ActiveX Broken in FM7?

[Wrangler]

I found that FM7 scripts run by ActiveX did not work in VB6 applications using Sax Basic (VBA clone, www.sax.net). The same scripts work fine in FM6. I never had a problem with ActiveX before.

In order to have something FileMaker tech support could reproduce, I put together simple Ver 6 and Ver 7 examples using FM and Excel. These are attached; you click the button in Excel to create a new record in FM.

The FM6 version works reliably; the FM7 version eventually crashes at random times. It might crash right away, or after a number of records are created. If you can't get FM7 to run again, check Processes in Windows Task Manager.

The ActiveX capabilities of FileMaker are limited (lacking for example the ability to directly insert data into fields) but it still is very useful. For example, measured data files can be automatically inserted into FM records. This is especially useful in FM7 because the files can be put into container fields. I get the impression from this forum, however that ActiveX is not much used.

Here's hoping someone can help here!

FileMaker Version: 7

Platform: Windows XP

FM_ActiveX.zip

[Charles Delfs]

hmm Hope that gets fixed then. (did not try your sample)

It is true that ActiveX is seldom mentioned hear in the Forums. I use it to trigger scripts from a TSR (terminate and stay running) program that monitors a serial port scanner.

I think triggering scripts is it's only real feature but with more power and control via scripting this is not such a limitation as before.

Charles

[Wrangler]

This is a reply to my own previous posting. I have sent all this to FileMaker (got the e-mail address of an actual person there) and will keep this forum informed. Please ignore the test files in my previous posting and use the ones here instead.

I am interested if anyone gets the FM7 example to work. And if it does work, include operating system info and also if FM6 is on the same machine.

Here's what I wrote to FileMaker:

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After much experimentation I believe I have found the problem with FileMaker 7 ActiveX. It is more subtle than I initially thought. The attached files replace what I sent before.

I should point out that the machines I tested this on (3GHz Dell, IBM Thinkpad, both XP) have both FM6 and FM7 on them. It is possible that a machine with FM7 alone will be OK. But without standalone CD's of FM6 and FM7 (both are upgrade CD's) I don't dare uninstall FM6.

The problem seems to be related to creating and destroying the FileMaker object. The attached code illustrates this, I think unambiguously:

1. Open FileMaker 6 "Test FM6.fp5" and Excel "FM6 Test.xls". Clicking "New Records" adds 10 new records. Do this a few times to see it working.

2. Quit FileMaker 6 by using the "Quit" button in Excel or by closing FileMaker 6.

3. Click "New Records" in Excel again. You should get the error message "FileMaker 6 not open". Repeat this click a number of times. (I repeated this 20 times without problem.)

Now do the above, substituting FM7 examples. This leads to system hangups which require you to delete processes "Excel.exe" and "FileMaker Pro.exe" in Windows Task Manager.

In my testing, it appears that FileMaker Pro 7 does not always close properly (still shows in Task Manager) when clicking on it. But this seems dependent on what occurred before and so far I have not been able to reproduce it repeatably.

*************************************

Fred

FM_ActiveX2.zip