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Visual Basic Concepts

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ActiveX DLL Creation Summary

In order to introduce new concepts in the most natural order, the procedures in this chapter have not followed the normal sequence of steps for creating an in-process component. When you create a new ActiveX DLL, the steps you’ll generally follow are these:

  • Determine the features your component will provide.

  • Determine what objects are required to divide the functionality of the component in a logical fashion.

  • Design any forms your component will display.

  • Design the interface — that is, the properties, methods, and events — for each class provided by your component.

  • Create a project group consisting of your component project and a test project.

  • Implement the forms required by your component.

  • Implement the interface of each class.

  • As you add each interface element or feature, add features to your test project to exercise the new functionality.

  • Compile your DLL and test it with all potential target applications.

Note   This topic is part of a series that walks you through creating a sample ActiveX DLL. It begins with the topic Creating an ActiveX DLL.

For More Information   General design issues for ActiveX components are discussed in "General Principles of Component Design" and "Debugging, Testing, and Deploying Components." Issues exclusive to DLLs, including testing, packaging, and deployment, are discussed in "Building Code Components." The step-by-step procedures in "Creating an ActiveX Exe Component" demonstrate other component features, including events, call-backs, unattended operation, and multithreading.