ActiveX
Encyclopedia
ActiveX is a framework for defining reusable software components
in a programming language
-independent way. Software applications
can then be composed
from one or more of these components in order to provide their functionality.
It was introduced in 1996 by Microsoft
as a development
of its Component Object Model
(COM) and Object Linking and Embedding
(OLE) technologies and is commonly used in its Windows
operating system, although the technology itself is not tied to it.
Many Microsoft Windows applications — including many of those from Microsoft itself, such as Internet Explorer
, Microsoft Office
, Microsoft Visual Studio
, and Windows Media Player
— use ActiveX controls to build their feature-set and also encapsulate their own functionality as ActiveX controls which can then be embedded into other applications. Internet Explorer
also allows embedding ActiveX controls onto web page
s.
through web browsers. Examples include customized applications for gathering data, viewing certain kinds of files, and displaying animation.
ActiveX controls are comparable to Java applet
s: programmers designed both of these mechanisms to allow web browsers to download and execute them. But Java applets can run on nearly any platform, while ActiveX components officially operate only with Microsoft's Internet Explorer
web browser
and the Microsoft Windows
operating system
.
Malware
s, e.g. computer virus
es and spyware
s, can be accidentally installed from malicious websites using ActiveX controls (drive-by download
s).
Programmers can write ActiveX controls in any language which supports COM component development, including the following languages/environments:
Common examples of ActiveX controls include command button
s, list boxes, dialog box
es, and the Internet Explorer browser.
and with poor support for COM in MFC, Microsoft rationalized the specifications to make them simpler, and rebranded the technology as ActiveX in 1996.
Even after simplification, users still required controls to implement about six core interfaces. In response to this complexity, Microsoft produced wizard
s, ATL
base classes, macros and C++ language extensions to make it simpler to write controls.
Starting with Internet Explorer 3.0 (1996), Microsoft added support to host ActiveX controls within HTML content. If the browser encountered a page specifying an ActiveX control via an
. For example:
installation), nor may a user want to.
Component-based software engineering
Component-based software engineering is a branch of software engineering that emphasizes the separation of concerns in respect of the wide-ranging functionality available throughout a given software system...
in a programming language
Programming language
A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....
-independent way. Software applications
Application software
Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...
can then be composed
Function composition (computer science)
In computer science, function composition is an act or mechanism to combine simple functions to build more complicated ones...
from one or more of these components in order to provide their functionality.
It was introduced in 1996 by Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
as a development
of its Component Object Model
Component Object Model
Component Object Model is a binary-interface standard for software componentry introduced by Microsoft in 1993. It is used to enable interprocess communication and dynamic object creation in a large range of programming languages...
(COM) and Object Linking and Embedding
Object Linking and Embedding
Object Linking and Embedding is a technology developed by Microsoft that allows embedding and linking to documents and other objects. For developers, it brought OLE Control eXtension , a way to develop and use custom user interface elements...
(OLE) technologies and is commonly used in its Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
operating system, although the technology itself is not tied to it.
Many Microsoft Windows applications — including many of those from Microsoft itself, such as Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
, Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
, Microsoft Visual Studio
Microsoft Visual Studio
Microsoft Visual Studio is an integrated development environment from Microsoft. It is used to develop console and graphical user interface applications along with Windows Forms applications, web sites, web applications, and web services in both native code together with managed code for all...
, and Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
— use ActiveX controls to build their feature-set and also encapsulate their own functionality as ActiveX controls which can then be embedded into other applications. Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
also allows embedding ActiveX controls onto web page
Web page
A web page or webpage is a document or information resource that is suitable for the World Wide Web and can be accessed through a web browser and displayed on a monitor or mobile device. This information is usually in HTML or XHTML format, and may provide navigation to other web pages via hypertext...
s.
ActiveX controls
ActiveX controls, mini program building blocks, can serve to create distributed applications working over the InternetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
through web browsers. Examples include customized applications for gathering data, viewing certain kinds of files, and displaying animation.
ActiveX controls are comparable to Java applet
Java applet
A Java applet is an applet delivered to users in the form of Java bytecode. Java applets can run in a Web browser using a Java Virtual Machine , or in Sun's AppletViewer, a stand-alone tool for testing applets...
s: programmers designed both of these mechanisms to allow web browsers to download and execute them. But Java applets can run on nearly any platform, while ActiveX components officially operate only with Microsoft's Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
web browser
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
and the Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
.
