The COM class

rogier (2011-10-28 10:09:04)

Took me a while to figure this out by trial and error:

If your frustrated when getting a com-exception like "Error [0x80004002] ..." (with a message nagging you about an unsupported interface), and you're calling a class method through COM that expects a char as an argument, you should NOT call the method with a single-character string.

The correct way of calling a method like this is to use a VARIANT with a type of VT_UI1.

COM enabled method definition: 

public bool DoSomething(char arg);

<?php

$com = new COM('Some.Class.Name');

// This will fail
$var = 'a';
$com->DoSomething($var);

// This works correctly
$var = new VARIANT(ord('a'), VT_UI1);
$com->DoSomething($var);

?>

I hope this helps some people

sparrowstail at googlemail dot com (2010-11-12 11:35:29)

This script reports all Windows drives, drive type, status (if not available), free space and total drive size:

<?php

    $fso = new COM('Scripting.FileSystemObject');
    $D = $fso->Drives;
    $type = array("Unknown","Removable","Fixed","Network","CD-ROM","RAM Disk");
    foreach($D as $d ){
       $dO = $fso->GetDrive($d);
       $s = "";
       if($dO->DriveType == 3){
           $n = $dO->Sharename;
       }else if($dO->IsReady){
           $n = $dO->VolumeName;
           $s = file_size($dO->FreeSpace) . " free of: " . file_size($dO->TotalSize);
       }else{
           $n = "[Drive not ready]";
       } 
   echo "Drive " . $dO->DriveLetter . ": - " . $type[$dO->DriveType] . " - " . $n . " - " . $s . "<br>";

    }
    
      function file_size($size)
      {
      $filesizename = array(" Bytes", " KB", " MB", " GB", " TB", " PB", " EB", " ZB", " YB");
      return $size ? round($size/pow(1024, ($i = floor(log($size, 1024)))), 2) . $filesizename[$i] : '0 Bytes';
      }

?>

There are a number of other properties of the drive object which can be called this way - see:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ts2t8ybh%28VS.85%29.aspx

z3n at overflow dot biz (2009-09-24 20:35:52)

On a query reply using ADODB.Connection object, all my $rs->Fields['field_name']->Value returned `variable Object` when inserted into a array, like this:

<?php
for ($rl[$v]=array(),_qm($_query);!$res->EOF;$res->MoveNext()) {
    $rl[$v][]=$res->Fields['x']->Value;
}
?>

I figured out that converting the value into a INT fixed the issue:

<?php $rl[$v][]=intval($res->Fields['x']->Value); ?>

rupams2002 at yahoo dot com (2009-07-24 10:38:19)

If you make a DLL in VB6 and want to access from PHP, here is the example. Only connection method is defined. You need to create rest....
How to use in PHP
DLL refers ProjectName . ClassName
$Obj = new COM ('ProjectName.ClassName');
$dw->MsSql_Connect('MachineName', 'DB_NAme');
If you want to connect Database through DLL then
Open project in VB6 Class Module :
And add this code and compile and make DLL.
Public Function MsSql_Connect(ByVal DBMachineID As String, ByVal DBName As String) As Boolean
Dim LocalCn As New ADODB.Connection
Dim conStr As String, DB_UserID As String, DB_Password As String

On Error GoTo ErrorHandler

DB_UserID = "DBUserName"
DB_Password = "DBPassword"

Set LocalCn = New ADODB.Connection
LocalCn.CursorLocation = adUseClient
conStr = "Provider=SQLOLEDB.1;Password=" & DB_Password & ";Persist Security Info=True;User ID=" & DB_UserID & ";Initial Catalog=" & DBName & ";Data Source=" & DBMachineID & ";"
LocalCn.Open conStr

DBConnection = conStr

MsSql_Connect = True
Set LocalCn = Nothing

ErrorHandler:
If Err.Number <> 0 Then
MsSql_Connect = False
Set LocalCn = Nothing
Err.Raise vbObjectError + 513, App.EXEName, Err.Description
End If
End Function
"DBConnection" is a variable you need to Set + Get property in VB6 to keep the connection string alive in DLL.
Remember :
Err.Raise vbObjectError + 513, App.EXEName, Err.Description
will raise error in PHP, user can see error in browser and stop execution php code.
If you need any help email me.
Mohammed Ziaul Hasan [Rupam]
rupams2002@yahoo.com
Senior Developer
Canada

pavanphp Gudipati (2009-06-17 06:49:58)

Here I Am describing a Program from which you can connect any exe(software) using COM component. 
pdf2swf is a software for converting PDf to SWF files.

