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1 /**************************************************************************** |
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2 ** |
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3 ** Copyright (C) 2010 Nokia Corporation and/or its subsidiary(-ies). |
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4 ** All rights reserved. |
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5 ** Contact: Nokia Corporation (qt-info@nokia.com) |
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16 ** GNU Lesser General Public License Usage |
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24 ** In addition, as a special exception, Nokia gives you certain additional |
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35 ** |
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36 ** |
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37 ** |
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38 ** $QT_END_LICENSE$ |
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39 ** |
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40 ****************************************************************************/ |
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41 |
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42 /*! |
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43 \page activeqt-container.html |
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44 \title Using ActiveX controls and COM objects in Qt |
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45 |
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46 \brief The QAxContainer module is a Windows-only extension for |
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47 accessing ActiveX controls and COM objects. |
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48 |
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49 The QAxContainer module is part of the \l ActiveQt framework. It |
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50 provides a library implementing a QWidget subclass, QAxWidget, |
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51 that acts as a container for ActiveX controls, and a QObject |
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52 subclass, QAxObject, that can be used to easily access non-visual |
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53 COM objects. Scripting COM objects embedded using these classes |
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54 is possible through the QAxScript, QAxScriptManager and |
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55 QAxScriptEngine classes, and a set of \l{Tools for ActiveQt}{tools} |
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56 makes it easy to access COM objects programmatically. |
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57 |
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58 The module consists of six classes |
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59 \list 1 |
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60 \o QAxBase is an abstract class that provides an API to initialize |
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61 and access a COM object or ActiveX control. |
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62 \o QAxObject provides a QObject that wraps a COM object. |
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63 \o QAxWidget is a QWidget that wraps an ActiveX control. |
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64 \o QAxScriptManager, QAxScript and QAxScriptEngine provide an |
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65 interface to the Windows Script Host. |
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66 \endlist |
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67 |
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68 Some \l{ActiveQt Examples}{example applications} that use |
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69 standard ActiveX controls to provide high-level user interface |
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70 functionality are provided. |
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71 |
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72 \sa {ActiveQt Framework} |
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73 |
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74 Topics: |
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75 |
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76 \tableofcontents |
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77 |
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78 \section1 Using the Library |
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79 |
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80 To build Qt applications that can host COM objects and ActiveX controls |
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81 link the application against the QAxContainer module by adding |
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82 |
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83 \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_qaxcontainer.qdoc 0 |
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84 |
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85 to your application's \c .pro file. |
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86 |
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87 \section2 Distributing QAxContainer Applications |
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88 |
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89 The QAxContainer library is static, so there is no need to redistribute |
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90 any additional files when using this module. Note however that the |
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91 ActiveX server binaries you are using might not be installed on the |
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92 target system, so you have to ship them with your package and register |
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93 them during the installation process of your application. |
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94 |
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95 \section1 Instantiating COM Objects |
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96 |
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97 To instantiate a COM object use the QAxBase::setControl() API, or pass |
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98 the name of the object directly into the constructor of the QAxBase |
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99 subclass you are using. |
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100 |
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101 The control can be specified in a variety of formats, but the fastest |
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102 and most powerful format is to use the class ID (CLSID) of the object |
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103 directly. The class ID can be prepended with information about a remote |
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104 machine that the object should run on, and can include a license key |
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105 for licensed controls. |
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106 |
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107 \section2 Typical Error Messages |
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108 |
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109 ActiveQt prints error messages to the debug output when it |
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110 encounters error situations at runtime. Usually you must run |
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111 your program in the debugger to see these messages (e.g. in Visual |
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112 Studio's Debug output). |
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113 |
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114 \section3 Requested control could not be instantiated |
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115 |
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116 The control requested in QAxBase::setControl() is not installed |
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117 on this system, or is not accessible for the current user. |
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118 |
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119 The control might require administrator rights, or a license key. |
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120 If the control is licensed, pass the license key to QAxBase::setControl |
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121 as documented. |
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122 |
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123 \section1 Accessing the Object API |
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124 |
