- Also see ActiveX control. 
ActiveX is the name Microsoft has given to a set of "strategic"
object-oriented programming technologies and tools. The main technology is the
Component Object Model (COM). Used in a network with a directory and
additional support, COM becomes the Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM).
The main thing that you create when writing a program to run in the ActiveX
environment is a component, a self-sufficient program that can be run anywhere
in your ActiveX network (currently a network consisting of Windows and
Macintosh systems). This component is known as an ActiveX control. ActiveX is
Microsoft's answer to the Java technology from Sun Microsystems. An ActiveX
control is roughly equivalent to a Java applet. 

If you have a Windows operating system on your personal computer, you may
notice a number of Windows files with the "OCX" file name suffix. OCX stands
for "Object Linking and Embedding control." Object Linking and Embedding (OLE)
was Microsoft's program technology for supporting compound documents such as
the Windows desktop. The Component Object Model now takes in OLE as part of a
larger concept. Microsoft now uses the term "ActiveX control" instead of "OCX"
for the component object. 

One of the main advantages of a component is that it can be re-used by many
applications (referred to as component containers). A COM component object
(ActiveX control) can be created using one of several languages or development
tools, including C++ and Visual Basic, or PowerBuilder, or with scripting
tools such as VBScript. 

Currently, ActiveX controls run in Windows 95/98/NT/2000 and in Macintosh.
Microsoft plans to support ActiveX controls for Unix. 


CONTRIBUTORS: Larry Anderson and Chuck Bury 
LAST UPDATED: 13 Jun 2007