Object Browser Window

  • Article

The Object Browser displays the classes, properties, methods, events, and constants available for COM object libraries. You can use it to find and use objects you create, as well as objects from other applications.

To launch the Object Browser from the Tools menu, choose Object Browser and open a COM library to view.

The Object Browser application is referenced by _OBJECTBROWSER system variable (which by default references objectbrowser.app). You can set this from the File Locations tab of the Options dialog box.

  • Classes & Members pane
    Lists the classes, members, interfaces, enums, constants, and other information available from the class type library. You can expand each category further to display the classes (members) that are in the category. When an individual class or item is selected, member details are displayed in the Members and Description panes.
  • Members pane
    Lists the member details of the selected class or item in the Classes & Members and Members pane. For classes, Events, Methods, and Properties are displayed. The list is sorted alphabetically.
  • Description pane
    Displays a definition of the selected item and prototype syntax. The Description pane also contains a hyperlink jump to the class, library, or type to which the item belongs. Some members have jumps to their parent class. You can copy or drag text from the Description pane to the editor window.
  • Open Type Library button
    Displays the Open Type Library dialog box so you can view class information from a particular COM Component or ActiveX Control. The Down arrow button shows a drop-down list of recently opened libraries so you can access them again quickly.
  • Open Type Library dialog box
    You can display the Open Type Library dialog box from the Open button or Open menu item on the Object Browser context menu.
    Name Description
    Recent History tab Displays a list of recently opened libraries so you can review them quickly. Click the check box next to a library to view it when the dialog box closes. The Clear History button clears all content in the Recent History list.
    COM Libraries tab Shows a list of all available COM class libraries on your system. The list includes libraries for COM components and ActiveX controls. The first time you access this tab the COM libraries are read in from your system registry and cached to a local foxrefs.dbf table. In subsequent calls libraries are read in from this local table. You can reload all class libraries from your system by clicking on the Refresh button. The Browse button displays a file picker dialog box so you can select an individual library (.tlb, .ocx, .olb, .dll, .exe) to load.
    Current Selection Tab Displays a list of all open libraries. You can close individual libraries by clearing the check box next to the name. Click the Close All button to close all libraries.
  • Back button
    Moves selection focus back to the last item that you viewed.
  • Forward button
    Moves selection focus to the item you were viewing before clicking the Back button.
  • Refresh button
    Refreshes the contents of the Object Browser by reloading the selected libraries. This is useful for frequently changing COM components under development. Additionally, cached libraries are refreshed.
  • Copy button
    Makes it possible for you to copy the selected item in the current list. If there is no explicit selection in the Description pane, the entire text is copied.
  • Find button
    Displays the Find view so you can enter a specific text string to search for within the libraries opened in the Object Browser.
  • Find view
    Expands at the top of the Object Browser when you click the Find button. Use the Find view to search for a specific text phrase in the library.
    Name Description
    Look for: textbox Enter text for which to search. The default search includes all opened libraries, all their members, and any item that contains the search text.
    Go button Click button to search for text entered in the text box. When you click this button a new node is added for each opened library to the Classes & Members pane with expression "(Search: <searchtext>)" appended to the end of the library. You can refine search using the Advanced view.
    Switch to advanced find link Displays additional search options to perform a more refined search.
    Libraries dropdown Limits search to all opened libraries or just a single one. Advanced Find view only.
    Scope dropdown Limits search to members of all libraries or just a single one. The list of available options includes Classes, Constants, Enums, Interfaces, Methods, Events, and Properties. Advanced Find view only.
    Options dropdown Determines how text search is made. Options include Contained in, Starts with, and Exactly like. Advanced Find view only.
  • Options button
    Displays the Options dialog box so that you can control various display options. You can also set custom add-ins for use with the Object Browser.
  • Display Options tab, Options dialog box
    This tab in the Options dialog box makes it possible for you to control the visual aspects of the Object Browser.
    Name Description
    Highlight Potential Sources of Events check box Specifies whether a potential source of events (interface or method) is highlighted.
    Highlight Default Items check box Specifies whether default items are highlighted using a bold font style.
    Display Hidden Items check box Specifies whether hidden items (such as interface, methods, and properties) are displayed.
    Auto Expand Details check box Specifies whether top-level items in the detail pain are expanded automatically.
    Auto Drill Down Details check box Specifies whether complex hierarchies in the Methods pane (such as methods and properties for each interface) are expanded automatically.
    Display VTable Interfaces check box Specifies whether VTable based interfaces and their members are displayed.
    List all interfaces defining a method, event, or property in detail check box Specifies whether all interfaces defining a method or property are listed in the Description pane.
    Display properties that start with an underscore (_) check box Properties that start with an underscore are usually placeholders for enums (a collections of constants). For this reason, they are not displayed by default.
    Display members that are defined in IUnknown or IDispatch check box All COM objects have methods that are defined in the IDispatch and IUnknown interfaces. These methods must be there to work in a COM environment; however, they usually are not useful directly to the Visual FoxPro developer.
    List members parameters in detail check box Method parameters can be listed directly in the Members pane. However, note that the parameters are listed in more detail in the Description pane.
    List interfaces in class details check box All creatable classes are based on one or more interfaces. Often interfaces listed in the Members pane simply show the same information as the entire class, but sometimes they provide more insight.
    Show Interface Inheritance structure check box Specifies whether inherited interfaces shall be displayed in the Members pane.
    Font button Specifies font for interface elements of the Object Browser.
  • Add Ins tab, Options dialog box
    This tab in the Options dialog box makes it possible for you to add custom add-ins.
    Name Description
    Install Add-In button Installs a new add-in.
    Installed Add-Ins list Displays all loaded add-ins.
    Remove button This button is displayed in the Add-Ins list next to an installed add-in. Click this button to remove an add-in. The add-in file is not actually deleted.
  • Help button
    Displays documentation on the selected member. In addition, you can press F1.

See Also

Using the Object Browser | Class Browser | _ObjectBrowser System Variable | DEFINE CLASS | EVENTHANDLER( ) | Viewing Type Library Information