HOWTO: Test Your ActiveX Documents (.VBD)

• Microsoft Visual Basic Control Creation, Professional, and Enterprise Editions for Windows, version 5.0

SUMMARY

Visual Basic 5.0 introduces the ability to create ActiveX documents (.VBD files) for use with Internet browsers. This article will walk you step-by-step through creating a simple ActiveX document, show you how to test it while within the Visual Basic 5.0 development environment, then test it outside of the Visual Basic 5.0 development environment.

The power of the Internet is that potential users from all of the world will be able to hit and view your page. (The same applies to the Intranet, although on a smaller scale; users all over your corporation may be able to hit and view your web page). With this in mind, different users will have different configurations and different software installed on their PC's. When your ActiveX page is hit by an Internet user, Internet Explorer searches the local PC for all of the files required by the document. If a required file is present and has a version equal to or greater than the version you require, it uses it. If a file is missing or is older than the version required, Internet Explorer prompts the user to install the file and will proceed to do so.

While testing an ActiveX document, a problem occurs for developers because all of the required files are already installed onto the development machine. So how do you simulate a client's machine, one which has not been exposed to Visual Basic and the components you are using or which you've created? This article will also describe how to simulate such an environment.

MORE INFORMATION

To begin, you need to create a simple ActiveX document for testing purposes. If you already have an ActiveX document to test, proceed to the section "Testing Your Document Using Visual Basic 5.0" later in this article.

Creating a Simple ActiveX Document

1. Start Visual Basic 5.0, or select New Project from the File menu if Visual Basic 5.0 is already running. In the New Project dialog, select ActiveX Document EXE and click OK.



2. From the Project Window, open the User Documents folder and select UserDocument1. This User Document is created by default. View the properties for UserDocument1, change the (Name) property to MyTestDocument.



3. Add some intrinsic controls to MyTestDocument, such as a CommandButton, a Text Box, and a Label. You may modify the properties or add code to these controls as desired. These controls will be used so you can verify that the download of your ActiveX document succeeded.



4. From the Project menu, choose Project1 Properties. Change the Project Name to MyActiveXDocument. Click OK.



5. Save the Project. Save the user document MyTestDocument.Dob and also save the Project MyActiveXDocument.VBP.

Testing Your Document Using Visual Basic 5.0

http://www.microsoft.com/ie

1. If you created the simple ActiveX document above, keep the project open. If you are working with your own ActiveX document, open the desired project.



2. Click the Start button on the Visual Basic toolbar, or choose Start from the Run menu.
   
   At this point, your document is ready to view with Internet Explorer. For testing purposes, Visual Basic 5.0 has created a .VBD file in the current working directory. This directory is usually where Visual Basic is installed. This file can now be viewed with Internet Explorer.



3. Open Internet Explorer.



4. In the Address box, type in the path to the .VBD file, which will have the same name as your project. For example, to open the simple ActiveX document created above, type the following:
   

   C:\Program Files\DevStudio\Visual Basic\MyTestDocument.VBD

   NOTE: Your path to the .VBD file may be different, so modify the line above as appropriate.
   
   The .VBD file should open in Internet Explorer, displaying any controls you added to the document and executing any code you've added to the project, as appropriate.
   
   If this test worked, you can modify the project as desired, adding code, adding controls, etc. You may then continue to test the VBD file with Internet Explorer simply by running the project and viewing the VBD file with Internet Explorer.
   
   NOTE: The VBD file is temporary; Visual Basic will delete the file when the project stops executing.

Creating Your Internet Download Setup

1. From the File menu, choose Make MyActiveXDocument.Exe. Create the executable file in the desired location.
   
   NOTE: The executable file created is designed to execute as an ActiveX document within Internet Explorer. The file cannot be executed successfully by itself.



2. Exit Visual Basic 5.0.



3. Run the Application Setup Wizard. This Setup Wizard should be available from the Start menu, under Programs\Visual Basic 5.0.
   
   If you are prompted with the "Setup Wizard - Introduction," click Next.



4. From the "Select Project and Options" step, click the Browse button to locate your ActiveX document project. If you created the example provided with this article, locate MyActiveXDocument.vbp.



5. Under "Options," choose to "Create Internet Download Setup." Click Next.



6. On the "Internet Distribution Location" step, select the location where you would like to place the files for Internet download and click Next. For testing purposes, "SWSETUP" may be sufficient.
   
   NOTE: It is important to note that the folder must be accessible, with at least read-only access, from other machines on your network in order to test. In future deployments, you may wish to place the files created onto a web server.



7. For the "Internet Package" step, choose "Download from the Microsoft Web site."
   
   NOTE: With this option selected, when a user hits your ActiveX document with Internet Explorer and needs a component installed, IE will go to the Microsoft Web site to install the latest version. If you would like information on how to use an alternate location, refer to the chapter on "Distributing Your Applications" in the Visual Basic 5.0 Programmer's Guide. You may desire to use an alternate location if you are developing an ActiveX document for an intranet where potential users may not have access to the World Wide Web.



