ActiveX

1
ActiveX

• Dr. Horia F. Pop, Associate Professor
• Department of Computer Science, Babes-Bolyai
  University
• RO-3400 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
• E-mail hfpop_at_cs.ubbcluj.ro
• Web http//www.cs.ubbcluj.ro/hfpop

Advanced Educational Technologies Workshop Tempus
SJEP 12518-97 Petru Maior University, Targu
Mures, Romania October 6 - 10, 1998
2
ActiveX

• Fundamentals of Internet and ActiveX
• Components of ActiveX
• Developing ActiveX Controls
• Issues and Future of ActiveX

3
I. Fundamentals of Internet ActiveX

• Computers and Internet Today
• Internets Future with ActiveX

4
Computers and Internet Today

• Connectivity Versus Computing
• Connectivity Retrieving Internet-Based
  Information
• Computing Generating New Information Locally
• Connectivity and Computing Are Different Things
• Why Computing and Connectivity Have Not Mixed
• Why Computing and Connectivity Will Be Mixed Soon

5
Internets Future with ActiveX

• Combining Connectivity with Computing
• How Is ActiveX Different from Java?
• How Does ActiveX Fit into the Big Internet
  Picture?
• How the Internet and the Web Changes with ActiveX
• The Internet Today
• The World Wide Web Today
• The Internet and Web with ActiveX

6
II. Components of ActiveX

• The Components of ActiveX
• ActiveX Documents
• ActiveX Controls
• ActiveX Scripting
• ActiveX Internet Information Server

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The Components of ActiveX

• ActiveX Controls Building Blocks of ActiveX
• Can Compute and Manipulate Data
• Can Communicate
• Save Programming Effort
• ActiveX Scripting with Visual Basic Script
• Is Easy to Learn
• Is a Powerful Communicator
• Program and File ActiveX Documents
• OLE Editing, Anytime, Anywhere
• One Program, Many Uses
• ISAPI Filters ActiveX Technology for Web Servers

8
ActiveX Documents

• Problems of New Information and New File Formats
• HTML for Everything
• Make a Helper Application
• Make a Plug-In Module
• Make a Java Applet
• ActiveX Documents The Best of All Worlds
• How ActiveX Documents Work
• The Benefits of ActiveX Documents

9
ActiveX Controls

• What are ActiveX Controls and Their Advantages
• How Java Applets Work
• How ActiveX Controls Work Differently
• Creating ActiveX Controlsfrom Scratch
• Using ActiveX Controls Within Web Pages
• What ActiveX Controls Enable

10
ActiveX Scripting

• What is Web Page Scripting?
• Why Scripting is Useful?
• What About JavaScript?
• What Is ActiveXs VBScript?
• The Benefits of VBScript
• How VBScript Works
• What VBScript Can Control

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ActiveX Internet IS

• The Power and Ease of ActiveX-Enabled Web Servers
• Increased Power and Potential
• Increased Ease and Simplicity
• Integration with Existing Technologies
• The differences Between CGI and ISAPI
• CGI Versus ISAPI
• CGI Scripts Versus ISAPI Filters
• How ISAPI Filters Are Made

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III. Developing ActiveX Controls

• ActiveX Controls and Visual Basic Script
• Specific ActiveX Controls

13
ActiveX Controls and Visual Basic Script

• Why a Scripting Language? VBScript
• Embedding ActiveX Objects on a Web Page
• The ltOBJECTgt Tag
• Specifying Object Parameters
• Control Pad
• Introduction to VB Script
• Adding Script to HTML
• VBScript Features
• VBScript and HTML
• The Main Event
• Assigning Events in HTML
• Form Control Properties
• VBScript and ActiveX Controls
• ActiveX Properties and Methods
• ActiveX and Events

14
Specific ActiveX Controls

• Using the ActiveMovie Control
• ActiveX DocObjects Internet and Intranet Aware
  Applications
• ActiveX ISAPI Filters Controlling the IIS
• ISAPI Extensions Developing Web Applications

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IV. Issues and Future of ActiveX

• Applications of ActiveX
• ActiveX Versus Java
• ActiveX Online Resources

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Applications of ActiveX

• Online Multimedia With ActiveX
• Singing and Dancing Web Pages
• New Types of Web-Based Multimedia
• Replacing Traditional Helper Applications with
  ActiveX
• Web-Based Applications with ActiveX
• Searching the Real World with the Web
• Playing Games on the Web
• Educational Kiosks Through ActiveX

17
ActiveX Versus Java

• Technological Goals
• Java Pursuits
• ActiveX Pursuits
• Effective Results
• What Java Brings
• What ActiveX Brings
• What Does It All Mean?
• Security
• Practical Usage
• Development Strategy
• Decisions
• The Crossroads

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Official Information Sources

• Internet Development Homepage (http//www.microsof
  t.com/intdev)
• ActiveX Table of Contents (http//www.microsoft.co
  m/intdev/tocl.htm)
• ActiveX Component Connection Page
  (http//www.microsoft.com/devonly/community/cbisv_
  9.htm)
• Internet Component Download Page
  (http//www.microsoft.com/intdev/signcode/codedwld
  .htm)
• Visual Basic Scripting Edition Page
  (http//www.microsoft.com/vbscript/default.htm)

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Unofficial Information Sources

• NCompass Laboratories (http//www.ncompasslabs.co
  m)
• Microsoft List of ActiveX Newsgroups
  (http//www.microsoft.com/intdev/resource/news.htm
  )
• Brian Johnsons Visual Basic Script Information
  Page (http//home.sprynet.com/bjjohnson/vbs.htm)
• Vijay Muhkis Technology Watch Page
  (http//www.neca.com/vmis)

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General Web Information

• The Web Overview/W3C (http//www.ww3.org)
• Web Info/EARN (http//www.earn.com/gnrt/wwww.html)
  
• Thomas Boutells Web FAQ (http//www.sunsite.unc.e
  du/boutell/faq/www_faq.html)
• Yahoo Web (http//www.yahoo.com/Computers/World_Wi
  de_Web)
• Yahoo Internet (http//www.yahoo.com/Computers/Int
  ernet)
• HTML Specification 3.0 (http//www.hpl.hp.co.uk/pe
  ople/dsr/html/Contents.html)
• MacMillan Computers Publishing (http//www.mcp.com
  )