Transcript ActiveX ToolWorX Presentation

ICONICS
ActiveX ToolWorX
V 6.1
AGENDA
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Introduction & Overview
Demonstration: GWXGauge
ActiveX Toolkit Architecture
Programming Techniques
Demonstration: Creating a New
ActiveX Control with ActiveX
ToolWorX
Part 1
Introduction/Overview
Recommended Knowledge
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Visual C++ 6.0
MFC
Microsoft Developer’s Studio
OLE Automation
Win 32
Building ActiveX controls with MFC
ActiveX Controls
• Component/modular software design
• Can be embedded into any ActiveX
container
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Visual Basic Forms
HTML pages for Internet Explorer
ICONICS’ GraphWorX32 HMI Application
Your own custom built container
• Methods, Properties, and Events
• Usually In-process
ActiveX ToolWorX
• A development toolkit for easy creation
of OPC (OLE for Process Control)
enabled ActiveX controls
• Featuring
– OPC Connectivity
– Powerful Animation Capabilities
– Built-in UI controls (sliders, buttons, etc.)
OPC Connectivity
• Easy support for connection to OPC
servers
– Automatically handles OPC data updates
(reads and writes); just provide a tag name,
the toolkit takes care of the rest.
– OPC Tag Browser included for tag name
selection user interface
Powerful Animation
• Includes all the animation capabilities of
ICONICS’ GraphWorX32 HMI product
– Compose images with rectangles, lines,
ellipses, text, bitmaps, and more...
– Transform images: Size, Location,
Rotation, Color, and more...
• Updates are fast and flicker-free
Built-in UI Controls
• Toolkit includes handling of User Input
controls
– Sliders and dials for writing analog values
– Numeric/text entry fields
– Buttons for downloading/toggling values
• No need to worry about handling mouse
clicks, mouse moves, or keystrokes for
these input controls; the toolkit takes
care of it.
Origins of ActiveX ToolWorX
• Toolkit was created by ICONICS to
assist in development of ICONICS
component ActiveXs
• Leverages functionality developed by
ICONICS for GraphWorX32 HMI
Application
• Resulting toolkit is “general purpose”
(useful to developers other than
ICONICS).
Advantages of Using ActiveX
ToolWorX
• Rapid development because there is no
need to implement features already
supported by the toolkit (OPC
connectivity, animation, UI controls,
etc.)
• Permits focus on component-specific
functionality (build desired
“intelligence” into your component)
• Don’t even need to understand OPC (the
toolkit abstracts it)
What is Included in the Toolkit?
• ICONICS ActiveX ToolWorX Wizard
– Automatically generates the framework source
code for developing ActiveX controls using
ActiveX ToolWorX
• ActiveX ToolWorX Developer’s Guide
Documentation
– Detailed instructions on how to use the toolkit
– Explanation of the toolkit’s architecture
– GraphWorX32 OLE Automation Reference
What is Included in the Toolkit?
• GwxExtDll.DLL
– Dynamic link library containing HMI
functionality (more on this later)
• olexpress.DLL
– Contains OPC related functionality (this
DLL is used by GwxExtDll; you will not
need to use this DLL directly)
• TagBrowser.DLL
– OPC tag browser
What is Included in the Toolkit?
• Gwx32.TLB
– Type library for OLE Automation
supported by GwxExtDll
• GWXGauge ActiveX
– Example ActiveX control created using the
toolkit
• Source code of GWXGauge
– A valuable resource for understanding how
to create controls using the toolkit
• Other miscellaneous support files
GWXGauge
• GWXGauge is an OPC enabled ActiveX
control developed with ActiveX
ToolWorX
• Gauge has over 100 properties making it
a highly flexible component
• Source code for the gauge included in
the toolkit demonstrates a wide variety
of programming techniques that can be
used with the toolkit
Part 2
Architecture
GwxExtDll.DLL
• Significant portions of ICONICS’ GraphWorX32
HMI product have been encapsulated in this DLL
• This DLL is an MFC Extension DLL
• The extention DLL exports a single class
CGwxControl (a COleControl derived class).
Your new controls are derived off of
CGwxControl (instead of COleControl), thus
inheriting all of the functionality in GwxExtDll
• GwxExtDLL exposes a rich set of OLE
automation properties/methods for manipulating
the base control
ActiveX Toolkit Architecture
ActiveX Container Application
Instances of your ActiveX Controls
ActiveX “A” Code
ActiveX “B” Code
OLE Automation
OLE Automation
GwxExtDll.DLL Code
GwxExtDll Data
GwxExtDll Data
OPC Data OPC Data
OLExpress FrameWorX
OPC Data
OPC Server
ActiveX ToolWorX Wizard
• The released version of the toolkit will
include a wizard for automatically
generating framework source code for
developing ActiveX controls using
ActiveX ToolWorX
• To help understand the toolkit better, the
tasks automated by the wizard are
described in the ActiveX ToolWorX
documentation
Tasks Performed by the Wizard
• Create a new Visual C++ project using
Microsoft’s MFC ActiveX Control Wizard
• In Build-Settings-Link-Release add
GwxExtDll.LIB
• In Build-Settings-Link-Debug add
GwxExtDlld.LIB
– When you are building a debug version of your
ActiveX, you need to use the debug version of
GwxExtDll to ensure that the ActiveX registers
properly
Tasks Performed by the Wizard
• Change your control class to be derived
from CGwxControl instead of
COleControl
– Replace all instance of COleControl in
your control class (.cpp and .h file)
– Include Control.h in the .cpp files of your
control class and application class
• Control.h is the class definition file for
CGwxControl
Tasks Performed by the Wizard
• Replace the default drawing code in
OnDraw() to:
– CGwxControl::OnDraw(pdc, rcBounds, rcInvalid)
– This allows the base class, CGwxControl, to do
all the drawing
• In InitInstance(), just before returning, add
the following code:
– InitialGraphWorXExtensionDll();
– This function insures the MFC properly handles
the current module state
Tasks Performed by the Wizard
• Inherit desired properties and methods
of the base class by modifying the ODL
file of your project
– Copy the properties/methods you want
from GWXview32.ODL (file provided in
the toolkit)
– Modify the ID numbers such that the first
bit of the hi-word is set
Tasks Performed by the Wizard
• Using Class Wizard, add a new class by
importing the GwxDisplay object type
from Gwx32.TLB
– This provides easy access to exposed
methods/properties of GwxExtDll
– To use the new class (IGwx32) add a new
member variable to your control class.
