Knowledge Base FAQ Items

INSTALLATION

Yes, on 64-bit systems, you can register both the 64-bit component (for 64-bit applications) and the 32-bit component (for 32-bit applications). You can use the same REGSVR32.EXE command for that:

REGSVR32 AxNetwork64.dll
REGSVR32 AxNetwork32.dll

You are right: you cannot install the product in an existing directory.

At uninstall, the original directory (default: C:\Program Files\ActiveXperts\Network Component\) is NOT deleted in case there are files created/modified after the previous installation. You must delete these files/directories manually.

Once the directory (C:\Program Files\ActiveXperts\Network Component\) is deleted, you can re-install it in that directory.

You can view the ActiveXperts Network Component Release Notes by using the following URL:
activexperts.com/network-component/releasenotes/

To uninstall the 64-bit component, issue the following command from the command prompt:

REGSVR32 -u <path>\AxNetwork64.dll

To uninstall the 32-bit component, issue the following command from the command prompt:

REGSVR32 -u <path>\AxNetwork32.dll

Most probably, you don't have administrative privileges on the machine where you install the product. You must have local administrator rights to install ActiveXperts Network Component on the computer.

No, it only installs two ActiveX component files: one 32-bit DLL (AxNetwork32.dll) and one 64-bit DLL (AxNetwork64.dll) that both make use of the Operating System.

This is not a problem of the ActiveXperts component, but is related to the security settings of your Windows computer.

Please try the following:

To start the command prompt, start it from the start menu by locating the "Command Prompt" in the start menu. Then, right-click on this item and select "Run as Administrator".

Then, issue the following command from the command prompt:

REGSVR32.EXE AxNetwork64.dll

or

REGSVR32.EXE AxNetwork32.dll

You can also try to turn off UAC (User Account Control)

You can simple uninstall the software by using the 'Add/Remove' applet in the control panel. It will delete all files, except two: AxNetwork64.dll and AxNetwork32.dll. This article explains how to uninstall these files manually.

The core of ActiveXperts Network Component is two DLL's: AxNetwork64.dll (to be used by 64-bit applications) and AxNetwork32.dll (to be used by 32-bit applications). These DLL's are shared components, which means that they might be required by other software vendors. Therefore, these DLL's are NOT unregistered/deleted from the system using the 'Add/Remove' applet automatically!

To uninstall AxNetwork32.dll manually on a 32-bit operating system:

• Open a new command prompt and change directory to: C:\Program Files\ACommon Files\ActiveXperts\
• Execute from the command-line: REGSVR32 AXNETWORK32.DLL
• Execute from the command-line: DEL AXNETWORK32.DLL

To uninstall AxNetwork64.dll and AxNetwork32.dll manually on a 64-bit operating system:

• Open a new command prompt and change directory to: C:\Program Files\Common Files\ActiveXperts\
• Execute from the command-line: REGSVR32 AXNETWORK64.DLL
• Execute from the command-line: DEL AXNETWORK64.DLL
• Change directory to: C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\ActiveXperts\
• Execute from the command-line: REGSVR32 AXNETWORK32.DLL
• Execute from the command-line: DEL AXNETWORK32.DLL

For a list of new features and fixes, see ActiveXperts Network Component Release Notes.

USING ACTIVEXPERTS NETWORK COMPONENT

Yes you can. There's a project included in the sample directory. You need Visual Studio 2008 or higher. Make sure you include 'AxNetwork.h' in all source files where you use the component, and add 'AxNetwork_i.c' to your project so it will be compiled and linked with your project.

Yes. You should use the SendBytes method to transmit the bytes to the remote party.

Yes, Network Component is 100% thread-safe. It can be used by multiple applications simultaneously, and each individual application can have multiple simultaneous threads using Network Component. This applies to all Network Component object, i.e. the Icmp object, the Http object, the Ssh object, etc..

