This tutorial demonstrates the basics of creating an INVOICES plug-in using Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0. In this tutorial you will:
Create a DLL that subscribes to an INVOICES event.
Connect the plug-in to INVOICES via Eilocal.ini.
Create a new ActiveX DLL project using Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0.
Rename the project to "HelloWorld" and rename the default class module to "clsServer". You will use these names later when you add the plug-in to Eilocal.ini.
Add a reference to the INVOICES type library.
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The Hello World plug-in has three main functions:
Connect: Connects to an INVOICES module and subscribes to the AppStarted event in the Manager module.
OnAppStarted: Handles the AppStarted event that is subscribed to in the Connect function.
Disconnect: Releases memory allocated by the plug-in.
Copy and paste the code below into the clsServer module.
Option Explicit
Option Compare Text
' Declare a reference to the Application object
Private objEHApplication As EHICOM.Application
Public Function Connect(objEHIApp As Object, sIniFile As String, sIniSection As String) As Long
' Set the application object for future reference
Set objEHApplication = objEHIApp
' If it is the Manager module...
If objEHApplication.ModuleType = eiManager Then
' Subscribe to the AppStarted event
objEHApplication.Subscribe Me, "AppStarted", "OnAppStarted"
End If
' Return evtOK
Connect = evtOK
End Function
Public Function Disconnect(objEHIApp As Object) As Long
' Release memory
Set objEHApplication = Nothing
' Return evtOK
Disconnect = evtOK
End Function
Public Function OnAppStarted() As Long
' Display a message box.
MsgBox "Hello World!"
' Return evtOK
OnAppStarted = evtOK
End Function
Save the project.
Build the DLL and copy it to INVOICES' Bin folder.
In order to use the plug-in, it must be specified in Eilocal.ini. The sample below shows a typical Manager plug-in section with the HelloWorld plug-in specified in blue text.
;***********************
;* Manager *
;***********************
[Plugins::eimngr]
Plugin1=Common
Plugin2=Manager
Plugin3=DBAdmin
Plugin4=HelloWorld
[eimngr::Common]
Name=Common Dialogs
Type=COM
SupportIDispatch=TRUE
Classname=ReadSoft.INVOICES.GUI.Extensions.Plugin
[eimngr::Manager]
Name=Manager Dialogs
Type=COM
SupportIDispatch=TRUE
Classname=eimngrdlg.cserver
[eimngr::HelloWorld]
Name=HelloWorld
Type=COM
SupportIDispatch=TRUE
Classname=HelloWorld.clsServer
After you save Eilocal.ini, you can run Manager to see the result. The "Hello World!" message appears just after Manager starts.
Note: Microsoft Visual Basic automatically registers DLLs when you make them from the File menu. If you want to use a plug-in on another computer, you must register the DLL on that computer.
Migrating INVOICES customizations to recent operating systems
