Microsoft describes an ActiveX control as "…a unit of executable code, such as an .exe, .dll, or .ocx file, that follows the ActiveX specification for providing objects. ActiveX technology allows programmers to assemble these reusable software components into applications and services."
"You can buy ActiveX components that provide generic services, such as
numerical analysis or user interface elements. You can create components that
encapsulate your own business transactions, and combine these with generic components.
Reusing tested, standardized code in this fashion is called component software
development."
"Component software development using ActiveX technology should not be
confused with object-oriented programming (OOP). OOP is a way to build object-based
software components; ActiveX is a technology that allows you to combine object-based
components created using many different tools. To put it another way, OOP is
concerned with creating objects, while ActiveX is concerned with making objects
work together."
"For example, you can use an OOP tool such as Microsoft Visual C++®
to construct a set of useful objects. These objects can be used and further
extended by other C++ developers. If you package your objects in an ActiveX
component, however, they can be used and further extended with any programming
tool that supports ActiveX technology."
Our EddyCentre Tools (ActiveX controls) have been designed to run inside Microsofts
Internet Explorer. When our EddyCentre Laboratory web pages are served up, they
expect these tools to be present and registered on your machine. If the tools
have not been installed, or have been installed incorrectly, you will get a
small box with nothing in it or the AcitveX icon in place of our controls.
|
|