CHAPTER 1
A designer is a top-level software component that includes a dedicated design environment. Built into a running program, designers provide features that allow users to customize their applications. The Forms class provided with Microsoft® Visual Basic® is one type of designer. ActiveX™ designers are another.
This chapter provides information on the following topics:
ActiveX designers are based on the Component Object Model (COM). An ActiveX designer is an ActiveX component (formerly called an OLE embedding server) that has a programmable interface and a dedicated visual designer. When loaded into a host's development environment, an ActiveX designer allows end users to customize objects for run-time use.
For example, the supplier of a large MIS application might develop an ActiveX designer that contains forms and controls unique to its databases. Visual Basic database programmers at customer sites can then use the ActiveX designer to design local applications that access the database and perform specific query and update tasks.
A multimedia design package might include an ActiveX designer that allows users to edit text, graphics, and sound, but builds only the resulting object into an application. Using this designer, a user could create a "Happy Birthday" object that contains only the text "Happy Birthday!", the sound clip of the birthday song, and the image of a cake, candles blazing.
An even simpler ActiveX designer might allow users to add their own properties to an ActiveX control.
Nearly all the technology needed for ActiveX designers already exists in COM, Automation (formerly called OLE Automation), and ActiveX controls (formerly called OLE Controls). The ActiveX Designer Programmer's Reference describes new features and discusses how to integrate the various technologies into an ActiveX designer.