This control provides a way for client applications to connect to
a server using Microsoft Windows Remote Access Services (RAS).
To use this control, the dial-up networking software must be
installed on the local system. For access to the Internet, the TCP/IP
protocol must be installed and configured. The control may configured
to use either the SLIP or PPP protocols, depending on the
requirements of the service provider. Refer to your system
documentation for information about installing and configuring
dial-up networking on your system.
For those applications which may be used in a mobile environment,
or otherwise require remote network access, the Dialer control
provides a convenient interface to this service. Connections can be
established and discontinued under the direct control of the program,
rather than requiring that the user execute another program before
starting your application.
The SocketTools ActiveX Edition components are self-registering
controls that are compatible with any programming language that
supports the Component Object Model (COM) and the ActiveX control
specification. If you are using Visual Basic 6.0, Service Pack 6 (SP6)
is required. We recommend installing all available updates for your
development tools. Although the Visual Basic 6.0 runtime is supported
on Windows 11, the IDE itself is no longer officially supported by
Microsoft. Legacy IDEs and compilers may also require elevated
(administrator) privileges to run properly.
The ActiveX controls are supported on Windows 7, Windows Server
2008 R2, and later versions of both desktop and server editions of
Windows. For Windows 7, Service Pack 1 (SP1) is the minimum
requirement. For Windows 8 systems, the 8.1 update must be installed.
On ARM-based platforms, the minimum supported version is Windows 10
build 1709.
SocketTools includes components for both 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit
(x64) Windows platforms. All modern versions of Windows are 64-bit,
but we continue to include 32-bit components for compatibility with
legacy development tools such as Visual Basic 6.0. We also provide
native ARM64 ActiveX controls for systems running Windows on ARM. Note
that 32-bit applications on ARM run using x86 emulation, and Microsoft
no longer supports native ARM32 applications.
If you are using VBScript, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), or
another scripting environment on an ARM-based system, be aware that
64-bit hosts will require ARM64 components, while 32-bit hosts will
use x86 components under emulation. This includes applications created
with Visual Basic 6.0. To reduce deployment complexity and avoid
confusion, SocketTools does not include ARM32 ActiveX controls in its
standard redistribution packages but they are available on request for
legacy or specialized scenarios.
When you distribute an application that uses this control, you can
either install the file in the same folder as your application
executable or as a shared component in the appropriate system folder.
If you install the control in the system folder, it is important that
you distribute the correct version for the target platform and it
must be registered. If you install the control in the same folder as
your executable, it is recommended that you use registration-free
activation or COM redirection to ensure that the correct version of
the control is loaded by the application.