Customizing the ActiveX Control's Interface
Go Up to Using ActiveX Controls Index
You can add, edit, and remove the properties, methods, and events in an ActiveX control by editing the type library. You can use the Type Library editor as described in Using the Type Library Editor. Remember that when you add events, they should be added to the Events interface, not the default interface of the ActiveX control.
Note: You can add unpublished properties to your interface of the ActiveX control. Such properties can be set at run time and will appear in a development environment, but changes made to them will not persist. That is, when the user of the control changes the value of a property at design time, the changes are not reflected when the control is run. If the source is a VCL object and the property is not already published, you can make properties persistent by creating a descendant of the VCL object and publishing the property in the descendant.
You may also choose not to expose all of the properties, methods, and events of the VCL control to host applications. You can use the Type Library editor to remove these from the interfaces that the wizard generated. When you remove properties and methods from an interface using the Type Library editor, the Type Library editor does not remove them from the corresponding implementation class. Edit the ActiveX wrapper class in the implementation unit to remove these after you have changed the interface in the Type Library editor.
Warning: Any changes you make to the type library will be lost if you regenerate the ActiveX control from the original VCL control or form.
Tip: It is a good idea to check the methods that the wizard adds to your ActiveX wrapper class. Not only does this give you a chance to note where the wizard omitted any data-aware properties or methods that were not Automation-compatible, it also lets you detect methods for which the wizard could not generate an implementation. Such methods appear with a comment in the implementation that indicates the problem.
Topics
- Adding Additional Properties, Methods, and Events
- Enabling Simple Data Binding with the Type Library