COM Interop

This project is an example on how to manually consume a COM server from C# or a C# server from COM client. It also contains projects for less common scenarios involving .NET and COM.

Running COM server with Net client example:

1. Load ComInterop.sln in Visual Studio
2. Build desired solution configuration (e.g. Debug|x86)
3. Register the COM server (i.e. ComServer.dll) using regsvr32.exe from an elevated command prompt
   • regsvr32.exe ComServer.dll
4. Set the NetClient project as the StartUp project
5. Press "F5" from within Visual Studio to debug

When done with the project, remember to unregister the COM server with regsvr32.exe passing the /u flag (e.g. regsvr32.exe /u ComServer.dll).

Running Net server with COM client example:

1. Load ComInterop.sln in Visual Studio
2. Build desired solution configuration (e.g. Debug|x86)
3. Register the Net server (i.e. NetServer.dll) using regasm.exe from an elevated command prompt
   • regasm.exe NetServer.dll /codebase
   • The /codebase flag adds the current path of the assembly to the registry
4. Set the ComClient project as the StartUp project
5. Press "F5" from within Visual Studio to debug

When done with the project, remember to unregister the Net server with regasm.exe passing the /u flag (e.g. regsvr32.exe /u NetServer.dll).

Projects demonstrating Registration Free (RegFree) COM are also included.

Running the RegFree COM server with Net client example:

1. Load ComInterop.sln in Visual Studio
2. Build desired solution configuration (e.g. Debug|x86)
   • The current solution only supports the "F5" experience for the AnyCPU and x86 platforms in RegFree COM.
3. Set the NetClient_RegFree project as the StartUp project
4. Press "F5" from within Visual Studio to debug

Running the RegFree Net server with COM client example:

1. Load ComInterop.sln in Visual Studio
2. Build desired solution configuration (e.g. Debug|x86)
3. Set the ComClient_RegFree project as the StartUp project
4. Press "F5" from within Visual Studio to debug

Running the Out-of-proc demo:

1. Load the ComInterop.sln in Visual Studio
2. Build desired solution configuration (e.g. Debug|x86)
3. Set the OutOfProcDemo project as the StartUp project
4. Press "F5" from within Visual Studio to debug

Note The Out-of-proc demo launches a child process from the main process.

References

RegFree COM Walkthrough

RegFree COM with .NET Framework

Running Object Table

Type Libraries