/*+========================================================================== File: README.TXT Summary: This directory and those in the branch below contain the COM Tutorial Samples. These code samples include an integrated tutorial narrative that covers the foundations of COM technology. All source for these samples is in C++. MFC is not used. The series is for advanced programmers using their proficiency in C++ Win32 programming to code COM and ActiveX applications. You can start the tutorial by executing TUTORIAL.EXE in this directory (ie, the main directory of the installed COM Tutorial Samples). Within the tutorial you can jump to Web pages containing the individual lessons associated with each sample. You can also jump to view pages covering how to set up your computer environment to build and run the code samples, You must have a Web browser installed for TUTORIAL.EXE to work. The Web browser must have a file association with the .HTM file extension. The tutorial starts in the TUTORIAL.HTM file. Origin: 9-9-97: atrent - Revised for COM Tutorial Sample series. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This file is part of the Microsoft COM Tutorial Code Samples. Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation, 1997. All rights reserved. This source code is intended only as a supplement to Microsoft Development Tools and/or online documentation. See these other materials for detailed information regarding Microsoft code samples. THIS CODE AND INFORMATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND/OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. ==========================================================================+*/ COM Tutorial Programming Samples ================================ The COM (Component Object Model) technology is the primary foundation for Microsoft's component software technology. OLE technology is built upon COM and all ActiveX controls are COM Component Objects. This tutorial sample series is directed to serve advanced programmers who are using their proficiency in C++ Win32 programming to develop or modify systems-level software using COM (Component Object Model) technology. These advanced samples show how to program components at the foundation level of COM. Neither MFC nor ATL is used in the samples. If you are developing internet Web applications with ActiveX controls and an integrated development environment like Microsoft Developer Studio, then you have the benefit of tools and abstractions that hide most of the technical detail covered in this series. The series exposes much of the infastructure that is now being increasingly hidden by MFC (Microsoft Foundation Classes) and ATL (Active Template Library). This series can help when you need to drop below the convenient abstractions in MFC or ATL to perform COM-compliant modifications. Of course, it can also help if you are working directly at this foundation level of COM programming to develop the highest performance professional applications. These source code samples are the same as those currently found as branch \MSSDK\SAMPLES\COM\TUTSAMP of the installed Microsoft Win32 Platform SDK. All source for these code samples is in C++. MFC is not used. Each code sample has an associated description of the sample's external operation and a narrative code tour of the internal construction (based on the specific goal of the tutorial lesson). This tutorial narrative resides in a .HTM Web page file--where is the name of the lesson/code sample. There is one of these narrative HTML files for each tutorial code sample. All of these HTML files are located in the main directory of the tutorial samples branch. The complete tutorial is thus made up of many HTML files located in the parent directory of all the sample directories. This single parent directory is the main tutorial directory. Additional details on the internal mechanisms of each sample can be found in code comments in each source file located in the sample's directory. The tutorial HTML files for the tutorial samples are linked together into a Web that can be viewed with a Web browser. You can start browsing this tutorial by executing the TUTORIAL.EXE command in the main directory. You must have a Web browser installed for TUTORIAL.EXE to work. The COM tutorial samples reside in the following directory tree, organized in a graduated sequence of tutorial lessons. The numbered order of lessons is the sequence we recommend that you follow in the tutorial. Each lesson illustrates a major feature of COM technology. Most lessons build on the ones that came earlier in the sequence. TUTSAMP - This file, TUTORIAL.EXE, MAKEALL.BAT, *.HTM, etc. INC - Common include directory used by the code samples LIB - Common library directory used by the code samples APPUTIL - Lesson 0: Win32 Basics: Application Utility Library READTUT - Lesson 1: Win32 Basics: Tutorial Reader and Linking to APPUTIL EXESKEL - Lesson 2: Win32 Basics: Win32 EXE Skeleton Application DLLSKEL - Lesson 3: Win32 Basics: Win32 DLL Skeleton DLLUSER - Lesson 4: Win32 Basics: EXE User of a DLL COMOBJ - Lesson 5: COM Objects: