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Creating ActiveX Objects

Some operations in XSI require you to create an ActiveX object. For example, if you want to create an XSICollection, you have to explicitly create it:

   set oColl = CreateObject( "XSI.Collection" )

The best way to create an ActiveX object is to use the CreateActiveXObject (XSIFactory) method which is available to any supported scripting language. The principal advantage of this method is that it does not trigger warning messages in Net View, unlike some of the following scripting languages’ native functions:

• CreateObject (VBScript)

• new ActiveXObject (JScript)

• Win32::OLE->new (PerlScript)

• win32com.client.Dispatch (Python ActiveX)

The information presented here is a summary of the information available for each language. For more information, please refer to the documentation provided by the scripting language’s vendor or distributor.

CreateObject (VBScript)

Creates and returns a reference to an Automation object. You can use this function to create hooks into XSI.

Syntax

   CreateObject( appname.typename[, pathname] )

Parameters

Example

VBScript Example

   ' Get an XSICollection and add items to it
   Set oCollection = CreateObject( "XSI.Collection" )
   oCollection.Add "Camera"
   oCollection.Add "Light"

For more information on this and other VBScript functions, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/script56/html/vbscripttoc.asp.

new ActiveXObject (JScript)

Creates and returns a reference to an Automation object. You can use this function to create hooks into XSI.

Syntax

   new ActiveXObject( appname.classname[, pathname] )

Parameters

Example

JScript Example

   // Get an XSICollection and add items to it
   var oCollection = new ActiveXObject( "XSI.Collection" )
   oCollection.Add( "Camera" )
   oCollection.Add( "Light" )

For more information on this and other JScript functions, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/script56/html/js56jslrfjscriptlanguagereference.asp.

Win32::OLE->new (PerlScript)

Creates and returns a reference to an Automation object. You can use this function to create hooks into XSI.

Syntax

   Win32::OLE->new( appname.typename[, destructor] ) 

Parameters

Example

PerlScript Example

   # Get an XSICollection and add items to it
   my $coll = Win32::OLE->new( "XSI.Collection" );
   $coll->Add( "Camera" );
   $coll->Add( "Light" );

For more information on this and other ActivePerl issues, see aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/CodeDoc/Win32-OLE/Win32/OLE.html.

win32com.client.Dispatch (Python ActiveX)

Creates and returns a reference to an Automation object. You can use this function to create hooks into XSI.

Syntax

   win32com.client.Dispatch( appname.typename ) 

Parameters

Example

Python Example

   # You need to explicitly import this extension to use Dispatch
   import win32com.client

   # Get an XSICollection and add items to it
   coll = win32com.client.Dispatch( "XSI.Collection" )
   coll.Add( "Camera" )
   coll.Add( "Light" )

For more information on this and other Python ActiveX issues, see www.python.org/windows/win32com/QuickStartClientCom.html.

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