Application Note

Using COM in AutomationDesk

Release 2024-A – May 2024
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 Contents

Contents

About This Document 5

Introduction 7

Technical Background 9
Component Object Model (COM)..................................................... .............. 9
AutomationDesk........................................................................................... 10
Use of COM Objects in AutomationDesk....................................................... 12
Implementation Structure.............................................................................. 14

Examples 19
Example Use Cases........................................................................................ 19
Implementation............................................................................................. 20

Conclusion 29
Comparison of the Implementations.............................................................. 29

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 Contents

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 About This Document

About This Document

Content This document introduces features that let you access other applications in
AutomationDesk sequences via Microsoft's Component Object Model (COM) .

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.
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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

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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 COM in AutomationDesk May 2024
 Introduction

Introduction

Important notes Note

§ It is recommended to use the VirtualCOM object handling provided by

AutomationDesk. This facilitates proper COM handling.
For more information, refer to
UsingVirtualCOMInAutomationDeskApplicationNote.pdf.
§ Some instructions and examples are based on the Test Framework
library. This library is discontinued with AutomationDesk 5.3 (dSPACE
Release 2016‑B). You can use its successor, the Test Builder library, in a
similar way.
For the migration of Test Framework projects to Test Builder projects,
you can use a tool that is provided by dSPACE Support. For further
information, refer to http://www.dspace.com/go/TestBuilderMigration.

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 Introduction

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 Technical Background

Technical Background

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

Where to go from here Information in this section

Component Object Model (COM).............................................................. 9

AutomationDesk..................................................................................... 10

Use of COM Objects in AutomationDesk................................................. 12

Implementation Structure........................................................................ 14

Component Object Model (COM)

General information Wikipedia:

Component Object Model (COM) is an interface standard for software
componentry introduced by Microsoft in 1993. It is used to enable interprocess
communication and dynamic object creation in any programming language
that supports the technology. The term COM is often used in the software
development industry as an umbrella term that encompasses the OLE, OLE
Automation, ActiveX, COM+ and DCOM technologies. […].
The essence of COM is a language-neutral way of implementing objects which
can be used in environments different from the one they were created in, even
across machine boundaries. For well-authored components, COM allows reuse
of objects with no knowledge of their internal implementation because it forces
component implementers to provide well-defined interfaces that are separate
from the implementation. The different allocation semantics of languages are
accommodated by making objects responsible for their own creation and
destruction through reference-counting. Casting between different interfaces

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 Technical Background

of an object is achieved through the QueryInterface() function. The preferred

method of inheritance within COM is the creation of sub-objects to which
method calls are delegated.

Life time of COM objects The communication between the client(s) and the server is realized via the
Window Message Queue. Every COM object has to be connected to the
message queue. The COM objects have to be cleaned up before the concerning
Message Queue shuts down, otherwise it is possible to produce memory leaks
after every usage.

The server counts the objects which are associated with it. Theoretically the COM
server should know the order of cleaning up the COM objects. But in fact, it is
much more secure to manually clean up the COM objects in the inverse order of
the creation.

Picture 2‑1: Lifetime and Reference Counter Model (COM)

AutomationDesk

Threads in AutomationDesk The AutomationDesk process contains several threads. The main thread contains
the GUI. Each execution of AutomationDesk elements (Project, Folder, Sequence,
Serial and Blocks) runs in a separated thread. In case of the execution of a
parallel subsystem each subtree is started in an own thread.

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

Picture 2‑2 shows the global Exec block namespace. In the first execution the
Exec block (1) initializes a Python object, an integer variable. In the second

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 AutomationDesk

execution the Exec block (2) uses the same namespace and can access the
integer variable.
AutomationDesk process

Global Exec block namespace

Main thread (GUI) Execution thread

X=5

Exec block (1):

X=5

Exec block (2):

Print X

Picture 2‑2: Global Exec block namespace

COM objects in In AutomationDesk each thread has its own message loop. In conclusion of
AutomationDesk threads this and the fact that a COM object has to be released before its thread is
terminated, all used COM objects have to be released manually by the user’s
code at the end of each execution (thread).

