Aspose.PDF for .NET via COM Interop

The information in this topic applies to scenarios where you want to use Aspose.PDF for .NET via COM Interop in any of the following programming languages:

• ASP
• Delphi
• JScript
• Perl
• PHP
• PowerBuilder
• Python
• VBScript
• Visual Basic
• C++

Working with COM Interop

Aspose.PDF for .NET executes under the control of the .NET Framework and this is called managed code. Code written in all of the above languages runs outside the .NET Framework and it is called unmanaged code. Interaction between unmanaged code and Aspose.PDF occurs via the .NET facility called COM Interop.

Aspose.PDF objects are .NET objects, but when used via COM Interop, they appear as COM objects in your programming language. Therefore, it is best to make sure you know how to create and use COM objects in your programming language, before you start using Aspose.PDF for .NET.

• In COM world we distinguish COM server and COM client. COM server stored COM classes while COM client asks COM server for classes instances, i.e. COM objects.
• COM client or simply client application can know about COM class contents something or be totally unaware about its methods and properties. Therefore client application can discover COM class structure on compiling/building or only during execution. Process of “discovery” is known as binding and so we have early binding and late binding.
• in brief COM class is like black box and to work with it type library is needed, this binary file has description of COM class methods, properties and any high level language which supports working with COM objects often has syntax expression for adding type library, for instance this is #import in C++.
• type library is used for early binding.
• a COM object can expose its methods and properties in two ways: by means of a dispatch interface (dispinterface) and in its vtable (virtual function table).
• within the dispinterface, each method and property is identified by a unique member; this member is the function’s dispatch identifier(or DispID).
• vtable is just a set of pointers to functions that the COM class interface supports.
• an object that exposes its methods through both interfaces supports a dual interface.
• there are advantages to both types of binding. Early binding provides you with increased performance and compile-time syntax checking. Late binding is most advantageous when you are writing clients that you intend to be compatible with future versions of your COM class. With late binding, information from the type library is not “hard-wired” into your client, so you can have greater confidence that your client can work with future versions of COM class without code changes.
• late binding mechanism has a big advantage: if the creator of the COM DLL decides to release a new version, with a different function interface layout, any code calling those methods won’t crash unless the methods are no longer available; even if the vtable is different late binding manages to discover the new DISPIDs and call appropriate methods.

Here are the topics that you will eventually need to master:

• Using COM objects in your programming language. See your programming language documentation and the language-specific topics further in this documentation.

• Working with COM objects exposed by .NET COM Interop. See Interoperating With Unmanaged Code and Exposing .NET Framework Components to COM in MSDN.

• Aspose.PDF document object model. See Aspose.PDF Programmer’s Guide and API Reference.

Register Aspose.PDF for .NET with COM Interop

You need to install Aspose.PDF for .NET and make sure it is registered with COM Interop (ensuring that it can be called from unmanaged code).

To register Aspose.PDF for .NET for COM Interop manually:

1. From the Start menu, select All Programs, then Microsoft Visual Studio, Visual Studio Tools and, finally, Visual Studio Command Prompt.
2. Enter the command to register the assembly:
   1. .NET Framework 2.0 regasm “C:\Program Files\Aspose\Aspose.PDF for .NET\bin\net2.0\Aspose.PDF.dll” /codebase
   2. .NET Framework 3.5 regasm “C:\Program Files\Aspose\Aspose.PDF for .NET\bin\net3.5\Aspose.PDF.dll” /codebase
   3. .NET Framework 4.0 regasm “C:\Program Files\Aspose\Aspose.PDF for .NET\bin\net4.0\Aspose.PDF.dll” /codebase

Pay attention that /codebase is necessary only if Aspose.PDF.dll is not in GAC, using this option makes regasm put path for assembly in registry.

regasm.exe is a tool included in .NET Framework SDK. All the .NET Framework SDK tools are located in the \Microsoft .NET\Framevork<FrameworkVersion> directory, for example C:\Windows\Microsoft .NET\Framework\v4.0.30319. If you use Visual Studio .NET: From the Start menu, select Programs, followed by Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, then Visual Studio .NET Tools and, finally, Visual Studio .NET 2003 Command Prompt. It runs a command prompt with all the necessary environment variables set.

ProgIDs

ProgID stands for “programmatic identifier”. It is the name of a COM class that used to create an object. ProgIDs consist of the library name “Aspose.PDF” and the class name.

Type Library

If your programming language (for example Visual Basic or Delphi) allows you to reference a COM type library, then add a reference to Aspose.PDF.tlb and to see all Aspose.PDF for .NET classes, methods, properties and enumerations in your Object Browser.

To generate a TLB file:

• .NET Framework 2.0 regasm “C:\Program Files\Aspose\Aspose.PDF for .NET\bin\net2.0\Aspose.PDF.dll” /tlb: “C:\Program Files\Aspose\Aspose.PDF for .NET\bin\net2.0\Aspose.PDF.tlb” /codebase
• .NET Framework 3.5 regasm “C:\Program Files\Aspose\Aspose.PDF for .NET\bin\net3.5\Aspose.PDF.dll” /tlb: “C:\Program Files\Aspose\Aspose.PDF for .NET\bin\net3.5\Aspose.PDF.tlb” /codebase
• .NET Framework 4.0 regasm “C:\Program Files\Aspose\Aspose.PDF for .NET\bin\net4.0\Aspose.PDF.dll” /tlb: “C:\Program Files\Aspose\Aspose.PDF for .NET\bin\net4.0\Aspose.PDF.tlb” /codebase

Creating COM Objects

The creation of a COM object is similar to creation of a normal .NET object:

'Instantiate Pdf instance by calling its empty constructor

Dim pdf
Set pdf = CreateObject("Aspose.Pdf.Generator.Pdf")

Once created, you are able to access the object’s methods and properties, as if it was a COM object:

'Add section to Pdf object
pdf.Sections.Add(pdfsection)

Some methods have overloads and they will be exposed by COM Interop with a numeric suffix added to them, except for the very first method that stays unchanged. For example, the Pdf.Save method overloads become Pdf.Save, Pdf.Save_2, and so on.

For more information, see the language-specific articles further in this documentation.

Creating a Wrapper Assembly

If you need to use many of Aspose.PDF for .NET classes, methods and properties, consider creating a wrapper assembly (using C# or any other .NET programming language). Wrapper assemblies help help to avoid using Aspose.PDF for .NET directly from unmanaged code.

A good approach is to develop a .NET assembly that references Aspose.PDF for .NET and does all the work with it, and only exposes a minimal set of classes and methods to unmanaged code. Your application then should work just with your wrapper library.

Reducing the number of classes and methods that you need to invoke via COM Interop simplifies the project. Using .NET classes via COM Interop often requires advanced skills.