# ActiveX control

An ActiveX control is an off-the-shelf software component created by a third-party vendor. An ActiveX control provides functions which can be accessed by FactoryTalk View ME Station through the object's properties. ActiveX objects use tags or expressions to exchange information with the data source. The properties and connections available for a particular ActiveX object depend on the third-party vendor’s implementation.

Important: | The run-time behavior of an ActiveX control depends on the vendor's implementation. Test the object thoroughly before you run an application to ensure the object behaves as expected.

The information passed between FactoryTalk View ME Station and an ActiveX control must be in one of the formats used by a tag:

- Analog number
- Digital number
- String

ActiveX controls must be available for the supported operating systems and for the PanelView Plus family platforms. To use an ActiveX control at run time, you must have the version of the object that is compatible with the operating system of the runtime computer.

ActiveX objects support visibility animation only.

## See also

Add an ActiveX control to a graphic display

data source

Set up object properties (Properties tab)

Assign connections to an object

Keywords: ActiveX control