WebServices - Client-Side COM.DLL deployment.

[RookPSU]

Still new to .NET and especially WebServices I am slowly stepping through a little service piece I put together.

What is the .NET equivilant to a client side ActiveX control and what's the standard way of deploying it. Can you initiate a client side install via a WebService or will it have to be deployed via an ASP.NET page.

Any help at all would be appreciated.

-Ryan

 

[NoCoolHandle]

There is no replacement in DotNet for an activeX control which can be hosted inside a webpage. All asp.net controls are server/client side (depending on the browser). ActiveX is allowed to do things that only an applicaton can.

DotNet does allow you to create ActiveX Controls however (but it isn't as easy as it was in VB6).

DotNet also allows for SingleClick Deployment via a webpage. However these apps (depenidng on the exact insall method) my still get stuck in a big sandbox like JavaScript as DotNet checks what your code is doing and might disable a fair amount of what you want your app to do.

WebServices..
Think of them as a bunch of business (or data) logic that exists on a webserver. WEbservices have method calls with arguments and return anything you could return with a com object or dot net component. (well I can't think of any limits to what you can return that you could with the other options)

They are not and should not be thought of as client code.
The can be referenced in Desktop apps and really inhance the concept of a distributed applicaion.!

HTH

ROb