Creating a control instance in ABL

You must use the AppBuilder to add an ActiveX control to your application.

To add a control in the AppBuilder:

  1. Open a container object, such as a Dialog or SmartWindow.
  2. Select an ActiveX control from the object Palette by clicking the OCX button to open the Choose Control dialog box, or by clicking the button for one of the three ABL-supported ActiveX controls.
  3. Drop the selected control into your design window.
    Note: These are general steps.

    If you save your work at this point, the AppBuilder generates the following data and code for your application:

    • The definition for a default instance of the specified ActiveX control in a binary (.wrx) file. This includes the initial definition provided by the control vendor. The binary file includes all ActiveX control instances for the corresponding .w file.
    • Default ABL code in your .w file to instantiate and orient the ActiveX control in the user interface at runtime.

    The rest of this section describes how you can modify the default definition of an ActiveX control instance. For more information on the ABL code for instantiating an ActiveX control at runtime, see Accessing ActiveX controls at runtime. For more information on locating and sizing the control in the user interface, see Orienting a control in the user interface at design time.