Trail: PROIV Documentation > Administration > Control Panel > The Client OCX

The PROIV Client that is downloaded to the user's browser by the Client Administration is an ActiveX component (OCX). This is held on the Client Administration server as a signed 'CAB' file.

Versioning

The Client Administration server is shipped with a version of the PROIV client OCX.

You can upgrade the version of the PROIV client OCX at any time using the Client Administration management. The CAB file is kept in the Webapps/root/Client Administration/lib/ sub directory under the Client Administration installation directory. You can also replace the cab file with a customized CAB file (see the Customizing a CAB File section below).

Installing a new PROIV Client OCX CAB File

When a maintenance release of the PROIV client OCX becomes available it will be distributed as a CAB file with a specific version number. To update your Client Administration with the new version follow the steps below:

  1. Upload the CAB file using the Manage Cab Files section. Ensure the correct version number is entered against the CAB.

  2. Select the new CAB file in the OCX drop-down (settings section) using the Modifying a PROIV Service section.

The modified service will automatically upgrade all users of the service when they next start a new session.

Differences between operation of PROIV Client OCX and PROIV Windows Client

For the user the PROIV Client OCX is very similar to PROIV Windows Client. However there are some differences caused by the PROIV Client OCX being a web application.

  1. FIT TO FONT – Since the Client Administration is not a windows GUI pane, FIT TO FONT is not supported.

  2. STATUS BAR UPDATES – Unlike the Windows client, the status bar is updated only at the time of input to improve performance.

  3. PROIVCONST.INI – The usage of this file is NOT supported. Equivalent functionality is provided using the Client Administration.

  4. Saving a PIV – The option to Load/Save a PIV (PROIV Session Definition) is provided from the toolbar. However, in a web situation, saving does not mean much other than for debugging purposes. Saving a PIV for debugging purposes will be provided in future.

Customizing a CAB File

A cab file is created using Microsoft provided tools to package an ActiveX control (an OCX). For a detailed description of this technology refer to the Microsoft's 'Packaging ActiveX Control' document.

Customizing a CAB file involves the following steps:

  1. Deciding which components are to be shipped with the client (this could involve the addition of extra application specific components). If the developer has used a DLL that is called by the PROIV client using LINK_CLIENT, then this DLL needs to be shipped with the client as a part of the CAB file. You do not need to do this for the graphics, which are downloaded by the client from the server.

  2. Modifying the INF file to include these components. For detailed explanation on how to modify the inf file, refer to the Microsoft's 'Packaging ActiveX Control' document.

  3. Decompressing the existing cab file. This can be done using any popular zip utilities like winzip or cabarc.

  4. Adding the extra components and running compression utility. Refer to the Microsoft's 'Packaging ActiveX Control' document and run the cabarc utility.

  5. To put an application specific signature in the CAB file. If you want to use an application specific signature rather than the PROIV signature you need to run signcode. The documentation for this utility can be found here.

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Topic ID: 100036