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Thread: Is ActiveX control installed?

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  1. #1

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    Addicted Member Davor Geci's Avatar
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    Question Is ActiveX control installed?

    Hello friends,

    I'm developing an ActiveX ocx control.

    So, I'm trying to find a way how to get the info if my control (ActiveX) is installed allready on this machine.

    Any ideas?
    My projects:
    Virtual Forms
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  2. #2
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    Re: Is ActiveX control installed?

    A simple Controls.Add("InstallTest", "MyControl.ProgID") should do it (wrapped by an Error-handler)

    BTW, that's just one of the advantages of regfree deployment (to avoid things like that,
    since every App would use their own "local Copy" of the OCX - using the right version,
    the consuming Exe was developed against and tested with - so, this way multiple versions
    of the same OCX can then be used in parallel, by different Apps).

    Did you managed to host your "Dynamic-Form-Engine" in an AX-Dll already?
    (since that would ease regfree deployment and siting quite a bit).

    Olaf

  3. #3
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    Re: Is ActiveX control installed?

    Normally an installer checks to see if an ActiveX library dependency is already registered (published). So if you are using a proper installer then you have nothing to do.

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    Re: Is ActiveX control installed?

    You might also read through:

    How can I tell whether a DLL has been registered?

    Given that DLL registration can encompass arbitrary operations, there is no general-purpose way of determining whether registration has taken place for an arbitrary DLL.

    To determine whether a DLL has been registered, you need to bring in domain-specific knowledge. If you know that a DLL registers a COM object with a particular CLSID, you can check whether that CLSID is indeed registered.

  5. #5

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    Re: Is ActiveX control installed?

    Thank you guys for the tips.

    ###########################
    dilettante:
    Thank you. I'm having a specific situaltion. I'm creating a usercontrol that extends Microsoft Excel with new Userform control.
    The idea is to give the Microsoft Excel users the possibility to easy, fast and error free create data entry forms that is having a ton of new features versus the built-in data entry form in Excel. Something like the Access is having but not so complicated.

    The users can freely redistribute and share the workbooks that they have create to others, and here is the catch. If the new user doesn't have the usercontrol, the Excel will crash or the new user will not be able to use the workbook.
    To be able to freely redistribute "runtime" to everyone, the project will be financed with the commercialy available Designer used to design new, or edit this Virtual Forms.

    Your referece that the installer needs to handle this has give me the second way to test the presence of the control. My setup (NSIS) creates some registry entries that are also removed when the app is uninstalled, so beside the solution presented by Olaf there is also this solution.
    Thanx dilettante!



    ###########################
    Olaf:
    Thanks for the tips, the Add sounds great, the regfree sounds even better.

    Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I'm surprised!!!

    You remember me with my problem (challenge) :-)

    No, I didn't managed to resolve my 64-bit problem. :-(

    I tried to understand, but don't know where to start.
    The problem are that the usercontrol is having visual interface that acts like Main menu treeview, the control is having some custom propreties, methods, objects and events.

    Some events also returns the result back to control.

    My plan, or I thought, that I go with the 32 bit version commercialy, and then when I get some founds to beg you guys to help me with the 64-bit version. I can't expect, or ask, you for help if I don't have the financial compensation method worked out.

    The project is interesting to users, the facebook page without advertising and with few posts is having 1800+ funs and growing daily. There are hundreds of users downloading and playing (testing) the project, despite the fact that I have not yet written documentation.

    And the project is only few months in the public space. (Don't ask me how many years I worked on it. :-) )

    But 80% of them grumble about the lack of 64-bit version. Without that they can't create the apps for their users to distribute to them, because they can't insist on only 32-bit version of the Office. (The vb6 user base is still small, but growing :-) )
    Some of them are saying that it is still a little complicated to use, but this is doable with time and optimization of the Designer application.

    I don't have any more time, I have to release commercial version, or there will be no version at all.
    I hope that with the 32-bit version I will soon get some results, so that I can build a team and to be able to hire you guys for these difficult challenges.

    Oh, for everyone else who don't know about what we are talking about, we are talking about my latest project Virtual Forms for Excel. Take a peek here: http://virtual-forms.com

    The question is:
    which came first?
    chicken or the egg
    team or money
    Last edited by Davor Geci; Feb 24th, 2017 at 06:43 AM.
    My projects:
    Virtual Forms
    VBA Telemetry

  6. #6
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    Re: Is ActiveX control installed?

    I still don't understand why something like that has to come in an OCX.

    Maybe we should clear this up first (before we talk about regfree mode and 64Bit-mode,
    which both would be a lot easier when you just switch your Project-Type to 'ActiveX-Dll').

    You mentioned a kind of "EntryPoint-Control" (which offers several "Design-choices" in a kind of Menu).

    Let's say (for ease of communication) that this Menu-Entry-Control of your Framework
    is called DesignerMenu.ctl, sitting as a Public Control in your OCX-Project.

