ActiveX Support

[Dermot]

I know this has been mentioned before but I just want to bring it up again. It would be fantastic if AMS could host activex controls. You can use most non visual activex controls with Luacom which is great, but you could do so much more if you could use visual ones as well. I have managed to host one in an AMS ListBox which works great, but I have had no look with any others.

Is this something that could be added to AMS? or could one create an object plugin that you could drop on a page and then specify the activex control to use?

I think this is the one big thing that AMS is missing.

[FoxLeader]

THAT would revolutionize AMS! I totally agree with you, that would just give a lot more power to that platform for a fairly "little" amount of work (well, I don't know on the IR side but on our side for sure ).

Dermot>> Could you please explane a bit more what you managed to do? It's intriguing me

[Dermot]

Could you please explane a bit more what you managed to do? It's intriguing me

I manage to display an activex control inside an AMS ListBox. This particular control has a property that lets you specify the hWnd of the container you want it to belong to. The listbox simply becomes the container. I then use Luacom to set properties and process events. Works like a charm. Any windowed object can be used as the container but I found the ListBox worked best.

[Intrigued]

Originally Posted by Dermot

I manage to display an activex control inside an AMS ListBox. This particular control has a property that lets you specify the hWnd of the container you want it to belong to. The listbox simply becomes the container. I then use Luacom to set properties and process events. Works like a charm. Any windowed object can be used as the container but I found the ListBox worked best.

This post screams for an example for all to see.

;-)

[FoxLeader]

Originally Posted by Intrigued

This post screams for an example for all to see.

;-)

+1

This could open a lot of possibilities in a very near future

[Dermot]

I would love to share an example but due to licensing for this particular control, I can't. The best I can do is a video of it in action.

http://screencast.com/t/WgPqmslD

[Intrigued]

Originally Posted by Dermot

I would love to share an example but due to licensing for this particular control, I can't. The best I can do is a video of it in action.

http://screencast.com/t/WgPqmslD

Kept getting a message I need to install the latest Flash player, but I followed the instructions.. closed the window, reopen and the message comes back up.

Here's what I have installed:

You have version 9,0,115,0 installed

[Dermot]

I think you need to cloe all open browser windows and reopen. Looks like Techsmith updated the video player.

[Darryl]

Yes, this suggestion is currently in our suggestions database for consideration, thanks for the feedback.

REF: 13571

[RizlaUK]

The best I can do is a video of it in action.

Thats neat, imagine the possibility's if AMS could be this natively.

[Dermot]

Yes, this suggestion is currently in our suggestions database for consideration

Thanks Darryl. I knew that but I was hoping for a bit more info. Is this possible or likely or do I need to forget about it? I don't want to invest money in developing a plugin if AMS can't handle it or if this is something that you have plans to add in the not too distant future. I know one can probably create a wrapper plugin like the Windows Media Player one but having to create a seperate plugin for each control is not feasable.

Thats neat, imagine the possibility's if AMS could be this natively.

That's the whole point, it doesn't have to. We can't expect AMS to do everything so if we could use the thousands of activex controls out there to add the functionality we need, then there is pretty much nothing you couldn't do. Why reinvent the wheel when someone else has created what you need in the form of an activex control that you can drop into your app. I have $1000's worth of controls I have purchased for VB and Access, but can't take advantage of them in AMS.

That one I showed in the video is a perfect example. There is no way you could do that in AMS without using that control. Up to now I have had to use a completely seperate program which was far from ideal. Users don't like that, when a completely different app opens to perform certain tasks. It is much better if it is done within your app. With activex controls, you are still using someone elses app but they are seamlessly embeded in your app and become part of it.

[Intrigued]

Nice Dermot. I got to see the video finally.

[Darryl]

Hi Dermot,

We do agree that this is a good idea, but after asking here at the office, none of us have really done any research on it, so it's not something I can comment on as to whether or not it is possible, or what is involved in such a task as far as supporting it in AMS70. We don't see a reason why it couldn't be implemented, but without having the whole picture it's really hard to say. At the moment, there just isn't enough time to look into this in depth.

As far as whether or not it will be included in a future update, I cannot answer that either unfortunately as there are many variables that decide what will be done in each service release beyond bug fixes. I can tell you that it will not be in the next update, but beyond that, it hasn't been decided upon, which is a good thing really, because the requests from our users do change over time, so it is really best not to have the next year's features set in stone.

I'm sorry if this doesn't tell you anything, but that's the situation for this one. It hasn't been dismissed, that's for sure.

[Dermot]

Thanks Darryl. I am pretty confident that it can be done as a plugin. I just wanted to know IR's position on it before moving a head.