Article: Q301359
Product(s): Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows
Version(s): 3.0
Operating System(s):
Keyword(s): kbActiveX kbCtrl kbInternet kbOSWinCEsearch kbGrpDSVB kbDSupport kbVBM300
Last Modified: 17-AUG-2001
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The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft eMbedded Visual Basic, version 3.0
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SUMMARY
=======
Currently, you cannot use the WebBrowser control directly in eMbedded Visual
Basic (eVB) 3.0.
MORE INFORMATION
================
There are several reasons why you cannot use the WebBrowser control directly in
eMbedded Visual Basic (eVB) 3.0:
- You cannot use the Pocket Internet Explorer browser component as an ActiveX
control in eMbedded Visual Basic nor can you use Declare statements to access
functions in the component to call the Pocket Internet Explorer browser
component. This browser is essentially a dynamic-link library (DLL) that
interprets HTML. The Pocket Internet Explorer browser component does not have
any interfaces that allow it to be used from eVB and does not have
functionality similar to the desktop WebBrowser control.
- You can only use the Internet Explorer for Windows CE WebBrowser component on
operating systems that are built with Platform Builder 3.0. In addition, the
Internet Explorer for Windows CE WebBrowser component only ships with
Platform Builder 3.0. Thus, you cannot use the Internet Explorer for Windows
CE WebBrowser ActiveX control/DLL on the Pocket PC version of Windows CE.
Even if you could use the Internet Explorer for Windows CE WebBrowser ActiveX
control/DLL from eVB, you could not use the control (or the application) on
the Pocket PC.
NOTE: HPC 2000 uses Internet Explorer for Windows CE, and the WebBrowser
component is available on that operating system. However, you cannot use the
control/DLL from eVB.
- There is no desktop version of Internet Explorer for Windows CE WebBrowser
component that can be used in the eVB design environment. In Windows CE,
there is a binary version of each ActiveX control/DLL for each supported
processor type. Thus, the ActiveX control/DLL "MyControl" would have a binary
version for an SH4 processor, a MIPS 4000 processor, and so on.
In addition, if the ActiveX control/DLL is to appear in the eVB design
environment, it requires a version of the ActiveX control that is compiled
specifically for the desktop Windows operating system. This version is used
to allow developers to place the control on a form, resize it, and so on. If
the ActiveX control/DLL does not have this desktop version, it must be used
as an object at run time through the CreateObject function, or you must write
a discrete container application because there is no desktop version of the
control to insert into the project.
- There are at least two reasons why you cannot use the Internet Explorer for
Windows CE WebBrowser control directly in eVB. First, and most importantly,
there is a documented limitation of the CreateObject function. You cannot use
CreateObject to create visible ActiveX controls (for example, graphical
controls such as the PictureBox, ListView, or Grid control) at run time. This
limitation extends to the CreateObjectWithEvents function.
The second reason is also a limitation of these two functions. Both
CreateObject and CreateObjectWithEvents require the ProgID parameter.
However, a ProgID for the WebBrowser control does not occur in the registry,
only a ClassID. There is no other way to access the WebBrowser control
directly from eMbedded Visual Basic.
The WebBrowser control does, however, implement the IDispatch interface. If you
use the IESAMPLE eMbedded Visual C++ source code (which is located at
\WINCE300\Public\IE\Oak\IESample\Mainwnd.cpp) as a starting point, you can
create an ActiveX control that you can use in eVB. To create the desktop
design-time version of the control, which is really a dummy control, you must
implement only a few design-time properties such as Top, Left, Width, and Height
to position the control on a form. For more information about how to create an
ActiveX control that you can use in eVB, see the following Microsoft white
paper:
Building ActiveX Controls for Microsoft Windows CE Using the Active Template
Library
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/techart/atlce.htm
REFERENCES
==========
For more information on how to create ActiveX controls for the Internet Explorer
on Pocket PC, see the following Microsoft Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/mobile/developer/technicalarticles/atl_pie.asp
Additional query words: PIE
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Keywords : kbActiveX kbCtrl kbInternet kbOSWinCEsearch kbGrpDSVB kbDSupport kbVBM300
Technology : kbVBSearch kbAudDeveloper kbZNotKeyword2 kbVBeMbSearch kbVBeMb300
Version : :3.0
Hardware : WinCE
Issue type : kbinfo
Solution Type : kbnofix
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