Picture 2‑3 shows the global Exec block namespace. In the first execution the
Exec block (1) initializes a COM object. In the second execution the Exec block
(2) is expected to use it. The integer object is indeed available. Also the COM
object is available, because of the global namespace. But its area of validity was
terminated with the previous execution (thread) and the usage of the same COM
object will raise an error.

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 Technical Background

Picture 2‑3: Namespace and the life time of COM objects in AutomationDesk

Execution Stop button in The Stop button terminates the execution before starting the next block. In this
AutomationDesk case, no error handling or cleanup block will be executed. It can be therefore
critical to use the Stop button in sequences using COM.

An exception is given by the high-level TestFramework library. When pressing a

Stop button, in this case a popup window asks the user whether the cleanup
parts of the current sequences shall be executed before the execution stops.

Use of COM Objects in AutomationDesk

Introduction The implementation of COM objects in AutomationDesk has to follow several

rules given in the following chapters. The best COM handling however does not
help if the server has bugs or problems.

Assignment of COM objects COM objects must not be assigned to the usual AutomationDesk data objects
(_AD_.). Instead simple Python variables should be used:
§ Incorrect (do not use):
_AD_.ExcelAppl = win32com.client.Dispatch("Excel.Application")
§ Correct:
ExcelAppl = win32com.client.Dispatch("Excel.Application")

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 Use of COM Objects in AutomationDesk

Tip

AutomationDesk provides a modified dispatch method that ensures proper

COM handling. For example, this dispatch method is used in the
ControlDesk Access demo scripts.
# Create and return COM object (Application)
return virtualcomobject.VirtualCOMObject.VC_Dispatch(
"ControlDeskNG.Application")

Cleanup of COM objects By reason of the global Exec block namespace, it is essential to release all
COM objects when the execution thread is terminated. This can be done by
an assignment to None or using the del statement. For the realization, the try-
finally error handling should be used. The following code structure shows a
secure way for the implementation of COM handling (see Code 2‑1). The Code
can be divided into three parts: initialization usage and cleanup of the COM
objects. The 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
the following code lines of the cleanup part would not be executed.
# Initialize the COM Objects
ComObj_1 = None
ComObj_2 = None
...
try:
# Creation of the first COM object, e.g. Excel - Application
# (see Code 3-2)
ComObj_1 = win32com.client.Dispatch(<...>)
...
# Creation of an additional COM object via the first COM object
# (ComObj_1)
ComObj_2 = ComObj_1.<...>(<...>)
...
finally:
# Releasing the COM objects
del ComObj_2
del ComObj_1

Code 2‑1: Implementation Structure with COM objects

The COM server generally provides a lot of objects, but normally only few are
directly visible by the client. For example, Microsoft Excel provides an application
object. In the further hierarchy the object for a single Excel sheet is dependent
on the workbook object and the workbook object on the application object.
Theoretically the server knows the cleanup order of all objects and shuts down
after releasing the last COM object, independent of the hierarchy level of the
COM object. The server documentation should also explain the rules for the
shutdown.

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 Technical Background

If there are problems with the shutdown, one can try to cleanup the COM
objects in the inverse order to their hierarchy level or their creation order:
# Creation order
ExcelAppl = win32com.client.Dispatch('Excel.Application')
Workbook = ExcelAppl.Workbook.Item(<...>)
Sheet = Workbook.Sheet.Item(<...>)
...
# Clean-up order (inverse to the creation order)
del Sheet
del Workbook
del ExcelAppl

Code 2‑2: Cleanup order of COM objects

Implementation Structure

Introduction Concerning the COM handling in AutomationDesk, different implementations

are possible. The main differences regard the placement of the error handling.
The error handling can be realized in the Exec blocks as Python code or as a
block solution in the AutomationDesk sequence.

