activex dr. horia f. pop, associate professor department of computer science, “babes-bolyai”...

ActiveX

Dr. Horia F. Pop, Associate Professor

Department of Computer Science, “Babes-Bolyai” University

RO-3400 Cluj-Napoca, Romania

E-mail: [email protected]

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

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

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ActiveX

• Fundamentals of Internet and ActiveX

• Components of ActiveX

• Developing ActiveX Controls

• Issues and Future of ActiveX


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I. Fundamentals of Internet & ActiveX

• Computers and Internet Today

• Internet’s Future with ActiveX


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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


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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


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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


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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


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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


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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


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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


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ActiveX Controls and Visual Basic Script

• Why a Scripting Language? VBScript

• Embedding ActiveX Objects on a Web Page

– The <OBJECT> 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


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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


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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.microsoft.com/intdev)

• ActiveX Table of Contents (http://www.microsoft.com/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.com)

• Microsoft List of ActiveX Newsgroups (http://www.microsoft.com/intdev/resource/news.htm)

• Brian Johnson’s Visual Basic Script Information Page (http://home.sprynet.com/bjjohnson/vbs.htm)

• Vijay Muhki’s 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 Boutell’s Web FAQ (http://www.sunsite.unc.edu/boutell/faq/www_faq.html)

• Yahoo Web (http://www.yahoo.com/Computers/World_Wide_Web)

• Yahoo Internet (http://www.yahoo.com/Computers/Internet)

• HTML Specification 3.0 (http://www.hpl.hp.co.uk/people/dsr/html/Contents.html)

• MacMillan Computers Publishing (http://www.mcp.com)