Registration-Free Deployment 11 OCX exports | No regsvr32 | No admin rights | XCopy deployment

Getting Started

Copy this module into your project once. It handles everything: locating the OCX, activating the side-by-side manifest, creating the grid inside a container, and tearing it down. The rest of the page explains each call.

Standard Module — modLiteGrid (add once per project)

' ==========================================================================
' LiteGrid Turbo registration-free bootstrap.
' The OCX must sit next to this .xlsm / .accdb.
' No regsvr32. No admin rights. No COM registration.
' ==========================================================================
Option Explicit

#If Win64 Then
    Private Declare PtrSafe Function SetDllDirectory Lib "kernel32" _
        Alias "SetDllDirectoryW" (ByVal lpPathName As LongPtr) As Long
    Private Declare PtrSafe Function LiteGridTurbo_ActivateManifest _
        Lib "LiteGridTurbo_x64.ocx" (ByVal path As LongPtr) As Long
    Private Declare PtrSafe Function LiteGridTurbo_CreateControlInParent _
        Lib "LiteGridTurbo_x64.ocx" (ByVal parentControl As Object, _
                                    ByRef grid As Object) As Long
    Private Declare PtrSafe Function LiteGridTurbo_DestroyControlInstance _
        Lib "LiteGridTurbo_x64.ocx" (ByVal grid As Object) As Long
    Private Declare PtrSafe Function LiteGridTurbo_GetLastError _
        Lib "LiteGridTurbo_x64.ocx" () As Long
#Else
    Private Declare PtrSafe Function SetDllDirectory Lib "kernel32" _
        Alias "SetDllDirectoryW" (ByVal lpPathName As LongPtr) As Long
    Private Declare PtrSafe Function LiteGridTurbo_ActivateManifest _
        Lib "LiteGridTurbo_x86.ocx" (ByVal path As LongPtr) As Long
    Private Declare PtrSafe Function LiteGridTurbo_CreateControlInParent _
        Lib "LiteGridTurbo_x86.ocx" (ByVal parentControl As Object, _
                                    ByRef grid As Object) As Long
    Private Declare PtrSafe Function LiteGridTurbo_DestroyControlInstance _
        Lib "LiteGridTurbo_x86.ocx" (ByVal grid As Object) As Long
    Private Declare PtrSafe Function LiteGridTurbo_GetLastError _
        Lib "LiteGridTurbo_x86.ocx" () As Long
#End If

Private m_Grid As Object

' Edit these two once. Leave LG_KEY empty to use the evaluation window signed into your copy.
Private Const LG_COMPANY As String = "Your Company"
Private Const LG_KEY     As String = ""      ' empty = use the evaluation window signed into your copy

' Creates the grid once, inside hostFrame, and returns it on every later call.
Public Function GetGrid(ByVal hostFrame As Object) As Object
    If m_Grid Is Nothing Then
        Dim p As String, hr As Long

        p = ThisWorkbook.Path              ' Access: CurrentProject.Path
        SetDllDirectory StrPtr(p)          ' tell Windows where the OCX lives

        #If Win64 Then
            LiteGridTurbo_ActivateManifest StrPtr(p & "\LiteGridTurbo_x64.ocx")
        #Else
            LiteGridTurbo_ActivateManifest StrPtr(p & "\LiteGridTurbo_x86.ocx")
        #End If

        hr = LiteGridTurbo_CreateControlInParent(hostFrame, m_Grid)
        If hr <> 0 Then
            MsgBox "LiteGrid Turbo failed to start. HRESULT 0x" & Hex(hr) & _
                   " (last error 0x" & Hex(LiteGridTurbo_GetLastError()) & ")"
            Exit Function
        End If

        ' Never pass a placeholder key: an invalid key raises a run-time error,
        ' which would abandon the rest of GetGrid and leave you with Nothing.
        If Len(LG_KEY) > 0 Then
            On Error Resume Next
            m_Grid.ActivateLicense LG_COMPANY, LG_KEY
            On Error GoTo 0
        End If
    End If
    Set GetGrid = m_Grid
End Function