Error handling in Python (Exec The single-Exec-Block solution is interesting for tasks which are rarely used (in
blocks) relation to the test duration). Using COM, this is the case if the communication
between the server and the client is rare or if the client is able to bring the server
to a state where the client is able to disconnect from the server but the server
will stay open.

But this implementation is secure, because the error handling realizes a clean up
of the COM objects and the execution Stop button cannot interrupt the block
execution.

Error handling in The error handling can be realized with the TryFinally AutomationDesk block
AutomationDesk (Sequences) (Picture 2‑4) and the TestFramework elements TestSequence and Test (Picture
2‑5).

On the one hand, with this implementations the execution Stop button should
not be used and on the other hand the whole ‘TryFinally’ or rather the whole
‘Test’ can be executed.

Note

The following implementation is based on the Platform Access library. This

library is discontinued with AutomationDesk 5.3 (dSPACE Release 2016‑B).
You can use its successor, the XIL API Convenience library, in a similar way.

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 Implementation Structure

Picture 2‑4: Implementation structure with the AutomationDesk Try-Finally

element

Note

The following implementations are based on the Test Framework

library. This library is discontinued with AutomationDesk 5.3 (dSPACE
Release 2016‑B). You can use its successor, the Test Builder library, in a
similar way.

The TestInitialization phase of the Test block is used for dispatch call, the
TestStepsAndEvaluation phase is used for the COM usage and clean up of the
COM objects is performed in the TestCleanUp phase (Picture 2‑5).

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 Technical Background

COM Dispatch

COM Usage

COM Release

Picture 2‑5: Implementation structure with the TestFramework Test block

In the following two implementations the COM usage is distributed over

several Sequences or TestSequences. The first Sequence/TestSequence realizes
the dispatch call, the following Sequences/TestSequences use the COM object(s)
and the last Sequence/TestSequence is responsible for the cleanup.

Picture 2‑6: COM handling over several Sequences (top) / TestSequences

(bottom)

Both solutions have restrictions on the development and on the usage. It is not
allowed to execute one of the Sequences/TestSequences separately. Only the
folder which contains all Sequences/TestSequences with COM handling (“Com
Dispatch”, “Com Usage” and “Com Release”) may be executed. The Stop
button must not be pressed during the execution, because the “Com Release”-

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 Implementation Structure

Sequence/TestSequence might not be executed. The difference between the

Sequence and the TestSequence solution is the error handling: The TestSequence
contains an error handling as described above.

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 Technical Background

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 Examples

Examples

Introduction This chapter shows the implementation structure for COM handling on the
different implementation levels in AutomationDesk. The first example shows a
remote control of Microsoft Outlook®. The implementation is on the Exec block
level. The whole COM handling is implemented in a single Exec block.

Four different implementations are presented for the second example, a remote
control of Microsoft Excel®. The COM handling is distributed over several Exec
blocks and over several TestSequences.

Where to go from here Information in this section

Example Use Cases.................................................................................. 19

Implementation....................................................................................... 20

Example Use Cases

Example 1: Sending an email The AutomationDesk block ‘SendEMail’ realizes a remote control of Microsoft
Outlook. The task of the block is to send an email.

Example 2: Transfer The second example shows the remote control of Excel. An Excel sheet contains
Data between Excel and the parameterization of the real-time model and should get the results too.
AutomationDesk

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 Examples

Picture 3‑1: Model for the Excel-AutomationDesk-Real-Time hardware data

transfer

Implementation

Introduction The first example can be implemented in a single Exec block. The only interaction
with the AutomationDesk project consists in the block parameters (data objects)
which can be used to set necessary information for sending an email, for
example, the recipient and the subject. In the second example more interaction
between AutomationDesk and Excel is necessary. Excel will be needed twice
during the project execution; at first at the start of the execution, for reading the
model parameterization, and at the end of the execution to store the result.

