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13.5 ActiveX Controls

ActiveX controls are miniature applications that work like plug-ins in Web browsers.
In fact, Flash Player for the Windows version of Internet Explorer is an ActiveX
control.

However, this powerful technology can handle much more than multimedia; it can
plug right into your computer, accessing files and other programs, or enabling spreadsheets
and other productivity programs, right in a Web page.

Unfortunately, this Microsoft technology only works on Windows machines and only
in Internet Explorer. As a result, it has yet to gain a foothold on the Weband it may
never. But if you're required to incorporate an ActiveX control into your site (perhaps
because Microsoft is your client), then here's how to do it.

To insert ActiveX controls that you've programmed in Visual Basic or found on the
Web, just choose InsertMediaActiveX. An ActiveX icon appears on the Web page,
selected so that you can now change its options using the Property inspector.

13.5.1 ActiveX Properties

Some of the settings you can change for ActiveX controls are the same as you'd
find for the other technologies described in this chapter (see Figure 13-10): name,
width/height, alignment, and margins, for example. A few others are unique to this
technology:

13.5.1.1 ClassID

The ClassID identifies the ActiveX control for the browser. Dreamweaver includes three
ClassIDs in the pop-up menu: Real Player, Shockwave, and Flash. (Selecting either
of the last two simply changes the ActiveX icon on the page to either Shockwave or
Flash.) The Real Player option lets you insert a control for including Real Video or
Audio files on a page.

ActiveX controls
vary widely;
there's no
standard set of
properties.

13.5.1.2 Embed and Src

If there is a comparable Netscape plug-in for the ActiveX control you're adding to the
page, you can turn on the Embed checkbox to add the <embed> tag. This way, Netscape
and Mac users can also enjoy the benefits provided by the ActiveX control.

The HTML <object> tag specifies the ActiveX control and its properties. Netscape
Navigator, on the other hand, uses the <embed> tag for adding plug-ins. Some
external multimedia files, such as Flash, Shockwave, and Real Video, can use either
an ActiveX control or a plug-in. In order to make both the ActiveX control and the
Netscape plug-in available, you need to have both <object> and <embed> tags in the
HTML code for your page (see the box in Section 13.1.2).

If you turn on the Embed checkbox, you'll need to specify a file for the plug-in to use
in Netscape. For example, a .swf (Flash movie) file would be used as a source (Src) file
for the Flash Player plug-in. To choose a file, click the folder icon and select it from your
site folder (if it's not already there, Dreamweaver offers to copy it there for you).

Base. The Base field indicates the URL for the ActiveX control. If the visitor doesn't
already have the ActiveX control on her PC, Internet Explorer will go to this URL,
download the control, and install it.

ID. An ActiveX control's ID is used to pass information to other ActiveX controls.

Data. Some ActiveX controls require an additional data file. Enter the name of
that file in this field. Consult the instructions for your particular ActiveX control
to find out if an additional file is necessary.

Alt. For browsers that don't support the <object> tag, you can provide an alternative
image. Click the folder icon and select a GIF or JPEG file from your Web site.
Because ActiveX only works in one browser and one platform, give strong consideration
to providing an Alt image: "Sorry, you're out of luck! Buy a Windows PC
and use Internet Explorer next time!" (This option doesn't work if you've turned
on the Embed checkbox in the Property inspector.)