Custom COM Replacement
- Mark Juras
Overview
gmStudio has an Open Type System that allows us to recognize, interpret, store, and express information about how VB6/ASP translations use the services of COM APIs. This includes all third-party COM APIs and controls as well as any COM APIs and controls defined in VB6 codes.
Our type system allows users to specify rules that adjust how the type system works includes
defining custom types,
enhancing the legacy COM API's object model, and
mapping COM API to various .NET replacements.
These rules may be
declarative using an XML notation,
implemented using our scripting language, and
implemented using our C# API.
gmStudio's open, extensible capability for COM API replacement is arguably the most powerful feature of our platform.
Additional Reading
ComponentReplacement.pdf describes the COM upgrade methodology with examples (This content is in a PDF and not yet been reauthored as a WIKI page)
Using RefactorLibraries Files for COM API replacement describes using RefactorLibrary files as a means of specifying COM replacements
Support Statement: Stub Replacement describes how the tool uses support framework generation to as an initial step in COM replacements
Author Interface Description Files describes how to generate COM API descriptions for consumption by the translator
Incremental Upgrade Cookbook describes how to move incrementally upgrade from a local COM framework to a global on
Samples is a high level article describing our samples. Many of these demonstrate COM API and control replacements
gmStudio Extensions is a catalog of COM API replacement rules (and other goodies) to assist with upgrade development