What is the point of ActiveXObjects?

Question

I have a task which requires me to create rows of tables using MSXML ActiveXObjects. I don't understand what an ActiveXObject has to do with anything. How could I create a table with that? Why wouldn't I just create the table in the HTML DOM?

I read various threads and concluded that there seems to be a layer within the browser that is responsible for data transport of non-html related data. Is this essentially the point of ActiveXObjects?

This is essentially what I am trying to make: I just don't understand what roll the ActiveXObject plays here

Answer 1

It is actually pretty straight forward: the ActiveXObject is a Microsoft extension to JavaScript that provides you with an interface to Microsoft's software framework ActiveX. ActiveX basically is a set of modular software components which are used to build Microsoft's software products (which are in turn also available as ActiveX components, e.g. Excel).

Wikiped Article

You can find some examples on the use of the ActiveXObject in the link below.

MSDN Documentation

I can only guess what your task is, but if it involves at any point the use of a proprietary Microsoft specific software component, that would be the reason for using the ActiveXObject. Some functionalities provided by the ActiveXObject are however redundant (e.g. Microsoft.XMLHTTP since newer versions of Internet Explorer implement the standardized XMLHttpRequest interface).