GetAutomationNativePointer

Description

Gets a pointer to the OLE object associated with the OLEObject variable. The pointer lets you call OLE functions in an external DLL for the object.

Applies to

OLEObject

Syntax

oleobject.GetAutomationNativePointer ( pointer )

Argument	Description
oleobject	The name of an OLEObject variable containing the object for which you want the native pointer.
pointer	An UnsignedLong variable in which you want to store the pointer. If GetAutomationNativePointer cannot get a valid pointer, pointer is set to 0.

Returns

Integer. Returns 0 if it succeeds and -1 if an error occurs.

Usage

Pointer is a pointer to OLE’s IUnknown interface. You can use it with the OLE QueryInterface function to get other interface pointers. When you call GetAutomationNativePointer, PowerBuilder calls OLE’s AddRef function, which locks the pointer. You can release the pointer in your DLL function or in a PowerBuilder script with the ReleaseAutomationNativePointer function.

This function is useful only for external DLL calls. It is not related to the SetAutomationPointer function.

Examples

Example 1

This example creates an OLEObject object, connects to an automation server, and gets a pointer for making external function calls. After processing, the pointer is released:

OLEObject oleobj_report

UnsignedLong lul_oleptr

integer li_rtn

oleobj_report = CREATE OLEObject

oleobj_report.ConnectToObject("report.doc")

li_rtn = &

oleobj_report.GetAutomationNativePointer(lul_oleptr)

IF li_rtn = 0 THEN

    ... // Call external functions for automation

    oleobj_report.&

    ReleaseAutomationNativePointer(lul_oleptr)

END IF