About ActiveX controls

ActiveX controls are special "applications" that you can plug into your projects. They are designed to be small, precompiled, modular and reusable, and there is an ever-growing number of them available. Web developers use ActiveX controls to extend the functionality of their HTML pages. Help authors can use ActiveX controls to extend the functionality of Help topics.

Microsoft, as well as hundreds of third-party developers, create and market ActiveX controls. Many development tools support ActiveX controls, including Visual Basic, Visual C++, PowerBuilder, Java, and Delphi, so even your own programmers can create ActiveX controls if your application warrants it.

ActiveX controls are intended to work exclusively in browsers that support ActiveX technology — Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and the HTML Help viewer support these controls. (Netscape Navigator is not an ActiveX-enabled browser and currently does not directly support ActiveX controls.)

How can ActiveX controls enhance your projects?

Many ActiveX controls are automatically available so you can enhance the functionality of your project. Some of the ones that are available in RoboHELP include Related Topics and ALinks.

You can add other ActiveX controls to enhance functionality. For example, ActiveX controls can perform credit card transactions, spreadsheet calculations and provide database communications.

Note: In order for ActiveX controls to work on end users' systems, they need to be copied on their systems and registered. (ActiveX controls are not included in compiled .CHM files.) For further information, see Registering ActiveX controls.