Basic ActiveX control questions

[vlbh99]

Members,

What is the best way to distribute ActiveX controls?
Which files do I need to distribute? Does the control
need to be registered on the user's computer, and if
so, how do I register it? Can the P&D Wizard handle that for me?

Thanks,
Charles Rohner

[samwise]

What is the best way to distribute ActiveX controls?
Which files do I need to distribute? Does the control
need to be registered on the user's computer, and if
so, how do I register it? Can the P&D Wizard handle that for me?

Do you wish to distribute the control by itself, or use it in a program you have, and then distribute the program with the control with it?
If you wish to distribute it with a program, then the P and D wizard will automatically do it for you when you package a program that references it.
If you wish to distribute it by itself, I'm not sure. I think the P and D wizard will perform this step. The drawback is that if it is a control created in VB, then it will automatically include the VB runtime dll, which is over 3 megs big.
If the ActiveX control references other controls that are not part of the VB runtime, then those other controls will automatically be included with your distribution file.
Ex: an ActiveX control that has a Common dialog box in it will need to reference the common dialog box ocx. as part of its distribution.

Samwise Galenorn
sam@galenorn.com

[B. Allen]

you just have to copy the ocx file into the person's system dir if it's part of a program. the help file concerning the activeX typically tells you what files, you can just put your program on a clean system as see what files it says are
missing...
I've never used the P & D wizard so I have no clue about it.