This is best example for  WScript.Shell

<?php
#code for pdf to swf using pdf2swf software
#this codeworks in windows environment.
 

## Important Parameters
$software_path  ="C:\\SWFTools\\pdf2swf" ;
$pdf_path       ="C:\\SWFTools\\abcd.pdf" ;
$argument       = "-o";
$swf_output     ="C:\\SWFTools\\abcd.swf" ;

 

#actual code
$cmd        =" $software_path $pdf_path  $argument $swf_output";

$WshShell   = new COM("WScript.Shell");
$oExec      = $WshShell->Run("cmd /C $cmd ", 0, true); 

# 0 for command prompt invisible mode
# 3 for visible

?>

tsintra at humansoft dot pt (2009-05-11 08:18:32)

After one week of trying to understand what was wrong with my PHP communication with MS Word, i finally got it working...
It seems that if you're running IIS, the COM object are invoked with restricted privileges.
If you're having permission problems like not being able to opening or saving a document and you're getting errors like:
- This command is not available because no document is open
or
- Command failed
try this (if you're running IIS):
- Execute "dcomcnfg"
- Open Component Services > Computers > My Computer > DCOM Config
- Search for Microsoft Office Word 97-2003 Document (it will be something like this translated to your language, so take a while and search for it)
- Right-Click on it and open the properties
- Choose "Identity" tab
- Normally this is set to "the launching user". You have to change this to "the interactive user" or a admin user of your choice.
- Apply these new settings and test your COM application. It should work fine now.
I hope I save lots and lots of hours of headaches to some of you :)

fernando at digitins dot com dot br (2009-04-08 07:30:44)

When you save a MS Word document with this:
<?php
$word->Documents[1]->SaveAs('myfile.doc');
?>

Your file maybe go to this location:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\config\systemprofile\My documents (and not to your script directory)

dpchiesa at hotmail dot com (2009-03-27 21:35:45)

Here's a way to create an AES-Encrypted ZIP file in PHP, using DotNetZip via the COM class. 

<?php
try
{
  $fname = "zip-generated-from-php-" . date('Y-m-d-His') . ".zip";
  $zipOutput = "c:\\temp\\" . $fname;
  $zip = new COM("Ionic.Zip.ZipFile");
  $zip->Name = $zipOutput;
  $dirToZip= "c:\\temp\\psh";
  #$dirToZip= "c:\\dinoch\\webs\\php";
  $zip->Encryption = 3;
  $zip->Password = "AES-Encryption-Is-Secure";
  $zip->AddDirectory($dirToZip);
  $zip->Save();
  $zip->Dispose();

  if (file_exists($zipOutput))
  {
    header('Cache-Control: no-cache, must-revalidate');
    header('Content-Type: application/x-zip'); 
    header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=' . $fname);
    header('Content-Length: ' . filesize($zipOutput));
    readfile($zipOutput);
    unlink($zipOutput);
  }
  else 
  {
    echo '<html>';
    echo '  <head>';
    echo '  <title>Calling DotNetZip from PHP through COM</title>';
    echo '  <link rel="stylesheet" href="basic.css"/>';
    echo '  </head>';
    echo '<body>';
    echo '<h2>Whoops!</h2>' . "<br/>\n";
    echo '<p>The file was not successfully generated.</p>';
    echo '</body>';
    echo '</html>';
  } 
}
catch (Exception $e) 
{
    echo '<html>';
    echo '  <head>';
    echo '  <title>Calling DotNetZip from PHP through COM</title>';
    echo '  <link rel="stylesheet" href="basic.css"/>';
    echo '  </head>';
    echo '<body>';
    echo '<h2>Whoops!</h2>' . "<br/>\n";
    echo '<p>The file was not successfully generated.</p>';
    echo '<p>Caught exception: ',  $e->getMessage(), '</p>', "\n";
    echo '<pre>';
    echo $e->getTraceAsString(), "\n";
    echo '</pre>';
    echo '</body>';
    echo '</html>';
}

?>

pavanphp at sparsh dot net (2009-02-14 05:42:08)

This is the code for entering Values in MS word through Php Program.

