Create COM Object Method

The Create COM Object method creates a new COM object. It does not return a value.

Format

CreateObject(application.objectname)

The following table describes the arguments that you can use with this method.

Argument	Description
application	The name of the application.
objectname	The name of the object that this method uses.

Usage

To create an object, you use the Dim statement to declare an object variable, and then set the variable equal to the new object. For example:

Dim excelObj As Object
Set excelObj = CreateObject("Excel.Application")

You can use one of the following formats to reference a method or property of the object:

objectvar.property
objectvar.method

For example:

Dim cellVal as String
cellVal = excelObj.ActiveSheet.Cells(1,1).Value

You cannot display a modal or nonmodal form from a server application. A DLL that this method instantiates must be thread-safe.

To identify correct application and object names, see the documentation for your Web Client Automation Server application.

If a method passes the wrong number, order, or type of arguments to a COM object when it calls a COM object, then a 440 error message might occur.

Example 1

The following example uses the Create COM Object method to create a Microsoft Excel worksheet. It then edits and saves this worksheet:

Sub BtnExcel_Click
   Dim oWorkSheet As Object
   Dim sfileName As String
   Set oWorkSheet = CreateObject("Excel.Sheet")
   If oWorkSheet Is Nothing then
      Exit Sub
   End If

   ' Make Excel visible through the Application object.
   oWorkSheet.Application.Visible = 1
   ' Place some text in the first cell of the sheet
   oWorkSheet.ActiveSheet.Cells(1,1).Value = "Column A, Row 1"
   ' Save the sheet
   sfileName = "C:\demo.xls"
   oWorkSheet.SaveAs (fileName)
   ' Close Excel with the Quit method on the Application object
   oWorkSheet.Application.Quit
   ' Clear the object from memory
   Set oWorkSheet = Nothing
End Sub

The following example uses the Create COM Object method to create a Microsoft Word document. It then edits and saves this document:

Sub BtnWrd_Click
   Dim oWord As Object
   Dim fileName As String
   fileName = "C:\demo.doc"
   Set oWord = CreateObject("Word.Application")
   ' Create a new document
   oWord.Documents.Add
   If oWord Is Nothing then 
      Exit Sub
   End If
   ' Make Word visible through the Application object
   oWord.Application.Visible = 1
   ' Add some text
   oWord.Selection.TypeText "This is a demo."
   ' Save the document
   oWord.ActiveDocument.SaveAs (fileName)
   ' Close Word with the Quit method on the Application object
   oWord.Quit
   ' Clear the object from memory
   Set oWord = Nothing
End Sub