Containment and Aggregation in a DLL COMUSER - Lesson 6: COM Objects: Nested Aggregation in EXE User REGISTER - Lesson 7: COM Components: Component Registration DLLSERVE - Lesson 8: COM Components: Component DLL Server DLLCLIEN - Lesson 9: COM Components: Client Application of DLL Server LICSERVE - Lesson 10: COM Components: DLL Licensed Server LICCLIEN - Lesson 11: COM Components: Client App of Licensed Server MARSHAL - Lesson 12: COM Components: Custom Interface Standard Marshaling MARSHAL2 - Lesson 13: COM Components: Marshaling DLL Self-Registration LOCSERVE - Lesson 14: COM Components: Local Server LOCCLIEN - Lesson 15: COM Components: Client App of Local Server APTSERVE - Lesson 16: COM Components: Local Server with Multiple Apartments APTCLIEN - Lesson 17: COM Components: Client of Multiple Apartment Server REMCLIEN - Lesson 18: COM Components: DCOM Remote Client FRESERVE - Lesson 19: COM Components: Free-threaded Server FRECLIEN - Lesson 20: COM Components: Client of Free-threaded Server CONSERVE - Lesson 21: COM Components: Connectable Object Server CONCLIEN - Lesson 22: COM Components: Client of Connectable Object Server STOSERVE - Lesson 23: COM Components: Structured Storage Server STOCLIEN - Lesson 24: COM Components: Client of Structored Storage Server PERSERVE - Lesson 25: COM Components: IPersistStream Persistence Server PERTEXT - Lesson 26: COM Components: IPersistStreamInit Persistence Server PERDRAW - Lesson 27: COM Components: IPersistStorage Persistence Server PERCLIEN - Lesson 28: COM Components: Client of Persistent Components DCDMARSH - Lesson 29: COM Components: Standard Marshaling for DCOM DCDSERVE - Lesson 30: COM Components: DCOM Server Using Security DCOMDRAW - Lesson 31: COM Components: DCOM Client Using Security. Throughout the sample sequence a clear differentiation is maintained between client and server, with a separate lesson sample for each. Usually, each client/server pair covers an area of COM technology. Here is an overview of the technologies covered by the lessons. Basic Win32 application programming is covered in the APPUTIL, READTUT, EXESKEL, DLLSKEL, and DLLUSER lessons. APPUTIL provides a utility framework for building Win32 applications. It also contains some tools needed for tutorial purposes. READTUT is a very simple EXE application that shows how to link to the APPUTIL static library and call utility functions in it. READTUT also shows how to invoke the COM tutorial Web page reader that is used throughout the sample series. EXESKEL shows a basic Win32 skeleton EXE application built using APPUTIL. DLLSKEL and DLLUSER simularly show a basic Win32 DLL (Dynamic Link Library) skeleton and how to access it from an EXE user application. Basic COM object construction, custom interfaces, and techniques for coding their reuse using aggregation and containment are covered in COMOBJ and COMUSER. The implementation and use of the standard IUnknown interface is covered. The implementation and use of the custom ICar, IUtility, and ICruise interfaces is covered. Basic COM component construction, class factories, component object registration, and techniques for housing COM objects in COM component servers are covered in REGISTER, DLLSERVE, and DLLCLIEN. The implementation and use of the standard IClassFactory interface is covered. COM component Licensing is covered in LICSERVE and LICCLIEN. The implementation and use of the standard IClassFactory2 interface is covered. Out-of-Process local servers and the standard marshaling of custom interfaces are covered in MARSHAL, LOCSERVE, and LOCCLIEN. Explicit self-registration in the standard marshaling DLL is covered in MARSHAL2. The use of the MIDL language to specify custom interfaces is covered. The use of the MIDL compiler to produce proxy/stub marshaling servers is also covered. Apartment model server and client construction are covered in APTSERVE and APTCLIEN. Construction of multiple single-threaded apartments (STA) in the same process is covered. DCOM (Distributed COM) with custom interfaces operating between client and server across machine boundaries is covered in REMCLIEN. Specifying the remote machine name in the COSERVERINFO structure is covered. Detailed DCOM security issues are not covered. Free-threaded COM components and their access by free-threaded clients are covered in FRESERVE and FRECLIEN. The use several client worker threads in the multi-threaded apartment (MTA) is covered. The implementation and use of a custom IBall interface is covered. Connectable COM object technology is covered in CONSERVE and CONCLIEN. Event source and sink construction is covered. Implementation and use of the IConnectionPointContainer, IConnectionPoint, IEnumConnectionPoints, and IEnumConnections standard interfaces are covered. The implementation and use of the custom IBall and IBallSink interfaces is covered. Structured storage using COM's compound file technology is covered in STOSERVE and STOCLIEN. A COM-based scribble drawing application is used. Use of the IStorage and IStream standard interfaces is covered. The implementation and use of the custom