seva_t
20th October 2003 20:17 UTC

COM support
Hello NSIS experts,

is there any easy way to use COM objects in NSIS?
For example, in VBScript I can create a COM object with
CreateObject function and then call any methods that object defines.

Thanks!

Joost Verburg
20th October 2003 20:46 UTC

You will have to write a plug-in or use an external application.

kichik
20th October 2003 21:20 UTC

Actually, the System plug-in in the latest CVS version supports COM. You can find an example in this thread.

brainsucker
20th October 2003 22:02 UTC

Yes, Kichik is right. Use sheduled tasks creator script as sample. For example instead of CreateObject you should call ole32::CoCreateInstance. To call methods you should find the object interface description (.idl file) (compiled from .idl c-style .h file will be even better, it will contain plain interface virtual methods structure) and use methods indexes to call approriate methods.

seva_t
20th October 2003 23:27 UTC

Thanks, this is definitely a way, although quite cryptic,
for my taste ;-)
I'll try to go with Execute "wscript <my VBScript file>".

thelliez
2nd February 2006 19:37 UTC

Searching for COM integration I found this old thread.

Although NSIS is a wonderful tool, creating an installer for a server side application is more complicated than it should be.

Because we have to perform many tasks like:
1- set a web site (app pool, web service extension, virtual directory, isapi filter...);
2- set some user rights (creation, groups, permissions,...);
3- set some service settings (service logon, dependencies, schedule tasks, DEP,..);

We ended up using a bunch of .cmd, .vbs and .bat scripts outside NSIS. We have experienced numerous difficulties switching shells. For example:

1- cscript.exe not always found;
2- scrun.dll not always registered (used for CreateObject calls);
3- Escaping of strings (like passwords) cross multiple shells;
4- variable delayed expansions issues;

The above thread points to a sheduleTask.nsi file example. This is really a difficult way to do it. Hard to read, hard to maintain.

I would be really great if NSIS was to evolve with a tighter /easier integration to COM.


Just some feedback about this otherwise great software.
Thierry