First : You need to make word file with including Boolmark
(Ms word 2003 , Insert -> Bookmark ->Bookmark Name -> add). 
Example
Name : add here bookmark
 This is something like input as a text box.  Here I given 5 fields. 
Name , TODAYDATE , Company ,project , Features 

Here I opened a word file, and put data into Bookmark fields using PHP. 

Just note : it works in c:/ only. (not sure why), C:/program files may take longer time. (waiting for ...)

<?php

com_load_typelib('Word.Application');

$word = new COM("word.application") or die("Unable to instantiate Word");

// use like this. Place your's word file in C drive
$word->Documents->Open('C:/reminder_new.doc');
echo $current_date = date("m/d/Y");

$tim= date("Y-m-d");

$info_array=array(  "Name"      => "pavan",
                    "TODAYDATE" => "$tim" ,
                    "Company"   => "sparsh" ,
                    "project"   => "Myrepc",
                    "Features"   => "Auto fill form editor") ;

foreach($info_array as $bookmarkname => $re)
    {

        $objBookmark = $word->ActiveDocument->Bookmarks($bookmarkname);
        $range = $objBookmark->Range;
        echo $range->Text = $re ;

    }

$new_file = "c:/reminder_filled.doc";

$word->Documents[1]->SaveAs($new_file);

$word->ActiveDocument->Close(false);

$word->Quit();
$word = null;

?>

CLICIU at YAHOO dot com (2009-02-03 15:18:09)

What's really cool is that you can write anything you like in C#/VB.NET and easily access it via COM in PHP
This is a image Rotation Example using C# and PHP

<form name="form1" method="get" action="#">
<input name="angle" type="text" value="<?echo $_GET["angle"];?>">
  <input type="submit" name="Submit" value="Submit">
</form>

 
<?php
if(!isset($_GET["angle"]) && !is_Numeric($_GET["angle"]) )
{
  $angle=5;
}else{
    $angle=intval($_GET["angle"]);
}

        //         $img =new COM("MyImageProcessor.MyImageProcessing");  
                 $img =  new DOTNET("MyImageProcessor","MyImageProcessing");
                  $img->LoadImage("D:\\htdocs\\TT\\Flower.jpg");  
                  $img->RotateImage($angle);  
                  $img->SaveImage("D:\\htdocs\\TT\\new.jpg");  
?>
Otput image:<br>
<img src="new.jpg" width="520"/>
<br><br>
 Original   image <br>
<img src="Flower.jpg" width="520"/>

The complete source code PHP and C# : 
http://www.navioo.com/php/tutorials/PHP_and_NET_876.html

james dot m dot love at gmail dot com (2009-01-07 03:27:16)

If you're using COM to create a DSN Less connection to an MS Access 2007 database, you'll find through Googling that you need to use an updated version of Jet, so the connection string I've found looks like this:

<?php
$databaselocation = "C:\Path\to\db.accdb";
$conn = new COM('ADODB.Connection') or exit('Cannot start ADO.');
$conn->Open("Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0; Data Source=$databaselocation") or die('Cannot start with Jet');
?>

However, on my setup (WinVista, Access 2007, PHP526) I found that it always 'dies' with "Cannot start with Jet", even if the connection was successful ($conn->State reads "1").

I figured to just drop the die() command on $conn->Open(). If something catastrophic happens with the ADO connection then it's own error handling engine passes stack traces, etc back to the console/standard output.

