A component is additional software added to the OpenDoc environment to support a defined OpenDoc capability. Scripting support is provided through the installation of a scripting component. A component will supply a class that provides a defined interface that is used by OpenDoc. Any number of components, each of which supply some or all of the support defined for an OpenDoc interface, could be installed.
The Component Manager has the following main parts:
The component registry is a repository that tracks all components that are installed and registered with OpenDoc. The stand-alone utility program cmgrcmd provides the interface that supports modification of the registry.
The information maintained in the component registry describes components which have been installed in the OpenDoc environment. This information includes:
When an OpenDoc object requires the services provided by a component, it requests the component access interface to locate a suitable component, and optionally creates an instance of that component for use. The request to the component access interface specifies the capability requirements that must be met by a component as specified by its capability flags. For more information about flags, see "Component Registry".