Hi Tobias, I have a similar question here: https://community.appeon.com/index.php/qna/q-a/guidance-on-embedding-a-custom-manifest-in-powerbuilder-2021-for-registration-free-activex-components

For your PowerBuilder generated exe files, are you able to use external manifest files? or even better, are you able to embed manifest files so you can use registration free ActiveX controls?

I tried to use external manifest files, but windows does not seem to be reading the external manifest files, even when I configure PowerBuilder to use an external manifest file so one is not embedded into the application.

Can you please let me know if you have figured out how to have registration free ActiveX components within your PowerBuilder application and how you were able to do so?

You can do the same thing with the PowerBuilder IDE exe.  The same issue applies in that the existing EXE contains a manifest and if you do an external manifest file Windows will ignore that.  The solution is to use MT.exe (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/sbscs/mt-exe) to update the internal manifest in the exe with the file you generate.

Not this same process will *not* work for the executables that you generate with PowerBuilder.  A PowerBuilder generated EXE has a stub standard EXE but then contains additional information beyond the stub.  The MT.exe tool doesn't know anything about that extra information, so if you run it on a PowerBuilder generated EXE it will output the modified stub EXE without the additional information and the EXE will no longer run the application.

Unfortunately, the MT tool can't be used to removed the internal manifest, at which point you could just an external manifest.  There are ways to do that, but they involved writing some C++ code.

Thank you very much for your answers. We have already used Manifest Maker. Great tool.
Do you know a way to use a manifest file within the IDE to avoid registering ActiveX components on the developers machine?

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What Miguel said.  We use Side by Side Manifest maker (http://www.mazecomputer.com/) to greatly simplify the manifest file generation.  Also, you have to ensure that PowerBuilder does *not* create an internal manifest file.  It does that by default to add the Windows common control ActiveX.  You need to select "No Manifest" in the project painter and include the common control information in the external manifest.  The Side by Side Manifest maker has a page specifically dedicated on how to use it with PowerBuilder:  http://www.mazecomputer.com/sxs/help/pbdotnet.htm

Bruce Armstrong commented in some post to use http://www.mazecomputer.com/ to generate the manifest file. Not sure if that's helpful.

regards.