Programmers can use Active Documents to provide a variety of new services previously
unavailable. Some of these services are summarized as follows:
The Active Document consists of two pieces: the Active Document (which contains
the data) and the Active Document Server. The data in an Active Document cannot be viewed
or edited without the Active Document Server present on the client machine. If the Active
Document Server is not on the client, a different document server may view the Document contents
if it can read the Document's data. This chapter covers the following topics:
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Using a UserDocument object, which is the basis of an Active Document, just as the
UserControl is the basis for an ActiveX control.
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Understanding and implementing UserDocument lifetime events.
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Using the necessary techniques to persist property values.
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Understanding the relationship of an Active Document to various types of container applications,
such as Internet Explorer or Office Binder, including the awareness of the container's
ViewPort in the Active Document and the coexistence of container and document menus.
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Implementing custom Active Document properties and methods.
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Understanding asynchronous downloads of property information in the background while
your document continues other processing.
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Knowing when you can use Modeless Forms in an Active Document.
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Writing code to navigate among container documents.
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Testing your Active Document project at design time.
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Compiling and distributing an Active Document including Internet distribution issues.
An Active Document application is a special type of ActiveX Component application
that acts very much like a form. The Active Document, however, is unlike a form
in that it integrates seamlessly into another special type of application known
as an Active Document container.
