I am looking for advice on the best method of producing a piece of
software written in Visual Basic or Visual Basic.NET that will control
another standard windows program such as ‘Notepad' using ole
automation.

The system will be produced as a stand-alone EXE which will run on a
single PC once the installation has been completed, but I also want to
be able to easily convert the system to run from a web-site with the
minimum of re-work.

My current thinking is that I would need to put the code which is not
connected with the user-interface into an Active-X control which can
be used on a web-site. Only, I am not sure if I should use an OCX,
Active-X EXE or Active-X DLL control. Also, I am not sure what
services the web-server must have installed in order to be able to run
the component.

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

Allan Cammish

> My current thinking is that I would need to put the code which is not
> connected with the user-interface into an Active-X control which can
> be used on a web-site. Only, I am not sure if I should use an OCX,
> Active-X EXE or Active-X DLL control. Also, I am not sure what
> services the web-server must have installed in order to be able to run
> the component.

With VB.NET you would need the .NET Framework installed plus the Windows IIS
server (which can only be run easily on Windows 2k and Windows XP
Professional). It can be installed on XP Home edition but requires bodging,
yet another "feature" that Microsoft thought it would be wise to remove from
their "cheaper" software, because people who buy "cheap" software DONT
deserve functionality and should be frowned upon.

But anyway, Active-X is dead in .NET, you use .NET components, but it's the
same principal. VB.NET makes web services etc. and web forms for such a
purpose, the whole task is simplified using ASP.NET, though I have no
experience of web services so far. But .NET 'should' make all of this
easier for you :-)

Nick.

--
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Having problems with you job?
You're marriage is on the rocks?
You can't sleep at night?
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Allan,
In addition to Naks advice, I will suggest you to look here
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...alkthrough.asp
Cor

Notepad doesn't expose any OLE interfaces, and in VB.NET, you cannot use OLE
(easily). Also, VB.NET does not produce stand-alone executables, and it
cannot create Active-X's (I know it can, but it requires COM interop, which
really isn't the way you want to be going)

--
HTH,
-- Tom Spink, Über Geek

Please respond to the newsgroup,
so all can benefit


"Allan Cammish" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> I am looking for advice on the best method of producing a piece of
> software written in Visual Basic or Visual Basic.NET that will control
> another standard windows program such as 'Notepad' using ole
> automation.
>
> The system will be produced as a stand-alone EXE which will run on a
> single PC once the installation has been completed, but I also want to
> be able to easily convert the system to run from a web-site with the
> minimum of re-work.
>
> My current thinking is that I would need to put the code which is not
> connected with the user-interface into an Active-X control which can
> be used on a web-site. Only, I am not sure if I should use an OCX,
> Active-X EXE or Active-X DLL control. Also, I am not sure what
> services the web-server must have installed in order to be able to run
> the component.
>
> Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.
>
> Allan Cammish

>Also, VB.NET does not produce stand-alone executables

?? If you mean that you requre the framework then VB6 requires VB6 runtimes,
the Framework is just VB.NET runtimes. So you can create stand-alone
executables.

Nick.

--
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Having problems with you job?
You're marriage is on the rocks?
You can't sleep at night?
You have a drink and drugs addiction?
You are sexually impotent?
Then enable Option Strict!
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Tom Spink" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...

> Thanks for your advice. If I were to abandon the idea of using .NET
> initially and use an Active-X DLL, do you know if it would be easy to
> upgrade to .NET later, and convert the Active-X DLL to the .NET
> components or .NET web services?

As far as I am aware it won't be that easy to chage as web services
architechture is different from that of an ActiveX DLL. You would be much
better off doing a web service in .NET and from my experience of it so far
there would be allot less maintenance involved. But fair enough if you want
to go the VB6 route, .NET "should" be far easier (Obviously depending on
exactly what you want it to do).

Nick.

--
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Having problems with you job?
You're marriage is on the rocks?
You can't sleep at night?
You have a drink and drugs addiction?
You are sexually impotent?
Then enable Option Strict!
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Hello,

"Cor" <(E-Mail Removed)> schrieb;
> I did read Nicks advise three times, my English is not so good, maybe that
> is the reason that I did not understand that advise, I did understand he
> said the oposite from what you are saying.
> Maybe Nick will tell me where he did do that statement, I am seriously
> curious what I did read wrong in Nick's message?

???

What's unclear?

Regards,
Herfried K. Wagner
--
MVP · VB Classic, VB .NET
http://www.mvps.org/dotnet

Herfried,
In my opinion this was not the advise from Nick, it was the opposite
\\\\\\\\\\
Thanks for your advice. If I were to abandon the idea of using .NET
initially and use an Active-X DLL, do you know if it would be easy to
upgrade to .NET later, and convert the Active-X DLL to the .NET
components or .NET web services?
//////////
1. I read the text from Nick
2. Nick knows to much from .Net to say this.
3. Or I misunderstood everything
Cor

And this is what Nick wrote
\\\\\\
With VB.NET you would need the .NET Framework installed plus the Windows IIS
server (which can only be run easily on Windows 2k and Windows XP
Professional). It can be installed on XP Home edition but requires bodging,
yet another "feature" that Microsoft thought it would be wise to remove from
their "cheaper" software, because people who buy "cheap" software DONT
deserve functionality and should be frowned upon.

But anyway, Active-X is dead in .NET, you use .NET components, but it's the
same principal. VB.NET makes web services etc. and web forms for such a
purpose, the whole task is simplified using ASP.NET, though I have no
experience of web services so far. But .NET 'should' make all of this
easier for you :-)
/////

> > I did read Nicks advise three times, my English is not so good, maybe
that
> > is the reason that I did not understand that advise, I did understand he
> > said the oposite from what you are saying.
> > Maybe Nick will tell me where he did do that statement, I am seriously
> > curious what I did read wrong in Nick's message?

Cor, could you please stop contradicting me!

> What's unclear?

My thoughts exactly!

Nick.

--
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Having problems with you job?
You're marriage is on the rocks?
You can't sleep at night?
You have a drink and drugs addiction?
You are sexually impotent?
Then enable Option Strict!
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

>