Viewer Tab
The Viewer Tab provides detailed type information about a selected COM object or type library.
Enter a ProgId, ClassId or Type Library file name
Use this box to enter a Programmatic Identifier (progid), Class Identifier (classid), or a type library file name. A progid is text you place in first parameter to the WIL ObjectCreate function. It usually contains two words separated by period (.) but can sometimes have more than one period separator or no periods at all. A classid is a hexadecimal number enclosed in braces ({}). Every valid progid has an associated classid. Both progids and classids are the textual stand-ins for COM Automation objects; however, classids cannot be used in ObjectCreate. For more on ObjectCreate see the Windows Interface Language help file. Type library files, on the other hand, hold type information for one or more related COM objects. Type library files usually have an ".exe", ".dll", "ocx", ".tbl", or ".odl" file extension but almost any extension is possible. Type libraries can also hold the numeric values for named constants used as parameters in object method and property invocations.
Get Member
Press this button to view the detailed type information for a COM object associated with the progid or classid in the box to the left. If you click this button while a type library file name is present in the box, the Type Viewer displays an error message.
Get Library
This button allows you to view the contents of an entire type library. You can press this button for progids, classids and type library files. If the box on the left contains a progid or classid, the viewer displays information for the progid’s or classid’s entire associated type library.
Object members/Library contents
When you press the Get Members button, this tree contains the names of the methods, properties, and events of an object. When the Get Library button is pressed, the tree contains the names of the interfaces, enumerations, and classes contained in the type library. You can view the individual named items of each kind by expanding the tree node for the type. To view detailed type information for an item, select an item name.
You can use the Object members/Library contents tree’s context menu to expand or collapse sub-trees and to search the entire tree. Display the context menu by pressing the right mouse button while the mouse cursor is over any tree item.
The tree context menu has the following three options.
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Menu Item |
Description |
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Expand |
All Expands the selected tree node and all nodes below the selected node in the tree hierarchy.
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Collapse |
All Collapses the selected tree node and all nodes below the selected node in the tree hierarchy.
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Find… |
Displays the tree search dialog. Use this dialog to enter search text and initiate or continue a tree search. When a tree item is found that contains matching text and the item has detailed information, the detailed information is displayed in the Detail window on the right. The search begins at the current selected item or the top of the tree, if no item is selected. Notes: • Some tree items are not created until the item’s parent node is expanded so if you want to search the entire tree or a sub-tree, use the Expand All menu option on the tree root node or the highest sub-tree node. • Searches are case insensitive, not restricted to whole word matches, and wild card characters are not supported.
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Selected member detail/Selected content detail
This display area contains the detailed type information for the item selected in the Object members/Library contents tree on the left. The amount and kind of information contained in this area depends both on the type of item selected and how much information the type library provides.
The type information display area uses the following typographic and textual conventions.
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Example |
Description |
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Add(Key, Item) |
In Syntax, parameter names are in italic. |
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WriteLine([Text]) |
In Syntax, items inside square brackets are optional. |
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SamplesPerSecond[=expression] |
In Syntax, assignment in square brackets indicates the property is readable and writable. |
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(BSTR) |
In Parameters, Return and Type variant data types are in italic and parentheses. |
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[IN] |
In Parameters, direction is in square brackets. Direction indicates whether a parameter uses a value set before the call [IN], changes the value for use after the call [OUT] or both [IN, OUT]. |
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[Unspecified] |
In Parameters, the word Unspecified in square brackets indicates that an object or library does not provide parameter direction information. |
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Default (-1) |
In Parameters, default parameter values are in italic, parentheses and proceeded by the word default. The default value is used when the parameter is not specified in the method call’s actual parameter list. |
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(event source) |
In Interfaces, the words event source in italic and parentheses indicates that the interface's methods are events. |
You can use the Detail window’s context menu to copy selected text to the system clipboard and change the size of the text used in the window’s display area. Display the context menu by clicking the right mouse button within the Detail window. The context menu has the following options.
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Menu Item |
Description |
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Copy |
Copies the selected text to the system clipboard. Text can be selected by dragging the mouse cursor over the text with the left mouse button pressed or by using the Select All menu item.
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Select All |
Selects all text currently in the Detail window’s display area.
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Clear Selection |
Remove the selection highlighting from selected Detail window’s text.
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Text Size |
Displays six possible text sizes sub menu items that adjust the overall size of the Detail window’s text. Select a new size to change the appearance of text in the Detail window’s display area.
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Release Object
Use this button to release an instance of an object created by WIL Type Viewer.
The WIL Type Viewer always attempts to gather type information for an object from its type library. If this is not possible, the Type Viewer may try to create the object to query it directly. When this is the case the button becomes enabled so that you can manually release the object.
Notes:
After the button is pressed the object's type information is no longer available.
Created objects are automatically released when a new object or library is loaded; or when WIL Type Viewer terminates.
The Options/Help tab has settings that allow you to control when and if objects are created.
The relative size of the Object members/Library contents window and the Selected member detail/Selected content detail window can be adjusted by using the mouse to drag the bar that separates the two windows to the left or right.
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