Wake up on LAN (WOL) means that you can power on a computer by sending a sequence of packets over the network to that specific NIC card. Three conditions must be met:

• Wake up on LAN must be supported by the remote computer's BIOS;
• Somehow, there must be a link between the computer's NIC card and the BIOS. For NIC cards that are not integrated on the motherboard, a separate cable is needed to connect the NIC card to the motherboard;
• A valid MAC address must be used to send the WOL message to.

You should call ReceiveBytes to get a stream of binary data.

There are basically two ways to avoid prompting:

• Add the website that hosts the ActiveX component to the trusted sites of all Internet Explorers. This would need some automatic configuration on your LAN's Internet Explorers, for instance through Group Policy (recommended) or through logon script. This way you only decrease Internet Explorer security for that particular site. Security for all other sites remain the same. This solution only works as long as the ActiveXperts Network Component users are part of your network.
• You can sign the component (the actual AxNetwork32.dll). If you only use the component for internal use (i.e. in your network), you can use the standard Windows Certificate Server (part of Win2000 and higher). For more more information on signing an ActiveX component yourself, see activexperts.com/support/toolkits/sign. If the component is used outside your network, you should use a public Certificate Authority, for instance Verisign.
  ActiveXperts Software does not offer facilities to sign ActiveX COM/OLE components.

DNS

With most DNS servers, using a DSN query with the 'ANY' type should return all known DNS records for the specified host.

However, in some rare cases, DNS servers only return a 'CNAME' record which results in the Network Component returning an error 22355 (No more records available).

In these cases, you should retrieve all records one by one, by specifying one of the 'A', 'AAAA', 'NS', 'MX' or other DNS types.

One example of DNS servers suffering from this problem is the public Google DNS server (8.8.8.8).

HTTP(S)

The following authentications schemes are supported:

• Basic
• Digest
• NTLM
• Negotiate
• Kerberos
• Microsoft Passport

No, the Http object makes use of the WINHTTP libraries which do not support these settings. You have to specifiy the setting either manually using the 'ProxyServer', 'ProxyAccount' or 'ProxyPassword' or using the 'proxycfg.exe' system tool.

HTTP versions 1.0 and 1.1 are supported by the component. The 0.9 version of the protocol is not supported. In version 0.9 of the HTTP protocol, responses without an HTTP header are allowed.

You can specify the port number directly after the hostname of the proxy server in the 'ProxyServer' property like this: proxy.introweb.nl:3128.

You can use the 'LogFile' property of the Http object, to enable Network Component's trace option.

If you need further logging, you can enable the logging option of the WinHTTP library of the OS. You can do this by using the 'winhttptracecfg.exe' resource utility:

WINHTTPTRACECFG.EXE -e 1 - l c:\temp\winhttptrace.log

Yes this is possible. Just set the 'UsePost' property to TRUE, and fill the 'PostData' property with the data you want to send. You could also have a look at the Manual, HTTP-POST section.

The following security protocols are supported using HTTPs: SSL2, SSL3 and TLS1 including support for client certificates. By default, only SSL3 and TLS1 are enabled. To enable/disable HTTPs procols, make changes through the registry, where 0 means: disabled, and 1 means: enabled:

• HKLM\Software\ActiveXperts\Network Component\Https\AllowSSL2
• HKLM\Software\ActiveXperts\Network Component\Https\AllowSSL3
• HKLM\Software\ActiveXperts\Network Component\Https\AllowTLS1

IPTOCOUNTRY

Network Component uses an IP to Country database. This database is stored as a data segment inside the ActiveXperts Network Component core component: AxNetwork32.dll. This database doesn't change frequently. Read FAQ #1280040 to learn how to make use of the latest IP-to-Country database.

There's a list of valid country codes and country names in a CSV file on the ActiveXperts Support Site:

activexperts.com/support/network-component/iptocountry/countries.csv

The IP-to-Country database is stored as a data segment inside the ActiveXperts Network Component core component: AxNetwork32.dll. The IP-to-Country data doesn't change often. However, to make sure you make use of the latest IP-to-Country database, you can download Network Component's core component (AxNetwork32.dll) at any time to make sure that the IP-to-Country data is up-to-date. You can download AxNetwork32.dll directly from here: activexperts.com/files/network-component/AxNetwork32.dll.

