by
Marko Rüterbories
| Feb 11, 2012
If your current OpenEdge GUI application is using Active X Controls, this Progress Software knowledge base article might be of interest for you:
Critical Alert: Issues migrating applications that use ActiveX/COM objects to OpenEdge 11: http://knowledgebase.progress.com/articles/Critical_Alert/000028532?q=Issues+migrating+applications+that+use+ActiveX/COM+objects+to+OpenEdge
Due to a change to the latest Microsoft Visual Studio compiler that Progress Software is using for building the OpenEdge client products and the activation of additional security settings (DEP, Data Execution Prevention) some Active X Controls may fail to execute properly in OpenEdge GUI applications after migrating to OpenEdge 11. Those issues are not specific to the OpenEdge client and can be seen with other C++ applications built using the latest Microsoft Visual Studio compiler and the same security settings.
As the knowledge base article suggests, as the application programmer you need to check with your Active X Control vendor if they have a more recent version of their Controls available that complies with the DEP security settings of the Visual Studio Compiler.
Another alternative – especially advisable when the Active X Control vendor does not provide a more recent version of the Control in question – is to consider migrating parts of your application or the whole application to the OpenEdge GUI for .NET. Our WinKit toolkit and consulting services simplify the integration of any existing OpenEdge GUI application into the GUI for .NET. Our WinKit will replace standard elements of the classical OpenEdge GUI with Infragistics .NET Controls (OpenEdge UltraControls) and embed other GUI elements into .NET Forms in a way that leaves the existing screen- und business logic mostly unchanged. The migrated application provides a platform for further integration of .NET features and Controls. As such the migrated application provides an optimal starting point to replace Active X Controls with .NET Controls.
Active X Controls working properly in the classic OpenEdge GUI of OpenEdge 11 will also work with embedded windows and the WinKit. So when using the WinKit a change from using Active X Controls to .NET Controls is only required when your Active X Control vendor does not provide you with an updated version or you are seeing other technical benefits from migrating certain Active X Controls to .NET Controls (like enhanced functionality or a more recent look and feel).
Questions? Interested? Please use the feedback form, check out https://www.consultingwerk.com/products/winkit/ or email us at info@consultingwerk.de.
In any case we do recommend that everybody using Active X Controls checks with their Control vendor long before migrating to OpenEdge 11 if their Controls are compatible with Visual Studio 2010 and DEP (Data Execution Prevention). Certainly a combination known to every support organization at every Active X Control vendor…