running a dll with activex objects with c#

Question

Hi i have following c# code for configuring active x components as

using System;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using Microsoft.Win32;

namespace Kosmala.Michal.ActiveXTest
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Summary description for Class1.
    /// </summary>
    [ProgId("Dendrite.WebForce.MMP.Web.OurActiveX")]
    [ClassInterface(ClassInterfaceType.AutoDual), ComSourceInterfaces(typeof(ControlEvents))] //Implementing interface that will be visible from JS
    [Guid("121C3E0E-DC6E-45dc-952B-A6617F0FAA32")]
    [ComVisible(true)]
    public class ActiveXObject
    {
        private string myParam = "Empty"; 

        public ActiveXObject()
        {

        }

        public event ControlEventHandler OnClose;

        /// <summary>
        /// Opens application. Called from JS
        /// </summary>
        [ComVisible(true)]
        public void Open()
        {
            //TODO: Replace the try catch in aspx with try catch below. The problem is that js OnClose does not register.
            try
            {

                MessageBox.Show(myParam); //Show param that was passed from JS
                Thread.Sleep(2000); //Wait a little before closing. This is just to show the gap between calling OnClose event.
                Close(); //Close application

            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                //ExceptionHandling.AppException(e);
                throw e;
            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Parameter visible from JS
        /// </summary>
        [ComVisible(true)]
        public string MyParam
        {
            get
            {
                return myParam;
            }
            set
            {
                myParam = value;
            }
        }


        [ComVisible(true)]
        public void Close()
        {
            if(OnClose != null)
            {
                OnClose("http://otherwebsite.com"); //Calling event that will be catched in JS
            }
            else
            {
                MessageBox.Show("No Event Attached"); //If no events are attached send message.
            }
        }



        /// <summary>
        /// Register the class as a control and set it's CodeBase entry
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="key">The registry key of the control</param>
        [ComRegisterFunction()]
        public static void RegisterClass ( string key )
        {
            // Strip off HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ from the passed key as I don't need it
            StringBuilder   sb = new StringBuilder ( key ) ;

            sb.Replace(@"HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\","") ;
            // Open the CLSID\{guid} key for write access
            RegistryKey k   = Registry.ClassesRoot.OpenSubKey(sb.ToString(),true);

            // And create   the 'Control' key - this allows it to show up in
            // the ActiveX control container
            RegistryKey ctrl = k.CreateSubKey   ( "Control" ) ;
            ctrl.Close ( ) ;

            // Next create the CodeBase entry   - needed if not string named and GACced.
            RegistryKey inprocServer32 = k.OpenSubKey   ( "InprocServer32" , true ) ;
            inprocServer32.SetValue (   "CodeBase" , Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().CodeBase ) ;
            inprocServer32.Close ( ) ;
                // Finally close the main   key
            k.Close (   ) ;
            MessageBox.Show("Registered");
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Called to unregister the control
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="key">Tke registry key</param>
        [ComUnregisterFunction()]
        public static void UnregisterClass ( string key )
        {
            StringBuilder   sb = new StringBuilder ( key ) ;
            sb.Replace(@"HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\","") ;

            // Open HKCR\CLSID\{guid} for write access
            RegistryKey k = Registry.ClassesRoot.OpenSubKey(sb.ToString(),true);

            // Delete the 'Control' key, but don't throw an exception if it does not exist
            k.DeleteSubKey ( "Control" , false ) ;

            // Next open up InprocServer32
            //RegistryKey   inprocServer32 = 
            k.OpenSubKey (  "InprocServer32" , true ) ;

            // And delete the CodeBase key, again not throwing if missing
            k.DeleteSubKey ( "CodeBase" , false ) ;

            // Finally close the main key
            k.Close ( ) ;
            MessageBox.Show("UnRegistered");
        }



    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Event handler for events that will be visible from JavaScript
    /// </summary>
    public delegate void ControlEventHandler(string redirectUrl); 


    /// <summary>
    /// This interface shows events to javascript
    /// </summary>
    [Guid("68BD4E0D-D7BC-4cf6-BEB7-CAB950161E79")]
    [InterfaceType(ComInterfaceType.InterfaceIsIDispatch)]
    public interface ControlEvents
    {
        //Add a DispIdAttribute to any members in the source interface to specify the COM DispId.
        [DispId(0x60020001)]
        void OnClose(string redirectUrl); //This method will be visible from JS
    }
}

and i have created the testpage .html as

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" > 

<html>
  <head>
    <title>WebForm1</title>
    <meta name="GENERATOR" Content="Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 7.1">
    <meta name="CODE_LANGUAGE" Content="C#">
    <meta name=vs_defaultClientScript content="JavaScript">
    <meta name=vs_targetSchema content="http://schemas.microsoft.com/intellisense/ie5">
  </head>
  <body onload="OpenActiveX()">

  <!-- Our activeX object -->
  <OBJECT id="OurActiveX" name=”OurActiveX" classid="clsid:121C3E0E-DC6E-45dc-952B-A6617F0FAA32" VIEWASTEXT codebase="OurActiveX.cab"></OBJECT> 

  <!-- Attaching to an ActiveX event-->
<script language="javascript">
           function OurActiveX::OnClose(redirectionUrl)
       {
        alert(redirectionUrl);   <!-- http://otherwebsite.com should be returned-->
                    //window.location = redirectionUrl;
           }
</script>


<script language="javascript">
    //Passing parameters to ActiveX object and starting application
function OpenActiveX()
{
    try
    {
        document.OurActiveX.MyParam = "Hi I am here." //Passing parameter to the ActiveX
        document.OurActiveX.Open(); //Running method from activeX
    }
    catch(Err)
    {
        alert(Err.description);
    }
}   


</script>

  </body>
</html>

now when i am running the html page in internet explorer browser i am getting following error as

OBJECT DOES NOT SUPPORT PROPERTY OR METHOD OPEN

can you help me to fix these problem

waiting for your valuable comments and responses

Answer 1

Remove static from the method names, and you will be alright !!

Answer 2

You have to register your ActiveX control using the Microsoft .Net Framework regasm.exe tool.

To register your ActiveX control use the following steps:

1. Open a command prompt.
2. Navigate the installation directory of the .Net framework you are targeting (e.g. c:\windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework)

3. Type the following command

   regasm.exe /tlb /codebase "path to your ActiveX.dll"

4. Please note, if you are running on a x64 bit operating system you have to register your ActiveX control for x86 and x64 internet explorer. For x64 internet explorer you have to navigate to the x64 directory of the .Net Framework you are targeting and execute the following command:

   regasm.exe /tlb /codebase "path to your x64 ActiveX.dll"

During registration of your ActiveX dll you should see a message box with the message "Registered". Please not, if you compile your dlls with platform target "Any CPU" you can use the same dll for registering.

Answer 3

I would try un-registering the DLL, changing the GUID, and re-registering your class. Since setting MyParam appears to work, it may be that Open() was added at a later time, and the interface definition is not getting re-registered.

Answer 4

With your test page open in IE, open Internet Options from the tools button on the toolbar (in IE9), select the Security page, click the Custom button and scroll down to the "ActiveX Controls and plug-ins" section. You can enable prompting / enabling of ActiveX controls and scripting of them here.

By default, unsigned ActiveX controls are blocked in IE and signed ActiveX controls will raise a prompt.