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ATL Collection Wizard

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4.73/5 (8 votes)
27 Aug 2000 194.9K   1.7K   47   37
ATL object wizard that creates a collection of other COM objects
  • Download source files - 18 Kb
  • Download wizard files - 18 Kb
  • Sample Image

    Introduction

    One evening, tired of creating COM collections by hand, I created an object wizard to handle the grunt work for me. This wizard will implement the popular ICollectionOnSTLImpl interface, providing a few enhancements for a collection. The code this wizard writes was inspired by the book "ATL Internals" (Addison-Wesley Pub Co; ISBN: 0201695898). I trust what the authors in that book wrote and haven't stopped to try to understand it all. But nonetheless...on with the wizard.

    Comments

    Sample Image

    You can choose which STL container your collection is based on, as well as the methods your collection will expose beyond the standard-issue methods provided by ICollectionOnSTLImpl. Typically, when I design collections I don't want the user to be able to create the collection themselves. Hence, the "non-creatable" and "unregistered" options. "Unregistered" will simply add the DECLARE_NO_REGISTRY to your collection's CoClass, but the "Non-creatable" option presented a real problem for me while writing this wizard. There is no method exposed by the ATL Object Wizard that allows me to add the proper OBJECT_ENTRY_NON_CREATEABLE macro to the object map. So, when this option is chosen, I throw a bogus value into the OBJECT_ENTRY macro to force a compile error. It is up to the developer to rectify the problem by inserting the proper macro. A cute message box will remind you of this when choosing this option.

    Deficiencies

    • I didn't have time to create an install package for everyone to use, so the installation is manual but straight-forward. Simply copy everything but the *.dll into your "<DevStudioDirectory>\Common\MSDev98\Template\ATL" directory, and then copy and register the *.dll anywhere you'd like. Next time you run the ATL Object Wizard, you'll be able to create a collection based on what I've written.
    • Beneath all of the typedefs and Impls is the collection's workhorse, IEnumVARIANT. Some developers might wish to use a different IEnumXXX, so they'll have to alter the code manually.
    • This wizard doesn't support the stl::map container. It will in the future.
    • You MUST compile the IDL file at least once before using this wizard. This is because the wizard uses the project's typelib to discover the COM objects that the collection can contain.

    License

    This article has no explicit license attached to it but may contain usage terms in the article text or the download files themselves. If in doubt please contact the author via the discussion board below.

    A list of licenses authors might use can be found here


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    Comments and Discussions

     
    GeneralOk Pin
    Vitaly Tomilov3-May-10 7:24
    Vitaly Tomilov3-May-10 7:24 
    GeneralFantastic Wizard... Just a couple of updates to the distribution file collection.h (changes in bold) For use at your own risk! ;-) Pin
    Parko13-Apr-08 23:32
    Parko13-Apr-08 23:32 
    QuestionHow to add outlook COM add-in Pin
    ramakrishnakadamati13-Jun-07 18:09
    ramakrishnakadamati13-Jun-07 18:09 
    Hi,
    I need a clarification regarding ATL COM object. Can i use ATL COM to create outlook plugin which needs to send data to web-server for authenticate user. If not how we can send data to web-server from outlook plugin....

    Krishna
    QuestionSorting? Pin
    Gary Chapman16-Feb-07 23:17
    Gary Chapman16-Feb-07 23:17 
    AnswerRe: Sorting? Pin
    mmsinclair14-May-07 5:38
    mmsinclair14-May-07 5:38 
    GeneralExcelent Pin
    Vider6-Sep-06 23:32
    Vider6-Sep-06 23:32 
    GeneralRe: Excelent Pin
    Portatofe2-Oct-08 5:19
    Portatofe2-Oct-08 5:19 
    QuestionHow to use the wizard with visual studio 7? Pin
    AverageJoe11-May-06 22:43
    AverageJoe11-May-06 22:43 
    GeneralOLE Excel Pin
    Pham van hoi13-Aug-05 1:12
    Pham van hoi13-Aug-05 1:12 
    GeneralMFC Pin
    sanpee4-May-05 0:50
    sanpee4-May-05 0:50 
    Generalneed help Pin
    Anonymous27-Sep-04 22:46
    Anonymous27-Sep-04 22:46 
    GeneralFantastic, Just what I needed! Pin
    Parko19-Aug-04 0:55
    Parko19-Aug-04 0:55 
    GeneralIntellisense Pin
    qur24-Feb-04 19:25
    qur24-Feb-04 19:25 
    GeneralGreat Job - One small problem Pin
    Midi_Mick23-Mar-03 18:41
    professionalMidi_Mick23-Mar-03 18:41 
    GeneralGood Job!!! Pin
    30-Jan-02 7:10
    suss30-Jan-02 7:10 
    Generalhmmm Pin
    16-Dec-01 4:47
    suss16-Dec-01 4:47 
    GeneralAnother small bug .. in COLLECTION.H Pin
    David Patrick30-Oct-01 10:23
    David Patrick30-Oct-01 10:23 
    GeneralSmall but serious bug Pin
    Pavlos Touboulidis22-Aug-01 0:37
    Pavlos Touboulidis22-Aug-01 0:37 
    QuestionDon'n you think that, may be better to add "restricted" keyword in idl definition of _NewEnum? Pin
    1-Jun-01 4:21
    suss1-Jun-01 4:21 
    QuestionHow do I get COM objects into this collection ? Pin
    NicA16-May-01 6:14
    NicA16-May-01 6:14 
    AnswerRe: How do I get COM objects into this collection ? Pin
    Tom Mason24-May-01 23:39
    Tom Mason24-May-01 23:39 
    GeneralRe: How do I get COM objects into this collection ? Pin
    NicA28-May-01 23:49
    NicA28-May-01 23:49 
    GeneralRe: How do I get COM objects into this collection ? Pin
    Tom Mason29-May-01 0:33
    Tom Mason29-May-01 0:33 
    AnswerRe: How do I get COM objects into this collection ? Pin
    Ivan1410-Aug-01 2:20
    Ivan1410-Aug-01 2:20 
    GeneralWizard support for stl::map container Pin
    Gerald Hackenberg15-May-01 3:01
    Gerald Hackenberg15-May-01 3:01 

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