Initialize the variable as follows:
• LPDISPATCH lpDispatch = GetDisplay();
• m_lpDispatch = new IGwx32(lpDispatch);
– Delete this member in the destructor of
your control class
Tasks Performed by the Wizard
• Optionally override default settings of
the base control’s properties in the
constructor of your control class
– The following example would turn on the
scrollbars by default in your derived
control:
• m_verticalScrollbar = TRUE;
• m_horizontalScrollbar = TRUE;
Part 3
Programming
Techniques
Programming Tasks
• Create GraphWorX32 objects which
make up the control
– Create lines, rectangles, dynamic
transformations, etc. that define the look
and behavior of your ActiveX
• Manipulate existing GraphWorX32
objects in the control
– Associate properties of your ActiveX
control with properties of the lines,
rectangles, dynamic transformations, etc.
that comprise your control.
Creating Objects
• There are two primary techniques you
can use to create GraphWorX32 objects
with the toolkit
– Dynamic programmatic creation of objects
via OLE automation
– Loading a pre-created set of objects created
visually using GraphWorX32 HMI
application
Programmatic Creation
• Use OLE automation methods defined
in Gwx32.TLB to create the
GraphWorX32 objects, based on the
current values of your ActiveX’s
properties
– Use methods such as CreateRectangle()
and CreateSizeDynamic() to build up the
visual appearance and behavior of your
ActiveX
Visual Creation
• Create the objects for your ActiveX
visually using GraphWorX32
• Bind the resulting display file directly
into your ActiveX resources
• Load the display from the resource area
via FileOpen() method
Programmatic vs. Visual Creation
• Programmatic Creation is highly
flexible but more difficult to program
– Layout of objects is unrestricted, but logic for
intelligent layout can be tricky
– This is the technique used by GWXGauge
• Visual Creation is very easy to program,
but tends to be less flexible
– Layout of objects is done visually, but this layout
is generally fixed
– Can include bitmaps in the layout
– This technique is good for controls which are
visually complex, but tend not to vary much in
their appearance
Example: Programmatic Creation
• To create a resizing bar
m_lpDispatch->CreateRectangle(l,t,w,h,filled,fillColor,lineColor,
lineWidth,lineStyle,shadow,shadowColor,edgeStyle,hidden,
”bar1”,rounded)->Release();
LPDISPATCH lpDisp = m_lpDispatch->CreateSizeDynamic(“bar1”,”size1”,
sizeType,clip,startSize,endSize);
IGwxDynamic sizeDispDrv(lpDisp);
sizeDispDrv.SetDataSource(dataSource);
sizeDispDrv.SetRangeOverride(rangeOverride);
if (rangeOverride)
{
sizeDispDrv.SetLowRange(lowRange);
sizeDispDrv.SetHighRange(highRange);
}
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Don’t forget to release dispatch pointers
Example: Creation by FileOpen()
• First, visually create the control’s display using
GraphWorX32
• Import the display into your project via
Insert/Resource/Custom
– Specify the resource type as “GWX32_DISPLAY”
– Store the resource id of the display as a string name (for instance,
“GWX32_MYCONTROL1”)
• Load the display from the resource area using
FileOpen() method, passing the file name in the
special format:
– “LoadDisplayFromResource:string representation of
module handle:resource name string”
Example: Creation by FileOpen()
• Sample Code:
HINSTANCE hModule = AfxGetResourceHandle();
CString strModuleHandle;
strModuleHandle.Format(_T("%ld"),(long)hModule);
CString strDisplayName(_T("LoadDisplayFromResource:"));
strDisplayName += strModuleHandle;
strDisplayName += _T(":GWX32_MYCONTROL1");
m_lpDispatch->FileOpen(strDisplayName);

Note: you can bind more than one display
file into your ActiveX, loading any one of
those displays based on property value
Handling Property Changes
• When a property of your ActiveX changes, you
need to update the object(s) affected by that
property
• Get the dispatch pointer of the appropriate object,
given the object’s name (the name of an object is
specified when the object is first created).
• Example: changing the data source
LPDISPATCH lpDisp =
m_lpDispatch->GetDynamicObjectFromName(objName);
if (lpDisp != NULL) {
IGwxDynamic lpDispDrv(lpDisp);
lpDispDrv.SetDataSource(newDataSource); }
Demonstration
Creating a new ActiveX Control with
ActiveX ToolWorX
Summary
• ICONICS’ ActiveX ToolWorX allows you
to rapidly develop OPC enabled ActiveX
controls with fast, flicker-free animation,
and user input capabilities
• Components made with ActiveX ToolWorX
can be embedded into any ActiveX
container