ATL Sample Files
This section shows how to create a simple XMLSpy IDE plug-in DLL using ATL. You must know how to work with MS VisualStudio, ATL, and the wizards that generate new ATL objects. To access the API, the implementation imports the Type Library of XMLSpy. The code reads various properties and calls methods using the smart pointers provided by the #import statement of the code. In addition, the sample code uses the MFC class CString and ATL conversion macros such as W2T.
The broad steps to create an ATL DLL are as follows:
1.Open VisualStudio and select File | New.
2.Select the Projects tab.
3.Select ATL COM AppWizard, and type in a project name.
4.Select Support for MFC if you want to use MFC classes or if you want to create a project for the sample code.
Having created the project files you can add an ATL object to implement the IXMLSpyPlugIn interface:
1.Select Insert | New ATL Object.
2.Select Simple Object from the wizard. and click Next.
3.Type in a name for the object.
4.On the Attributes tab, select Custom for the type of interface and disable Aggregation.
These steps produce the skeleton code for the implementation of the IDE plug-in interface. See the following pages for information about how to modify the code and specify some basic functionality.