Therefore, my Open() command looks like this:

<?php
$conn->Open("Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0; Data Source=$databaselocation");
?>

casanoteva at yahoo dot com (2008-12-26 01:19:30)

Hi, just wanna share to everyone after tried and tested many many times to create report in PDF format from Crystal Report.
Finally I can do it without any error.
 Here is my system; PHP 5.1.6, MSSQL2005 and Crystal Report Server XI RL2

<?php

//- Variables - for your RPT and PDF
echo "Print Report Test";
$my_report = "D:\\Folder1\\SubFolder1\\Report.rpt"; // 
rpt source file
$my_pdf = "D:\\Folder1\\SubFolder1\\Report.pdf"; // RPT export to pdf file
//-Create new COM object-depends on your Crystal Report version
$ObjectFactory= new COM("CrystalReports115.ObjectFactory.1") or die ("Error on load"); // call COM port
$crapp = $ObjectFactory-> CreateObject("CrystalDesignRunTime.Application"); // create an instance for Crystal
$creport = $crapp->OpenReport($my_report, 1); // call rpt report

// to refresh data before

//- Set database logon info - must have
$creport->Database->Tables(1)->SetLogOnInfo("servername", "DBname", "user", "password");

//- field prompt or else report will hang - to get through
$creport->EnableParameterPrompting = 0;

//- DiscardSavedData - to refresh then read records
$creport->DiscardSavedData;
$creport->ReadRecords();

    
//export to PDF process
$creport->ExportOptions->DiskFileName=$my_pdf; //export to pdf
$creport->ExportOptions->PDFExportAllPages=true;
$creport->ExportOptions->DestinationType=1; // export to file
$creport->ExportOptions->FormatType=31; // PDF type
$creport->Export(false);

//------ Release the variables ------
$creport = null;
$crapp = null;
$ObjectFactory = null;

//------ Embed the report in the webpage ------
print "<embed src=\"D:\\Folder1\\SubFolder1\\Report.pdf\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\">"

    
    
?>

 That's all for me, anyway in Crystal Report I have to check DisCardSavedData, Save data with report and AutoSave (1 min) in Option Tab and also in Report Options I have to check save dat with report, too.

Hope this should be help to anybody

Casanoteva

johnno1985 at gmail dot com (2008-08-21 23:34:18)

I couldn't find an example anywhere on what I was trying to do.  After taking bits from everyone I ended up with something that worked.

Im using Crystal Reports 10, MS SQL Server 2005, Apache2, and PHP5.

My report uses an SQL Store Procedure and passes some parameter to get the report data, so our PHP must set the database logon info and pass the parameters.

Below is the solution I came up with:

<?php

//------  Variables ------
$my_report = "C:\\Apache2\htdocs\\test\\MyReport.rpt";  //This must be the full path to the file
$my_pdf = "C:\\Apache2\htdocs\\test\\MyReport.pdf";

//------ Create a new COM Object of Crytal Reports 10 ------
$ObjectFactory= new COM("CrystalReports10.ObjectFactory.1");

//------ Create a instance of library Application -------
$crapp = $ObjectFactory->CreateObject("CrystalDesignRunTime.Application.10");

//------ Open your rpt file ------
$creport = $crapp->OpenReport($my_report, 1);

//------ Set database logon info ------
$creport->Database->Tables(1)->SetLogOnInfo("MYSERVER", "Database", "user", "password");

//------ Suppress the Parameter field prompt or else report will hang ------
$creport->EnableParameterPrompting = 0;

//------ DiscardSavedData make a Refresh in your data -------
$creport->DiscardSavedData;
$creport->ReadRecords();

//------ Pass formula fields --------
$creport->FormulaFields->Item(1)->Text = ("'My Report Title'");
$creport->ParameterFields(1)->AddCurrentValue ("FirstParameter");
$creport->ParameterFields(2)->AddCurrentValue (2000);

//------ Export to PDF -------
$creport->ExportOptions->DiskFileName=$my_pdf;
$creport->ExportOptions->FormatType=31;
$creport->ExportOptions->DestinationType=1;
$creport->Export(false);

//------ Release the variables ------
$creport = null;
$crapp = null;
$ObjectFactory = null;

//------ Embed the report in the webpage ------
print "<embed src=\"MyReport.pdf\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\">"

?>

Obviously there's plenty of room for refinement in there, but it works and should get you going on the right track.  I also found that during testing, the script was hanging before supressing the parameter prompt. Once this had happened, some exports that had been working earlier stopped completely and wouldn't work again untill I restarted Apache.  This might be something worth doing if you keep having issues after a script has hung.

jkruse [at] unlnotes [dot] unl [dot] edu (2008-08-20 01:22:38)

