Automating tasks in Visual C++ By Macro

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Objects and the Object Hierarchy

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You can control the Visual C++ Developer Studio environment programmatically by manipulating it through Automation (formerly OLE Automation). For example, in a VBScript macro, you can control an open document by manipulating its corresponding Document object.

Each Developer Studio object implements a dual interface through which you can manipulate the object. Each object implements an IDispatch interface for Automation and a Component Object Model (COM) interface for direct access to object members (properties, methods, events).

Add-ins written in Visual C++ versions 5.0 or later, or Visual Basic versions 4.0 or later can employ early binding by using the COM interface. Early binding makes all calls into interface members faster at run time.

Overview of Each Developer Studio Object

Each Developer Studio object is described below.

Object	Represents
Application	The Developer Studio (environment for Visual C++) application.
Breakpoint	A breakpoint, which is used for debugging purposes.
Breakpoints	All the breakpoints set during a Developer Studio session.
BuildProject	A project that contains build (configuration) information.
Configuration	A set of settings to use for building a project.
Configurations	All configurations in a project.
Debugger	Enables you to inspect the execution of processes in the application in Developer Studio.
Document	An open document.
Documents	All open documents; a collection of one or more Document and TextDocument objects.
Project	A group of related files.
Projects	All projects in the currently open workspace.
TextDocument	An open text file.
TextEditor	The Developer Studio text editor.
TextSelection	Selected text in an open text document.
TextWindow	A view of an open text file.
Window	A multiple document interface (MDI) client window in which a document is being edited.
Windows	A collection of windows; all open windows.

The Developer Studio Object Hierarchy for Automation

To manipulate Developer Studio objects, you must know the relationships between them. The Application object is at the top, and the other objects are subordinate to it. This relationship allows you to directly access objects subordinate to the Application object by using the properties and methods of the Application object.

The "has-a" tree is shown below. For example, the Breakpoints object has, as one of its properties, a Breakpoint object.

Application
    Application (Application is its own parent)
        Projects
            Project
                Configurations
                    Configuration
                        Configurations (circular)
        Documents
            Document
                Window (for "Generic" window types)
            TextDocument
                TextSelection
                TextWindow
                Window (for "Text" window types)
        TextEditor
        Windows
        Debugger
        Breakpoints
            Breakpoint