ActiveX

programming A type of COM component that can

self-register, also known as an "ActiveX control". All COM

objects implement the "IUnknown" interface but an ActiveX

control usually also implements some of the standard

interfaces for embedding, user interface, methods, properties,

events, and persistence.

ActiveX controls were originally called "OLE Controls", and

were required to provide all of these interfaces but that

requirement was dropped, and the name changed, to make ActiveX

controls lean enough to be downloaded as part of a web page.

Because ActiveX components can support the OLE embedding

interfaces, they can be included in web pages. Because they

are COM objects, they can be used from languages such as

Visual Basic, Visual C++, Java, VBScript.

["Understanding ActiveX and OLE", David Chappell, MS Press,

1996].

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(2002-04-19)