The 'xclasses' property

Read-only, 4-column nested matrix of character vectors

Valid for: System object

The xclasses property of the System object returns a nested matrix which gives details of the OCX controls installed on your system. These are external controls which are separate from APLX, but which you can place in your APLX windows and use just as you would a built-in APLX control. (Information about OCX controls is also shown in the Control Browser on the Tools menu).

The returned array has one row for each OCX control installed. However, not all of these will necessarily be usable from APLX, since they may be private controls which are not designed for use by other applications.

The first column is the plain text name, for example 'Chart FX'. The second column is an alphanumeric string enclosed in curly brackets, which is the unique ID of the OCX control. The third column is the object class name, which is usually a period-delimited string giving the vendor name, object class name and optionally the version number, for example 'SoftwareFX.ChartFX.20'. (The fourth column is reserved for future use).

You can use any of these as the class name to identify the control to APLX, but we recommend that you use the third.

Under MacOS and Linux, this property always returns an empty matrix because OCX controls are not implemented.

Example

Retrieve the list of OCX controls installed on the system:

      OCX←'#' ⎕WI 'xclasses'
      ⍴OCX
183 4

In this case there are a total of 183 OCX controls installed.

'Formula One' is an OCX control written by Visual Components, Inc. If it is installed on the system, it should appear in the list of classes returned by the xclasses property:

      OCX[;1]⍳⊂'VCI Formula One Workbook'      
8
      OCX[8;]
 VCI Formula One Workbook {042BADC5-5E58-11CE-B610-524153480001} VCF1.VCF1Ctrl.1

You can use any of the three strings to identify the control. The following sequences are all equivalent - they each create a window and place a Formula One control on it:

(a) Use the plain name to identify the OCX class:

      MYWIN←'⎕' ⎕NEW 'Window'
      MYWIN.F1.New 'VCI Formula One Workbook'

(b) Use the unique class ID:

      MYWIN←'⎕' ⎕NEW 'Window'
      MYWIN.F1.New '{042BADC5-5E58-11CE-B610-524153480001}'

(c) Use the object class name:

      MYWIN←'⎕' ⎕NEW 'Window'
      MYWIN.F1.New 'VCF1.VCF1Ctrl.1'