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<title>Returns a handle to an already running instance of a COM object</title>
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<h1 class="refname">com_get_active_object</h1>
<p class="verinfo">(PHP 5)</p><p class="refpurpose"><span class="refname">com_get_active_object</span> — <span class="dc-title">Returns a handle to an already running instance of a COM object</span></p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 description" id="refsect1-function.com-get-active-object-description">
<h3 class="title">Description</h3>
<div class="methodsynopsis dc-description">
<span class="type"><a href="class.variant.html" class="type variant">variant</a></span> <span class="methodname"><strong>com_get_active_object</strong></span>
( <span class="methodparam"><span class="type">string</span> <code class="parameter">$progid</code></span>
[, <span class="methodparam"><span class="type">int</span> <code class="parameter">$code_page</code></span>
] )</div>
<p class="para rdfs-comment">
<span class="function"><strong>com_get_active_object()</strong></span> is similar to creating a new
instance of a <a href="class.com.html" class="xref">COM</a> object, except that it will
only return an object to your script if the object is already running.
OLE applications use something known as the "<em>Running Object Table</em>" to
allow well-known applications to be launched only once; this function
exposes the COM library function GetActiveObject() to get a handle on a
running instance.
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 parameters" id="refsect1-function.com-get-active-object-parameters">
<h3 class="title">Parameters</h3>
<p class="para">
<dl>
<dt>
<span class="term"><em><code class="parameter">progid</code></em></span>
<dd>
<p class="para">
<em><code class="parameter">progid</code></em> must be either the ProgID or CLSID for
the object that you want to access (for example
<em>Word.Application</em>).
</p>
</dd>
</dt>
<dt>
<span class="term"><em><code class="parameter">code_page</code></em></span>
<dd>
<p class="para">
Acts in precisely the same way that it does for the <a href="class.com.html" class="xref">COM</a> class.
</p>
</dd>
</dt>
</dl>
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 returnvalues" id="refsect1-function.com-get-active-object-returnvalues">
<h3 class="title">Return Values</h3>
<p class="para">
If the requested object is running, it will be returned to your script
just like any other COM object.
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 errors" id="refsect1-function.com-get-active-object-errors">
<h3 class="title">Errors/Exceptions</h3>
<p class="para">
There are a variety of reasons why this function might fail, the most
common being that the object is not already running. In that situation,
the exception error code will be <strong><code>MK_E_UNAVAILABLE</code></strong>;
you can use the <em>getCode</em> method of the exception object
to check the exception code.
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 notes" id="refsect1-function.com-get-active-object-notes">
<h3 class="title">Notes</h3>
<div class="warning"><strong class="warning">Warning</strong>
<p class="para">
Using <span class="function"><strong>com_get_active_object()</strong></span> in a web server context
is not always a smart idea. Most COM/OLE applications are not designed
to handle more than one client concurrently, even (or especially!)
Microsoft Office. You should read <a href="http://support.microsoft.com/kb/257757" class="link external">» Considerations for Server-Side
Automation of Office</a> for more information on the general issues
involved.
</p>
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