Implementation Example 1 Behavior of Microsoft Outlook during Remote Control The behavior
of Outlook using the remote control is as follows: If Outlook is closed when
creating the COM object, it will be opened, and the final COM object cleanup
correspondingly causes the termination of Outlook. Otherwise, the related COM
object connects to the open Outlook and a the clean up only closes the
connection between the COM object and Outlook.

Block Interface and Code Block-Interface:

Name (type) Description

To (String object) Addresses of the email
Subject (String object) Subject of the email
Body (String object) Email text
Attachment (String object) Path of the attachment file

The remote control of Outlook contains two COM objects, the application object
(Python variable name ‘Outlook’, line 7) and the object of the email (Python
variable name ‘EMail’, line 8). The email object depends on the application object
and should be released before the application object is released.

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 Implementation

1 import win32com.client
2
3 Outlook = None
4 EMail = None
5
6 try:
7 Outlook = win32com.client.Dispatch("Outlook.Application")
8 EMail = Outlook.CreateItem(0)
9 EMail.To = _AD_.To
10 EMail.Subject = _AD_.Subject
11 EMail.Body = _AD_.Body
12 if _AD_.Attachment != '':
13 EMail.Attachments.Add(_AD_.Attachment, 1, 1)
14 EMail.Send()
15 finally:
16 del EMail
17 del Outlook

Code 3‑1: SendEMail

Implementation Example 2 Behaviour of Microsoft Excel during Remote Controlling The Excel
application will be used “very often” during the project execution. For this case 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.

Block Interface and Code The following parameters have to be set to the
current location of the example:

Name (type) Description

Platform (Platform object) Specify the Real-Time hardware, SDF file for the example:
<...>\work\Matlab\DummyMdl.sdf
FilePath (String object) Path of the Excel file: <...>\work\File\
FileName (String object) Name of the Excel file: Test.xls

Picture 3‑2: AutomationDesk-Project Structure of the Example 2

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 Examples

Implementation Version A The Picture 3‑3 shows the first implementation

of the Excel example.

Picture 3‑3: Example 2 – Implementation Version A, Sequence View

In this implementation every COM handling block contains a clean up routine.
After each runtime error the COM instance is cleaned up. The problem in this
case is the state of the remote-controlled software after the abort. For example,
if the execution is aborted after block 3 the Excel file is still open and has to be
closed manually before restarting the project again.
On the other side, the COM Handling is safe. It is not possible to produce COM
memory leaks.
The internal implementation of the following blocks is described:
§ OpenExcelApplication (1)
§ ReadDataFromExcel (2)
§ WriteDataToExcel (5)
§ CloseExcelApplication (6)
The blocks (3) and (4) are standard AutomationDesk blocks.
Block (1) realizes the opening of Excel and makes the Excel instance visible. After
this action the COM object will be destroyed. The Excel instance is still running.
If more actions with Excel are planned, a new COM object has to be created by
invoking the dispatch call again. The call is implemented in blocks (2), (5), and
(6).
1 import win32com.client
2
3 # Initialize the COM Objects
4 ExcelAppl = None
5
6 try:
7 # Creation of the COM object
8 # Open an Excel instance
9 ExcelAppl = win32com.client.Dispatch("Excel.Application")

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 Implementation

10 # make the Excel instance visible (not necessary)

11 ExcelAppl.Visible = 1
12 finally:
13 # Release the COM object
14 del ExcelAppl

Code 3‑2: OpenExcelApplication - Block (1)

