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Depending on which operating system and browser your users have, their Viewer will be either the Autodesk MapGuide Viewer ActiveX Control, Autodesk MapGuide Viewer Plug-In, or Autodesk MapGuide Viewer, Java Edition. If all of your users are running the same operating system and browser (for example, on a corporate intranet), you can develop your application only for the one Autodesk MapGuide Viewer that works with their operating system and browser. However, if your users have various combinations of operating systems and browsers, you may need to develop your application to work with all three Autodesk MapGuide Viewers. For a discussion of which Autodesk MapGuide Viewers you should support, see "Choosing a Viewer/Browser Environment" in the Autodesk MapGuide User's Guide.

In general, most objects and their methods in the Autodesk MapGuide Viewer API are available to all three Autodesk MapGuide Viewers. However, object properties are only available to the Autodesk MapGuide Viewer ActiveX Control. Events are available to all three Autodesk MapGuide Viewers as well, with ActiveX Control events for the Autodesk MapGuide Viewer ActiveX Control, and observer event methods for the Autodesk MapGuide Viewer Plug-In and Autodesk MapGuide Viewer, Java Edition. Event handling for the Autodesk MapGuide Viewer Plug-In and Autodesk MapGuide Viewer, Java Edition is supported through observer interfaces. Finally, some objects and methods are implemented exclusively for the Autodesk MapGuide Viewer, Java Edition.

The following table summarizes the APIs available for the three viewer versions:

Item

ActiveX Control

Plug-In

Java Edition

Notes

Objects Yes Yes Yes All objects are available to all Viewer versions, with the exception of the MGMapApplet, MGMapComponent, and MGMapContext objects, and their methods, which are exclusive to the Autodesk MapGuide Viewer, Java Edition.
Methods Yes Yes Yes All methods are available to all Viewer versions, with exceptions listed in the table below.
Properties Yes No No Properties are only available in the Autodesk MapGuide Viewer ActiveX Control.
Events Yes Yes Yes All events are available to all Autodesk MapGuide Viewers: ActiveX Control events for Autodesk MapGuide Viewer ActiveX Control and observer event methods for the Autodesk MapGuide Viewer Plug-In and Autodesk MapGuide Viewer, Java Edition.
Observers No Yes Yes Observers for event handling are available in the Autodesk MapGuide Viewer Plug-In and Autodesk MapGuide Viewer, Java Edition only.

There are some exceptions to the general rules outlined in the table above. The following table summarizes these exceptions:

MGMap Methods

ActiveX Control

Plug-In

Java Edition

digitizePolygonEx No Yes Yes
digitizePolylineEx No Yes Yes
getBusyStateChangedObserver No Yes Yes
getDoubleClickObserver No Yes Yes
getMapLoadedObserver No Yes Yes
getPrintingObserver No Yes Yes
getSelectionChangedObserver No Yes Yes
getViewChangedObserver No Yes Yes
getViewChangingObserver No Yes Yes
getViewDistanceExObserver No Yes Yes
getViewDistanceObserver No Yes Yes
saveMWF Yes Yes No
setBusyStateChangedObserver No Yes Yes
setDoubleClickObserver No Yes Yes
setMapLoadedObserver No Yes Yes
setPrintingObserver No Yes Yes
setSelectionChangedObserver No Yes Yes
setViewChangedObserver No Yes Yes
setViewChangingObserver No Yes Yes
setViewDistanceExObserver No Yes Yes
setViewDistanceObserver No Yes Yes
stop Yes Yes No
stopEx No No Yes