I have an Office Add-In that I am distributing and installing. When I run
Regasm /regfile on it, and then double-click the resultant regfile (adding it
into the registry) my Add-In does not appear in the list of available
automation servers on the machine. However, if I call Regasm on it, it then
does appear in the list of automation servers. This indicates that Regasm
/regfile does not put into the reg file the same thing that regasm is doing.
Running regmon turns up that while Regasm /regfile puts several keys into
HKCR, actually calling Regasm, puts many of those keys into HKCU. Can anyone
explain?

Regasm /regfile does not create type library registration entries - that's
probably what's going on because a list of available COM servers is
typically a list of type libraries.
--
--
Phil Wilson
[MVP Windows Installer]

"Matthew Wieder" <MatthewWieder (AT) discussions (DOT) microsoft.com> wrote

no tlb is generated , also, the list is of "Automation Servers" not COM
servers. One way to see this list, is to open Excel (XP or 2k3), click on
Tools->Add-Ins and then click on "Automation". As I mentioned, regmon showed
the only difference is in the keys going to HKCU instead of HKCR....

"Phil Wilson" wrote:

You may have done a "Just me" install instead of Everyone. In a VS 2005
setup&deployment project, that's the InstallAllUsers property to set the
default at per-machine (Everyone).

With my COM hat on, this is my understanding. Any correction welcome.
Automation Servers are COM servers that offer interfaces for script clients.
The list is typically generated by enumerating those classes with some set
of scriptable component categories (OleView shows the general idea), and
then locating the type library. It's equivalent to a C# project where you
Add Reference and choose the COM tab - the list you get is type
library-based, and Automation Servers are a subset of those.

--
Phil Wilson
[MVP Windows Installer]

"Matthew Wieder" <MatthewWieder (AT) discussions (DOT) microsoft.com> wrote