Anybody interested in an NCPlot ActiveX?

[MetLHead]

I've been throwing around the idea of making available an ActiveX version of NCPlot, either as an ActiveX .EXE or an ActiveX control. Are there any programmers out there that would be interested in this?

Thanks,
Scott

[Karl_T]

I'm only a lowly user

I use NCplot with my PC control, Camsoft in my case. Edit in control, check file in NCplot, re-edit on control, recheck in NCplot. It would be nice to be less combersome here. Is this what you're talking about?

Karl

[MetLHead]

Yes, I think you have the idea. This type of approach would allow for software developers to integrate NCPlot right into their own applications. This can save a significant amount of development time by giving the developer pre-made building blocks to work with.

Scott

[fatal-exception]

I create activex controls too, so I see the value of such a product. Were you thinking of selling the control, or giving it away?

Either way, I would be interested in it since I'm working on a suite of g-code generation tools for specific tasks such as facing, pocketing, ect. Would be nice to just pass the code to something that will show me the toolpaths...

Paul

[MetLHead]

Hi Paul,

This would be something that I would sell. But I've got a question for you, since you say you create ActiveX controls. How do you handle redistribution? Many of the ActiveX controls you find for sale on the internet will charge a one-time fee for the controls and then allow unlimited distribution with your application. Since I'm looking at making an ActiveX out of an entire application, this would make it too easy for someone to buy the control, drop it on a form and then give it away as their "own" application. Obviously, I would want to try to avoid that. Do you sell your controls? How do you handle this?

Thanks,
Scott

[jemmyell]

Scott, I bought an ActiveX LED display control for a Mach3 DNC / Remote control plugin that I am working on for my CAD / CAM application. This control and most others that allow redistrbution limit this just by a license agreement that forbids 'substantially similar' appliactions / controls (usually just a wrapper). The license states the control MUST be used in an application program with 'significant functionality'. You can also forbid exposing the controls interfaces from a secondary interface. Some ActiveX controls are license (runtime license) limited to a 'design time' versus 'runtime' deployment. I don't know if 'design time' limitations work with C++ which is where I use my controls.

BTW, my beta docs promote NCPLOT free, which I think is really great!

[fatal-exception]

Scott/James - Our company does what you mentioned, we sell a one time license, and allow the buyer to redistribute to as many people as they want. I've looked at many options about licensing, but it's pretty tricky. James is right about the design time/runtime thing, which is what most activeX vendors do.

I bought a grid control that requires a key to be on the computer where the development is done. It can be distributed and works at run time, but without the key the end user can't use the control at design time. (of course if the developer includes the key in the installer, this is all for nothing, but chances are they wouldn't do this)

You can't really use an challenge/activation type scheme for an activeX control, since it's too difficult to track once your developers start distributing the control.

There is alot of information about licencing active x controls available from MS. Maybe .net handles it easier than vb6???

Paul

[MetLHead]

Thanks for the input guys, I can see that I would have to be very careful about how the licensing works. Maybe a better approach would be break the application into smaller parts and license them individually. Then you can use just the parts you want. But my main interest at this point is to see if it is worth the effort to create these controls. It sounds like I've got one vote so far!

Thanks,
Scott