Visual Basic Concepts

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In-Process and Out-of-Process ActiveX Documents

When you create an ActiveX document, you are creating an ActiveX component, and as such, the component can be either in-process or out-of-process.

For More Information   For a detailed description about the difference between in-process and out-of-process components, see "In-Process and Out-of-Process Components."

The Case for DLLs

There are a few reasons why you may want to create your ActiveX document as an in-process component (.dll file).

  1. The performance of an in-process component, or .dll file, will surpass the performance of the same component compiled as an .exe.

  2. Multiple clients accessing the same .exe can overwrite global data. For example, imagine a suite of ActiveX documents being used by two different instances of Internet Explorer. Also imagine that the suite uses a global object variable to store a numeral, such as an interest rate. If the value of the variable is changed by one set of documents, the other set will begin using the new value with no indication that it has changed.