What is the PAG file format?
A .pag file is a Visual Basic 6 Property Page source file - a design-time dialog that lets developers configure the properties of an ActiveX or UserControl component within the VB6 IDE. When a developer selects a custom VB6 control at design time and opens its property page, the interface defined in the .pag file is what appears.
Introduced with Visual Basic 5.0 in 1997 and carried into VB6 (1998), .pag files use the same form-definition language as .FRM form files. A typical .pag file opens with VERSION 5.00 and a Begin VB.PropertyPage block declaring size, caption, and child controls, followed by Visual Basic event-handler code - primarily SelectionChanged and ApplyChanges event procedures that read from and write to the control's properties.
Binary resources embedded in the property page (images, icons) are stored in a paired .pgx sidecar file, keeping the .pag itself human-readable as plain text. Both files belong to the parent .vbp project and must be kept together.
The format was frozen with VB6 in 1998. With the move to .NET (VB.NET 2002 onward), property pages were replaced by property grid components and UserControl designers in Visual Studio. Legacy .pag files can still be opened in the Visual Basic 6.0 IDE or viewed in any text editor, but the format sees no active development.
Security & safety
RISK: LOWA .pag is plain-text VB source and safe to read. It can contain code that runs when the control is used in the IDE, so compile/run VB6 projects only from sources you trust. The file alone does nothing without the VB6 environment.
Format details
in a nutshell- Adobe PageMaker page file - A page/layout file produced by the discontinued Adobe (Aldus) PageMaker DTP application.
- dBASE / IDAPI memo or saved page - Legacy dBASE-family data/page file referenced in old file databases.
Programs that open PAG files
Windows3 apps
Visual Basic 6.0 (IDE)
Paid Open the parent .vbp project; the .pag loads as a Property Page designer.
Notepad / any text editor
Open-source Open the .pag to read its VB source; the .pgx companion stays binary.
Visual Studio (legacy VB6 maintenance)
Freemium View/edit the .pag text; VB6 projects are not natively buildable in modern VS but the source is readable. Technical details
deep spec| Encoding | Text (ASCII / Windows-1252); binary resources offloaded to companion .pgx sidecar file |
| Container | Plain text (VB source format) |
| Typical size | 1 KB - 50 KB |
| File header | Opens with VERSION 5.00 then a Begin VB.PropertyPage block (same form-definition format as VB6 .frm files) |
| Structure | VERSION header, Begin VB.PropertyPage block with control layout properties, then VB event-handler code |
| Key event handlers | SelectionChanged (populates controls from the selected object) and ApplyChanges (writes values back to the control) |
| Binary companion | .pgx sidecar file stores embedded binary resources (images, fonts) for the same property page |
| Parent project | Component of a .vbp Visual Basic project file; listed as a PropertyPage entry |
| Associated OS | Windows |
| Superseded by | .NET property grids and UserControl designers in Visual Studio (VB.NET, 2002 onward) |
| Format status | Frozen at Visual Basic 6.0 (1998); no further development |
| Released | Mid-1990s (Visual Basic 5/6, ActiveX control era) |
| Latest version | Visual Basic 6.0 (1998) - final VB6 release; format frozen there |
| Specification | learn.microsoft.com |
PAG conversions
Community Q&A
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