Malware
Malware
Malware, short for malicious software, consists of programming that is designed to disrupt or deny operation, gather information that leads to loss of privacy or exploitation, or gain unauthorized access to system resources, or that otherwise exhibits abusive behavior...
s, e.g. computer virus
Computer virus
A computer virus is a computer program that can replicate itself and spread from one computer to another. The term "virus" is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, including but not limited to adware and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability...
es and spyware
Spyware
Spyware is a type of malware that can be installed on computers, and which collects small pieces of information about users without their knowledge. The presence of spyware is typically hidden from the user, and can be difficult to detect. Typically, spyware is secretly installed on the user's...
s, can be accidentally installed from malicious websites using ActiveX controls (drive-by download
Drive-by download
Drive-by download means three things, each concerning the unintended download of computer software from the Internet:# Downloads which a person authorized but without understanding the consequences Drive-by download means three things, each concerning the unintended download of computer software...
s).
Programmers can write ActiveX controls in any language which supports COM component development, including the following languages/environments:
- C++C++C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
either directly or with the help of libraries such as ATLActive Template LibraryThe Active Template Library is a set of template-based C++ classes developed by Microsoft, intended to simplify the programming of Component Object Model objects. The COM support in Microsoft Visual C++ allows developers to create a variety of COM objects, OLE Automation servers, and ActiveX...
or MFC - Borland DelphiBorland DelphiEmbarcadero Delphi is an integrated development environment for console, desktop graphical, web, and mobile applications.Delphi's compilers use its own Object Pascal dialect of Pascal and generate native code for 32- and 64-bit Windows operating systems, as well as 32-bit Mac OS X and iOS...
- Visual BasicVisual BasicVisual Basic is the third-generation event-driven programming language and integrated development environment from Microsoft for its COM programming model...
- .NET Framework.NET FrameworkThe .NET Framework is a software framework that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It includes a large library and supports several programming languages which allows language interoperability...
(C#/VB.NET)
Common examples of ActiveX controls include command button
Button (computing)
In computing, a button is a user interface element that provides the user a simple way to trigger an event, like searching for a query at a search engine, or to interact with dialog boxes, like confirming an action.-Description:A typical button is a rectangle or rounded rectangle, wider than it is...
s, list boxes, dialog box
Dialog box
In a graphical user interface of computers, a dialog box is a type of window used to enable reciprocal communication or "dialog" between a computer and its user. It may communicate information to the user, prompt the user for a response, or both...
es, and the Internet Explorer browser.
History
Faced with the complexity of OLE 2.0Object Linking and Embedding
Object Linking and Embedding is a technology developed by Microsoft that allows embedding and linking to documents and other objects. For developers, it brought OLE Control eXtension , a way to develop and use custom user interface elements...
and with poor support for COM in MFC, Microsoft rationalized the specifications to make them simpler, and rebranded the technology as ActiveX in 1996.
Even after simplification, users still required controls to implement about six core interfaces. In response to this complexity, Microsoft produced wizard
Wizard (software)
A software wizard or setup assistant is a user interface type that presents a user with a sequence of dialog boxes that lead the user through a series of well-defined steps. Tasks that are complex, infrequently performed, or unfamiliar may be easier to perform using a wizard...
s, ATL
Active Template Library
The Active Template Library is a set of template-based C++ classes developed by Microsoft, intended to simplify the programming of Component Object Model objects. The COM support in Microsoft Visual C++ allows developers to create a variety of COM objects, OLE Automation servers, and ActiveX...
base classes, macros and C++ language extensions to make it simpler to write controls.
Starting with Internet Explorer 3.0 (1996), Microsoft added support to host ActiveX controls within HTML content. If the browser encountered a page specifying an ActiveX control via an
OBJECT tag, it would automatically download and install the control with little or no user intervention. This made the web "richer" but provoked objections (since such controls ran only on Windows) and security risks (especially given the lack of user intervention). Microsoft subsequently introduced security measures to make browsing including ActiveX safer. For example:
- digital signing of installation packages (CabinetCabinet (file format)In computing, CAB is the Microsoft Windows native compressed archive format. It supports compression and digital signing, and is used in a variety of Microsoft installation engines: Setup API, Device Installer, AdvPack and Windows Installer.Though Cabinet was originally called Diamond, its .CAB...
files and executables) - controls must explicitly declare themselves safe for scripting
- increasingly stringent default security settings
- Internet Explorer maintains a blacklist of bad controls
ActiveX in non-IE applications
It may not always be possible to use Internet Explorer to execute ActiveX content (e.g. on a WineWine (software)
Wine is a free software application that aims to allow computer programs written for Microsoft Windows to run on Unix-like operating systems. Wine also provides a software library, known as Winelib, against which developers can compile Windows applications to help port them to Unix-like...
installation), nor may a user want to.
