ActiveX Dr. Horia F. Pop, Associate Professor Department of Computer Science, “Babes-Bolyai” University RO-3400 Cluj-Napoca, Romania Web: Advanced Educational Technologies Workshop Tempus SJEP “Petru Maior” University, Targu Mures, Romania October , 1998

Dr. Horia F. Pop, Associate Professor, "Babes-Bolyai" University2 ActiveX Fundamentals of Internet and ActiveX Components of ActiveX Developing ActiveX Controls Issues and Future of ActiveX

Dr. Horia F. Pop, Associate Professor, "Babes-Bolyai" University3 I. Fundamentals of Internet & ActiveX Computers and Internet Today Internet’s Future with ActiveX

Dr. Horia F. Pop, Associate Professor, "Babes-Bolyai" University4 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

Dr. Horia F. Pop, Associate Professor, "Babes-Bolyai" University5 Internet’s 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

Dr. Horia F. Pop, Associate Professor, "Babes-Bolyai" University6 II. Components of ActiveX The Components of ActiveX ActiveX Documents ActiveX Controls ActiveX Scripting ActiveX Internet Information Server

Dr. Horia F. Pop, Associate Professor, "Babes-Bolyai" University7 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

Dr. Horia F. Pop, Associate Professor, "Babes-Bolyai" University8 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

Dr. Horia F. Pop, Associate Professor, "Babes-Bolyai" University9 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

Dr. Horia F. Pop, Associate Professor, "Babes-Bolyai" University10 ActiveX Scripting What is Web Page Scripting? –Why Scripting is Useful? –What About JavaScript? What Is ActiveX’s VBScript? –The Benefits of VBScript –How VBScript Works –What VBScript Can Control

Dr. Horia F. Pop, Associate Professor, "Babes-Bolyai" University11 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

Dr. Horia F. Pop, Associate Professor, "Babes-Bolyai" University12 III. Developing ActiveX Controls ActiveX Controls and Visual Basic Script Specific ActiveX Controls

Dr. Horia F. Pop, Associate Professor, "Babes-Bolyai" University13 ActiveX Controls and Visual Basic Script Why a Scripting Language? VBScript Embedding ActiveX Objects on a Web Page –The 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

Dr. Horia F. Pop, Associate Professor, "Babes-Bolyai" University14 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

Dr. Horia F. Pop, Associate Professor, "Babes-Bolyai" University15 IV. Issues and Future of ActiveX Applications of ActiveX ActiveX Versus Java ActiveX Online Resources

Dr. Horia F. Pop, Associate Professor, "Babes-Bolyai" University16 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

Dr. Horia F. Pop, Associate Professor, "Babes-Bolyai" University17 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

Dr. Horia F. Pop, Associate Professor, "Babes-Bolyai" University18 Official Information Sources Internet Development Homepage ( ActiveX Table of Contents ( ActiveX Component Connection Page ( Internet Component Download Page ( Visual Basic Scripting Edition Page (

Dr. Horia F. Pop, Associate Professor, "Babes-Bolyai" University19 Unofficial Information Sources NCompass Laboratories ( Microsoft List of ActiveX Newsgroups ( Brian Johnson’s Visual Basic Script Information Page ( Vijay Muhki’s Technology Watch Page (

Dr. Horia F. Pop, Associate Professor, "Babes-Bolyai" University20 General Web Information The Web Overview/W3C ( Web Info/EARN ( Thomas Boutell’s Web FAQ ( Yahoo Web ( Yahoo Internet ( HTML Specification 3.0 ( MacMillan Computers Publishing (