Application Note

Using VirtualCOM in
AutomationDesk
Release 2024-A – May 2024
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 Contents

Contents

About This Document 5

Introduction 7
Intention......................................................................................................... 7
Scope and Area of Validity............................................................................... 8

Technical Background 9
AutomationDesk............................................................................................. 9
Use of COM Objects in AutomationDesk....................................................... 11
Event Handling in AutomationDesk............................................................... 14

Examples 17
Example 1: Sending an Email......................................................................... 17
Example 2: Transfer Data between Excel and AutomationDesk...................... 19
Example 3: Using Excel Events in AutomationDesk......................................... 22

Conclusion 27
Comparison of the Assignment Methods.......................................... ............ 27

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 Contents

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Using VirtualCOM in AutomationDesk May 2024
 About This Document

About This Document

Content This document introduces features that let you access other applications in
AutomationDesk sequences via AutomationDesk's VirtualCOM.

Required knowledge Working with AutomationDesk requires:

§ Basic knowledge in handling the PC and the Microsoft Windows operating
system.
§ Basic knowledge in developing applications or tests.
§ Basic knowledge in handling the external device, which you control remotely
via AutomationDesk.

dSPACE provides trainings for AutomationDesk. For more information, refer to

https://www.dspace.com/go/trainings.

Symbols dSPACE user documentation uses the following symbols:

Symbol Description
Indicates a hazardous situation that, if not avoided,
V DANGER
will result in death or serious injury.
Indicates a hazardous situation that, if not avoided,
V WARNING could result in death or serious injury.
Indicates a hazardous situation that, if not avoided,
V CAUTION could result in minor or moderate injury.
Indicates a hazard that, if not avoided, could result in
NOTICE
property damage.
Indicates important information that you should take
Note
into account to avoid malfunctions.
Indicates tips that can make your work easier.
Tip
Indicates a link that refers to a definition in the
glossary, which you can find at the end of the
document unless stated otherwise.

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 About This Document

Symbol Description
Follows the document title in a link that refers to
another document.

Naming conventions dSPACE user documentation uses the following naming conventions:

%name% Names enclosed in percent signs refer to environment variables for

file and path names.

<> Angle brackets contain wildcard characters or placeholders for variable

file and path names, etc.

Special Windows folders Windows‑based software products use the following special folders:

Common Program Data folder A standard folder for application-specific

program data that is used by all users.
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or
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Documents folder A standard folder for application‑specific files that are

used by the current user.
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\dSPACE\<ProductName>\<VersionNumber>

Local Program Data folder A standard folder for application-specific

program data that is used by the current user.
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\dSPACE\<InstallationGUID>\
<ProductName>

Accessing dSPACE Help and After you install and decrypt Windows‑based dSPACE software, the
PDF files documentation for the installed products is available in dSPACE Help and as PDF
files.

dSPACE Help (local) You can open your local installation of dSPACE Help:
§ On its home page via Windows Start Menu
§ On specific content using context-sensitive help via F1

PDF files You can access PDF files via the icon in dSPACE Help. The PDF
opens on the first page.

dSPACE Help (Web) Independently of the software installation, you can

access the Web version of dSPACE Help at https://www.dspace.com/go/help.
To access the Web version, you must have a mydSPACE account.
For more information on the mydSPACE registration process, refer to
https://www.dspace.com/faq?097.

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Using VirtualCOM in AutomationDesk May 2024
 Introduction

Introduction

Where to go from here Information in this section

Intention................................................................................................... 7

Scope and Area of Validity......................................................................... 8

Intention

Introduction This document is intended for AutomationDesk users who want to use features
of other applications in their AutomationDesk sequences. AutomationDesk's
open architecture lets users reimplement such features or remote-control other
applications.

An interface that is commonly used for remote-controlling software is the

Component Object Model (COM). If the application or service you want to
remote-control provides a COM interface, you can use it for communication
between AutomationDesk and the application. The COM interface allows
you to use functions and applications implemented in different programming
languages. It can reside on the PC as a dynamic linked library (DLL) or as an
executable file (EXE). Features used via the COM interface are not linked or
imported into the AutomationDesk project.

The Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) is based on the same COM
technology, except that communication takes place between different network
nodes. There are no differences between COM and DCOM with regard to the
remote-control interfaces. Other remote-control interfaces like ActiveX or OLE
are not discussed in this document.

This document is not an introduction to COM and any remote-controlled

application, but a guideline for COM programming via VirtualCOM in
AutomationDesk. VirtualCOM is a feature of AutomationDesk and serves as
a protective shield when you use COM in your sequences. It manages COM
objects in a secure way to prevent system crashes during the test development

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 Introduction

phase. This document provides instructions and examples for using COM via
VirtualCOM.

Tip

It is recommended to use AutomationDesk's VirtualCOM for COM

programming.

Scope and Area of Validity

Introduction The solutions presented in this document can be used from AutomationDesk 3.2
and upward.

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 Technical Background

Technical Background

Introduction This chapter explains the basic technical background of COM and VirtualCOM in
AutomationDesk, and introduces recommended implementation structures.

Where to go from here Information in this section

AutomationDesk....................................................................................... 9

Use of COM Objects in AutomationDesk................................................. 11

Event Handling in AutomationDesk......................................................... 14

AutomationDesk

Threads in AutomationDesk The AutomationDesk process contains several threads. The main thread contains
the user interface. Each execution of AutomationDesk elements (Project, Folder,
Sequence, Serial and Blocks) runs in a separate thread. If subsystems are
executed in parallel, each runs in its own thread.

Since AutomationDesk 3.2, a further thread, called the container thread, was
implemented to manage COM objects created by the VirtualCOM feature.

Python namespace in AutomationDesk has one global namespace for using Python variables in Exec
AutomationDesk blocks. The namespace is not cleaned up until the end of the AutomationDesk
session. After execution, all assignments made in Exec blocks remain in the
namespace and can be accessed in subsequent executions.

The figure below shows the global Exec block namespace. In the first execution,
Exec block (1) initializes a Python object, an integer variable. In the second
execution, Exec block (2) uses the same namespace and can access the integer
variable.

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 Technical Background

AutomationDesk process

Global Exec block namespace

Main thread (GUI) Execution thread

X=5

Exec block (1):

X=5

Exec block (2):

Print X

COM objects in In AutomationDesk each thread has its own message loop. An initialized COM
AutomationDesk threads object has to be released before its thread is terminated. With the normal COM
object handling, all COM objects have to be released manually by the user’s code
at the end of each execution thread. If VirtualCOM is used to initialize COM
objects, they are created in the container thread and are released either manually
by the user's code or automatically when AutomationDesk is closed. An object's
life time is independent of its execution time.

The figure below shows the global Exec block namespace. In the first execution,
Exec block (1) initializes a COM object using the VirtualCOM dispatch method. In
the second execution, Exec block (2) is expected to use it. Both the integer object
and the COM object are available in the global namespace. The COM object can
be used until it is released manually or the container thread is terminated.

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 Use of COM Objects in AutomationDesk

AutomationDesk process

Global Exec block namespace

Container thread

Main thread (GUI) Execution thread COM object

Initializes COM object

Exec block (1):

COMObj = VC_Dispatch(...)

X=5
COMObj reference

Uses COM object

Exec block (2):

Using COMObj
Latest release
of COM object

Use of COM Objects in AutomationDesk

Introduction VirtualCOM makes it easy to use COM objects in AutomationDesk. Once a COM
object is initialized, it can be used until AutomationDesk is closed. A COM object
is not limited to the execution time of a single Exec block, but can be used
across blocks, sequences and even folders. The following sections describe how
to handle COM objects with VirtualCOM.

Possible methods to assign When using VirtualCOM, you can assign a COM object to a Variant data object
and clean up COM objects in your project structure or to a Python variable.

Note

To use VirtualCOM in your script, you must import the virtualcomobject

module beforehand.

Using project-specific Variant If you add a Variant data object to your project, you can access it via the _AD_
data objects alias.

