On Sue Mosher's amazing Outlook site, there has been a discussion about creating ActiveX controls in managed code and running them on an Outlook form. It is a completely unsupported scenario, but that never stops a dyed-in-the-wool developer. I had tried to create ActiveX controls reliably with .NET and run them on a forms^3 form some time ago, but I never fully succeeded. Given the recent thread about the issue, I decided to re-survey the space and see if there are any new silver-bullets. No luck. Anyway, here are some links that speak to the scenario to different degrees. Use at  your own risk:

http://www.codeproject.com/cs/miscctrl/exposingdotnetcontrols.asp
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dndotnet/html/actxvnetcontrols.asp
http://www.codeproject.com/csharp/ImportActiveX.asp
http://www.vbdotnetheaven.com/Code/Jun2003/2067.asp
http://www.ondotnet.com/pub/a/dotnet/2003/01/20/winformshosting.html
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/library/4taxa8t2(en-us,vs.80).aspx
http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/Code/2003/March/ActiveXInNet.asp
http://www.gosky.de/dotNet/MigNetKomp.zip

I sometimes hear my fellow MS employees say something like, "Well, no one is really going to try to [fill in unusual dev technique here] anyway, so it's nothing we need to worry about." I don't mind saying that I'm a tireless advocate for the core developer scenarios as well as the ones that I know devs will try that MS will normally not predict. I was a consultant before coming to MS, and sometimes, the unsupported option is the only one that can be adopted, for a variety of reasons. That said, there were a few times I was a little to eager to do take the unusual road, I admit (I am guilty of being too curious), but time has taught me better.

Here's an example of success I cannot take any credit for: Remember when the commonly held belief was that VB6 could not be used to create a Windows service? It was also believed that no developer would attempt to do so. Well, some attempted, and they succeeded. One such intrepid developer was Dev Ashish, now an Access MVP and former co-worker of mine. I still have the source code somewhere on a DVD.

 Rock Thought for the Day: This is not the first time I have blogged about the killer Washington band, From the Fall. Their latest CD, Entropy (which I bought just today) hits right in my sweet spot: heavy, deeply melodic, truly technical guitar work, convincing vocals, and a bassist and drummer who know exactly what to do to make the song move. As I mentioned in my first entry about them in the spring, I heard a definite awareness of Alice in Chains in their music, but that's all. It's refreshing when a band knows how to pay homage to predecessors while producing something entirely new, entirely their own. Besides, a band that can properly use the word 'jingoistic' and still make it cool is destined for something much grander than the local scene. I voted for them to make the stage at an up-coming event. You should too.

This album is just what I need to join my repertoire of metal madness that pushes me to ride my Madone 5.9 ever harder. I need all the help I can get!

Rock On