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Developer Center Resources

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» Inter-Application Communication » ActiveX

Description

ActiveX is a framework that defines reusable software that can be used across a variety of programming languages. The ActiveX framework is based on the Windows Component Object Model (COM) and Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) technologies and is only used with Windows operating systems.

ActiveX-enabled applications, such as LabVIEW, include objects that have exposed properties and methods that other applications can access. ActiveX objects can be either UI controls (buttons, charts, etc.) or non-UI objects (document references, data, etc).

LabVIEW can act as an ActiveX client or an ActiveX server. As a client, LabVIEW can access objects of other ActiveX-enabled applications. As a server, other applications can access objects of LabVIEW via VI Server.

For information on using ActiveX from LabVIEW, refer to:
LabVIEW Help: Using ActiveX with LabVIEW

LabVIEW provides VIs that make calling an ActiveX object easy. However, implementing an ActiveX server requires a significant amount of programming to implement.

ActiveX allows for a seamless interaction between LabVIEW and another application, and also allows for real-time data transfer and analysis. It also allows the user to limit interaction to just one environment, instead of both LabVIEW and their application.

Example Use-Case

The LabVIEW Report Generation Toolkit for Microsoft Office uses the Microsoft Office ActiveX API from LabVIEW to automate the process of creating reports using Word and Excel. This toolkit is now included as part of LabVIEW Professional.