The accuracy is over 95%. The inaccuracy is due to dynamic IP address allocation by large ISPs such as AOL and MSN TV. It is also due to the use of proxy servers.

RSH

The RSH client command line utility is part of Windows until Windows 7 and Windows 2008. To use RSH from the command line in Windows 7 (or Windows 2008) and higher, download rshclient.zip, extract the files in a new directory, and follow the instructions listed in the extracted README.TXT.

Most probably, RSH is not configured properly on the remote UNIX machine. Be sure to setup your .rhosts file correctly on your UNIX server.

The .rhosts file typically permits network access on UNIX/LINUX systems. The .rhosts file lists computer names and associated logon names that have access to remote computers. When you run rcp, rexec, or rsh commands remotely with a correctly configured .rhosts file, you do not need to provide logon and password information for the remote computer. The .rhosts file is a text file in which each line is an entry. An entry consists of the local computer name, the local user name, and any comments about the entry. Each entry is separated by a tab or space, and comments begin with a pound sign (#). For example:

host7 #This computer is in room 31A

The .rhosts file must be in the user's home directory on the remote computer. For more information about the specific implementation of the .rhosts file on a remote computer, see the remote system documentation.

When troubleshooitingb RSH, also try the Windows built-in RSH client command utility to test if the RSH configuration is working fine.

SNMP AND SNMPTRAPS

Please double check on your system, to make sure no other SNMP receiver is running. By default SNMP receiver listen on port 162.

To do so, start a new command prompt, and type 'netstat -a -p udp'. In the resulting list, make sure that port 162 is not listed.

No, there is no Windows SNMP Traps Servics required for the ActiveXperts Network Component SNMP Trap operations.

If you have the Windows SNMP Traps Service running, Network Component will NOT be able to receive incoming SNMP Traps. Network Component will still be able to send out SNMP Traps.

To listen, Network Component opens an UDP socket (default port 162) to listen for incoming traps; only one process at a time can listen for packets on such port. For that reason, the Windows SNMP Trap Service should not be running.

No, there are no Windows SNMP Services required for the ActiveXperts Network Component SNMP operations. ActiveXperts does not rely on the SNMP Services of Windows.

If you need the Windows SNMP Service for other applications, ActiveXperts will still be able to perform its SNMP Get/GetNext/Set operations.

Yes, it can be done. You only have to modify two registry entries.

Start the registry editor and look for the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ASTrpSvc

In this key, you can change the value of the Description and DisplayName. Do not change any of the other values. After modifying this values you have to restart your PC.

Yes this is possible. In SNMP V1, there is an extra field in the SNMP PDU, in SNMP V2, the generic trap is represented by an OID. You only have to set the 'GenericTrap' property of the SnmpTrap object as demonstrated in the code snippet below:

Option Explicit

' Declare objects
Dim objSnmpTrapManager, objSnmpTrap, objSnmpConstants, objSnmpObject

' Create object
Set objSnmpTrapManager = CreateObject ( "ActiveXperts.SnmpTrapManager" )
Set objSnmpTrap        = CreateObject ( "ActiveXperts.SnmpTrap" )
Set objSnmpObject      = CreateObject ( "ActiveXperts.SnmpObject" )
Set objSnmpConstants   = CreateObject ( "ActiveXperts.ASConstants" )

' Start manager
objSnmpTrapManager.Initialize
objSnmpTrapManager.ProtocolVersion = objSnmpConstants.asSNMP_VERSION_V2C

' Set trap properties 
objSnmpTrap.Clear()

objSnmpTrap.Host	      = "192.168.31.98"
objSnmpTrap.Community   = "public"
objSnmpTrap.GenericTrap = objSnmpConstants.asSNMP_TRAP_LINKUP

' Send the trap
objSnmpTrapManager.Send objSnmpTrap

' Shutdown the manager
objSnmpTrapManager.Shutdown

ActiveXperts doesn't deliver simulation software. However, there are some good SNMP simulation software products available. A recommended product is AdventNet Simulation Toolkit. For details, click here.

