TechNote

How can I use Adobe’s ActiveX components in my programs?

Adobe develops ActiveX component versions of its Adobe Shockwave and Adobe Flash Player playback engines which Adobe only tests in the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser and other ActiveX browsers listed in the system requirements here: http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/productinfo/systemreqs/.

These Active X components can be usable in many other Windows applications that can act as ActiveX containers. The decision to do so is subject to your own development skills and testing.

If you wish to use the ActiveX components in non-browser environments, be aware of the following things:

Licensing

If your users are using Microsoft Internet Explorer, they may already have the Adobe Flash Player and Shockwave Player ActiveX components on their computers. You can direct users to install the web players at www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer or www.adobe.com/go/getshockwave.

If this user-initiated step does not suit your needs, then you may license the web player installers for inclusion with your application installer; see www.adobe.com/licensing/distribution for details.

Support

Adobe's Technical Support for customers of its authoring programs can answer questions on the playback engines, the use of the authoring programs, and basic usage of Shockwave and Flash content in browsers. This product support does not extend to the use of the ActiveX Shockwave Player or Flash Player controls in other environments.

Again, Adobe does not test its ActiveX playback engines in other environments than Microsoft Internet Explorer and there is no guarantee that the ActiveX controls will work successfully in your custom environment. You may be able to use them to add compelling multimedia elements to your own applications, however, any issues must be reproduced in Internet Explorer before filing a bug to ensure the issue is with the web player and not with the custom application.