The Sun COM/DCOM Adapter

The Sun COM/DCOM Adapter (referred to as the COM/DCOM Adapter through-out this document) allows the Sun Java Composite Application Platform Suite to create an instance of an automation-compatible COM object and access the methods and properties of that object.

One aspect of COM is “automation” based on the COM IDispatch interface. Objects that implement the IDispatch interface are known to be automation-compatible. Automation-compatible components are said to be “scriptable” and/or are capable of being “driven” by an automation client. This is possible because the IDispatch interface is well-known and those components that implement this interface adhere to a strict contract that is based on a “late binding” concept. “Late binding” refers to a programming principle whereby the actual operation invoked is not determined until runtime. Objects that implement the IDispatch interface achieve this through the concept of the Invoke method on the IDispatch interface, which allows the user to call a method by name. The COM/DCOM Adapter is designed to work with automation-compatible components: that is, those that implement the IDispatch interface.

The COM/DCOM Adapter does not support Sun Java CAPS BPEL 1.0 Business Processes.