ActiveX

(programming)A type of COM component that canself-register, also known as an "ActiveX control". All COMobjects implement the "IUnknown" interface but an ActiveXcontrol usually also implements some of the standardinterfaces for embedding, user interface, methods, properties,events, and persistence.

ActiveX controls were originally called "OLE Controls", andwere required to provide all of these interfaces but thatrequirement was dropped, and the name changed, to make ActiveXcontrols lean enough to be downloaded as part of a web page.

Because ActiveX components can support the OLE embeddinginterfaces, they can be included in web pages. Because theyare COM objects, they can be used from languages such asVisual Basic, Visual C++, Java, VBScript.

["Understanding ActiveX and OLE", David Chappell, MS Press,1996].

http://microsoft.com/com/tech/activex.asp.

ActiveX

A brand name from Microsoft that has been used very specifically and very broadly. Today, it refers generally to ActiveX controls. For a short time, it was used to brand Microsoft's entire COM object architecture. See ActiveX control, COM, ActiveX Server Component, OLE and COM automation.

To Learn More

David Chappell's book on ActiveX, OLE and COM provides an excellent, well-written reference on the many facets of this subject. (Microsoft Press, 1996, ISBN 1-57231-216-5)