Important:
This is retired content. This content is outdated and is no longer being maintained. It is provided as a courtesy for individuals who are still using these technologies. This content may contain URLs that were valid when originally published, but now link to sites or pages that no longer exist.
A version of this page is also available for
4/8/2010

The following table shows the Automation interfaces with a description of the purpose of each.

Note:
Windows Mobile may not support all of the programming elements in this section. For information about differences between the COM implementation available for Windows Mobile devices and that available for Windows Embedded CE devices, see COM and DCOM in Windows Mobile Devices.

Programming element Description

ICreateErrorInfo

This interface returns error information for applications that return rich error information.

ICreateTypeInfo

This interface provides the tools for creating and administering the type information defined through the type description.

ICreateTypeInfo2

This interface derives from ICreateTypeInfoand adds methods for deleting items that have been added through ICreateTypeInfo.

ICreateTypeLib

This interface provides the methods for creating and managing the component or file that contains type information.

ICreateTypeLib2

ICreateTypeLib2inherits from ICreateTypeLib, and has four member functions.

IDispatch

This interface exposes objects, methods, and properties to Automation programming tools and other applications.

IEnumVARIANT

This interface provides a method for enumerating a collection of variants, including heterogeneous collections of objects and intrinsic types.

IErrorInfo

This interface provides detailed contextual error information for applications that receive rich information.

ISupportErrorInfo

This interface ensures that error information can be propagated up the call chain correctly.

ITypeComp

This interface provides a fast way to access information that compilers need when binding to and instantiating structures and interfaces.

ITypeInfo

This interface is typically used for reading information about objects.

ITypeInfo2

This interface allows ITypeInfoto cast to an ITypeInfo2in performance-sensitive cases.

ITypeLib

This interface provides methods for accessing a library of type descriptions.

ITypeLib2

This interface inherits from the ITypeLibinterface.

See Also