Designing a Web Generation Application › Embed ActiveX Controls › Restrictions on the Use of OCX Controls

Restrictions on the Use of OCX Controls

OCX controls rely heavily on Microsoft technologies and can only execute in browsers running on Windows platforms. OCX controls can be rendered using Internet Explorer without the need to install any third party software. Mozilla Firefox does not natively support OCX controls. CA supports OCX controls on Internet Explorer only. OCX controls can be executed on any supported Application Server on a supported J2EE platform.

For the OCX controls to be displayed on a browser machine that does not have OCX controls installed, License Package File (LPK) needs to be generated. The LPK file contains runtime licenses for the ActiveX controls.

To generate the LPK, and include the genocx.lpx in the WAR file

1. Generate License Package File(LPK):
   1. Download LPKTool.exe from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=d2728e89-575e-42e9-a6ff-07d0021e68cc&displaylang=en to the machine that has licensed ActiveX controls installed.
   2. Run LPKTool.exe. Highlight each licensed ActiveX control that will be used in the application and click Add.
   3. Click Save and then Exit. Type the name genocx.lpk.
2. Include genocx.lpk in the WAR file:
   1. During Assembly from the build tool, in the EAR File Assemble Details dialog, click Additional Files tab.
   2. Select <WAR file>.
   3. Click Include File and include genocx.lpk along with the OCX files that will be used in the application.
   4. Click OK and complete the deployment process.

PAD control of OCX components is limited to the current Procedure Step. That is, the GUI object representing the component cannot be passed via the views to another Procedure Step manipulation.

Web Generation does not support features that cannot be modified through methods and properties of an OCX control. This may include features that are currently available to GUI clients by MFC programming. An example is specifying Sequencing of Tabbing among controls that are embedded on OCX Tab controls.

In Web Generation Applications, message boxes and OCX controls require threading to be enabled in the Assemble utility of the Build Tool. However, some Application Servers, including WebSphere may not work correctly if threads are used.

Action Block statements that manipulate ActiveX Controls cannot be placed in an Open Event or in the Execute First section of the Action Block. This restriction is there because at the time of Action Block execution, the html page containing the control has not yet been returned to the browser. Because of this restriction, it is recommended that the designer use the Load concept, where after the html page is loaded, the end user interacts with the page and initializes the control.

ActiveX Controls are only valid for a single window execution context. That is, after a window replaces the current window (the window with the ActiveX Control), the control is reinitialized on return. Additionally, any GUI objects related to the control, which are held in the views, are then invalid. This restriction is dictated by the browser's caching mechanism and the stateless nature of Web applications.