COM and DCOM Application Development (Windows Embedded CE 6.0)
1/6/2010
Run time support is offered for COM-based applications.
The topics in this section describe the programming model for COM** and, on Windows Embedded CE, DCOM**. They provide guidelines for the implementation of interfaces, management of memory, and configuration of registry settings. The documentation targets the differences between the implementations of COM on the following platforms:**
- Windows Embedded CE
Microsoft Windows NT®.
It is not intended to be a comprehensive guide to COM programming. Familiarity with the COM objects and interfaces, type libraries, and essential distributed programming concepts is assumed. Background and conceptual information are available through the following resources:
- For information about component development, see this Microsoft Web site.**
- For information about Windows Embedded CE, see this Microsoft Web site.**
- Inside COM, by Dale Rogerson, Microsoft Press® Books, 1996, and Inside Distributed COM, by Guy and Henry Eddon, Microsoft Press Books, 1998. For information about these titles and other COM developer guides, see this Microsoft Web site.
Unless it is specified otherwise, the term COM in this documentation refers to functionality that is available in the midrange OS implementation, and DCOM refers to the functionality provided in the full-featured implementation. This use varies somewhat from the desktop documentation, in which a single programming model covers all of the COM services, whether they are in-process, local, or remote.
Finally, independent software vendors (ISVs) should note that not all Windows Embedded CE-based devices include COM run-time support. To verify that a particular Windows Embedded CE-based device provides the level of COM support that your application requires, consult the OEM of your target device.
The topic COM Supported APIs shows the supported APIs for all implementation.** For Windows Embedded CE, the topics Minimal COM Supported APIs and DCOM Supported APIs show additional supported APIs.**
There is support for the following applications:
COM provides a midrange implementation of COM and OLE automation that supports only in-process free-threaded objects and requires about 100-200 KB of memory.
Minimal COM provides a baseline application programming interface (API) set for COM object creation and requires about 10–20 KB of memory.
COM Storage adds structured storage functionality to Minimal COM, COM, or DCOM implementations.
Note
Distributed COM (DCOM), sometimes also referred to as "COM Remoting", is not included in Windows Embedded CE. Please see Remote DCOM Support for more information.