ActiveX Curation: Difference between revisions

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An ActiveX Curation tutorial will be created in the near future. In the meantime, a link to the ActiveX player required to play ActiveX games, including many games on [http://www.zylom.com/us/en/ Zylom], can be found [http://game.zylom.com/activex/zylomgamesplayer.cab here].
Before curating ActiveX, make sure that you have the latest version of Flashpoint.


>How to recognize ActiveX application
== Recognizing ActiveX application ==


1. You can see text like "This game uses an ActiveX control and will not play in your browser" on the page.  
# You can see text like "This game uses an ActiveX control and will not play in your browser" on the page.
# The app tells you it needs Internet Explorer to work.


2. The app tells you it needs Internet Explorer to work.
== How to curate an ActiveX application ==


3. There's file with extension .cab.
The first thing you need to do is locate your ActiveX Control. This is typically a DLL or OCX file. You'll often find ActiveX Controls distributed in Cabinet (CAB) files. If your ActiveX Control is in a Cabinet file, open it in Windows Explorer so you can get the DLL or OCX file.


>Curating the application
Once you have the ActiveX Control, you need to move it into an ActiveX folder. If you look in Flashpoint at FPSoftware\ActiveX, you'll see a number of folders, and every folder has an ActiveX Control inside. Create a folder for your ActiveX Control and put it inside. The folder can have any name, but is typically named after the control itself.
You'll need to include your ActiveX folder in your curation when done. Include a FPSoftware folder alongside your content folder. Match the structure of your FPSoftware folder to the one in Flashpoint, i.e. create an ActiveX subfolder inside of it.


1. Go on the exact page the app is embedded using Internet Explorer (Version 11 or 10.).
Now, use the Flashpoint Launcher to create a new curation like normal. Set the Application Path to the startActiveX script:
   
  Application Path: FPSoftware\startActiveX.bat
2. Begin with downloading the .html/.htm file of that site (curlsdownloader is good for that purpose).  


3. Using Network tab of Dev Tools find out ActiveX controls (.cab files) loaded on the page and download them.
When you set the Launch Command, start with the URL. Then, specify the ActiveX Control's location within the ActiveX folder. But then, only for the first time you run this, add <code>--activex</code> onto the end of the Launch Command. Here's an example Launch Command, for the game Zenerchi:
<nowiki>http://www.shockwave.com/content/zenerchi/sis/index.html ZenerchiWeb.1.0.0.10\zenerchi.1.0.0.10.dll --activex</nowiki>
The first argument is the URL. The second argument is the location of the control (under FPSoftware\ActiveX.) And finally <code>--activex</code>.


4. Move downloaded files to htdocs folder.
Now, when you run this, it's going to prompt for administrator privileges.
Then it's going to take about five seconds to import the control.
And then (hopefully) it'll say it imported successfully and you can close the window.


5. Open downloaded .cab files, copy their contents to Flashpoint Core\FPSoftware\ActiveX\"Name of the game you're curating".
Finally, remove <code>--activex</code> from the end of your Launch Command.
so now it looks like:
<nowiki>http://www.shockwave.com/content/zenerchi/sis/index.html ZenerchiWeb.1.0.0.10\zenerchi.1.0.0.10.dll</nowiki>
And now, when you run it, it'll open a browser to the page with the control on it (and it should work).
Importing the control will have created a new configuration file in <code>FPSoftware\FlashpointSecurePlayerConfigs</code>, named after the control. Include this configuration file in your curation. Put it in the FlashpointSecurePlayerConfigs subfolder of the FPSoftware folder in your curation.


6. Start curation process, set Application Path to startActiveX.bat or FPSoftware\startActiveX_compat.bat (in case normal one doesn't work, what you'll check later).  
If the control does not work, it's possible that it requires other changes. For example, it may require to be run with Windows Compatibility Settings, or need to be run as an administrator. If so, the Flashpoint Secure Player can be used to accomplish that. If you are having trouble figuring out the correct options, ask for help in the Flashpoint Discord server.


