<HTML>

<HEAD>

<TITLE>PythonCOM Readme</TITLE>

</HEAD>

<BODY>

<P>
<IMG SRC="html/image/pycom_blowing.gif" ALT="Python and COM - Blowing the others away" HEIGHT="113" WIDTH="624">
<H1>Python COM Extensions Readme </H1>
<P>
This is the new readme for win32com. 
<P>
<A HREF="changes.txt">The release notes</A> is where we do
a poor job of keeping a list of significant enhancements and changes.

<P>
<A HREF="html/UsingPythonCOM.htm">Using Python and COM</A> is
targeted at Python programmers, while <A HREF="html\PythonCOM.htm">Python COM Implementation documentation</A>
is targeted at people who wish to extend the core C++ framework.
<P>
<A HREF="html/gen/index.html">The win32com reference</A> is a
set of documentation automatically generated from the win32com
sources. This contains documentation on the individual classes,
and is targeted at advanced win32com users.
<P>
The win32com\test directory contains some interesting scripts.
 Although these are used for testing, they do show a variety of
COM techniques.
<H3>Known bugs and problems...</H3>
<P>
Certain servers may hang at shutdown if all COM client objects not
released - notably, MSOffice.  Eg, if a Python program that is talking
to excel raises an exception and exits, the Python program will be hung.
There are no known leaks in win32com, but there is also no attempt at
automatic object cleanup.  All standard Python caveats about references
apply!

<H3>ActiveX Scripting </H3>

<P>
This release contains full support for Python as an ActiveX Scripting
Engine and Host. Check out the 
<A HREF="axscript/demos/client/ie/demo.htm">ActiveX Scripting Demos</A>
(which includes information on registering the engine) and for those who would like
to know how it hangs together, see the 
<A HREF="html/gen/win32com_axscript.html">ActiveX Scripting Manual</A>

</BODY>

</HTML>
