Using the OLE/COM Object Viewer

By reading a control's type library, the OLE/COM Object Viewer lets you view a control's interfaces.

Start the OLE/COM Object Viewer by either clicking OLE/COM Object Viewer on the Tools menu or by typing oleview at the command line.
Display all registered Automation objects by opening the Automation Objects folder from the Object Classes, Grouped by Component Category.
Scroll down and select one of the control. Several tabs appear in the right pane and the interfaces implemented by the control display on the Registry tab.
- If you right-click a control in the left pane and select View Type Information, the ITypeInfo Viewer displays a reconstructed .idl or .odl file.
- If you expand the control node in the left pane, you see a list of the interfaces in the object. If you click an interface, the registry entry for that interface is displayed in the right pane.
- If you right-click an interface and click View, the OLE/COM Object Viewer displays a dialog box showing the GUID for the interface and an option to view type library information, if it is available. Selecting View Type Info displays a portion of a reconstructed .idl file specific to the interface in the ITypeInfo Viewer.
- In the ITypeInfo Viewer, expanding the tree view and clicking an interface member displays the accessor method signatures in the right pane.

See Also