The following Windows service should NOT run: 'SNMP Trap Service'. This service is available on any Windows installation, as an additional feature. There can only be one process at a time receiving SNMP traps on a particular UDP port.

SSH

No. ActiveXperts Network Component has its own implementation of all cryptographic functions. The OpenSSL open-source implementation is not used.

The Microsoft C and C++ (MSVC) Runtime Libraries are missing on your Windows operating system. These libraries are required by the following ActiveXperts Network Component classes:

• Ssh
• Scp
• SFtp

The above classes are built by using Microsoft C and C++ tools.

Solution

Please download the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable package from the Microsoft site, and run the setup.
Please visit the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable downloads page and download/install the latest supported x64/x86 version.

This can happen when the command started is a background process which keeps current stdout or stderr open. The solution is to redirect stdout and stderr. Click here for more information.

The other possibility is that you are running a version of OpenSSH which is older than 4.9. These versions contain a bug which causes it to never close sessions for root users. More information in the release notes for version 4.9 under (bz#926).

The SSH component needs read/write access to a temporary folder. There will be three temp files written to it, indicated by the following three undocumented properties:

• sysTmpFileRes
• sysTmpFileOut
• sysTmpFileErr

Make sure that the anonymous ASP user has read/write access to the directory where the files will be written. You can even change the paths for the above three properties and assign different file locations.

The Private Key File should be PuTTY compatible. PuTTY is a free and open-source terminal emulator, and very popular under Windows.

This means that your Linux private key file should be converted to a PuTTY compatible format using the PuttyGen.exe utility. Download PuttyGen.exe from the PuTTY web site. After conversion, you can use it in ActiveXperts.
Click here for more information.

SCP

See: FAQ Q1230050

No. ActiveXperts Network Component has its own implementation of all cryptographic functions. The OpenSSL open-source implementation is not used.

SFTP

See: FAQ Q1230050

TCP

It is not possible through Network Component. Network Component makes use of the IP layers of the Operating System. Connection time-out properties can be modified, but only system-wide, by changing the local system registry through the following registry hive:

'HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters'

For instance, set the 'TcpMaxConnectRetransmissions' entry to change the number of connection retries.

VISUAL BASIC AND VBSCRIPT

Please read the following document: Using Network Component with VBScript. This document describes how to refer to the ActiveXperts Network Component library, and how to declare, create and use the objects.

This is due to the fact that Windows uses the 64bit VBScript interpreter (C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CSCRIPT.EXE or C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\WSCRIPT.EXE) by default. Since the ActiveXperts Network Component control is a 32bit control, you should invoke the WOW64 subsystem. This means C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\WOW64\CSCRIPT.EXE or C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\WOW64\WSCRIPT.EXE.

You must refer to the object before you can declare and create it. Go to the 'Project' menu, choose 'References...' and put the checkbox near 'ActiveXperts Network Component Type Library'.

Please read the following document: Using Network Component with Visual Basic 6.x. This document describes how to refer to the ActiveXperts Network Component library, and how to declare, create and use the objects.

You have not installed and registered the ActiveXperts Network Component ActiveX component. This component can be installed and registered automatically by running the ActiveXperts Network Component installation. You can download the installation file from the ActiveXperts download site.

To install the component manual, see the manual, chapter Installation (Manual).

HTML AND JAVASCRIPT

The sample ONLY runs on Microsoft Internet Explorer (64/32 bit). Microsoft Edge is NOT supported. Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari are NOT supported either.

Yes it is possible. There is an online sample that shows how to use the component inside an HTML page.

