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102

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2

I have to implement the VinPower application. They offer a java version, a C dll and an active x dll, if anyone has an idea on where I could begin, i'd appreciate it.

A: 

A quick Google search shows that there is Vinpower and there is VinPOWER. To which one are you referring?

When you say "implement", are you looking at writing your own library that does the same thing as an existing product? Or did you mean to say "integrate" where you need to use a third party library within your existing project?

If your goal is to integrate, and the vendor supplies different versions of the library for different interfaces, I would pick the one that would be easiest to integrate with your existing project. For example, if your code is already in Java then I would pick the Java version of their library. If your code is in Visual Basic, then you might be best off with the ActiveX dll.

Greg Hewgill
i'm using the vinPOWER http://www.vinpower.com/errorpage.aspx?aspxerrorpath=/I want to use it to decode Vehicle Vin'sI'm using coldfusion, so, if I went with the java version, i'm not sure how i'd use. I suppose, this question is now geared for a CF developer on how to use via Coldfusion.
Gene R
Oh, I didn't see the "coldfusion" tag on your question at first. I'm not familiar with Coldfusion, but another google search indicates that CF can integrate with both Java and ActiveX libraries. Perhaps you could ask the VimPOWER vendor, they are likely to be able to help.
Greg Hewgill
+1  A: 

First step would be to put the VinPOWER Jar file into your lib directory, then restart the server.
(Or, you can put the file in a different directory and then add the path in CF Administrator)

Then to use it... well, here is their Java sample in CFML:

<cfset vp = createObject("java","com.pki.vp4j.VinPower") />

<cfset rc = vp.decodeVIN("JTEDP21A650046919") />

<cfif rc>
 <cfoutput>#vp.getAsXML()#</cfoutput>
</cfif>

Give that a try and see what you get?

Peter Boughton
Ok, i've found out from my client, that I can only use the ActiveX dll version. Per their License agreement. Do you know if this will still work for Coldfusion, and will the above code still call it correctly?
Gene R
Gah, I hate stupid licenses! :|You can try doing createObject("com","something") instead of the Java createObject - but I can't tell what the "something" should be in this case - it will be different since the above one is a Java class, but I can't find the COM/ActiveX equivalent listed anywhere.
Peter Boughton
Once the createObject is done, the method calls should work the same.
Peter Boughton