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125 ActiveQt provides a Qt API to the COM object, and replaces COM |
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126 datatypes with Qt equivalents. |
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127 |
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128 There are four ways to call APIs on the COM object: |
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129 |
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130 \list |
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131 \o Generating a C++ namespace |
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132 \o Call-by-name |
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133 \o Through a script engine |
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134 \o Using the native COM interfaces |
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135 \endlist |
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136 |
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137 \section2 Generating a C++ Namespace |
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138 |
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139 To generate a C++ namespace for the type library you want to access, |
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140 use the \l dumpcpp tool. Run this tool manually on the type library you |
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141 want to use, or integrate it into the build system by adding the type |
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142 libraries to the \c TYPELIBS variable in your application's \c .pro file: |
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143 |
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144 \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_qaxcontainer.qdoc 1 |
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145 |
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146 Note that \l dumpcpp might not be able to expose all APIs in the type |
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147 library. |
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148 |
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149 Include the resulting header file in your code to access the |
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150 object APIs through the generated C++ classes. See the |
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151 \l{activeqt/qutlook}{Qutlook} example for more information. |
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152 |
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153 \section2 Call-by-Name |
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154 |
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155 Use QAxBase::dynamicCall() and QAxBase::querySubObject() as well as |
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156 the QObject::setProperty() and QObject::property() APIs to call the |
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157 methods and properties of the COM object through their name. Use the |
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158 \l dumpdoc tool to get the documentation of the Qt API for any COM |
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159 object and its subobjects; note that not all of the COM object's APIs |
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160 might be available. |
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161 |
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162 See the \l{activeqt/webbrowser}{Webbrowser} example for more information. |
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163 |
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164 \section2 Calling Function Through a Script Engine |
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165 |
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166 A Qt application can host any ActiveScript engine installed on the system. |
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167 The script engine can then run script code that accesses the COM objects. |
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168 |
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169 To instantiate a script engine, use QAxScriptManager::addObject() to |
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170 register the COM objects you want to access from script, and |
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171 QAxScriptManager::load() to load the script code into the engine. Then |
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172 call the script functions using QAxScriptManager::call() or |
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173 QAxScript::call(). |
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174 |
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175 Which APIs of the COM object are available through scripting depends on |
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176 the script language used. |
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177 |
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178 The \l{testcon - An ActiveX Test Container (ActiveQt)}{ActiveX Test Container} |
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179 demonstrates loading of script files. |
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180 |
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181 \section2 Calling a Function Using the Native COM Interfaces |
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182 |
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183 To call functions of the COM object that can not be accessed via any |
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184 of the above methods it is possible to request the COM interface directly |
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185 using QAxBase::queryInterface(). To get a C++ definition of the respective |
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186 interface classes use the \c #import directive with the type library |
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187 provided with the control; see your compiler manual for details. |
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188 |
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189 \section2 Typical Error Messages |
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190 |
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191 ActiveQt prints error messages to the debug output when it |
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192 encounters error situations at runtime. Usually you must run |
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193 your program in the debugger to see these messages (e.g. in Visual |
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194 Studio's Debug output). |
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195 |
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196 \section3 QAxBase::internalInvoke: No such method |
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197 |
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198 A QAxBase::dynamicCall() failed - the function prototype did not |
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199 match any function available in the object's API. |
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200 |
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201 \section3 Error calling IDispatch member: Non-optional parameter missing |
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202 |
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203 A QAxBase::dynamicCall() failed - the function prototype was correct, |
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204 but too few parameters were provided. |
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205 |
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206 \section3 Error calling IDispatch member: Type mismatch in parameter n |
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207 |
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208 A QAxBase::dynamicCall() failed - the function prototype was correct, |
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209 but the paramter at index \c n was of the wrong type and could |
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210 not be coerced to the correct type. |
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211 |
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212 \section3 QAxScriptManager::call(): No script provides this function |
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213 |
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214 You try to call a function that is provided through an engine |
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215 that doesn't provide introspection (ie. ActivePython or |
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216 ActivePerl). You need to call the function directly on the |
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217 respective QAxScript object. |
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218 */ |