The ActiveX Control and the DLL for either Drawing or Fonts provide the same basic functionality.
Choosing between using the ActiveX Control and the DLL is a decision based on your programming environment and how you want to program.
You need to answer the following questions:
• Does your design environment support ActiveX controls? If not, then you must use the DLL. Most design environments (e.g. Visual C++, Visual Basic, Delphi, Visual FoxPro, and Access) support ActiveX controls.
• What kind of programming interface do you want?
If you use the DLL, then you will need to set all the bar code parameters as members of a structure (or type), then call the functions in the DLL to actually draw or print the bar code.
If you use the ActiveX Control, then you will need to set the control properties that are different from the default settings. The drawing is done automatically for the ActiveX Control. To print the bar code, you will need to call the control's methods.
• If you need to bind the bar code to a database, use the ActiveX Control. Most of the properties of the ActiveX Control can be bound to a database field. In general, using the ActiveX Control is recommended. It provides all the functionality of the DLL but with an easier to use interface.
Choosing between using the ActiveX Control and the DLL is a decision based on your programming environment and how you want to program.
You need to answer the following questions:
• Does your design environment support ActiveX controls? If not, then you must use the DLL. Most design environments (e.g. Visual C++, Visual Basic, Delphi, Visual FoxPro, and Access) support ActiveX controls.
• What kind of programming interface do you want?
If you use the DLL, then you will need to set all the bar code parameters as members of a structure (or type), then call the functions in the DLL to actually draw or print the bar code.
If you use the ActiveX Control, then you will need to set the control properties that are different from the default settings. The drawing is done automatically for the ActiveX Control. To print the bar code, you will need to call the control's methods.
• If you need to bind the bar code to a database, use the ActiveX Control. Most of the properties of the ActiveX Control can be bound to a database field. In general, using the ActiveX Control is recommended. It provides all the functionality of the DLL but with an easier to use interface.