PRB: ActiveX Control Fails to Appear on HTML Page

ID: Q246034

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Internet Explorer (Programming) versions 3.0, 3.01, 3.02, 4.0, 4.01, 4.01 SP1, 4.01 SP2, 5

SYMPTOMS

An ActiveX control added to an HTML page fails to appear or seems invisible. There is no indication that the control should be on the page; the standard icons for control failure--a white X in a red box, a dot in a white box, or a triangle/square/sphere icon--do not appear.

This behavior may suddenly appear after adding one or more PARAM tags to the declaration of the OBJECT tag for the control.

CAUSE

The OBJECT tag does not specify a HEIGHT and WIDTH attribute.

RESOLUTION

Add WIDTH and HEIGHT attributes for the OBJECT tag. Here is an example OBJECT tag for a Visual Basic User Control that specifies a HEIGHT and WIDTH:


<OBJECT ID="TestCtl"
CLASSID="CLSID:8A486961-4A14-0000-CCCC-615137992B84"
CODEBASE="Test.CAB#version=1,0,0,1"
WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=200>
<PARAM NAME="MyText" VALUE="THIS">
</OBJECT>

Alternatively, for Visual Basic controls, specify _ExtentX and _ExtentY parameters as specified in following example:


<OBJECT ID="TestCtl"
CLASSID="CLSID:8A486961-4A14-0000-CCCC-615137992B84"
CODEBASE="Test.CAB#version=1,0,0,1"
>
<PARAM NAME="_ExtentX" VALUE="4000">
<PARAM NAME="_ExtentY" VALUE="4000">
<PARAM NAME="MyText" VALUE="THIS">
</OBJECT>

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbActiveX kbDHTML kbIE400 kbIE401 kbJScript kbVBScript kbIE500 kbDSupport
Version : WINDOWS:3.0,3.01,3.02,4.0,4.01,4.01 SP1,4.01 SP2,5
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb