Click the Create Options button on the ActiveX/COM Module tab to launch the Create Options window.

The Create Options window contains the following options:

• Create New —Creates a new object and obtains a reference to the object. If the server application is already running, this option may or may not launch another copy of the application. The server application decides when to launch a new instance of the application.
• Attach To Active —Obtains a reference to an active Application object. TestStand can obtain an active reference when the ActiveX Automation server registers the object in the Running Object Table (ROT) for the operating system. Typically ActiveX servers register objects as weak references, so when the last reference to the object is released, TestStand might not be able to attach to the active reference. To work around this limitation, ActiveX servers can create a strong reference in the ROT by locking the object. For example, LabWindows/CVI ActiveX servers can use the CA_ServerLockActiveObject and CA_ServerUnlockActiveObject functions to lock and unlock the object in the ROT.
• Create From File —Loads an existing object from a file and obtains a reference to the object. If the server application is already running, this option may or may not launch another copy of the application. The server application decides when to launch a new instance of the application. When you enable this option, the Edit ActiveX/COM Call dialog box displays a File Selection control and a Browse button. You can use these controls to specify the path of the file.
• Remote Host (optional) —The remote system where the object is created. This control dims when you select Attach to Active .
• Specify Host By Expression —Enable this option to specify that the Remote Host control contains an expression the ActiveX/COM Adapter evaluates at run time to determine the name of the remote host.
• Use Step Load/Unload To Specify Object Creation Time and Lifetime —Controls the lifetime of an object the step creates. When you do not set this option, the step creates the object when the step begins and then releases the internal reference of the step to the object when the step completes. When you enable this option, the step creates the object when the step loads according to the Load option of the step and then holds an internal reference to the object until the step unloads according to the Unload option of the step. This option is dimmed when you enable the Specify Host By Expression control.

See Also

ActiveX/COM Module Tab