7. Loading command is built from two parts. One refers to base .html/.htm, and the second to ActiveX control itself.
To be absolutely clear: your final curation should not have <code>--activex</code> in the Launch Command. Only you, the curator, should have it in your Launch Command the first time you launch the game, so that the configuration file is created.
http://cs.baylor.edu/~maurer/vdal/puzzles/rubiks_cube.htm RubiksCube\Rubik.ocx
As you can see, they are separated with space.


8. Fill in the launch command - the first part is path to base .html/.htm, whereas the second shows relative path from Flashpoint Core\FPSoftware\ActiveX to .ocx or .dll file copied from control (when in doubt, try the file that looks the most important).
<noinclude>
 
[[Category:Curation Guides]]
9. Launch curation, observe the Redirector window for assets not yet downloaded. Download them when applicable.
</noinclude>
 
10. To be sure that everything works properly use the application for a bit, click on every option etc.
 
11. Curate it, make metadata file, take screenshot of gameplay and logo.
 
ActiveX curation is not harder, but more complicated - If something doesn't work, check every step. If problem persists ask on Discord server in #curator-lounge.

Latest revision as of 03:38, 16 July 2023

Before curating ActiveX, make sure that you have the latest version of Flashpoint.

Recognizing ActiveX application

  1. You can see text like "This game uses an ActiveX control and will not play in your browser" on the page.
  2. The app tells you it needs Internet Explorer to work.

How to curate an ActiveX application

The first thing you need to do is locate your ActiveX Control. This is typically a DLL or OCX file. You'll often find ActiveX Controls distributed in Cabinet (CAB) files. If your ActiveX Control is in a Cabinet file, open it in Windows Explorer so you can get the DLL or OCX file.

Once you have the ActiveX Control, you need to move it into an ActiveX folder. If you look in Flashpoint at FPSoftware\ActiveX, you'll see a number of folders, and every folder has an ActiveX Control inside. Create a folder for your ActiveX Control and put it inside. The folder can have any name, but is typically named after the control itself. You'll need to include your ActiveX folder in your curation when done. Include a FPSoftware folder alongside your content folder. Match the structure of your FPSoftware folder to the one in Flashpoint, i.e. create an ActiveX subfolder inside of it.

Now, use the Flashpoint Launcher to create a new curation like normal. Set the Application Path to the startActiveX script: 

Application Path: FPSoftware\startActiveX.bat

When you set the Launch Command, start with the URL. Then, specify the ActiveX Control's location within the ActiveX folder. But then, only for the first time you run this, add --activex onto the end of the Launch Command. Here's an example Launch Command, for the game Zenerchi: 

http://www.shockwave.com/content/zenerchi/sis/index.html ZenerchiWeb.1.0.0.10\zenerchi.1.0.0.10.dll --activex

The first argument is the URL. The second argument is the location of the control (under FPSoftware\ActiveX.) And finally --activex.

Now, when you run this, it's going to prompt for administrator privileges. Then it's going to take about five seconds to import the control. And then (hopefully) it'll say it imported successfully and you can close the window.

Finally, remove --activex from the end of your Launch Command. so now it looks like: 

http://www.shockwave.com/content/zenerchi/sis/index.html ZenerchiWeb.1.0.0.10\zenerchi.1.0.0.10.dll

And now, when you run it, it'll open a browser to the page with the control on it (and it should work). Importing the control will have created a new configuration file in FPSoftware\FlashpointSecurePlayerConfigs, named after the control. Include this configuration file in your curation. Put it in the FlashpointSecurePlayerConfigs subfolder of the FPSoftware folder in your curation.

If the control does not work, it's possible that it requires other changes. For example, it may require to be run with Windows Compatibility Settings, or need to be run as an administrator. If so, the Flashpoint Secure Player can be used to accomplish that. If you are having trouble figuring out the correct options, ask for help in the Flashpoint Discord server.

To be absolutely clear: your final curation should not have --activex in the Launch Command. Only you, the curator, should have it in your Launch Command the first time you launch the game, so that the configuration file is created.

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