In this sample, the ActiveXperts Network Component ActiveX component is downloaded and installed automatically from the following location: activexperts.com/files/network-component/AxSerial32.dll. You get prompted to trust the activexperts.com site. You can customize this HTML sample, and let the ActiveX source point to another location by changing the 'codebase' reference inside this HTML file.

To avoid prompting, please read article FAQ Article 1380025.

Please read the following document: Using Network Component with HTML. This document describes how to refer to the ActiveXperts Network Component library, and how to declare, create and use the objects.

Please read the following article: How to digitally sign an ActiveXperts software component.

There are basically three ways to avoid prompting:

• Add the website that hosts the ActiveX component to the trusted sites of all Internet Explorers. This would need some automatic configuration on your LAN's Internet Explorers, for instance through Group Policy (recommended) or through logon script. This way you only decrease Internet Explorer security for that particular site. Security for all other sites remains the same. This solution only works as long as the Serial Port Component users are part of your network.
  
  
• You can sign the component (the actual AxSerial32.dll). If you only use the component for internal use (i.e. in your network), you can use the standard Windows Certificate Server (part of Win2000 and higher). For more more information on signing an ActiveX component yourself, see activexperts.com/support/toolkits/sign. If the component is used outside your network, you should use a public Certificate Authority, for instance Verisign.
  ActiveXperts Software does not offer facilities to sign ActiveX COM/OLE components.
  
  
• From the Internet Explorer menu, select "Tools" -> "Internet Options"; click the security tab, and click the 'Custom level...' button.
  In the list of options, change the 'Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe for scripting' setting from disable to prompt. When you restart Internet explorer and run the page again, Internet Explorer will ask you whether to run the control or not. When asked click 'Yes' and the page should work correctly.

VISUAL C++

This means, that you have not included the MFC libraries in your Visual Studio installation.

Solution:

• Insert the Visual Studio installation media
• Launch the 'Visual Studio Installer'
• Click on the 'Modify' button
• Select the 'Individual Components' tab
• C++ MFC for latest build vXYZ tools (x86 & x64)

After that, rebuild the C++ MFC Forms project

You need Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 or higher. All sample projects are created in Visual Studio 2015 and Visual Studio 2019. If you use a newer version of Visual Studio, then Visual Studio will prompt you to convert the project file.

If you use an older version of Visual Studio, you must recreate the sample projects yourself and add the source files.

In all C++ files that make use of an ActiveXperts Network Component object, you must include 'AxNetwork.h' and 'AxNetworkConstants.h'. Also add 'AxNetwork_i.c' to the project, so it will be compiled and linked.

In all C++ files that make use of an ActiveXperts Network Component object, you must include 'AxNetwork.h' and 'AxNetworkConstants.h'. Also add 'AxNetwork_i.c' to the project, so it will be compiled and linked.

Yes, you can, but you can only compile the Console Applications. The Forms applications make use of the Microsoft MFC framework, which is not supported by Microsoft Visual Studio Express.

VB.NET,VC#.NET

You need Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 or higher. All sample projects are created in Visual Studio 2008. If you use a newer version of Visual Studio, then Visual Studio will prompt you to convert the project file.

All .NET samples make use of .NET framework 2.0

The samples require .NET Framework 2.0 or higher.

You haven't installed and registered the ActiveXperts Network Component ActiveX component properly. This component can be installed and registered automatically by running the ActiveXperts Network Component installation, or by registring manually (see also FAQ Q1000015).

Please read the following document: Using ActiveXperts Network Component with Visual C# .NET. This document describes how to refer to the SMS Component library, and how to declare, create and use the objects.

You haven't installed and registered the ActiveXperts Network Component ActiveX component properly. This component can be installed and registered automatically by running the ActiveXperts Network Component installation, or by registring manually (see also FAQ Q1000015).

Please read the following document: Using ActiveXperts Network Component with Visual Basic .NET. This document describes how to refer to the SMS Component library, and how to declare, create and use the objects.

ASP.NET

See FAQ 1480007.

See FAQ 1480025.

See FAQ 1480030.

See FAQ 1480002.

