> Any head start on how I can do this?

> The example you use is strange, because Interbase Server is set up to
> accept connections over the net, that's what it does out of the box. If you
> are talking about other apps, ones you write yourself, you have many
> options, DCOM is just one of them. Sockets, MAPI, Named Pipes and NetDDE
> for instance. DCOM is very handy on NT, it scales from local to remote very
> well, but it's very hard to set up initially. Sockets are one of the best
> ways. You need to be clearer on what you are trying to accomplish.

> Fernand

> Any head start on how I can do this?

> Any advice assuming DCOM as my method of choice?

> Mark Bracey <red...@interaccess.com> wrote in article
> <35AF5226.A22BC...@interaccess.com>...
> > I have a piece of hardware that is installed on a machine.  It has a set
> > of NT drivers and a rudimentary API to access this hardware.  I am
> > currently accessing it on my local machine, but it would be advantageous
> > for me to access it anywhere on the network.  COM/DCOM seems to be the
> > logical choice as I am in the process of defining an interface on top of
> > the simple API.  I am assuming I need some kind of server on the remote
> > machine that I can access the interface through.  But I could be wrong.

> > Any advice assuming DCOM as my method of choice?

> Well, the server could be just a COM object, and DCOM takes care of the
> transport. You could also do it with just about any other IPC technique if
> you know the name/address of the machine. It's tempting to go with COM, but
> there are two difficulties that you would not have with sockets: the
> initial headaches of getting DCOM working past security and other config
> issues, and the problem with Events.

> The security thing is just that every time you try to get a DCOM link
> working you go through a lot of unclear troubles. Maybe after one has done
> it enough times?

> The Events problem goes like this: D4 implements COM better than D3, and
> even seems to create the Server side of the Connection Point automatically,
> but apparently nobody has any idea how to get the client side done without
> hand-coding. And this is not completely trivial. This limits your
> communications back from the Server. Now there is a very workable Event
> solution that Binh Ly created (http://www.castle.net/~bly) for D3, it
> involves running a utility that creates a component, that you install, then
> use it a la VB5's "WithEvents". That may have to do, even though there
> *might* be a native and easy way to do it in D4.

> One last problem. The nature of COM is that until the next generation
> (COM+) there is no real support that I can see for true async events. The
> method you call in the client blocks until the server has completed the
> call on the other side of the proxy link. This is not always what you want.
> Same thing on an Event. When the Server triggers the Event, that thread
> blocks while the client runs the code. And doing multi-threaded COM is not
> totally obvious, especialy if you have Events coming back the other way.
> That's why I'm saying that a socket interface is simpler and easier to
> customize, there are lots of examples of multi-threaded socket interfaces.
> But, yes, I know, COM is cool, I use it too, it's just that in retrospect
> I'm not sure I shouldn't have followed my own advice here.

> Fernand

> Is this for DCOM only, or DCOM and COM.  I think I have figured this out
> for COM, but I have yet to try it.

> I've been working on getting TypeInfo at runtime for Events, but now
> that I can, I realized I don't know how to connect to them at run time.
> But I think I might have a solution, but for right now, it is only in my
> head.

> Hi, Mark,

> I think that Binh Ly's component creator is the simplest way, because
> otherwise, assuming there's no D4 method we haven't found, it's quite a bit
> of hand coding. It's SO easy to do in VB5, but in C++ it's a pain, and
> without some very high level helper stuff, it's probably the same in
> Delphi. In Eddon's Inside DCOM, which goes straight for the simplest
> approach wherever possible, he goes through quite a bit of code. The
> problem is that the whole Connection Point interface must be general, so to
> do it "by the book", you sweat. If you figure something out, post it! If
> you've not looked at Binh Ly's utility, take a moment. It works in D3 and
> D4.

> Fernand