Creating Internet Applications

Visual Basic can create three different types of applications to run in a browser over the Internet:

• Dynamic HTML (DHTML) applications are downloaded over the Internet to run on the user's machine. DHTML applications use the HTML version 4.0 controls, hyperlinks, and formatting to accomplish their tasks.

• Internet Information Server (IIS) applications run on the Internet server and send and receive data from the user's machine. IIS applications use the IIS object model and ActiveX objects installed on the Internet server.

• ActiveX document applications are downloaded over the Internet to run on the user's machine. ActiveX documents use the standard Visual Basic controls and other ActiveX objects and provide complete control of the browser, including the ability to add menus and control the appearance of the browser window.

This chapter shows you how to create multi-page applications using each of these different technologies. I use the same basic sample, a college cost calculator, to demonstrate each of the application styles. The different versions of the college cost calculator can be found on the companion CD-ROM.