luser

Thanks Arm_Chair:

Actually, I've been able to view the guts that the control exposes using the VB IDE since I started experimenting. My original hope was that there would be some documentation I just wasn't aware of that spells out the usage of the control. By this time I'm pretty sure there's no such documentation.

I was able to make an initial start on using the control by following some of the documentation for the Windows client, though. Most of what I've posted in this thread is about the problems I had getting to that point. The first problem I was having was (I think) due to something getting scrambled in the registry on my first attempt to embed the control. If I had ever had previous experience using ActiveX controls I probably would have recognized what was going on from the start and you guys could have been spared a lot of my tears.

The second problem-- the message about the kernel offering a different protocol than the client expects-- pretty much seems like a brick wall. Getting that error was a fairly crushing blow to my morale in this little project...

Folks, I hate to say so after I've made so much noise in this forum, but by this time I've pretty much decided to pursue my first idea of writing an interactive program that works by screen-scraping a "green screen" Glovia session. It seems to me that if I go that route I will greatly reduce the number of things I have to try to use that I can't control or even study beneath some black-box type surface.

As it is, I have no way to control how the server negotiates a protocol to communicate with the OCX client. I also don't see any way to guide the client through a negotiation, and the error I got suggests to me that the client control wouldn't even recognize some of the server's communications if I could do so. If I was really motivated, and had complete documentation of server protocol 35 and client protocol 68, I might try to make some sort of middleman program to sit between the client and server to act as a translator between the two. That sounds like it would be bending over backward to try to use a tool, though, even if I had documentation for the protocols. And I haven't found any kind of documentation for the protocols

By making a screen-scraping interface, the only thing that's really closed off to me is how the server itself is coded. I'll be doing my programming in Python, and the communication protocol is telnet-- both of which are documented and open for me to examine down to whatever minutia I can tolerate. The Glovia kernel would then be the only black box I'd have to worry about.

I'll be tinkering with that approach for the next little bit. I won't bother the people in this forum with the problems I'll run into doing screen scraping, since this isn't the place to discuss that sort of thing. If I get to the point where I'm comfortable that everything's working the way I like it, I'll probably post back with a quick "it works". I'll probably also check this thread every now and then on the off chance that someone out there knows how to make the client speak fluent "protocol 35"

For now, I do appreciate everyone who's offered me their help, hints, and thoughts. 'Till next time, hope life treats you wonderfully!

An update--

I guess I do have some problem somewhere in the ActiveX chain for the control. I've repeated my earlier steps on a different machine & have gotten past the initial phases. So far I've gotten to the point where username and password are sent to the server when I get the following error message:
"Unknown protocol offered by PROIV kernel, expected 68, offered 35."

--whoops! a little too quick on the "Add Reply" button there...

Anyway Rob, what I was saying is that this might end up being a case of using a cannon to kill a fly. In all probablility, when the solution to my current problem becomes apparent, it will end up with me slapping my head & yelling "Duh!" Most likely, the main issue here is the footing of supreme ignorance I'm starting out from.

Fair warning, and again, many thanks for the reply.

Hello Rob:

Just to be safe I tried starting fresh, hopefully following your instructions exactly. Previously I've been working with VB 5.0, so on the off chance that my problem was due to using such an old version I used the Visual Basic Editor in Excel 2000. In case it's of any interest, the operating system is XP Professional.

Here's what I did, step by step:
--Created UserForm1
--"Tools" menu--> "Additional Controls"--> checked the "PROIV Client" checkbox
--dragged the control from the toolbox onto UseForm1
--Typed in the following for UserForm_Initialize() (VBA doesn't support the LOAD event, but I get the same results anyway)

Private Sub UserForm_Initialize()
    ProIVClientOCX1.AskBeforeConnect = True
    ProIVClientOCX1.LocalKernel = False
    ProIVClientOCX1.HostName = "ProivServerIPAddress"
    ProIVClientOCX1.PromptForSecurity = False
    ProIVClientOCX1.Connect
End Sub

--and I still get the "Argument not optional" error when I try to run the form. This happens whether or not I set the Username and Password properties.

One thing that may be worth noting is that this is the first time I've ever tried to use an OCX for anything. When I first tried to put the control into a form I kept getting an error until I finally used an account with administrative rights to insert it. I never made any changes to the registry to formally register the control, but it does show up in the list of available additional controls now.

Rob, I appreciate your reply and I assure you I will gladly accept any help you care to offer. However, I see that you are member #1 of this forum, which tells me that if you aren't the founding father of this site then you are probably his brother. This is almost a little troubling to me,

(This is long, if you want to skip down to the punch line read the final sentence)

OK, I've done some more tinkering. I still haven't met with success, but I'm convinced I'm on the right track. The ProIVClient.ocx file is almost certainly an ActiveX version of the ProIV client: in other words, it's exactly what I want. The methods and properties available in the control match 1:1 with settings presented in the "Options" dialog and with other ProIV Client actions and events.

It seems to me the closest thing to documentation for this control is the "Windows Client User Guide". Chapter 3 ("Establishing Connectivity") names the settings in the Options dialog that are necessary for establishing a connection from the client. I've gone through the steps listed in that section and successfully established a connection from the client--
--set host to xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
--left port set at 23
--checked the "Login via terminal" radio button
--terminal command is "telnet"
--Set a terminal window title
--left terminal type as "PROIV"
Once I enter those settings, I'm able to hit the "Connect" button & things work as expected.

So now I'm trying to duplicate those steps in Visual Basic. I've inserted the client control into a form and put in the following code to set the essential properties:
ProIVClientOCX1.LocalKernel = False
ProIVClientOCX1.HostName() = "xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx"
ProIVClientOCX1.HostPort() = "23"
ProIVClientOCX1.TerminalCommand = "telnet"
ProIVClientOCX1.TerminalTitle = "Telnet to test environment"
ProIVClientOCX1.TerminalTypeWanted = "PROIV"
ProIVClientOCX1.TerminalPort = "3682"
ProIVClientOCX1.EnableSingleClick = True

I don't know if I've entered those properties correctly or not, because I haven't been able to execute the "Connect" method!!!!

VB's Object Browser has the following to say about the Connect method:
Sub Connect()

And a freeware ActiveX control browser I found says this--
void Connect()

Neither seems overly informative, but both seem to indicate that the method doesn't take any arguments-- I would think I should just be able to call it when I'm ready and it will try to make a connection per the previous property settings.

No such luck, though. When I try the following--
ProIVClientOCX1.Connect
--I get a "Run-time error 449: Argument not optional"

I've tried adding random strings as arguments to see if any clues will pop up--
ProIVClientOCX1.Connect ("asdf")
--and I get "Compile error: wrong number of arguments or invalid property assignment"

Please—if anyone out there has knowledge or just an educated guess on how I’m supposed to call the “Connect” method, you will have my undying gratitude…