' Call from UserForm_Terminate / Form_Close. Optional but tidy.
Public Sub ReleaseGrid()
    On Error Resume Next
    If Not m_Grid Is Nothing Then LiteGridTurbo_DestroyControlInstance m_Grid
    Set m_Grid = Nothing
    On Error GoTo 0
End Sub

Canonical per-form template

Drop a Frame control named fraGrid on the form — that is where the grid will live — and paste this into the form's code module. It is the reg-free equivalent of the registered-mode template: same structure, different creation and event wiring.

Option Explicit

Private m_Grid As Object

' ---- setup ----------------------------------------------------------------
Private Sub UserForm_Initialize()
    On Error GoTo Fail

    Set m_Grid = modLiteGrid.GetGrid(Me.fraGrid)
    If m_Grid Is Nothing Then
        MsgBox "LiteGrid Turbo did not start. Is the OCX next to this file?", vbCritical
        Exit Sub
    End If

    ' Reg-free has no WithEvents — attach this form as the callback target.
    ' 1 is a caller-chosen id echoed back on every callback.
    m_Grid.SetEventCallback Me, 1

    m_Grid.AddColumn "Name", 150
    m_Grid.AddColumn "Department", 150
    m_Grid.AddColumn "Salary", 100

    m_Grid.AddRow Array("John Smith", "Engineering", 95000)
    m_Grid.AddRow Array("Jane Doe", "Marketing", 87000)
    m_Grid.AddRow Array("Bob Wilson", "Finance", 102000)
    Exit Sub

Fail:
    ' An invalid licence key surfaces here. Without this handler the rest
    ' of Initialize would be abandoned silently.
    MsgBox "LiteGrid Turbo init failed: " & Err.Number & " " & Err.Description, vbCritical
End Sub

' ---- events ---------------------------------------------------------------
' ONE handler for every event. Must be Public and named exactly OnGridEvent —
' the grid resolves it by name when SetEventCallback is called.
Public Sub OnGridEvent(ByVal gridId As Long, ByVal eventId As Long, _
                        ByVal a1 As Variant, ByVal a2 As Variant, _
                        ByVal a3 As Variant, ByVal a4 As Variant, _
                        ByVal a5 As Variant, ByVal a6 As Variant, _
                        ByRef Cancel As Boolean)

    Select Case eventId
        Case 2                        ' ItemClick — a1 = row, a2 = column
            Debug.Print "clicked row " & a1 & ", col " & a2

        Case 25                       ' CellValueChanged
            Debug.Print "cell changed: " & CStr(a3) & " -> " & CStr(a4)

        Case 12                       ' BeforeRowDelete — cancellable
            If MsgBox("Delete this row?", vbYesNo + vbQuestion) = vbNo Then
                Cancel = True
            End If
    End Select
End Sub

' ---- teardown ------------------------------------------------------------
Private Sub UserForm_Terminate()
    On Error Resume Next
    modLiteGrid.ReleaseGrid
End Sub

The Three Rules Most Developers Get Wrong

Nearly every "it doesn't work" report comes down to one of these three.

1. CreateGrid gives you an invisible grid

There are two creation exports and they are not interchangeable. LiteGridTurbo_CreateGrid returns a grid with no window — correct for JSON work and exports, but it will never appear on a form no matter what you do to it.

Set m_Grid = LiteGridTurbo_CreateGrid()      ' unparented: no window, ever
m_Grid.AddColumn "Name", 150          ' succeeds — and stays invisible

LiteGridTurbo_CreateControlInParent Me.fraGrid, m_Grid
m_Grid.AddColumn "Name", 150

2. Pass the container, not the form

The grid becomes a child window of whatever you hand it. Give it the form and it fills the entire form, painting over every button and label you put there — which reads as "my controls disappeared".

