MapForce COM API
The COM-based API of MapForce enables other applications to use the functionality of MapForce. This makes it possible to automate a wide range of tasks, for example, defining various options, generating output, and many others.
The MapForce COM API follows the common specifications for automation servers as set out by Microsoft. MapForce is automatically registered as a COM server object during installation. Once the COM server object is registered, you can invoke it from within applications and scripting languages that have programming support for COM calls. This makes it possible to access the MapForce API not only from development environments using .NET, C++ and Visual Basic, but also from scripting languages such as JScript and VBScript.
Important points
Note the following points:
•If you use the MapForce API to create an application that you intend to distribute to other clients, MapForce must be installed on each client computer. Also, your custom integration code must be deployed to (or your application installed on) each client computer.
•Certain API methods, such as Document.GenerateOutput, require that the MapForce main window be visible, or that MapForce (running as a COM server) be embedded within a graphical user interface. If you need to run mappings in a fully unattended manner, across various platforms, consider using MapForce Server.
Object model
The starting point for every application which uses the MapForce API is the Application interface. All other interfaces are accessed through the Application object.
The object model of the MapForce API can be represented as follows (each indentation level indicates a child–parent relationship with the level directly above):
...
For information about creating an Application object, see How to Access API. For reference to the objects exposed by the API, see Interfaces and Enumerations.
This documentation
This documentation describes the following aspects of the MapForce API:
•dealing with errors in the MapForce API
•using the MapForce API in different development environments
Besides, this documentation also contains reference to the objects of the MapForce COM API. The objects are described in a generic manner, since the API may be used with virtually any language that supports calling a COM object. For details, see Interfaces and Enumerations.