Understanding and programming COM+

Make the most of Microsoft's COM+, DNA, and Windows 2000-hands-on!

This is the only book you need to master Windows 2000 COM+ and Distributed interNet Applications (DNA) programming. Robert J. Oberg combines a crystal-clear review of COM+ theory with practical hands-on coding techniques-delivering the in-depth expertise you need for enterprise development!

Oberg starts by introducing COM+ and Microsoft's DNA architecture: the forest and the trees. Discover how to build a testbed you can use for your COM+/DNA application development; then refresh yourself on the key COM/DCOM concepts that underlie COM+ development, including interfaces, classes, apartments, automation, error processing and debugging. Next, master the key COM+ techniques associated with advanced multi-tier development-hands-on, through building your own application

You'll find detailed coverage of COM+ security in Windows 2000 environments; a "survival guide" of key database programming techniques; practical information on creating Web applications using Active Server Pages; and much more. The book, far more than most COM/DCOM/COM+ books, will make you self-sufficient in the most important practical technologies associated with Windows DNA.

Table of contents

I. INTRODUCTION TO COM+ AND WINDOWS DNA.

1. What is COM+?
The Object Foundations. Objects. Object-Oriented Languages. Components. Microsoft's Road to COM+. Dynamic Link Libraries (DLLs). Windows Open System Architecture (WOSA). Object Linking and Embedding (OLE). Component Object Model (COM). Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS). Microsoft Message Queue (MSMQ). COM+. COM+ Component Model. COM+ Services. The Power of COM: A Preview. Building a Web Browser. Software Components. What's Next.
2. Three-Tier Applications and Windows DNA.
Evolution of Distributed Systems. One-Tier Systems. PC LANs. Two-Tier (Client/Server) Systems. Three-Tier Systems. Overall Structure of Windows DNA. General Services. ?Glue? Technology. Windows DNA Layers. Presentation Layer. Business Logic Layer. Microsoft Message Queue. Data Access Layer. Summary.
3. A Testbed for Windows DNA.
Overall Configuration. Roadmap. Timeline. Windows 2000. Hardware Requirements. Windows 2000 Professional. Windows 2000 Server (Can Do Later). Networking. Domain Name System (DNS). Active Directory. Development Tools. Visual Basic. Visual C++. Visual InterDev. Platform SDK. COM+ Preview. Summary.

