Mayayana
6/8/2011 4:03:00 PM
| So I guess what I heard about ActiveX Documents may be old news and not
| the best way to go any more?
|
I had to look that one up. I've never used such a thing.
As far as I can tell, it doesn't have any advantages over
an OCX. It seems to just be emphasizing the use of VB
forms, but VB forms can be shown from any kind of
compiled ActiveX.
This all depends on what you're trying to do. The best
way to go where? Why would you want an ActiveX Document?
To show it in IE? In that case it won't work in any other
browser. In general, one should never use ActiveX controls in
webpages unless it's for an HTA and you know the distribution.
That's because ActiveX only works in IE, and with typical
security settings IE will not load an ActiveX control unless it's
marked safe for scripting and is signed. So your control is likely to
only be useful to people who want to use your webpage as an HTA
and who understand that they'll have to register the control first.
(An HTA is basically a webpage in IE with no security. The only
limitation is that it must be run locally. IE will not load a remote
HTA. HTAs came in with IE5, as a way to allow continued use of
IE for interactive software, while still increasing IE's security in
online use. Technically, an HTA is run by mshta.exe, but that's just
a wrapper, in the sense that the IE "chrome" is just a wrapper. IE,
WB controls, and HTAs are all essentially IE browser windows.
The differences in how they work are minimal.)
It's not clear to me whether you want to create a webpage
for the Web and misunderstand the concept, or whether you
want to create some kind of automation to be used by a
limited audience offline.
All of the ActiveX stuff (and Java and .Net for
that matter) are way out of date for use online. ActiveX came out
of a time when browser wars were raging and safety online was
not an issue. In 1998, when VS6 came out, MS was trying to
get market share by tying Windows to IE and IE to the Internet.
ActiveX controls became a way to make IE far more functional
than other browsers. Maybe someone else has better info.
about AxDocs, but to me it looks like they were just an attempt
by MS to popularize fullscale Windows software running in the
browser: A full-page ActiveX control. (Sort of a reverse cloud, I
guess -- using local software that appears to be online, as opposed
to olnie software that appears to be local. :) But Ax, Java and
..Net were never suited to any "online" usage other than on a
closed, controlled, secure intranet.
So, if you want an online webpage you want HTML and CSS,
with javascript and/or server-side code if it's absolutely necessary.
If you want automation options you can use an HTA and/or
ActiveX OCX/DLL/EXE.
Sorry if this is more info. than you want. It's hard to know
what to answer without knowing what you're trying to do.