Attributes for ActiveX objects

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Sep 7, 2001

The table 1 summarizes most useful tag attributes for ActiveX objects. Some of the attributes shown in the table aren't new to HTML. For instance, the ALIGN, BORDER,HEIGHT, HSPACE, VSPACE, and WIDTH attributes are used with the <IMG> tag. However, because the <OBJECT> tag is part of an advanced specification, it supports the advanced alignments and spacing techniques

Table 1
Attribute Name	Description
ALIGN	The alignment of the object
BORDER	The border width to use if the object is a hyperlink
CLASSID	Identifies the object's class
DATA	URL for the object's data
HEIGHT	Sets the object's height
HSPACE	Sets the horizontal spacing around the object
ID	An identifier for the specific instance of the object
NAME	A name to identify an object submitted in a form
TYPE	The MIME type for the object's data
STANDBY	Text to display while the object and data are loaded
SERVER	URL where the control can be installed from
VSPACE	Sets the vertical spacing around the object
WIDTH	Sets the object's width

CLASSID Attribute

The CLASSID attribute was slightly touched in the previous lessons. When your browser downloads a control and you choose to install it, the control is registered in the Windows registry, a registry for applications on your system. To make sure operating systems can uniquely identify applications, such as your ActiveX controls, each application has a globally unique identifier (GUID). Based on the CLSID value, your system starts the appropriate control. Without a proper CLSID, your system doesn't know which control to use, so the control isn't started. When you use controls in Web pages, you need a way to tell your system about a control; you do this with the CLASSID attribute of the <OBJECT> tag. With the CLASSID attribute, you refer to controls by their CLSID value, such as this one:

<OBJECT CLASSID="clsid:99B42120-6EC7-11CF-A6C7-00AA00A47DD2">

The easiest way is through the Registry Editor, which you can run by starting the regedit.exe application. The Registry Editor files entries by category into directories. For OLE and ActiveX objects, the directory need to examine is the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT directory. Although the Registry Editor features a Find function under the Edit menu, it's useful

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The copyright of the article Attributes for ActiveX objects in VB Script is owned by Maxim Karetnikov. Permission to republish Attributes for ActiveX objects in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.