See FAQ 1480003.

See FAQ 1480003.

ASP

Please read the following document: Using Network Component with ASP. This document describes how to refer to the ActiveXperts Network Component library, and how to declare, create and use the objects.

DELPHI

Please read the following document: Using Network Component with Delphi. This document describes how to refer to the ActiveXperts Network Component library, and how to declare, create and use the objects.

PHP

By default, COM is disabled in Xampp. You must enable COM in your PHP.INI file:
extension=php_com_dotnet.dll

Besides that, make sure you register both 32-bit and 64-bit DLL's to avoid errors like "Uncaught com_exception: Failed to create COM object 'AxNetwork.DnsServer': Invalid syntax in C:\Xampp\htdocs\networkcomponent\index.php".
To do so, please register both 32-bit and 64-bit DLL's from the command line in Admin mode:
REGSVR32 AxNetwork32.dll
REGSVR32 AxNetwork64.dll

First of all, COM is enabled on Xampp, so there's no need to modify PHP.INI. The problem is that the ActiveXperts COM component is not registered. Best is to register both 32-bit and 64-bit DLL's, so you're not dependent on the type of web-application or Xampp version (32/64 bit). The 32-bit and 64-bit ActiveX controls can both be registered at the same time without a conflict.

So, make sure you register both 32-bit and 64-bit DLL's from the command line in Admin mode:
REGSVR32 AxNetwork32.dll
REGSVR32 AxNetwork64.dll

Please read the following document: Using Network Component with PHP. This document describes how to refer to the ActiveXperts Network Component library, and how to declare, create and use the objects.

COLDFUSION

Please read the following document: Using Network Component with ColdFusion. This document describes how to refer to the ActiveXperts Network Component library, and how to declare, create and use the objects.

ERRORS

You haven't installed and registered the ActiveXperts Network Component ActiveX component. This component can be installed and registered automatically by running the ActiveXperts Network Component installation, or can be downloaded from our website and registered manually by running the following command:

REGSVR32 AxNetwork32.dll

You haven't installed and registered the ActiveXperts Network Component ActiveX component. This component can be installed and registered automatically by running the ActiveXperts Network Component installation, or can be downloaded fron our website and registered manually by running the following command:

REGSVR32 AxNetwork32.dll

The problem is, that you must refer to the object before you can declare and create it. Go to the 'Project' menu, choose 'References...' and put the checkbox near 'ActiveXperts Network Component Type Library'.

LICENSING

For detailed sales information, check the Sales webpage.

No, we do not ship or sell the source code of our products.

The only source code that is included with our products are code samples shipped, to show how to use the component in various programming languages.

After 30 days of evaluation, you won't be able to call the Connect methods anymore. If you call this function, nothing happens and LastError will be set.

Please read the manual, chapter: Purchase and Product Activation.

To learn about the different license options for ActiveXperts Network Component, click here.

Renewals that come in after the maintenance has expired will be backdated to start from the old expiry date. Also, you are only able to get Technical Support and Software Maintenance when your support contract is valid.

ActiveXperts' Maintenance Agreement entitles customers to use ActiveXperts' technical support services, and to receive all product upgrades, free of charge, during a specified Agreement duration. The Maintenance Agreement applies to all ActiveXperts products.

After purchase, you get 1 year Maintenance for free

After this free Maintenance period, Licensee may purchase Maintenance. The price for the Maintenance Agreement is 15% of the price that was payed for the product.

Read our Maintenance Agreement in PDF format.

Please read the following online article: How to distribute an ActiveXperts Component.

Click here for more information about the ActiveXperts Network licensing options.

The 'Distribution License' allows you to 'bundle' the component with your own software. It allows you to ship the product to an unlimited number of customers for an unlimited period of time. There are no limitations to functionality of the software.

Click here for more information about the ActiveXperts Network Component licensing options.

Once you have obtained a Distribution License, you receive a key that you can use on the target computers. Click here to read more about how to distribute this key with the core product DLL on the target computers.