I've been trying to understand COM libraries but I'm still confused. If I want to make a python object com visible, the only instructions I can find are to make a python script that sets up a COM server which is invoked and used to generate class instances by name. IIUC, this is made possible by permanently adding some information to the registry that links a CLSID to the path of my server.py file; here's a minimum example:
class HelloWorld:
# pythoncom.CreateGuid()
_reg_clsid_ = "{7CC9F362-486D-11D1-BB48-0000E838A65F}"
_reg_desc_ = "Python Test COM Server"
_reg_progid_ = "PythonTestServer.HelloWorld"
_public_methods_ = ["Hello"]
_public_attrs_ = ["softspace", "noCalls"]
_readonly_attrs_ = ["noCalls"]
def __init__(self):
self.softspace = 1
self.noCalls = 0
def Hello(self, who):
self.noCalls = self.noCalls + 1
# insert "softspace" number of spaces
return "Hello" + " " * self.softspace + str(who)
if __name__ == "__main__": #run once to register the COM class
import win32com.server.register
win32com.server.register.UseCommandLine(HelloWorld) #this is what I want to avoid
Called like:
Dim a as Object = CreateObject("PythonTestServer.HelloWorld") 'late binding
a.softSpace = 10
?a.Hello("World") 'prints "Hello World"
However I'm sure in the past I've downloaded some file.dll that I can just add as a reference to my COM client project (VBA) and I never call --register/regsrvr/etc. I assume the dll contains all the information needed to modify and revert changes to the registry at runtime. I can use Early or Late binding to create class instances. I even get intellisense if the referenced dll contains a type library.
The latter method feels much simpler and more portable. Is there a way to emulate this in python?