IPaper and IPaperSink interfaces is covered. Persistent COM objects are covered in PERSERVE, PERTEXT, PERDRAW, and PERCLIEN. IPersistStream is covered in the PERSERVE components. IPersistStreamInit is covered in the PERTEXT components. IPersistStorage is covered in the PERDRAW components. The PERCLIEN client functions these various persistent objects and manages storage for all of them in various substorages and streams within one structured storage compound file. The implementation and use of the custom IPageList, ITextPage, IDrawPage, IPageListSink, ITextPageSink, and IDrawPageSink interfaces is covered. DCOM (Distributed COM) Security is covered in DCDMARSH, DCDSERVE, and DCOMDRAW. The use of CoInitializeSecurity is shown in the DCDSERVE and DCOMDRAW samples. Multiple clients accessing a shared single COM object across machine boundaries is shown in a simple network shared-drawing application. Process and activation security within NT network domains is discussed. Registry AppIDs and their LaunchPermission, AccessPermission, and RunAs named values are discussed. The use of the DCOMCNFG utility is covered. FILES in the Main TUTSAMP Tutorial Directory ============================================ File Description ---- ----------- README.TXT This file. Short introduction to the COM Tutorial Samples. MAKEALL.BAT Main batch file for building the entire samples branch regardless of branch's location. Use this one. LOGMALL.BAT Same as MAKEALL.BAT except that all build output is logged to file ERRORLOG.TXT and viewed in NOTEPAD. REGALL.BAT Batch file for registering all sample COM servers. UNREGALL.BAT Batch file for unregistering all sample COM servers. CLEANALL.BAT Batch file for performing CLEANALL on all the samples. MAKEFILE Makefile for all samples. Use ONLY if building the entire samples branch WITHIN an installed Win32 Platform SDK. TUTORIAL.EXE The main executable entry to the Web-based tutorial. TUTORIAL.HTM Tutorial Web page. Main overview of COM Tutorial Samples. LESSONS.HTM Tutorial Web page. Main Tutorial lesson list (with links). USING.HTM Tutorial Web page. Details about using the code samples. APPUTIL.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the APPUTIL sample. READTUT.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the READTUT sample. EXESKEL.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the EXESKEL sample. DLLSKEL.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the DLLSKEL sample. DLLUSER.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the DLLUSER sample. COMOBJ.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the COMOBJ sample. COMUSER.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the COMUSER sample. REGISTER.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the REGISTER sample. DLLSERVE.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the DLLSERVE sample. DLLCLIEN.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the DLLCLIEN sample. LICSERVE.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the LICSERVE sample. LICCLIEN.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the LICCLIEN sample. MARSHAL.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the MARSHAL sample. MARSHAL2.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the MARSHAL2 sample. LOCSERVE.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the LOCSERVE sample. LOCCLIEN.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the LOCCLIEN sample. APTSERVE.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the APTSERVE sample. APTCLIEN.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the APTCLIEN sample. REMCLIEN.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the REMCLIEN sample. CONSERVE.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the CONSERVE sample. CONCLIEN.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the CONCLIEN sample. FRESERVE.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the FRESERVE sample. FRECLIEN.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the FRECLIEN sample. STOSERVE.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the STOSERVE sample. STOCLIEN.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the STOCLIEN sample. PERSERVE.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the PERSERVE sample. PERTEXT.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the PERTEXT sample. PERDRAW.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the PERDRAW sample. PERCLIEN.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the PERCLIEN sample. DCDMARSH.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the DCDMARSH sample. DCDSERVE.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the DCDSERVE sample. DCOMDRAW.HTM Tutorial Web page covering the DCOMDRAW sample. LOGO.GIF Logo graphic used by the Tutorial. COM Logo. BULLET.GIF Small graphic used by the Tutorial. General Bullet. PAGETOP.GIF Small graphic used by the Tutorial. Top-of-page button. NAVBTN.GIF Small graphic used by the Tutorial. General Button. NEXT.GIF Small graphic used by the Tutorial. Next Arrow Button. PREV.GIF Small graphic used by the Tutorial. Previous Arrow Button.