ActiveX and Plug-Ins are two technologies directed at the Internet Explorer and Netscape browser platforms respectively.
They are intended to...
 | Compliment HTML content. |
| Provide specialized functionality that can extend beyond the limitations and restrictions of HTML and document object model. |
ActiveX
Reference...Microsoft (they invented it and are the best place place to start) http://www.microsoft.com/com/tech/activex.asp
ActiveX controls are...
| Primarily a Windows-only technology. It is based on an open standard but has not been widely adapted to other systems. |
| Built on top of Microsoft COM (component object model) technology. |
| Components that can be developed using a number of programming/development environments (Visual Basic, C++, Java, etc.) and integrated into other applications such as programmed applications (written in VB, C, or Java) or into desktop applications (e.g., Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Office applications such as Word and Access). |
| Generally standalone software components that are "registered" to a machine prior to being used. This is used to setup up installed components (including libraries). |
| Sometimes referred to as "ActiveX controls", they offer some level of extended capability for the browser or application. |
| Can operate on the same machine or across multiple machines (using DCOM -- distributed COM). |
For the web...
| ActiveX controls can be added to web pages as follows...
|
example: <OBJECT ID="ActiveMovie1" WIDTH=160 HEIGHT=120
CLASSID="CLSID:05589FA1-C356-11CE-BF01-00AA0055595A">
<PARAM NAME="_ExtentX" VALUE="6000">
<PARAM NAME="_ExtentY" VALUE="6000">
<PARAM NAME="MovieWindowWidth" VALUE="160">
<PARAM NAME="MovieWindowHeight" VALUE="120">
<PARAM NAME="FileName" VALUE="vdemo.avi">
</OBJECT>
| Examples (you must be in Internet Explorer to view the following,
use the View Source function to see how these are setup)...
| ||||||||
| The client can be protected from potentially dangerous ActiveX
controls via the built-in security features (through the Tools menu,
Options, Security settings). ActiveX controls can be...
|
ActiveX controls have the advantage of being relatively transparent in terms of download and installation to web-browser environments.
Popular browser-based ActiveX controls include...
| Adobe Acrobat |
| Macromedia Shockwave |
| Macromedia Flash |
Plug-Ins
Plug-ins are native to Netscape. In many respects they are similar to ActiveX.
Reference... Netscape: http://developer.netscape.com/docs/manuals/communicator/plugin/index.htm
Some basics (from the Netscape web site)...
| A plug-in is a separate code module that behaves as though it is part of the Netscape Communicator browser. | ||||
| You can use the Plug-in API to create plug-ins that extend Communicator with a wide range of interactive and multimedia capabilities, and that handle one or more data (MIME) types. | ||||
| Based on the Plug-in API to extend the capabilities of Communicator by providing inline viewers for types of data not supported by Communicator itself. | ||||
| Plug-ins are developed by writing code that interfaces to the Netscape program via the application programming interface (API). | ||||
| Plug-ins offer a variety of features that can increase the flexibility of Netscape Communicator. | ||||
| Plug-ins include...
|
Running a plug-in...the following HTML will run a plug-in on a web page (Netscape only):
<EMBED
SRC="location"
TYPE="MIMEtype"
PLUGINSPAGE="instrURL"
PLUGINURL="pluginURL"
ALIGN="LEFT"|"RIGHT"|"TOP"|"BOTTOM"
BORDER="borderWidth"
FRAMEBORDER="NO"
HEIGHT="height"
WIDTH="width"
UNITS="units"
HIDDEN="TRUE|FALSE
HSPACE="horizMargin"
VSPACE="vertMargin"
NAME="pluginName"
PALETTE="FOREGROUND"|"BACKGROUND"
>
...
</EMBED>The <Object tag can also be used.
Issues related to plug-in technology...
| Typically require the end user to manually download the plug-in and complete the installation. |
| This process can often be confusing to end users. |