Hosting MSHTML from an Application

An application can be a host container for MSHTML, providing its own user interface instead of the standard MSHTML menus and toolbars. The hosting application can also intercept any of the MSHTML UI, such as context menus and message boxes. The following list shows the two ways hosting can be done:

• Host MSHTML as an Active Document.

  MSHTML is an Active Document, and can be hosted in an application that implements the Active Document hosting interfaces. In this mode of operation, MSHTML supplies its own UI for context menus to the containing application, although the container can replace the UI, if this is required, by implementing additional interfaces.

• Aggregate MSHTML to create an Active Document.

  If a host needs to provide extra services and functionality, but still needs to be an Active Document for use within another application, it can do so by aggregating MSHTML. This permits the host to take advantage of the MSHTML implementation of Active Document server interfaces without having to implement them again, while still allowing the host to wrap MSHTML to provide additional functionality and its own UI.

For more information about implementing an Active Document host, see this Microsoft Web site.

See Also

Internet Explorer MSHTML/DHTML API

 Last updated on Friday, April 09, 2004

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