    So, is there any real reason that speaks against "converting that DesignerMenu.ctl" into a
    DesignerMenu.frm (containing the very same Controls, throwing the very same Events,
    then shown (from within e.g. Excel-VBA) as a PopUp-Form like:

    Code:
    Private WithEvents oDesignerMenuPopup As cDesignerMenuPopUp '<- this being just a small Public "Starter-Class"
    
    '... then triggered from somewhere (e.g. from an Excel-AddinMenu-Entry or an Excel-Addin-Button
        Set oDesignerMenuPopup = New cDesignerMenuPopUp
            oDesignerMenuPopup.SomeProperty1 = SomeUserSettings
            oDesignerMenuPopup.SomeProperty2 = SomeUserSettings
            oDesignerMenuPopup.SomeProperty3 = SomeUserSettings
            
            oDesignerMenuPopup.ShowModal
    Copying what's placed (with regards to SubControls) on your DesignerMenu.ctl
    onto a Project-Private DesignerMenu.frm takes about 2 minutes - another 10
    minutes might be needed, to replace all the UserControl-internal EventHandlers
    to Form-internal EventHandlers by replacing the String "UserControl_" with "Form_"
    inside the DesignerMenu.frm Code-Module.

    Best thing about that is, that you can test the whole conversion-attempt already
    directly within your UserControl-Project (reserving the final switch to a Dll-Project
    until everything works out well) - meaning that you can include the new
    DesignerMenu.frm in parallel to your existing DesignerMenu.ctl in that test-phase.

    Olaf

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    Re: Is ActiveX control installed?

    also is there any issue just moving right to an ActiveX EXE, that can be used in both 32bit and 64bit office?

    For the record, Industry standard is to use 32bit office. (because of the many drivers and plugins that are not available 64bit)
    I remember Originally 64bit office was only available as a download - not even available on the install Media/DVD.

    64bit office is quite pointless. Who actually edits 5Gig spreadsheets?

    It gets even more complicated with the latest access runtime (ACE) where you can only have either 64bit _or_ 32bit installed - not both. *shakes head*
    Last edited by DEXWERX; Feb 24th, 2017 at 03:43 PM.

  8. #8

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    Re: Is ActiveX control installed?

    Wow Olaf,

    this sounds very, very interesting.



    No, for the moment, nothing comes to my mind why this would not be possible.

    I will post here how it goes.


    This really gives hope!
    My projects:
    Virtual Forms
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  9. #9

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    Re: Is ActiveX control installed?

    Olaf

    I'm talking about you with my facebook folowers

    :-)

    https://www.facebook.com/exceluserfo...54268191397597

    I must first publish a commercial version of this application as it is currently, to do that I need to record a commercial video with tutorial and my voice first, put the store online, create price list, a little documentation writing, and then I will devote all my time to your instructions.

    I must first see the interest, whether there is a commercial aspect for this project, so that we can move to the next step. And the next step is ???????????????

    Yes, thats right, , 64-bit version and the regfree with a lot of help from Olaf Schmidt and the community right here on vbforums.com

    I'm so happy that there is a hope and a big potential for this project
    Last edited by Davor Geci; Feb 25th, 2017 at 05:56 AM.
    My projects:
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  10. #10
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    Re: Is ActiveX control installed?

    Quote Originally Posted by Davor Geci View Post
    I'm talking about you with my facebook folowers...
    I'd rather when we'd leave all this non-technical stuff out of the discussions on this forum,
    since I consider places like this - well, a kind of "refuge" (where we can just be the nerds we are underneath,
    not having to maintain the "business-facade", which is part of our jobs far too often)...

    Quote Originally Posted by Davor Geci View Post
    I must first publish a commercial version of this application as it is currently, to do that I need to record a commercial video with tutorial and my voice first, put the store online, create price list, a little documentation writing, and then I will devote all my time to your instructions.
    I don't really understand that, since the deployment-format (OCX or Dll - or even the complete encapsulation within
    an ActiveX-Exe as Dex was suggesting) can have a quite large influence on the success of of a COM-based solution.

    Switching the OCX-project over to a Dll-Project would be the easiest (and fastest in 32Bit-mode) one to accomplish -
    (with code-changes in only a dozen lines - and perhaps "100 new written ones" for a new Excel-Interface-Class - and that's it).

    Your main-codebase (what all those dynamic Forms do inside the compiled Binary) will not have to be touched -
    or re-tested, it's really just the relative small "interfacing-part with Excel or other COMponent-consumers" which
    has to be changed slightly, to work "in Dll-Mode".

    What I'm trying to say is, that it's "just a days work" - and a real worthwhile one IMO - because what you don't want is,
    (e.g. having shipped the whole thing as an OCX and with a "UserControl" as the Interface), to force your then *already existing*
    customers to a rewrite of their Interfacing- and Startup-Sequences, in case you ship it one year later as a Dll.

    Quote Originally Posted by Davor Geci View Post
    Yes, thats right, , 64-bit version and the regfree with a lot of help from ... the community right here on vbforums.com
    To correct your comment above...
    There will be no real "64-bit-version" or something like that...