- FF ActiveX Host can run ActiveX controls in Mozilla FirefoxMozilla FirefoxMozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. , Firefox is the second most widely used browser, with approximately 25% of worldwide usage share of web browsers...
for Windows. - Mozilla ActiveX Control was last updated in late 2005, and runs in Firefox 1.5.
- MediaWrap for Firefox was last updated on 12 June 2008, and will run in Firefox 1.5 to 3.5.*.
Other ActiveX technologies
Microsoft has developed a large number of products and software platforms using ActiveX objects. Some remain in use as of 2009:- ActiveX Data ObjectsActiveX Data ObjectsMicrosoft's ActiveX Data Objects is a set of Component Object Model objects for accessing data sources. A part of MDAC, it provides a middleware layer between programming languages and OLE DB...
(ADO) - Active Server PagesActive Server PagesActive Server Pages , also known as Classic ASP or ASP Classic, was Microsoft's first server-side script engine for dynamically-generated Web pages. Initially released as an add-on to Internet Information Services via the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack Active Server Pages (ASP), also known as Classic...
(ASP) - ActiveMovieActiveMovieActiveMovie is a streaming media technology now known as DirectShow, developed by Microsoft to replace Video for Windows. ActiveMovie allows users to view media streams, whether distributed via the Internet, an intranet and CD-ROMs....
, later renamed DirectShowDirectShowDirectShow , codename Quartz, is a multimedia framework and API produced by Microsoft for software developers to perform various operations with media files or streams. It is the replacement for Microsoft's earlier Video for Windows technology... - Active MessagingCollaboration Data ObjectsCollaboration Data Objects , previously known as OLE Messaging or Active Messaging, is an application programming interface included with Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Exchange Server products...
, later renamed Collaboration Data ObjectsCollaboration Data ObjectsCollaboration Data Objects , previously known as OLE Messaging or Active Messaging, is an application programming interface included with Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Exchange Server products... - Active ScriptingActive ScriptingActive Scripting is the technology used in Windows to implement component-based scripting support. It is based on COM and allows installation of additional scripting engines in the form of COM modules.-Uses and history:The Active Scripting technologies were first released in 1996, with the...
, a technology for scripting ActiveX objects - ActiveX Streaming FormatAdvanced Systems FormatAdvanced Systems Format is Microsoft's proprietary digital audio/digital video container format, especially meant for streaming media...
(ASF), renamed Advanced Streaming Format, then to Advanced Systems Format
See also
- Active SetupActive SetupActive Setup is the installation technology Microsoft used for downloading and installing Internet Explorer versions 4 to 6. It was designed to selectively download and install signed Internet Explorer components via the Internet. This significantly reduced the amount of data to download as also...
- Active Template LibraryActive Template LibraryThe Active Template Library is a set of template-based C++ classes developed by Microsoft, intended to simplify the programming of Component Object Model objects. The COM support in Microsoft Visual C++ allows developers to create a variety of COM objects, OLE Automation servers, and ActiveX...
(ATL) - Google Native ClientGoogle Native ClientGoogle Native Client is a sandboxing technology for running a subset of Intel x86 or ARM native code using software-based fault isolation...
, an alternative development from Google - IUnknownIUnknownIn programming, the IUnknown interface is the fundamental interface in the Component Object Model . The published mandates that COM objects must minimally implement this interface...
interface - NPAPI, an alternative interface for web-browser plugins
- Windows DNAWindows DNAWindows DNA is short for Windows Distributed interNet Applications Architecture, a marketing name for a collection of Microsoft technologies that enable the Windows platform and the Internet to work together. Some of the principal technologies comprising DNA include ActiveX, Dynamic HTML and COM...
- Java Beans
- SilverlightMicrosoft SilverlightMicrosoft Silverlight is an application framework for writing and running rich Internet applications, with features and purposes similar to those of Adobe Flash. The run-time environment for Silverlight is available as a plug-in for web browsers running under Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X...
- FlexAdobe FlexAdobe Flex is a software development kit released by Adobe Systems for the development and deployment of cross-platform rich Internet applications based on the Adobe Flash platform...