Assigning COM objects to Variant data objects Because project-specific

data objects are elements of the project structure, assigning COM objects to
project-specific Variant data objects makes the COM objects visible. This gives
you a list of the COM objects used. Each access to a COM object can be

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 Technical Background

identified by the Variant's name. If COM objects are to be used by several blocks
or sequences, it is recommended to use project-specific Variant data objects.
Example: You have added a Variant data object named ExcelAppl to your
project. To initialize the COM object of the Microsoft Excel application, you can
use the following dispatch call.
_AD_.ExcelAppl = virtualcomobject.VirtualCOMObject.\
VC_Dispatch("Excel.Application")

Manual cleanup of COM objects using Variant data objects Although the
COM objects initialized via VirtualCOM do not have to be cleaned up manually,
it may be useful in some cases. They must be released in reverse order of
creation.
The Variant data object is initialized automatically with None during its creation.
After assignment it contains the COM object as its value. To clean up the COM
object, just set the Variant data object to None again.
_AD_.ExcelAppl = None

Note

Do not use the del command when using Variant data objects for COM
objects.

Using Python variables If you assign a Python variable, it is added to the global namespace and can be
accessed by its name.

Assigning COM objects to Python variables The assignment of COM

objects to Python variables makes COM objects available in the global
namespace for further use. To get the access name of a COM object (the name
of the assigned Python variable), you must refer to the block where the object
was created. If COM objects are to be used only in a single Exec block, it is
recommended to use Python variables.
Example: To assign the COM object of the Microsoft Excel application to the
Python variable named ExcelApp, you can use the following dispatch call.
ExcelAppl = virtualcomobject.VirtualCOMObject.\
VC_Dispatch("Excel.Application")

Manual cleanup of COM objects using Python variables Although the

COM objects initialized via VirtualCOM do not have to be cleaned up manually,
it may be useful in some cases. They must be released in reverse order of
creation.
The following program listing shows how to initialize, use and clean up COM
objects. Initialization is necessary because an error can occur before a COM
object is created. In this case the del statement itself would raise an error and
subsequent code lines in the cleanup part would not be executed.

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 Use of COM Objects in AutomationDesk

# Initialize the COM objects

ComObj_1 = None
ComObj_2 = None

# Creating and using COM objects

try:
<...>

# Releasing the COM objects

finally:
del ComObj_2
del ComObj_1

Example of using Python variables For example, Microsoft Excel provides

an application object with workbook objects under it in the hierarchy, and
objects for single Excel sheets at the lowest level. Theoretically, the server knows
the cleanup order of all objects and shuts down after releasing the last COM
object independently of its hierarchy level. The server documentation should also
explain the rules for shutdown.
However, it is more secure to clean up the COM objects in reverse order of
hierarchy level or creation:
# Creation order
ExcelAppl = virtualcomobject.VirtualCOMObject.\
VC_Dispatch("Excel.Application")
Workbook = ExcelAppl.Workbook.Item(...)
Sheet = Workbook.Sheet.Item(...)
# Cleanup order (inverse to the creation order)
del Sheet
del Workbook
del ExcelAppl

Using COM objects initialized COM objects are not limited by the implementation structure. They can be used
by VirtualCOM in a single Exec block, across several Exec blocks within a sequence, across
several sequences and even across different folders, as shown in the illustrations
below.

Using a COM object in a single Exec block

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 Technical Background

Using a COM object across blocks

Using a COM object across sequences

Using a COM object across folders

Event Handling in AutomationDesk

Introduction With AutomationDesk 3.4, the VirtualCOM feature also provides COM-based
event handling.

AutomationDesk can react on events provided by the connected COM

application. After execution, the defined application event classes have to be
cleared.

Defining an application event Before AutomationDesk can react to events of the connected COM application,
class you have to define a class in AutomationDesk containing the relevant methods.

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 Event Handling in AutomationDesk

Refer to the COM API documentation of your COM application to get the names
of the available methods and parameters.