Block (2) opens the workbook and transfers the matrix to AutomationDesk.
Again, the COM objects are destroyed after using them. In this case be careful.
At first the COM object for Excel is generated (Dispatch – line 12). The next COM
objects are generated in line 16 (for the Excel workbook/file) and 18 (for the
Excel sheet). In the finally part the COM objects have to be destroyed in the
inverse order of the creation:
Creation order of the COM objects:
§ Excel object
§ Workbook
§ Sheet
Destruction order of the COM objects:
§ Sheet
§ Workbook
§ Excel Object
1 import win32com.client
2 import os.path
3
4 # Initialize the COM objects
5 Sheet = None
6 Workbook = None
7 ExcelAppl = None
8
9 try:
10 # Creation of the COM object
11 # Open an Excel instance
12 ExcelAppl = win32com.client.Dispatch("Excel.Application")
13 # Open the Excel file
14 ExcelAppl.Workbooks.Open(os.path.join(_AD_.FilePath,_AD_.FileName))
15 # Fetch COM interface of the Excel file
16 Workbook = ExcelAppl.Workbooks.Item(_AD_.FileName)
17 # Fetch COM interface of the Excel sheet
18 Sheet = Workbook.Worksheets.Item(_AD_.SheetName)
19 # Fetch the table from the Excel file
20 # (e.g. From cell 'A1', 'D11' -> Matrix size: 4x11)
21 # Return value is a tuple
22 Data = Sheet.Cells.Range(_AD_.StartCell, _AD_.EndCell).Value
23 # the data type of 'Data': tuple of tuples
24 # conversion to List of Lists
25 _AD_.Data = map(list, Data)
26 finally:
27 # Release the COM objects
28 del Sheet
29 del Workbook
30 del ExcelAppl

Code 3‑3: ReadDataFromExcel - Block (2)

Block (5) transfers the matrix back to Excel and saves the workbook.
1 import win32com.client
2
3 # Initialize the COM Objects

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 Examples

4 Sheet = None
5 Workbook = None
6 ExcelAppl = None
7
8 try:
9 # Creation of the COM object
10 # Open an Excel instance
11 ExcelAppl = win32com.client.Dispatch("Excel.Application")
12 # Fetch COM interface of the Excel file
13 Workbook = ExcelAppl.Workbooks.Item(_AD_.FileName)
14 # Fetch COM interface of the Excel sheet
15 Sheet = Workbook.Worksheets.Item(_AD_.SheetName)
16 # write the matrix back to the Excel sheet
17 Sheet.Cells.Range(_AD_.StartCell,_AD_.EndCell).Value =_AD_.Data
18 # save the Excel file
19 Workbook.Save()
20 finally:
21 # Release the COM objects
22 del Sheet
23 del Workbook
24 del ExcelAppl

Code 3‑4: WriteDataToExcel – Block (5)

Block (6) closes Excel:
1 import win32com.client
2
3 # Initialize the COM objects
4 ExcelAppl = None
5
6 try:
7 # Creation of the COM object
8 # Open an Excel instance
9 ExcelAppl = win32com.client.Dispatch("Excel.Application")
10 # Hide the Excel application
11 ExcelAppl.Visible = 0
12 # force Excel shutdown
13 ExcelAppl.Quit()
14 finally:
15 # Release the COM object
16 del ExcelAppl

Code 3‑5: CloseExcelApplication – Block (6)

Implementation Version B The next implementation version (Picture 3‑4)

differs from the previous implementation structure. The error handling is realized
with AutomationDesk's TryFinally block. The dispatch call and the realizing of
each COM object are invoked only one time.

Note

§ Be careful in the usage of this implementation version. Do not press the

execution Stop button, because otherwise the Finally part of the TryFinally
will not be executed. In this case the COM object is not released and it is
possible to block the whole system or “only” a part of the system. In this
case it is not possible to close Excel.
§ The following implementation is based on the Platform Access
library. This library is discontinued with AutomationDesk 5.3 (dSPACE
Release 2016‑B). You can use its successor, the XIL API Convenience
library, in a similar way.

