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821

answers:

4

How do you develop a plugin for IE? I have tried with the help of many sites which is available in the google search. But I didn't get any solution for IE. I want to build a plugin=-in from scratch. I have the experience in Firefox plugin development but not in IE. :(

Its more difficult... so any one have the knowledge in this area. please help me..

+2  A: 

As far as I remember, a IE plugin is called a Browser Helper Object.

diciu
BHOs are browser extensions - [Extensions and addons are not plugins](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_%28computing%29#Plug-ins_and_extensions).
Georg Fritzsche
+2  A: 

This seems to be a great site for IE Addons http://www.enhanceie.com/ie/dev.asp

and this one http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2005/09/06/461675.aspx

John Nolan
+1  A: 

There's an open source project called FireBreath which allows you to write a plugin for IE and NPAPI (Firefox, etc.) from a single codebase. It's a year old now, so it's becoming pretty mature.

Be sure you're looking to develop a plugin though, not an extension. Here's a rundown of the differences.

Schnapple
A: 

If you really want to write a plugin and not a browser extension:
The term for internet explorer plugins is - misleadingly - content extensions. Specifically they are implemented as ActiveX controls. MSDN also features an article specifically about ActiveX controls for IE.
If you go that road, note that ATL eases most of the aspects of COM/ActiveX implementation.

If you want to have cross-browser support though, i'd personally go with Schnapples suggestion of using FireBreath as it gives you an abstraction layer over the major differences.

Georg Fritzsche