how to create type libraries for py2exe?

[Alex Martelli]

jwsacksteder at ramprecision.com wrote:

> I have a working COM object that registers and I can 'dispatch' correctly.
> I need register a type library for this project to integrate with my
> application- Crystal Reports.
> 
> I understand I need to compose an IDL file, then process that with
> MIDL.exe to produce a .tlb file. That can then be add as a resource to the
> .dll that py2exe creates.
> 
> HOWEVER- IDL is pretty intimidating if you don't know C++. Is there a way
> to automatically generate the IDL I need? I am under urgent time pressure,
> so I would prefer expediency over correctness.

Sure, many languages are set up for such "expediency over correctness"
automatic generation of type libraries (and MS Visual Studio -- and, I
believe, MS's freely downloadable and huge SDK too -- come with tools to
reverse-compile typelibraries into IDL sources, too).  For example,
Visual Basic 6 does it (I believe it also embeds the typelib in the
resources of the DLL or EXE, but you can extract it with the kind of
tools I just mentioned).  I believe (never tried) that some CORBA
tools, such as ORBit, may also be capable of generating MS typelibs
automatically (from the info THEY have about your interface, of course,
so you may still need to write CORBA IDL for all I know)...


Alex