Example
class AppEvents:
# You can use any name for the class definition
def Method1(self, Parameter1):
print("*Event* APP -> Method1:", Parameter1)
def Method2(self, Parameter1, Parameter2):
print("*Event* APP -> Method2:", Parameter1, Parameter2)

Note

There might be methods that are only available in the main thread of the
COM object. Then, AutomationDesk cannot access such an event.

Connecting to the events After the application event class is defined and the application object is created,
you have to connect the application events to the application object by using the
VC_DispatchWithEvents method.

The syntax of the method is:

VC_DispatchWithEvents(VC_ApplObject, ApplEventClass)

Example
_AD_.AppEvents = virtualcomobject.VirtualCOMObject.\
VC_DispatchWithEvents(_AD_.MyAppl, AppEvents)

Using the events While the application object and the application event class is connected,
AutomationDesk can react to the specified actions in the COM application.

Disconnecting from the Before you clear the application object, you should disconnect and clear the
events application event class. You do this by setting the application event class to
None.

Example
_AD_.AppEvents = None

Example project For an example project, refer to Example 3: Using Excel Events in
AutomationDesk on page 22.

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 Technical Background

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 Examples

Examples

Introduction This chapter shows the implementation structure for COM handling using
the two types of COM object assignment. The first example shows a remote
control for Microsoft Outlook®. The implementation is based on Python variable
assignment, and all the COM handling is implemented in a single Exec block.

Data object assignment is described in the second example, a remote control for
Microsoft Excel®. The COM handling is distributed over several Exec blocks and
sequences.

Where to go from here Information in this section

Example 1: Sending an Email................................................................... 17

This example is implemented in a single Exec block and the COM objects
are assigned to Python variables.

Example 2: Transfer Data between Excel and AutomationDesk................. 19

This example is implemented in two sequences. The COM objects are
assigned to project-specific Variant data objects.

Example 3: Using Excel Events in AutomationDesk................................... 22

This example shows you how to access events from a remote-controlled
Excel application.

Example 1: Sending an Email

Introduction This example is implemented in a single Exec block, and the COM objects are
assigned to Python variables.

It shows how you can implement a remote control for Microsoft Outlook® to
send an e-mail.

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 Examples

Implementation of Example 1 Block interface and Python code The Python code contains the following
variables that are to be provided by project-specific data objects:

Name Data Type Description

To String Addresses of the e-mail
Subject String Subject of the e-mail
Body String E-mail text
Attachment String Path of the attachment file

The Python code of the Exec block to remote-control Outlook contains two
COM objects, the application object (Python variable Outlook) and the object of
the email (Python variable EMail). The email object depends on the application
object and needs to be released before the application object is released.
import virtualcomobject

Outlook = None
EMail = None

try:
Outlook = virtualcomobject.VirtualCOMObject.\
VC_Dispatch("Outlook.Application")
if Outlook is not None:
EMail = Outlook.CreateItem(0)
if Email is not None:
EMail.To = _AD_.To
EMail.Subject = _AD_.Subject
EMail.Body = _AD_.Body
if _AD_.Attachment is not '':
EMail.Attachments.Add(_AD_.Attachment,1,1)
EMail.Send()
finally:
del EMail
del Outlook

Behavior of Microsoft Outlook during Remote Control The behavior of

Outlook during remote control is as follows: If Outlook is closed, COM object
creation opens it, and the final COM object cleanup closes it again. If Outlook is
already open, the new COM object connects to it, and the clean up only closes
the connection between the COM object and Outlook.

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 Example 2: Transfer Data between Excel and AutomationDesk

Example 2: Transfer Data between Excel and AutomationDesk

Introduction This example is implemented in two sequences. The COM objects are assigned to
project-specific Variant data objects.

The aim is to remote control the data transfer between Microsoft Excel® and
AutomationDesk. In the first sequence, data is read from an Excel file, and in
the second sequence, data is written to the Excel file. Using VirtualCOM, the
initialized COM objects for reading data in the first sequence can also be used
for writing data in the second sequence. Because different Exec blocks have to
access the COM objects, they are made visible as project-specific Variant data
objects in the project structure.

