Changes in v5

As of today, 19th August 2025, there will be no further updates to version 4 of vbWatchdog. The final release of version 4 is v4.0.4.

Version 5 brings a host of new features, compatibility improvements, and a refreshed UI experience, and I’m excited to share this new era of vbWatchdog with you. I look forward to hearing your feedback and suggestions as we continue to build on this foundation.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our customers for their continued loyalty and amazing support throughout the life of version 4.

Wayne Phillips

Significantly discounted pricing is available to all existing customers.

Note: Until 30th September 2025, the upgrade discount is 50%.  After that time, the discount will revert to the normal 40%.

Customers that are entitled to a free upgrade to version 4 will be e-mailed by 29th August 2025.  If you believe that you've been missed, please get in touch with us to discuss.  You will only be entitled to a free upgrade if one of the following is applicable:

• You are on an active 12 month premium support contract for vbWatchdog
• You purchased vbWatchdog v4 on or after August 20th 2024.
• You purchased SimplyVBA Global Error Handler v1 with the 'lifetime upgrades' option.

If you have changed e-mail addresses, please just contact us with proof of purchase and we will get you setup on version 5.

If you are entitled to a free upgrade to v5, please use the download link provided in your receipt email for the earlier version, and you will find a new download link for the v5 edition of vbWatchdog.

Version 5 is fully backwards compatible with Version 4.  There are no breaking changes, so you can upgrade to version 4 without changing any code.

- improved: ARM Compatibility The Developer Add-In and embedded ErrEx class modules are now fully compatible with ARM based systems. Windows-on-ARM systems are becoming increasingly popular, using CPUs such as the Snapdragon and Apple M-series chips. All vbWatchdog components have been upgraded to support these new CPU architectures. - improved: twinBASIC upgrades the Developer Add-In has been rewritten as a twinBASIC project for improved maintainability and offering a more responsive user interface. Additionally, there is now a 'Check For Updates' option, and this can be set to be checked automatically each time you start the VBIDE: - improved: Error Dialog Customization An integrated Error Dialog Customization tool is now provided inside the Developer Add-in, rather than via a MS Access project as per previous versions. This gives much easier access to the tool, and also makes it available to users that don't have MS Access installed: - improved: Line Number Pane improvements We've added a Go to Line Number ('...') button inside the auto line numbering pane, allowing the developer to quickly jump to a line number. Particularly useful when used to lookup error locations recorded from inside compiled MDE/ACCDE applications where the source line code is not available. Plus: rendering of the line number pane is now double-buffered for less flickering - improved: Stability and Performance upgrades We've made some tweaks to improve general stability and minor performance improvements - improved: New look for the default error dialog We've updated the default error dialog color palette for a more subtle, modern look: We've also improved the rendering of the 'More Info' button - it no longer causes a flash when hovering over the button. - added: new ErrEx system info properties: ErrEx.SysInfoGDIHandlesCount (property-get, Long).
Reports the number of GDI handles in use by the process — useful for detecting graphics resource leaks. ErrEx.SysInfoUserHandlesCount (property-get, Long).
Reports the number of USER object handles (e.g. windows, menus, cursors) in use — helpful for spotting UI leaks. ErrEx.SysInfoIsARMProcessor (property-get, Boolean).
Indicates if the app is running on an ARM processor, allowing runtime adjustments where needed. - improved: Developer Add-In Installer Rewrite We've redeveloped the installer as a small twinBASIC application, providing a simplified and unified installation experience: Rather than providing separate per-user and per-system installation MSI files, we now just provide a single installer EXE.