FatJoey
asked on
Debugging an activex CAB
I have a problematic ActiveX cab on my hands. The activex works and tests correctly when used in a VB application. However when using the object tag, pointing at a CAB file created with the packaging and deployment wizard, the activex will not initialize.
I'm pretty sure it has something a component not downloading and installing via IE. What lead s me to this conclusion is the following:
1) If I use an MSI created with Visual Studio Installer, and install the activex onto a computer and then access the same web page (cab), the borwser shows the correct components and the app works perfectly.
2) The OCX contains 5 controls, which are then aggreegated into another control, which is the control I cannot initialize. As a test, I took the htm file generated by the packaging and deployment wizard, which contains an object tag and clsid for all custom controls and classes in the ocx and viewed each object seperately. 4 of the 5 controls are visible in IE using the cab file on fresh (no msi) machine. This leads me to belive the the "final" control is not visible because of the problematic 5th control.
I'm not neccessarily looking for a solution to the problem. The info I seek is how do I go about debugging this situation? How can I tell what components are failing to Down load and install in this 5th control when run in IE. And possibly, why?
Thanks for your help guys.
I'm pretty sure it has something a component not downloading and installing via IE. What lead s me to this conclusion is the following:
1) If I use an MSI created with Visual Studio Installer, and install the activex onto a computer and then access the same web page (cab), the borwser shows the correct components and the app works perfectly.
2) The OCX contains 5 controls, which are then aggreegated into another control, which is the control I cannot initialize. As a test, I took the htm file generated by the packaging and deployment wizard, which contains an object tag and clsid for all custom controls and classes in the ocx and viewed each object seperately. 4 of the 5 controls are visible in IE using the cab file on fresh (no msi) machine. This leads me to belive the the "final" control is not visible because of the problematic 5th control.
I'm not neccessarily looking for a solution to the problem. The info I seek is how do I go about debugging this situation? How can I tell what components are failing to Down load and install in this 5th control when run in IE. And possibly, why?
Thanks for your help guys.
ASKER
NicolNGhia,
I took a look at his and I noticed everything listed in depends was present in system32. Also, I noticed that depends does not show VB references only system dll for API calls. For example I have reference to msxml3.dll in my project and this is required to run. Depends does not show this or any other reference. Still looking...
Joe
I took a look at his and I noticed everything listed in depends was present in system32. Also, I noticed that depends does not show VB references only system dll for API calls. For example I have reference to msxml3.dll in my project and this is required to run. Depends does not show this or any other reference. Still looking...
Joe
ASKER
I figured it out. I put a logging statement in every method of the entire ocx that was dieing. Turns out, that there was some conflicting ocx on the boxes I tried to view it on. Thanks though guys
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moderators on its resolution in a week or two. I appreciate any comments
that would help me to make a recommendation.
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Unless it is clear to me that the question has been answered I will recommend delete. It is possible that a Grade less than A will be given if no expert makes a case for an A grade. It is assumed that any participant not responding to this request is no longer interested in its final disposition.
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I have a small idea and hope that will help you:
As you know, when IE download the components, it will install these components into the Windows\System folder (Windows\System32 folder on Windows NT). And your ActiveX work OK if all of that are downloaded successfully.
To check that:
1. Use the tool 'Depends' (in Visual Studio Tools) to list all components used by your ActiveX.
2. Check if these components are available in the 'Windows\System' folder.
And you will find if any miss component.
Good luck,