Implementation of Example 2 Behavior of Microsoft Excel during remote control The Excel application
is used multiple times during project execution. Hence, it is better to open Excel
at the beginning of the execution and not to close it until the end of the
execution. The read and write access is realized in several separate Exec blocks
using the two sequences ReadDataFromExcel and WriteDataToExcel.

Block Interfaces

Name Data Type Description

COMObjects DataContainer Contains COM objects.
ExcelApp Variant Used for the COM object of the Excel
application.
Workbook Variant Used for the COM object of the Excel
workbook.
Sheet Variant Used for the COM object of the Excel sheet.
ExcelFile File Path of the Excel file
FileName String Name of the Excel file
SheetName String Name of the Excel sheet
Data List List for storing the data from the Excel sheet in
the form [[row][row]]
StartCell String First cell of the data in the Excel sheet, for
example, A2
EndCell String Last cell of the data in the Excel sheet, for
example, E6

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 Examples

ReadDataFromExcel sequence The ReadDataFromExcel sequence

contains the two Exec blocks OpenExcelApplication and
FetchDataFromExcel.

Implementation of the OpenExcelApplication block This Exec block

provides a Variant data object that references the ExcelAppl data object of
the project. If you execute the block, the Excel application COM object is
assigned to the project-specific Variant data object in the global namespace of
AutomationDesk. Other Exec blocks can use this global data object to access
Excel. After assignment, Excel is started.
import virtualcomobject

_AD_.ExcelAppl = virtualcomobject.VirtualCOMObject.\
VC_Dispatch("Excel.Application")
_AD_.ExcelAppl.Visible = 1

Implementation of the FetchDataFromExcel block This Exec block

provides three Variant data objects which reference the corresponding data
objects ExcelAppl, Workbook and Sheet in the project. These data objects

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 Example 2: Transfer Data between Excel and AutomationDesk

are in the global namespace of AutomationDesk and can be used directly in this
Exec block without creating additional data objects.

Tip

Although it is not mandatory to add the ExcelAppl data object to the

block's interface, it is recommended to do so for a better overview of the
COM objects used without looking into the block's code.

If you execute the block, you get the data from the Excel sheet and store it in the
Data data object.
# Open the Excel file
_AD_.ExcelAppl.Workbooks.Open(_AD_.ExcelFile.GetPathName())

# Fetch COM interface of the Excel workbook

AD_.Workbook = _AD_.ExcelAppl.Workbooks.Item(_AD_.FileName)

# Fetch COM interface of the Excel sheet

_AD_.Sheet = _AD_.Workbook.Worksheets.Item(_AD_.SheetName)

# Fetch the sheet from the Excel file. Return value is a tuple.
Data = _AD_.Sheet.Cells.\
Range(_AD_.StartCell,_AD_.EndCell).Value

# Data : tuple of tuples -> convert to list of lists

_AD_.Data = map(list, Data)

WriteDataToExcel sequence The WriteDataToExcel sequence contains

the three Exec blocks WriteDataToExcel, CloseExcelApplication and
COMCleanUp.

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 Examples

Implementation of the WriteDataToExcel block This Exec block provides

the two data objects Workbook and Sheet to show that it is using the
corresponding COM objects.
If you execute the block, the data fetched from the Excel file by the first
sequence is written back to the Excel sheet as a copy. Finally the Excel file is
saved.
# Write the data back to the Excel sheet
_AD_.Sheet.Cells.Range("A11","E15").Value = _AD_.Data

# Save the Excel file

_AD_.Workbook.Save()

Implementation of the CloseExcelApplication block This Exec block

provides the data object ExcelAppl to show that the corresponding COM object
is used in the block's code.
If you execute the block, the Excel application is hidden and closes.
_AD_.ExcelAppl.Visible = 0
_AD_.ExcelAppl.Quit()

Implementation of the COMCleanUp block This Exec block cleans up the

three COM objects Sheet, Workbook and ExcelAppl by setting them to None.
The COM objects must be released in reverse order of creation. The Sheet object
is released first, then the Workbook object and finally the ExcelAppl object.
This block shows that no data objects are required in the block's interface to
access the corresponding global data objects.
If you execute the block, the COM objects that are represented by the
corresponding Variant data objects in the COMObjects data container are
cleaned up by setting them to None.
_AD_.COMObjects.Sheet = None
_AD_.COMObjects.Workbook = None
_AD_.COMObjects.ExcelAppl = None
The COM objects are automatically cleaned up when you close AutomationDesk.

