Visual Basic Concepts

Creating ActiveX Components

Component software development cuts programming time and produces more robust applications, by allowing developers to assemble applications from tested, standardized components. The move to component software, sparked by the success of products like Microsoft Visual Basic, is one of the most prominent trends in the software industry.

Microsoft has led the effort to define an open, extensible standard for software interoperability. The Component Object Model (COM), including Automation and the ActiveX specification, makes it possible for software components you create to work smoothly with software components you buy off the shelf.

Visual Basic makes ActiveX component creation happen. ActiveX controls, ActiveX Documents, code components, and applications that provide objects — Visual Basic gives you the tools to rapidly create, debug, and deploy software components.

Getting Started

Before you begin, you should know how to use class modules to define new classes, how to create objects from classes, and how to use ActiveX components. These subjects are discussed in "Programming with Objects" and "Programming with ActiveX Components," in the Visual Basic Programmer’s Guide.

Chapters

	ActiveX Components Outlines what you can do with Visual Basic’s component software features.
	Creating an ActiveX DLL Provides step by step procedures that get you off to a running start with in-process debugging, multiple projects, global objects, object lifetime concepts, and circular references.
	Creating an ActiveX Exe Component Provides step by step procedures that introduce threads, events in class modules, call-backs, and out-of-process debugging.
	Creating an ActiveX Control Provides a series of step by step procedures that create a simple control. Introduces ActiveX control concepts, raising events, debugging design-time behavior, and property pages.
	Creating an ActiveX Document Provides a series of step by step procedures that create a simple ActiveX document, and demonstrate ActiveX document concepts, navigation, properties and methods, menus, and debugging techniques.
	General Principles of Component Design Contains information of importance to all component designers, including terminology, concepts, instancing for class modules, polymorphism, and object models.
	Debugging, Testing, and Deploying Components Contains more general information, such as setting up test projects, debugging features, adding Help, version compatibility, and localization.
	Building Code Components Takes OLE servers into a new world, providing in depth discussions of in-process and out-of-process components, threading, instancing, call-backs, and events.
	Building ActiveX Controls Contains in-depth explanations of how Visual Basic ActiveX controls work, what features you can implement, subtleties of debugging, discussions of implementation techniques, and all the other things you expect of a cool new feature.
	Creating Property Pages for ActiveX Controls Provides in-depth discussion of property pages, including implementation techniques and design guidelines.
	Building ActiveX Documents Provides in-depth discussions of terminology, concepts, Internet features, navigation, debugging, migrating from forms, and in-process vs. out-of-process implementation.
	Building Data Sources Provides in-depth discussion and step-by-step procedures for creating ActiveX components that can act as data sources.
	ActiveX Component Standards and Guidelines Contains updated guidelines for object naming, component shutdown, implementing collections and Application objects, and other object model issues.