Softimage SDK Programmer's Guide > C++ API Development > Programming with the C++ API >

# Mixing the C++ API with the Softimage Object Model

The C++ API provides the CComAPIHandler class and the ConvertObject function to help manage conversions between the C++ API and the Softimage Object Model. The difference between the two is that ConvertObject() gives you a real Automation (ActiveX) object, whereas the CComAPIHandler is a C++ API wrapper for the object model.

CComAPIHandler

The CComAPIHandler class gives you access to members of the Automation object using CComAPIHandler::Call (for methods) and CComAPIHandler::GetProperty and CComAPIHandler::PutProperty (for properties). For example:

    // Use the object model version of the Model::AddActionSource() function
    ActionSource oSource( in_oSelItem );
    CRef oModel = oSource.GetModel().GetRef();

    // To define an Automation object in C++ code, use the CComAPIHandler class
    CValue retVal;
    CComAPIHandler comHandler( oModel.GetRef() );

    // Now that you have an instance of the Model interface, you can use the
    // CComAPIHandler::Call member to execute the AddActionSource method
    comHandler.Call(  L"AddActionSource", retVal, L"OO_" + oSource.GetName() );

This example demonstrates how to use the CComAPIHandler to access the DataRepository object:

    CRef oObj = Application().GetSelection().GetItem(0);

    CComAPIHandler ccomXSIUtils;

    ccomXSIUtils.CreateInstance( L"XSI.Utils");

    CComAPIHandler dataRep(ccomXSIUtils.GetProperty( L"DataRepository" )) ;

    XSI::CStatus ret;
    CValue ioID;
    CValueArray inArgs;
    inArgs.Add(CValue(oObj));
    inArgs.Add(2L);
    ret = dataRep.Call( L"GetIdentifier", ioID, inArgs);

    Application().LogMessage(L"Selected Object GUID is " + ioID.GetAsText(),siInfoMsg);

ConvertObject

The global function ConvertObject() converts a CRef object to a Softimage Automation object and vice-versa. This allows you to actually mix the object model and pure C++ inside your code.

    // Use the object model version of the Model::AddActionSource() function
    ActionSource oSource( in_oSelItem );
    CRef oModel = oSource.GetModel().GetRef();

    // Pass a CRef to ConvertObject and get an IDispatch* through a void* ptr
    ModelPtr oModelCOM = ( IDispatch* )ConvertObject( oModel );

    // Now you can use the new pointer to get at the object model methods
    ActionSourcePtr oNewSourceCOM = oModelCOM->AddActionSource( "OO_" & oSource.GetName() );

    // Convert the new ActiveX Source object back to C++
    ActionSource oNewSource = ConvertObject( oNewSourceCOM );