COM/DCOM Primer Plus

• Hands-on guidance on how to construct real-world business software components using Microsoft's Component Object Model (COM) and Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM), the breakthrough technologies behind Microsoft's Windows DNA!
• C/C++, Visual Basic and Java developers will look to this book to receive a thorough grounding in all the essential concepts and practical implementations required to do true COM/DCOM programming
• No wizards here! Readers will be taught COM/DCOM programming by learning how to navigate and manipulate the technical infrastructure on which their programs are built

Table of contents

Introduction: Setting Off on the Right Foot

Who Should Read This Book

Book Conventions

Chapter Outline

Programming Conventions

What You Will Need

Chapter 1: An Overview of Microsoft's Object Technologies

Sifting Through the Acronyms: COM, DCOM, OLE, and ActiveX

The Evolution of Component Technology

Understanding OLE

An Overview of ActiveX

Distributed COM (DCOM)

Summary

Chapter 2: The Object Revolution

Objects and Classes

What It Means to Be Object-Oriented

Abstract Base Classes

Class Objects

Looking at Objects from a C++ Perspective

Looking at Objects from a COM Perspective

Inheritance in COM

Summary

Chapter 3: Building COM Objects and Interfaces

Getting Your Hands Dirty with Low-Level COM

Clients and Servers

Identify Your Classes with GUIDs

The HRESULT Return Type

Anatomy of an Interface

Exploring IUnknown

Summary

Chapter 4: Implementing a COM Client and Server

Introducing the World's Most Trivial Sample Program: Fortune1

The Fortune2 Sample Program

Building the IFortuneTeller Interface

Unicode and Internationalized Strings

CFortuneTeller Rebuilt as ComFortuneTeller

The ComFortuneTellerFactory Class

Completing the In-Process Server

Building the Client

Registering the Server

Summary

Chapter 5: COM Programming with MFC

An Introduction to the MFC

MFC and OLE/ActiveX

The ActiveX Template Library

Schizophrenic Components and Their Multiple Interfaces

Multiple-Interface Support Is Not Aggregation

Multiple Interfaces and Multiple Inheritance

Exposing Multiple Interfaces by Using Nested Classes

Summary

Chapter 6: Using Aggregation to Simulate Inheritance

What Does Aggregation Do for Us?

Aggregation, MFC-Style

Building the Robot Component

Aggregation in Action: The NoisyRobot Component

Summary

Chapter 7: Breaking the Process Boundary Using Local Servers

Why Build a Local Server?

Interface Definition Language

Writing the Custom Component IDL File

Integrating MIDL with the Developer Studio

The COM Pizza Order-Taking Wizard

Summary

Chapter 8: Building COM Objects Using the ActiveX Template Library

Welcome, ATL!

The ATL Architecture

The New ATL Version of PizzaOrderTaker

Registry Scripting and the Registrar

Adding the New Wizard Configuration Entry

Summary

Chapter 9: A Distributed Objects Overview

The Evolution of Distributed Systems

Distributed COM

Summary

Chapter 10: Security

The Security Support Provider Interface

An Overview of NT Security

COM Security

COM Object Identity

Processwide Security

Security Blankets and Impersonation

DCOM and CAPI

Summary

Chapter 11: Using Different COM Threading Models

Thread Functions

Thread Types

Thread Synchronization

The COM Threading Model

Summary

Chapter 12: Automation Unveiled

Automation Clients (Controllers) and Servers

Automation Features

Automation and Events Support

Automation Support in MFC

Automation Support in ATL

Special-Meaning DispIDs

Summary

Chapter 13: Using Distributed Objects

Remote Object Instantiation

Designing the Distributed Object Application

The Distributed Pizza-Ordering System

Summary

Index