Chapter 12 - Creating ADO Data Bound ActiveX Controls

Well, we have already seen that VB6.0 gives us some new and exciting database controls and tools. But what is really exciting is that we now have the ability to create our own data bound ActiveX controls, just like the controls on your tool palette! These controls can be used by yourself or any other programmer you wish to share them with.

In this chapter we're going to build our own data control and add code to it to make it a universally useful tool. Then we're going to package it up as a distributable file so that we can send it off into the wide world for other programmers to use. In many ways this is the same kind of process we went through when we built our class module, only this time we are creating reusable functionality for an ActiveX control that can be used over and over.

Here's the topics that we'll cover in this chapter:

The background to the development of ActiveX controls
The principles of binding
How to create our own data control
Adding code to build our control's functionality, including catering for interactions with command buttons and different types of record source
Building documentation about our control that can be packaged up with it for other users
Creating a distributable .OCX file and letting others share our new control

First, let's reflect on why the ability to build ActiveX controls is so significant.