Endpoints and COM Coclasses


TIBCO Adapter for COM relies on a mapping of COM coclasses to TIBCO ActiveEnterprise endpoints and of method definitions in TIBCO ActiveEnterprise classes to their corresponding method definitions in the COM coclasses. For information on TIBCO ActiveEnterprise endpoints, see TIBCO Adapter SDK Programmer’s Guide.

Method Signatures Must Match

For every TIBCO ActiveEnterprise class method, the COM class default interface must have a corresponding method with the same signature. For example, if TIBCO ActiveEnterprise class has Method1 and Method2, the COM class default interface needs Method1 and Method2. In other words, the pair of methods must:

Request Response Service

A Request Response Service is associated with a subject. It serves as a sink for messages flowing off TIBCO Rendezvous.

A Request Response Service is also associated with a TIBCO ActiveEnterprise class that has methods defined for it. For the service component of the adapter, this TIBCO ActiveEnterprise class is associated with the default interface of a particular COM coclass.

When a message arrives over TIBCO Rendezvous for the Request Response Service running inside the service component, the service determines from the message which method of the associated TIBCO ActiveEnterprise class is being called. It then looks up the corresponding method on the default interface of the COM coclass and invokes it.

Request Response Invocation Service

A Request Response Invocation Service is associated with a subject and serves as a source for messages flowing onto TIBCO Rendezvous. Just like a Request Response Service, a Request Response Invocation Service is also associated with a TIBCO ActiveEnterprise class that has methods defined for it and this TIBCO ActiveEnterprise class is itself associated with the default interface of a COM coclass. You can use TIBCO Designer to associate the default interface of a coclass with the TIBCO ActiveEnterprise class associated with a Request Response Invocation Service or a Request Response Service. For example, if a Visual Basic client uses the TIBCO moniker to obtain an interceptor proxy and invoke a virtual function through that proxy:

  1. The invocation is intercepted by the interceptor.
  2. The interceptor determines which COM method was invoked and which method on the TIBCO ActiveEnterprise class the COM method corresponds to.
  3. The interceptor then asks the Request Response Invocation Service associated with the TIBCO ActiveEnterprise class to invoke this method on the TIBCO ActiveEnterprise class, causing an operation request to be sent over TIBCO Rendezvous.

You may only associate a TIBCO ActiveEnterprise class with the default interface of a COM coclass. This is because TIBCO ActiveEnterprise classes have no notion of multiple interfaces on a single class.

Support for Properties

TIBCO Adapter for COM supports the use of propput and propget properties. When a COM client accesses a propput or propget property, the interceptor publishes a corresponding TIBCO Rendezvous Remote Procedural Call (RVRPC) request. Similarly when the service component receives a RVRPC request that corresponds to a COM property, it performs the necessary propput/propget operations.

Non-COM clients (such as TIBCO Integration Manager or other adapters) can use the get_ and put_ operations on the TIBCO ActiveEnterprise class to access the properties of a COM object.

Mapping Properties in the Repository

Properties are mapped to operations in repository by these rules:

Publication and Subscription Services

In publication and subscription scenarios where you need to publish or subscribe to a TIBCO ActiveEnterprise message using the adapter, you can configure the adapter services to be of type Publication Service or Subscription Service.

The adapter requires that a COM object used for this purpose implement a single interface, with a single method, that has only one parameter. This parameter corresponds to the TIBCO ActiveEnterprise Class that is being published or subscribed to.

The adapter requires this parameter to be of one of the following types:

The parameter also has to be a unidirectional <in> parameter.

IN/OUT and OUT parameters are not supported.


TIBCO Adapter™ for COM User’s Guide
Software Release 5.3, September 2005
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