Band
Objects

This sample demonstrates how to create band
objects in Delphi. You can create tool bands, Explorer bands,
communication bands and Desk bands:

A tool band is a band object that was
introduced with Internet Explorer 5 to support the Microsoft®
Windows® radio toolbar feature.

The Explorer Bar was introduced with
Microsoft® Internet Explorer 4.0 to provide a display area
adjacent to the browser pane. It is basically a child window
within the Internet Explorer window, and it can be used to
display information and interact with the user in much the
same way. Explorer Bars are most commonly displayed as a
vertical pane on the left-hand side of the browser pane.
However, an Explorer Bar can also be displayed horizontally,
below the browser pane. (Communication Band).

Band objects can also be used to create desk
bands. While their basic implementation is similar to
Explorer Bars, desk bands are unrelated to Internet Explorer.
A desk band is basically a way to create a dockable window on
the desktop. The user selects it by right-clicking the taskbar
and selecting it from the Toolbars submenu.

The following demos have been created and
tested using:

Delphi 5/6, IE 5.01/5.5/6,
Win98/Win2000.

Enjoy!

Updates:

Oct 14, 2001: Version
1.2:

Enhanced version fixing many of the
problems in ver. 1.1, including use of backspace-key and
multiple instances. (Thanks alot to Kurt Senfer).

Download Band Objects
Samples

Band
Objects ver 1.2 for Delphi
5/6

Links:

IDeskBand

IObjectWithSite

IPersistStream

IInputObject

IInputObjectSite

IContextMenu

Q196339 - WebBand Hosts WebBrowser
Control in an Explorer Band

Q246234 - SAMPLE: KBBAR Internet
Explorer Toolband

MSDN Online Samples - Band Object
Implementation

Creating Custom Explorer Bars,
Tool Bands, and Desk Bands

MyBand
is Your Band: More Reusable MFC Goodies with Band Objects and
COMToys -- MSJ, November 1999

More Reusable MFC Goodies:
Simplify Your (Programming) Life with the COMToys Library --
MSJ, December 1999

Q255920 - HOWTO: Programmatically Activate
an Explorer Bar

Q231621 - BUG: Same Menu Item Appears
for All Internet Explorer Tool Band Objects

Q214842 - PRB: Installed DeskBand Not
Displayed in Taskbar Shortcut Menu

Q247705 - PRB: Explorer Bar Does Not
Appear in Internet Explorer 5.01

Q230734 - FIX: Custom Vertical
Explorer Bar Doesn't Resize with Auto-Hide