Example 3: Using Excel Events in AutomationDesk

Introduction This example shows you how to access events from a remote-controlled
Microsoft Excel® application in AutomationDesk.

Implementation of Example 3 Project-specific data objects The following Variant data objects are used to
provide the created COM objects.

Name Data Type Description

ExcelAppl Variant Used for the COM object of the Excel application.

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 Example 3: Using Excel Events in AutomationDesk

Name Data Type Description

ExcelEvents Variant Used for the COM object of the connected
application event class.

Define application event class The GetEventsFromExcel sequence starts

with an Exec block to define the application event class.

It contains the following script:

class AppEvents:
def OnWindowResize(self, Wb, Wn):
print("*Event* APP -> Resize:", Wb, Wn)
# This is an example of a method that cannot
# be accessed via AutomationDesk
def OnNewWorkbook(self, Wb):
print("*Event* APP -> NewWorkbook:", Wb)

Connect the application event class to the application object The

application event class has to be connected to the formerly created application
object. To simplify the access to the project-specific ExcelAppl data object, each
block that needs access to the Excel application object has an internal Excel data
object that refers to it.
For creating the Excel application object, type the following script in the Start
Excel block. The block returns the Excel application object and starts Excel.
import virtualcomobject
_AD_.Excel = virtualcomobject.VirtualCOMObject.\
VC_Dispatch("Excel.Application")
The Connect MyAppEvents block provides two data objects: the Excel data
object to refer to the project-specific application object, and the AppEvents data
object, to refer to the project-specific ExcelEvents event object. The block reads
the application object and returns the created event object. Then, the application
event class is connected to the Excel application.
import virtualcomobject
_AD_.AppEvents = virtualcomobject.VirtualCOMObject.
VC_DispatchWithEvents(_AD_.Excel, AppEvents)

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 Examples

Using the application event class During the For loop, you can create a
new workbook and resize the Excel window. The creation of the workbook
triggers the specified event and you can see the message defined in the
application event class in the Output Viewer. The resize of the window also
triggers an event but it cannot be accessed by AutomationDesk. The defined
message is not displayed. While you want to work with the Excel user interface,
the application must be visible.
To change the visibility of Excel, you can use the Visible property:
_AD_.Excel.Visible = True # user interface is displayed
_AD_.Excel.Visible = False # user interface is hidden

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 Example 3: Using Excel Events in AutomationDesk

Cleaning up Excel The clean up process includes three steps.

1. Clear the application event class
_AD_.AppEvents = None
2. Close Excel
_AD_.ExcelAppl.Quit()
3. Clear the Excel application object
_AD_.Excel = None

If you execute the blocks, the application event class is disconnected from the
application object and cleared, Excel is closed, and the Excel application object is
cleared.

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 Examples

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Using VirtualCOM in AutomationDesk May 2024
 Conclusion

Conclusion

Introduction The descriptions and examples in this document demonstrate the functionality
of AutomationDesk's VirtualCOM. Its main advantage over the standard COM
handling is easier use of COM objects. There are no strict rules you have to
observe to prevent run-time errors, for example, when using the Stop Execution
command. VirtualCOM in AutomationDesk is a convenient, secure way to handle
COM objects for remote control.

Comparison of the Assignment Methods

Assignment methods The following table shows the recommended COM handling for the two
methods of COM object assignment.

Using Python Variable Using Variant Data Object

COM objects … in one single Exec block … in several Exec blocks, sequences or folders
used …
Initialize and 1. Initialize variable with None before 1. Add a Variant data object to the project.
manual cleanup assigning to the COM object 2. Clean up code:
2. Clean up code: _AD_.VariantName = None
del variable

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 Conclusion

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