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Using COM in AutomationDesk May 2024
 Implementation

Picture 3‑4: Remote Controlling of Excel with the TryFinally block

The following code lines are not very different from the code lines of the
previous example. The Exec blocks do not contain the error handling and only
the second block has to call the Dispatch command. The first block contains
the initialization of all used variables for COM objects:
Block “InitializeComObjects”:
1 # Initialize the COM Objects
2 Sheet = None
3 Workbook = None
4 ExcelAppl = None

Block: “OpenExcelApplication”
1 # import COM Module
2 import win32com.client
3 # Creation of the COM Object
4 # Open an Excel-Instance
5 ExcelAppl = win32com.client.Dispatch("Excel.Application")
6 # make the Excel-Instance visible (not necessary)
7 ExcelAppl.Visible = 1

Code 3‑6: OpenExcelApplication

Block: “ReadDataFromExcel”
1 import os.path
2 # Open the Excel file
3 ExcelAppl.Workbooks.Open(os.path.join(_AD_.FilePath, _AD_.FileName))
4 # Fetch COM interface of the Excel file
5 Workbook = ExcelAppl.Workbooks.Item(_AD_.FileName)

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 Examples

6 # Fetch COM interface of the Excel sheet

7 Sheet = Workbook.Worksheets.Item(_AD_.SheetName)
8 # Fetch the table from the Excel file
9 # (e.g. from cell 'A1', 'D11' -> Matrix 4,11)
10 # Return value is a tuple
11 Data = Sheet.Cells.Range(_AD_.StartCell, _AD_.EndCell).Value
12 # the data type of 'Data': tuple of tuples
13 # conversion to List of Lists
14 _AD_.Data = map(list, Data)

Code 3‑7: ReadDataFromExcel

Block: “WriteDataToExcel”
1 # write the matrix back to the Excel sheet
2 Sheet.Cells.Range(_AD_.StartCell, _AD_.EndCell).Value = _AD_.Data
3 # save the Excel file
4 Workbook.Save()

Code 3‑8: WriteDataToExcel

Block: “CloseExcelApplication”
1 # Release the COM objects
2 del Sheet
3 del Workbook
4 # Hide the Excel application
5 ExcelAppl.Visible = 0
6 # force a Excel shutdown
7 ExcelAppl.Quit()
8 # Release the COM objects
9 del ExcelAppl

Code 3‑9: CloseExcelApplication

Implementation Version C

Note

The following implementations are based on the Test Framework

library. This library is discontinued with AutomationDesk 5.3 (dSPACE
Release 2016‑B). You can use its successor, the Test Builder library, in a
similar way.

The last implementation (Picture 3‑4) can be also implemented with the
TestSequence element and the Test element of the TestFramework library (Picture
3‑5).
The blocks are the same as in the TryFinally solution, but the Stop button
problem is not so critical. After pressing the Stop button the user is asked,
whether AutomationDesk should execute all clean up parts. In the case of COM
handling it is always necessary to run the clean up parts. The blocks are the same
like the previous implementations (Implementation Version B).

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Using COM in AutomationDesk May 2024
 Implementation

COM Dispatch

COM Usage

COM Release

Picture 3‑5: Remote Controlling of Excel with TestFramework element Test

Implementation Version D The implementation Version D distributes the

COM handling over several TestSequences. The blocks are the same as in the
previous implementations (Implementation Version B). The execution of the
structure is only allowed on the enclosing folder. The pressing of the Stop button
is not allowed during the whole execution, because the execution will stop and
the last sequence will not be executed. As consequence all COM objects will not
be released.

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 Examples

Picture 3‑6: Sequence-Structure of the Implementation Version D

Picture 3‑7: Remote Controlling of Excel with TestFramework element

TestSequence

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 Conclusion

Conclusion

Comparison of the Implementations

Implementation-dependent The following table shows the conclusion of COM handling with the different
behavior implementation solutions described in this document.

COM Handling Usage of AutomationDesk Behavior Behavior

Implementation ... Blocks Between two COM Concerning Run- Concerning the
Accesses Time Errors Stop Button
... in Exec block Not possible Secure Secure
(Implementation Example 1)
... in TryFinally block Possible Secure Critical
(Implementation Example 2 / Version B)
... in Test/TestSequence Possible Secure Secure
(Implementation Example 2 / Version C)
... in Sequence Possible Critical Critical
... over several Tests/Testsequences Possible Secure Critical
(Implementation Example 2 / Version D)
... over several sequences Possible Critical Critical

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 Conclusion

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