If your personal computer uses any 32-bit Windows operating system, a number of Windows files with the "OCX" file name suffix reside on your PC. Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) was Microsoft's program technology for supporting compound documents such as the Windows desktop. The Component Object Model now encompasses OLE as part of a broader concept. The term "ActiveX control" is now used by Microsoft instead of "OCX" for the component object.

One of the leading benefits of a component is that it can be created and re-used by many applications (referred to as component containers because they use the Component Object Model program interfaces) in the same computer or distributed network. This reusable component approach to application development reduces design time and improves program capability and quality. An ActiveX control is implemented as a Dynamic Link Library (DLL) module. It can be created in any programming language that recognizes Microsoft's Component Object Model (COM). For example, you can create A COM object (ActiveX control) using one of several languages or design tools such as C++ and Visual Basic, or PowerBuilder, or with scripting tools such as VBScript.

Designed specifically for Microsoft Windows-based desktop platforms, ActiveX controls are downloaded once from a Web Server or from CAB files via the HTTP protocol and installed on a Windows-based desktop platform.

HostFront's ActiveX methods can be used, for example, to extend the functionality of an order-entry host application by allowing users to place an online order. By clicking on the Order button on their Web browser, users can start a behind-the-scene process that:

HostFront's ActiveX methods may be used to create ASP scripts in any development environment such as Visual Basic and C++.