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ATL / COM / Automation / ActiveX VC++ 2005 Advice?

blahtsk — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 22:39:03 -0800

ATL, COM, Automation in VC++ 2005 - Help me make sense of it all! I'm creating an Outlook 2003 / 2007 Add-In in VC++ using VS 2005. I've been referencing these two excellent Code Project articles, but I want to go a little deeper...

Though I'm a seasoned developer, I've been away from C++ and COM / Automation for a while. I need a book / website that I guess I would describe as intermediate-level; more than an "Introduction to VC++" but less than "ATL Internals" (which is a great book but is just a little over my head).

I want to know things like:

-- When I use an #import statement, what is raw_interfaces_only doing? Do I need it for my plugin (it's used in the example code in the articles I mentioned above)? Why?

-- How can I avoid calls like HRESULT hr = Session->get_Folders( &Folders );
And instead just call Folders = Session->Folders;
More like a normal VC++ app.

-- What if I'm trying to #import a file that's not on the user's computer? I.e. can I detect if they have Outlook 2003 installed vs. Outlook 2007 and #import accordingly?

-- When do I use a CComPtr and when do I use a CComQIPtr??? Can I get by without using them at all?

-- In what ways can VS 2005 help me to generate code for my add-in? Do I really have to modify the sink map and COM map by hand to add event sinks?

BTW no I don't want to use VB and no, I don't want to use C# or the CLI.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice. :D

My finger hurts from hitting print

striker — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 09:21:12 -0800

ActiveX Image view printing problem. Using the registar of deeds for my county, I'm able to pull up the bylaws for my neighborhood HOA. The problem is it pulls the 150 pages as tif images and displays them one at a time through an activex control. I click print, then I click next, then print, you get the idea. How can I print all of these without spending all day doing it? Bonus points if I can print to a pdf. Thanks!

How to create an instance of an ActiveX control in C# at runtime?

matthewr — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 15:41:00 -0800

In C#, how can I at runtime create an instance of an ActiveX control and then use its methods, properties and events? I have about 30 ActiveX controls which I'm writing an automated testing environment for. My program will read in an XML file which specifies, for example, that creating an instance of MyActiveXControl and calling the Foo() method will cause a Bar event to be fired. To do this, I need to be able to dynamically create an instance of MyActiveXControl* and call an arbitrary method on it and assign an event handler to an arbitrary event. How?

The difficulty in creating an instance of the control dynamically is that my C# program is managed code whereas the ActiveX control is unmanaged. There isn't an easy equivalent of VB's CreateObject() (that I know of).

* all of the ActiveX controls will be registered on the system, and I'll know where on the hard disk the .ocx is, if that helps.

Listing ActiveX Controls

iconjack — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 12:09:19 -0800

Is there a way to view what ActiveX controls are installed on my Windows XP machine? Surely there's something built-in to the OS, but I can't seem to find it. I thought they might show up in Control Panel. Failing that, I thought REGSVR32 would have a list option. But no, not as far as I can tell.

How do I get the names of an ActiveX control's members?

matthewr — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 13:20:00 -0800

I have to write a Visual Basic 6 program that checks that an ActiveX control's properties and methods are correctly documented in a Word document. How do I get a list of a control's properties and methods, given its filename? Given the filename 'MyControl.ocx', for example, how would I obtain an array of its properties and methods?

I have OLE Viewer, a Microsoft utility that can generate IDL information for an ActiveX control. This contains, amongst other junk, all the control's properties and methods. Running 'oleview.exe "C:/path/to/MyControl.ocx"' generates the IDL in a window - is there a way of saving this IDL stuff to a file using a command-line option that I could call from VB? If so, I could open up the saved IDL file and use VB's (limited) string functions to get a list of properties and methods.

Is there, however, an easier way?

Ideally, I'd like to be able to do CreateObject("MyControlName") and then use some VB function to get a collection of the class member names. All the controls I want to check are registered on my PC.

(I'm stuck with VB6 since my work PC is ancient.)

Thanks in advance.

How Can I Write Cross-Browser Links?

RKB — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 12:13:01 -0800

Without using any plug-ins or extensions, how can I always force a link to open in IE, regardless of the client browser? I'm trying to do a fairly simple web port that has three existing ActiveX ojbects that aren't about to get re-written. Of course it works fine in IE but doesn't in Firefox. I've already implemented some browser detect code that tells people "get thee to IE" if they try to launch the pages containing the ActiveX objects.

What I'd prefer, though, is some kind of client-side link that allows any user the same kind of functionality that Firefox's "View In IE" plugin does. The ActiveX objects launch in a new, untitled, no-scrollbarred window anyway -- I'd like to be able to force those links to always open in Internet Explorer instead of the default browser. A much more seamless user experience that way.

Is it even possible to do this programatically? Or am I going to have to stick with providing browser-specific directions throughout the web app, stating that it works best in IE? Thanks.

Triggering programs from a web page

twine42 — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 01:29:32 -0800

Launching programs from a web page without meeting a "save/run" box. Yes, I know this is a bad idea, but I want to switch my windows desktop to an active desktop with clicky links to trigger programs. Traditionally this means a save/run box appearing but I recall that activex controls can trigger cd-rom drives to eject, so I'm wondering if the same thing can trigger programs and files. Anyone any ideas how?

[Yes, I know the security implications, but this is a firewalled, virus checked machine that never uses IE for external connections and will be running a webpage from an on-machine webserver...]

Removing SEARCHNAV

pomegranate — Wed, 10 Mar 2004 07:49:43 -0800

F-in' SEARCHNAV! I somehow accepted a cookie from this monster, and it's annoying me beyond belief. IE 6.0, Windows XP, PC. I've deleted it everywhere I can find it, but it makes you log on to their site to download an uninstall, which apparently has some kind of program to hide the booger better. I've checked my bookmarks, my downloads, everything. Now I think I've deleted it, and emptied my recycle bin, but it's showing up as an unmovable search toolbar under my Google toolbar. Please help me kill it!