8. For the remaining steps in the Setup Wizard, go with the defaults, clicking Next until you reach the final step.



9. On the final step, you may save the template if you prefer. When you are done, click Finish.

Testing the Internet Download

Simulating a Clean Machine

1. From the Start menu, choose Run.



2. In the Run dialog, type in the following command;
   

   "<PATH>\REGSVR32.EXE /U <Path to Windows folder>\System\MSVBVM50.DLL"

   NOTE: If you are running on a Windows NT machine, the MSVBVM50.DLL is installed into the Windows\System32 folder.



3. Next, rename or delete the Visual Basic 5.0 Run-time Library.



4. From the Start menu, choose Find, and then select Files or Folder.



5. In the Find dialog, search the entire hard drive for files named MSVBVM50.DLL.
   
   The file MSVBVM50.DLL may appear in more than one location; if it does, delete or rename the file located in the Windows\System folder (System32 on Windows NT platforms).



6. Next, the Microsoft Automation DLL must be deleted or renamed. Follow the steps outlined above for MSVBVM50.DLL, except locate and rename ASYCFILT.DLL, which will also be located in the Windows\System folder (System32 on Windows NT platforms). Do not delete other versions of this file if it is found in alternative locations.



7. Next, you must unregister and delete or rename any remaining dependency files installed on the client machine. These files will typically be custom controls that are used in the ActiveX document. For a list of the dependency files used by your ActiveX document, open the INF file created by the Setup Wizard and placed in the Support folder of the Internet Download setup.
   
   The INF file will have a [Add.Code] section, listing the dependency files used by your ActiveX document. For example, the MyActiveXDocument.INF file created for the example in this article appears as follows:
   

   
         [Add.Code]
         MYACTIVEXDOCUMENT.EXE=MYACTIVEXDOCUMENT.EXE
         ASYCFILT.DLL=ASYCFILT.DLL
         MSVBVM50.DLL=MSVBVM50.DLL
    

   The dependency files must be unregistered, if necessary, and deleted or renamed. The MyActiveXDocument.Exe file does not need to be unregistered. However, it will need to be deleted or renamed. Internet Explorer 3.x places this file into the \Windows\OCCache folder. Internet Explorer 4.0 places this file into the "\Windows\Downloaded Program Files" directory. If you are uncertain whether a file needs to be unregistered or not, you can run REGSVR32.EXE with the /U switch to determine whether or not it can be unregistered. If you receive an error, the file does not need to be unregistered.
   
   NOTE: One file installed that is not listed in the [Add.Code] section is the INF file which is installed into the Windows\OCCache folder for each ActiveX document. This file will have the same name as the ActiveX EXE with an INF extension; for example, MyActiveDocument.INF. For a truly clean machine, this file would need to be deleted as well. However, not deleting the file will not have any adverse affects on the setup.
   
   Other dependency files may include OCX files for custom controls or DLLs for various components. For example, if you used any of the Windows Common Controls in your application ,the Add.Code section of your INF file may appear as follows;
   

   
         [Add.Code]
         MYACTIVEXDOCUMENT.EXE=MYACTIVEXDOCUMENT.EXE
         ASYCFILT.DLL=ASYCFILT.DLL
         MSVBVM50.DLL=MSVBVM50.DLL
         COMCTL32.OCX=COMCTL32.OCX
    

   In order to remove the COMCTL32.OCX file from the system, run:
   

   REGSVR32.EXE /U <PATH>\System\COMCTL32.OCX

   This will unregister the control, then locate the file and either delete or rename it. Most of the custom controls that ship with Visual Basic 5.0 will install themselves into the Windows\System folder. Internet Explorer, however, will install some custom controls into the Windows\OCCache folder. You will need to be sure the path to the desired OCX is correct when using REGSVR32.EXE or else an error will occur.
   
   This same procedure must be followed for every dependency file used by your ActiveX document.
   
   Once all of the dependency files have been unregistered and renamed or deleted, open Internet Explorer and view your HTM page. When you view the HTM page, all of the missing components will automatically be downloaded and installed onto the user's machine.

Restoring Your Machine

REGSVR32 <Path to Windows>\System\MSVBVM32.DLL

Troubleshooting

Cannot delete MSVBVM50.DLL: Access is denied.

Cannot rename MSVBVM50.DLL: Access is denied.

The dynamic link library could not be found in the specified path...

An error has occurred copying MSVBVM50.DLL. Ensure the location
specified below is correct...C:\TEMP\ICD10E.TMP

Opening file <ActiveX Document>.VBD

What would you like to do with this file?

Open it or Save it to disk.

REFERENCES

Visual Basic 5.0 Component Tools Guide, Chapter 5 "Creating an ActiveX Document"

Visual Basic 5.0 Programmer's Guide, Chapter 17 "Distributing Your Applications"

Keywords : kbVBp500 kbCodeDownload kbGrpVB kbhowto AXSDKDocObjects kbIEFAQ
Version : WINDOWS:5.0;
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbhowto