asking for Adding | ||
Display Project Name Only in 'FileView' tree (no ' Files' suffix) | ||
Display Source File Path in 'FileView' tree | ||
Add * On Dirty Source File in 'FileView' tree | ||
Highlight Source File in 'FileView' tree | ||
Highlight Selected Item in non focused 'FileView' tree | ||
Replace Workspace Icons in 'FileView' tree | ||
Add 'FileView' Options in 'FileView' context menu | ||
Add 'Dependencies' menu item in project context menu |
Feature | Details | Demo |
---|---|---|
Force Dependencies Location | ||
Force the Dependencies Scan when the computer name has changed | ||
Display Progress Bar while building dependencies tree | ||
Remove /FD (Generate file dependencies) switch | ||
Fix date file set in the future |
Feature | Details | Demo |
---|---|---|
Set color for active window tab | ||
Set color for other window tab | ||
Set Min Time Per Pixel | ||
Auto Update |
Feature | Details | Demo |
---|---|---|
Add 10 Extra Parameters to 'ExecuteCommand' function | ||
Translate Macro Variables in Menus | (e.g. $(FileName)) | |
Skip VBScript Exceptions |
Feature | Details | Demo |
---|---|---|
Enable Win64 Platform Target | ||
Allow to compile source from non-active project (BuildCompile / Ctrl + F7) | ||
Skip the 'VCSpawn.exe' usage during build | ||
Build action doesn't interrupt current build | ||
Forbid build of 'excluded from build' source files | ||
Translate Macro Variables in Custom Build Menus | (e.g. $(FileName)) | |
Add Available Macro Variables in Custom Build Context Menu | ||
Translate Custom Build Commands in Tooltip | ||
Translate Post Build Commands in Tooltip | ||
Add Available Macro Variables in PostBuild Context Menu | ||
Translate Pre-Link Commands in Tooltip | ||
Add Available Macro Variables in Pre-Link Context Menu | ||
Display Splashscreen Slideshow during build | Best used with animated GIFs | |
Splashscreen Slideshow Start Delay | ||
Splashscreen Slide Image Speed | ||
Automatically Slide Movies | otherwise needs click | |
Choose Splashscreen Gifs Folder |