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I have a task which requires me to create rows of tables using MSXML ActiveXObjects. I don't understand what an ActiveXObject has to do with anything. How could I create a table with that? Why wouldn't I just create the table in the HTML DOM?

I read various threads and concluded that there seems to be a layer within the browser that is responsible for data transport of non-html related data. Is this essentially the point of ActiveXObjects?

This is essentially what I am trying to make: enter image description here I just don't understand what roll the ActiveXObject plays here

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chopper draw lion4
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    Could you show what you're expected to do with `ActiveXObject`? That's a pretty general facility. – Barmar Aug 25 '14 at 21:09
  • ActiveX is a generic technology for letting different Windows applications talk to each other through a standard API. We can't tell why your task would require its use. – Quentin Aug 25 '14 at 21:13
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    MSXML is ONE ActiveX object but it's NOT THE ONLY ONE. I suppose (because you _have to_ use MSXML) that task is to populate that table asynchronously with AJAX. Is this only purpose of ActiveX objects? No, of course it's not. BTW MSXML is a XML parser, to handle XML (but not only) remote requests ("data transport") ActiveX object to use is XMLHTTP). – Adriano Repetti Aug 25 '14 at 21:13
  • @AdrianoRepetti — Ajax would be implied by XMLHttpRequest (and that doesn't use ActiveX in recent versions of IE), not MSXML. – Quentin Aug 25 '14 at 21:16
  • @Quentin editing was in progress. I said "I suppose" because of that, even if XML file _may_ not come from AJAX I suspect it _was_ pretty common usage. BTW you're right about XMLHttpRequest! – Adriano Repetti Aug 25 '14 at 21:20

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It is actually pretty straight forward: the ActiveXObject is a Microsoft extension to JavaScript that provides you with an interface to Microsoft's software framework ActiveX. ActiveX basically is a set of modular software components which are used to build Microsoft's software products (which are in turn also available as ActiveX components, e.g. Excel).

Wikiped Article

You can find some examples on the use of the ActiveXObject in the link below.

MSDN Documentation

I can only guess what your task is, but if it involves at any point the use of a proprietary Microsoft specific software component, that would be the reason for using the ActiveXObject. Some functionalities provided by the ActiveXObject are however redundant (e.g. Microsoft.XMLHTTP since newer versions of Internet Explorer implement the standardized XMLHttpRequest interface).

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