I. COM FUNDAMENTALS.

4. COM Clients: Concepts and Programming.
A Bank Account Server. Exploring the Structure of a COM Server. Visual Basic Object Browser. OLE/COM Object Viewer (OLE View). IDL for Bank Server. COM Terminology and Concepts. Interfaces. Classes. Objects. Instantiating an Object. Identifiers in COM. Object Lifetime. Interface Negotiation. Server. Type Library. COM Client Programming Model. Programming a COM Client. Visual Basic COM Client Program. Visual C++ COM Client Program (Console). Visual C++ COM Client Program (Using MFC). Additional Topics in COM Client Programming. Unicode. BSTR. COM Library Programming. Windows Registry and COM. Using OLE/COM Object Viewer. Registry Editor. Server Self-Registration. Summary.
5. C++ and the Component Object Model.
Objects, Components and COM. Component Objects. Component Software. Component Object Model. C++ and COM. Classes and Interfaces. Class Identification. Encapsulation. Object Creation. Class Object. Object Lifetime. Versioning and Interface Negotiation. Reuse. Distributed Objects. Implementing a COM Class Using C++. Account Object Example. COM Interfaces. Binary Representation of Interfaces. C++ Representation of Interfaces. Review Exercises for Virtual Functions. Review Questions. Answers to Review Questions. Globally Unique Identifiers. IUnknown and QueryInterface. Reference Counting. Class Factories. Implementing a COM Object. Interface Specification. Interface Implementation. Object Creation Function. COM Status and Error Reporting. Using a COM Object. Additional Interfaces. Summary.
6. In-Process COM Servers.
COM Server Concepts. Local/Remote Transparency. Class Factories. Bootstrapping an Object. Class Object. Class ID's and the System Registry. Structure of a Component. Registry. Registry Editor. Registry Entry Files. Important Registry Information. Implementing an In-Process COM Server Using C++. Class Factory Definition. Class Factory Implementation. Exported Functions of the DLL. Exposing the Class Factory to COM. Unloading Mechanism. Client Access to the Class Factory. CoCreateInstance. Execution Context. CoFreeUnusedLibraries. Linking to COM Libraries. Working with DLLs. Implementing an In-Process COM Server Using Visual Basic. Creating the Server. Client Test Program. Summary.
7. Active Template Library.
Active Template Library. MFC and ATL. Boilerplate COM Code. Implementing IUnknown. Class Declaration. Class Implementation. Instantiating an ATL-Based COM Object. CComObject. Example Program. Visual C++ and ATL. Visual C++ COM Support. ATL COM Server Demo. ATL Code Walkthrough. Multiple Interfaces and More About IDL. Adding a Second Interface in IDL. C++ Code for Second Interface. ATL COM Wrapper Classes. CComBSTR. Smart Pointers. Summary.
8. Visual C++ COM Support.
Visual C++ and COM Clients. Visual C++ COM Client Demo. Finishing the Client Program. Namespaces. Visual C++ COM Support Classes. _bstr_t. _com_error. Summary.
9. EXE Servers.
Application Integration and OLE. Windows Messages and DDE. OLE 1.0. OLE 2.0. OLE Demonstration. Application Integration and EXE Servers. Distributed COM and EXE Servers. Interfaces for an OLE Server. Structure of an EXE Server. Marshaling. ?Demo? Object as a Local Server. Proxy. Registering a Class Factory. Revoking Class Factory. A Better Behaved EXE Server. EXE Servers Using ATL. EXE Server Demo. Self Registration for EXE Servers. Proxies and Stubs. EXE Server Files. Summary.
10. Introduction to DCOM.
Remoting an Existing COM Object. Existing COM Server. Security Issue. Registry Entries. Programming for DCOM. Client Specifies the Server. DCOM Implementation. DCOM and the Registry. Optimizing Network Traffic. Security. DCOM Architecture. Launching a Server Over the Network. Server Operation over the Network. Multithreading Issues. Summary.
11. Automation and COM Programming Using Visual Basic.
Automation. Properties and Methods. Late Binding. IDispatch. Type Information. Dual Interfaces. VARIANTs. Automation with ATL and VBScript. ATL Automation Server. ?Thin? Client Using VBScript. VBScript Automation Processing. More About IDispatch. Visual C++ Automation Controllers (Optional). Calling IDispatch Directly. Using CComDispatch Driver. Automation and Visual Basic. Properties. Events. Collections. Collections and Object Models. Enumerators. Implementing Collections. Summary.
12. Error Processing and Debugging.
Using the HRESULT. Facility Codes. Error Codes and Naming Conventions. Looking Up Error Codes. Displaying Error Descriptions. COM Error Interfaces. IErrorInfo. Returning Error Information. Retrieving Error Information. Implementing ISupportErrorInfo Using ATL. Returning Error Information Using ATL. COM Error Interfaces Example. Server Code Provides Error Information. Client Code Retrieves Error Information. Visual C++ Compiler Smart Pointer Error Support. Automation Exceptions. EXCEPINFO. MFC Support for Automation Exceptions. COM Error Handling in Visual Basic. Default Error Handling. Using On Error. Tracing and Debugging. ATL Tracing Support. Tracing in the SDK. Breaking into Program Execution. A Logger Component. Summary.
13. Multithreading in COM.
Concurrent Programming. Race Condition Example. Serializing Access to Shared Data. Automatically Serializing Data Access. Marshaling Demo. Apartments and Multithreading in COM. Apartments. Threading Models. Crossing Apartment Boundaries. Implementing Multithreading in COM. ATL Support for Multithreading. DLL Server Example, Step 1. DLL Server Example, Step 2 (Race Condition). DLL Server Example, Step 3 (Marshal Interface Pointer). DLL Server Example, Step 4 (Free Threads). Summary.

II. WINDOWS DNA AND COM+.

14. COM+ Architecture Fundamentals.
Why COM+. Scalability. Reliability. Complexity. Transactions: A Canonical Example. Declarative, Attribute-Based Programming. Apartments as a Model for Declarative Programming. Declaring Transaction Requirements. COM+ Catalog. Component Services Snap-In. COM+ Terminology. COM Terminology. COM+ Terminology. Types of COM+ Applications. COM+ Architecture. Context. Activation. Interception. Just-in-Time (JIT) Activation. Object Pooling and Construction. Summary.
15. A COM+ Tutorial.
A Visual Basic COM+ Component. A Roadmap. An Unconfigured Component (#1). A Configured Compo