Using ActiveX Controls in Your Screen

The process of working with ActiveX controls in the Screen Designer is very similar to that of working with standard controls. To add an ActiveX control to a screen, do the following:

  1. Select the control in the Component Toolbox, then draw it on the screen form.

    If you have an appropriate license, a graphical representation of the control appears on the screen form. If the control requires a design time license that you do not have, AcuBench shows a warning message, then draws a gray placeholder on the screen. In this case, the control will display normally at runtime, but you may have trouble changing control properties or coding the control. If this happens, see the control vendor for licensing information.

  2. Once an ActiveX control is placed on a screen, its initial properties (state) can be configured in the Property window. In addition, most ActiveX controls include a special interface for property configuration. If the vendor has provided such an interface, you can access it by right-clicking the control on the screen form and selecting ActiveX Control Properties.
  3. If you use an ActiveX control’s special property interface to configure the control, AcuBench saves your settings in a resource file, program.res. This file must be included when the program is deployed, or the control is displayed with its standard, default values.