ArcGIS Engine Developer Guide

BUILDING APPLICATIONS WITH ACTIVEX
Rather than walk through this scenario, you can
get the completed application from the samples
installation location. The sample is installed as
part of the ArcGIS developer samples.
The ArcGIS developer samples are not included
in the typical installation of the ArcGIS Engine
Developer Kit. If you do not have them installed,
rerun the Developer Kit Install wizard, click
Custom or Modify, and click the samples feature
under Software developer kit.
ActiveX is another term for a Microsoft Component
Object Model object. All of ArcObjects is
based on COM, and the ArcGIS controls are
COM objects.
This walkthrough is for developers who want to build and deploy an application
using ActiveX. It describes the process of building and deploying an application
using the ArcGIS controls.
You can find this sample in:
\DeveloperKit\samples\Developer_Guide_Scenarios\
Building_an_ArcGIS_Controls_Map_Viewer_ApplicationVisual_Basic.zip
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The goal of this scenario is to demonstrate and familiarize you with the steps
required to develop and deploy a GIS application using the standard ArcGIS
controls within a COM API. This scenario uses the MapControl,
PageLayoutControl, TOCControl, ToolbarControl, and LicenseControl as
ActiveX Controls within the Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 development environment.
C++, Java, and .NET programmers should refer to the following scenarios
available later in this chapter: ‘Building a command-line C++ application’, ‘Building
applications with visual JavaBeans’, ‘Building a command-line Java application’,
and ‘Building applications with Windows Controls’.
This scenario demonstrates the steps required to create a GIS application for
viewing preauthored ESRI map documents, or MXDs. The scenario covers the
following techniques:
• Loading and embedding the ArcGIS controls in Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0
• Loading preauthored map documents into the MapControl and
PageLayoutControl
• Setting ToolbarControl and TOCControl buddy controls
• Handling form resize
• Adding Control commands and tools to the ToolbarControl
• Creating popup menus
• Managing label editing in the TOCControl
• Drawing shapes on the MapControl
• Creating a custom tool to work with the MapControl, PageLayoutControl,
and ToolbarControl
• Customizing the ToolbarControl
• License configuration using the LicenseControl
• Deploying the application onto a Windows operating system
CONCEPTS
This scenario is implemented using the Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 development
environment and uses the ArcGIS controls as ActiveX components. ActiveX
refers to a set of technologies that enables software components written in
different languages to work together in a networked environment. Each ActiveX
ArcGIS control has events, properties, and methods that can be accessed once the
control is embedded within an ActiveX container such as a Visual Basic form.
The objects and functionality within each control can be combined with other
ESRI ArcObjects and custom controls to create customized end user applications.
282 • ArcGIS Engine Developer Guide