    Your (still VB6-compiled) Dll will always be a 32Bit one, this way usable directly *InProcess* from within Excel-32Bit
    without any performance-loss (but allowing easier regfree instancing than your former OCX).

    As for 64Bit - what can be done (for Users who have only the 64Bit-version of Excel installed) -
    is a (relatively well, but somewhat slower working, because then running OutOfProcess) workaround,
    which will use an additional *Process* (the ActiveX-Exe which was set to "Thread per Object"-mode at compile-time),
    to offer up the Interface-Classes of your 32Bit-Dll over InterProcess-COM-Marshalling to the Excel-64Bit-consumers.

    And it's just a single line of VB6-code you need (in an ActiveX-Exe) to accomplish that.
    (This single line being an instancing Call like CreateObject - or in case of regfree-mode -
    the GetInstance-call as it is contained in DirectCOM.dll)

    So that's also "nothing to talk about really" (code-wise), also doable in "just one day" before you
    ship your first version.

    For better understanding - here's two textbased "encapsulation-diagrams" for you (note the bracket-placements):

    32Bit-InProcess-mode after loading your Dll directly (either from a registered version or regfree):
    [ 32Bit-Excel-Process <-Class-interfaces are accessed directly-> [32Bit-Dll-Binary] ]

    64Bit-OutOfProcess-mode after loading your Dll over an ActiveX-Exe:
    [ 64Bit-Excel-Process [thin, autocreated 64Bit Interface-Proxies] ] <-Class-interfaces are marshalled-OutOfProcess> [Active-X-Exe [32Bit-Dll-Binary] ]

    Olaf

  11. #11
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    Re: Is ActiveX control installed?

    apart from all the above,

    as you are only working in excel you can add references at run time, so you do not need to have a missing reference and should be able to determine if it exist, by trying to add it, you would then also have to add your usercontrol at runtime

    if not existing a simple message to obtain the usercontrol from.......
    i do my best to test code works before i post it, but sometimes am unable to do so for some reason, and usually say so if this is the case.
    Note code snippets posted are just that and do not include error handling that is required in real world applications, but avoid On Error Resume Next

    dim all variables as required as often i have done so elsewhere in my code but only posted the relevant part

    come back and mark your original post as resolved if your problem is fixed
    pete

  12. #12

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    Re: Is ActiveX control installed?

    You are right,

    so I'm moving from the usercontrol to private form all the interface staff, and the public events, properties and methods to a public class.

    Also the version compatibility I need to start from beginning and persist with binary compatibility.

    In Project Group Change the project name from VirtualForm_control, to something like VirtualFormDLL (we will have also the ActiveX exe project later)?
    My projects:
    Virtual Forms
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    Re: Is ActiveX control installed?

    Quote Originally Posted by Davor Geci View Post
    so I'm moving from the usercontrol to private form all the interface staff, and the public events, properties and methods to a public class.
    Yep - and over a Public Method of your Public Class you can start the internal (PopUp-)Form modally
    and from inside that Private Form you can then re-delegate the Events from the Forms internal Controls
    over into the Public-Class, which then "re-raises" these Events to the outside world.

    That's not really much "new coding" - only a re-arrangement of already existing Code-Blocks per Copy&Paste
    (from your former Public UserControl to the new combination of "Private Form and Public Class")

    Quote Originally Posted by Davor Geci View Post
    In Project Group Change the project name from VirtualForm_control, to something like VirtualFormDLL (we will have also the ActiveX exe project later)?
    The ActiveX-Exe is the least amount of work, because you can write it once in a generic fashion,
    then compile it, switch on its Binary-Compatibility - and it will work with *any* 32Bit-ActiveX.dll for years.

    E.g. in an ActiveX-Exe Project, named AXClassStarter, having a single Public Class cCOM32
    (with the setting "Thread per Object"):

    The entire Code in cCOM32 would be:
    Code:
    Public Function CreateInstance(ProgID As String) As Object
      Set CreateInstance = CreateObject(ProgID)
    End Function
    
    'maybe accompanied by:
    Public Function CreateInstanceRegFree(FullPathToDll As String, ClassName As String) As Object
      Set CreateInstanceRegFree = GetInstance(FullPathToDll, ClassName) '<- e.g. when using DirectCOM.dll for regfree instancing
    End Function
    And that's it already - now compile the thing, set Binary-Compatibility on it -
    and check it out with e.g. VBA from inside an Excel-64Bit instance:

    Code:
      Set MyObj32 = CreateObject("AXClassStarter.cCOM32").CreateInstance("SomeLib.SomeClass")
    The Methods and Properties of MyObj32 will be callable from inside the 64Bit Excel-Process now.

    Olaf

  14. #14

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    Re: Is ActiveX control installed?

    Yes,

    Olaf it works!!!

    Took some time to create it, but it works.

    You are saying that the Methods and Properties of MyObj32 are callable from inside the 64Bit Process.

    Is there a way to also pass and receive the events from<>to dll (via ActiveX EXE AXClassStarter) and the 64-bit?
    My projects:
    Virtual Forms
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