forum.vdsworld.com

jwfv · Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 5:54 pm Post subject: Active X controls

I have a general question maybe someone could help me with - is there any way to use Active X controls within VDS?

I know that VDS doesn't directly interface with ActiveX, but is it possible via a browser control? Or if not, how difficult would it be to program a specific .DLL to use a control?

The reason I ask is this: I am trying to develop some applications that use image editing and manipulation. There seem to be a lot of Active X controls out there that do that sort of thing. Of course, I am not familiar with the programming that would be required. It seems to involve lots of properties and methods that are a little bit above my programming level.

I guess what I am asking for is any advice from anyone who has used these types of controls before and whether they think this is worth me pursuing.

Thanks in advance.

Joe

ShinobiSoft · Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 12:37 am Post subject:

It should be possible using a browser control with the "<object>" tag. But
I can't say as to what properties must be used, set, etc. Sad

As for if it would be worth you time to pursue the issue, that really is
entirely up to you. As I am a dll developer, I really can't say as to what
is worth someones time or not. I've found more often than not that it is
necessary for me to write little dlls for my own applications, for varying
reasons. Unfortunately, I'm mainly a 'C' programmer and working in 'C'
with OLE and COM objects is kinda tedious. Confused

jwfv · Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 1:14 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the reply. So it sounds like it might be an HTML coding question. For instance, if I wanted to use a certain control to show and allow editing of an image, I could probably generate some HTML code, display it in a browser element, and it would work okay.

I guess the tricky part would be in getting any data that it returns, knowing when they have finished editing, etc. That may require a steeper learning curve than I am up for.

When I have used form designers or web page design software in the past, some of them have let you drop Active X controls onto the form. It seems so simple with a WYSIWYG editor - right-click and there are the properties. But when I read the Active X documentation, it seems much more complex, with methods and handles, etc.

jules · Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 1:50 pm Post subject:

I think that's because you only use a subset of the possible functionality in a web page.

I think there is a lot of confusion about ActiveX. I thought that originally it was meant to be a lightweight subset of COM, intended for use on web pages. So components intended to be used in programs are COM components, not ActiveX components, and have methods which you can call from a programming language. But I might be wrong.

I've never liked COM, which I consider to be difficult to use and unreliable, compared to Delphi's alternative of native components that are compiled into the program and can't be messed up by someone hacking around in the registry or deleting some OCX.

jwfv · Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 2:33 pm Post subject:

There also seem to be plenty of Delphi components that do image manipulation, etc. I guess if I found any of those that use the correct version of Delphi, I could hire someone to write a custom DLL made for VDS that could use the Delphi component. Does anyone know of any good links to Delphi component sites? And - which version(s) are compatible with VDS?

PGWARE · **Web Host** Joined: 29 Dec 2001 Posts: 1566

You can find tons of delphi components at http://www.torry.net/

vdsalchemist · Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 11:42 pm Post subject:

jwfv · Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2004 12:37 am Post subject:

Sounds interesting.

vdsalchemist · Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2004 1:23 am Post subject:

Well I hope so. I have really worked hard on Gadget so I hope that everyone will like the improvements I have made to it. Well IMHO this new version of the DLL is easier to use.

marty · Professional Member Joined: 10 May 2001 Posts: 789

I tried an alpha version of Gadget and yes the syntax seems simpler... And I ven saw ActiveX part of it in action! Really cool!!!

jwfv · Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2004 2:00 pm Post subject:

How long until the new version is released?

vdsalchemist · Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2004 2:27 pm Post subject:

I am working out the details of the new website now. So it should not be much longer. If the container is not complete when the website is complete I will be posting the DLL anyway. The container would be nice but is not nessessary to use ActiveX controls so the container can be a patch later since I am running out of year and I need this to be in production this year. At least that is what I keep telling myself Wink

Anyway I hope to have this in another 2 to 3 weeks.