LiteGridTurbo_CreateControlInParent Me, m_Grid

LiteGridTurbo_CreateControlInParent Me.fraGrid, m_Grid

3. Reg-free mode has no WithEvents — use the callback bridge

WithEvents needs early binding against a registered type library, which is exactly what reg-free deployment does without. Declaring it will not compile. Events still work, through a different door — see Events Without WithEvents.

Private WithEvents lgGrid As LiteGridTurboCtrl

m_Grid.SetEventCallback Me, 1   ' Me exposes Public Sub OnGridEvent(...)

Registered vs Registration-Free

Both modes run the same control with the same API. What changes is how the object is created and what the development experience feels like.

Practical advice: develop against a registered build so you get IntelliSense and WithEvents while writing code, then ship reg-free. The API is identical, so only the object-creation lines and the event wiring differ.

Bootstrap Lifecycle

What happens, in order, the first time GetGrid runs:

Container Support

LiteGridTurbo_CreateControlInParent needs a real window to make the grid a child of. Not every VBA container has one, so it tries several strategies in order and uses the first that works.

How the parent window is resolved — useful when a custom container fails: (1) ask the control for IOleWindow; (2) then IOleInPlaceObject; (3) then read its hWnd property late-bound; (4) if it is windowless, use its accessibility location for size and position and walk .Parent upward (up to eight levels) until an ancestor with a real window turns up. If all four fail the call returns E_FAIL (0x80004005).

Events Without WithEvents

WithEvents requires early binding against a registered type library, so it is unavailable in reg-free mode. Instead you hand the grid an object with a OnGridEvent method and it calls you back. 32 of the 33 events arrive this way, cancellable ones included.

Wiring it up

' In the UserForm (or any class) that should receive events
Private Sub UserForm_Initialize()
    Set m_Grid = modLiteGrid.GetGrid(Me.fraGrid)

    ' Me exposes OnGridEvent below. 1 is a caller-chosen id echoed back on
    ' every callback — handy when one handler serves several grids.
    m_Grid.SetEventCallback Me, 1
End Sub

' ONE signature serves every event. Always 9 parameters, Cancel always ByRef.
' The name must be exactly OnGridEvent and it must be Public — the grid
' looks it up by name when you call SetEventCallback.
Public Sub OnGridEvent(ByVal gridId As Long, ByVal eventId As Long, _
                        ByVal a1 As Variant, ByVal a2 As Variant, _
                        ByVal a3 As Variant, ByVal a4 As Variant, _
                        ByVal a5 As Variant, ByVal a6 As Variant, _
                        ByRef Cancel As Boolean)

    Select Case eventId
        Case 1                       ' ColumnClick — a1 = column index
            Debug.Print "header clicked: " & a1

        Case 12                      ' BeforeRowDelete — cancellable
            If MsgBox("Delete this row?", vbYesNo) = vbNo Then
                Cancel = True       ' veto it
            End If
    End Select
End Sub

Licensing in Reg-Free Mode

Licensing works identically in both modes. An evaluation copy needs no call: its evaluation window is signed into the OCX. After purchase, call ActivateLicense right after creating the grid, on every launch — activation lasts for the current process only.

' Right after creation, before any data work
If Len(LG_KEY) > 0 Then m_Grid.ActivateLicense LG_COMPANY, LG_KEY

' Check state at any time
Debug.Print m_Grid.LicenseStatus        ' TRIAL / EXPIRED / EVAL / PRO / ENTERPRISE
Debug.Print m_Grid.TrialDaysRemaining

When the evaluation window closes (or the copy carries no valid evaluation and no key is activated), the grid keeps displaying its data, but typing and clicking in the grid are blocked, data export and copying data out are refused, and printed, PDF and HTML output carries an evaluation notice. A Buy a License button appears on the grid. Everything returns as soon as ActivateLicense succeeds with a valid key. Read LicenseStatus or TrialDaysRemaining if you want to prompt the user yourself.

Troubleshooting

Copy-Paste Checklist

Run through this before reporting a reg-free problem — it resolves most of them, and the answers are exactly what a support reply would ask for first.