4. Special features and additions

4.1 ActiveX controls

Previously known as a VBX control, a component or ActiveX control is a control that provides generic services that can be parameterized via the notion of properties and events. It can, for example, be used to communicate with a hardware device or provide accounting functionality.

ActiveX controls are added to the VB environment via the Project/Components menu, bringing up a new icon in the controls toolbar.

ActiveX controls are used in the classic development of Windows applications, but have now been extended to Web applications with clients equipped with the Internet Explorer browser. Indeed, such components can be integrated into HTML pages, in which case they are identified by an object identifier in the page....