VBLM V6 cannot directly open LMP files created by previous versions of VBLM, because these files don't contain nearly enough information about the parent VB project to create a V6 file. V6 files are more than twice the size of V5 files because they are crammed with much more information about the VB project. To create a V6 file, V6 must be run against the VB project.
Don't panic, though, because you can get most or all of your data out of the old project and into the new without much trouble. To do so:
1. Open the old project in the version of VBLM that created it.
2. Edit each language table and select File/Export to export the contents of each table into a VBLM Import/Export file (*.LMX). Be sure to name each file after the table, eg export the German table to German.lmx. If you have marked strings as excluded (look at the bottom of the table if you're not sure), be sure to check the Include Excluded String Info box.
3. If you are using a version of VBLM older than V5, open the string extraction options window and select File/Save as VBLM Defaults. This is not necessary if you are using V5.
4. Close the old version of VBLM, fire up VBLM V6, click File/New, and select your VB project.
5. When V6 asks "Do you want to view/change the string extraction settings...", click Yes.
6. When the SX Options window appears, select File/Import SX Configuration/Merge with Current Config.
7. If your old LMP file was created by V5, select it in the dialog box (V6 can extract SX settings from V5 files, but not from earlier ones). If your old LMP file was created by V4 or earlier, change the Files of Type setting to *.INI and select VBLM.INI in the directory where the old version of VBLM is installed.
8. Click OK to have V6 analyze the VB project and extract the strings.
9. Drag and drop each of the LMX files created in Step 2 on VBLM's main window. VBLM will create each table and import the translations.
Note: During import, VBLM V6 can automatically convert strings marked for exclusion in the LMP file into strings excluded by comments in the source code or by entries in a string exclusion list file. If you have strings marked as excluded, I recommend that you select one of these options, located at the lower left of the Import Options window that will appear when you drag and drop an LMX file on VBLM's main window. See comparing exclusion methods for more information.
10. If you want, and if your old LMP file was created by V5, select Actions/Build on the main window and File/Import Build Configuration on the build options window. Select your V5 LMP file and VBLM will import the build option settings. This step is optional because it's very easy to configure the build options as desired, without bothering to import them.
You're done.