This is my first php.net comment so go easy on me :)
I was having trouble using COM to convert from ppt/pptx to an image for every slide (this works for outputting pdf,html,pptx->ppt, etc)
$app = new COM("PowerPoint.application") or die("Unable to instantiate PowerPoint");
$app->Visible = true;
$pres = $app->Presentations->Open("E:/tmp/test.pptx") or die ("Could not open presentation");
$app->Presentations[1]->SaveAs("E:/tmp/outdir",18);
$app->Presentations[1]->Close();
$app->Quit();
$app = null;
This code converts pptx to a png of every frame. Thats what 18 stands for (Its a class constant, you can see all the other formats here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb265906.aspx)
Hope this helps someone. Feel free to email me at the address above.

verticka at hotmail dot com (2008-08-01 16:38:26)

Voila une deuxime fonction pour excel 2007 et le plugin pdf

<?php
function xls2pdf($doc,$pdf)
{

// Pas de paramétres requis 
$empty = new VARIANT();

/* Supression du pdf si il existe */
if(file_exists ($pdf))
@unlink($pdf);

/* Démarrage de Word */
$w = new COM("excel.application") or die("Impossible d'instancier l'application Word");

/* Test de Word 2007 */
if($w->Version > 11)
{
    /* Amener Word devant */
    $w->Visible = 1;

    /* Test du fichier */
    if(file_exists ($doc))
        $w->Workbooks->Open($doc);
    else
        return false;

    /* Quelques commandes */
    $w->Workbooks[1]->ExportAsFixedFormat(0,$pdf);

    /* Fermeture de word */
    $w->Workbooks[1]->Close(false);
}    
$w->Quit();

/* Libération des ressources */
$w = null;
unset($w);
     
/* Test du fichier */
if(file_exists ($pdf))
    return true;
else
    return false;
    
}

if(xls2pdf("c:\\test.xls","c:\\test.pdf"))
echo "ok";
else
echo "nok";
?>

Pour les options d'exportation :
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb238907.aspx

http://verticka.blogspot.com/

mastrboy.servebeer.com (2008-06-13 05:03:54)

quick wmi query example:

<?php
    $obj = new COM ( 'winmgmts://localhost/root/CIMV2' );
    $wmi_computersystem =     $obj->ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_ComputerSystem");
    $wmi_bios             =    $obj->ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_BIOS");
    foreach ( $wmi_computersystem as $wmi_call )
    {
        $model = $wmi_call->Model;
    }
    
    foreach ( $wmi_bios as $wmi_call )
    {
        $serial = $wmi_call->SerialNumber;
        $bios_version = $wmi_call->SMBIOSBIOSVersion;
    }
    echo "Bios version   : $bios_version\n".
         "Serial number  : $serial\n".
         "Hardware Model : $model\n";
?>

mbirth at webwriters dot de (2008-06-08 03:19:10)

Using the DynamicWrapper from http://freenet-homepage.de/gborn/WSHBazaar/WSHDynaCall.htm and after registering it via "regsvr32 dynwrap.dll", you can easily set output colors to make colorful CLI scripts even on Windows.

<?php

$dw = new COM('DynamicWrapper');  // needs dynwrap.dll (regsvr32 dynwrap.dll)

// register needed features
$dw->Register('kernel32.dll', 'GetStdHandle', 'i=h', 'f=s', 'r=l');
$dw->Register('kernel32.dll', 'SetConsoleTextAttribute', 'i=hl', 'f=s', 'r=t');
$dw->Register('kernel32.dll', 'SetConsoleTitle', 'i=s', 'f=s', 'r=l');

// get console handle
$ch = self::$dw->GetStdHandle(-11);  // -11 = STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE

?>

After these initialization steps, you can set the console output color using:

<?php
$dw->SetConsoleTextAttribute($ch, 14);
echo 'This is yellow text!';
$dw->SetConsoleTextAttribute($ch, 7);
echo 'Back to normal gray!';
?>

Using SetConsoleTitle you can even set the title displayed in the console window.

Color values are 0..7 for dark colors and 8..15 for light colors. Sequence is (black/silver, blue, green, cyan, red, magenta, yellow/brown, white/gray). I also found that if you add 16384 to the value, it should be inverse. 32768 added should get underlined text. But these latter two didn't work for me.

amenthes at NOSPAM dot gmail dot com (2008-03-03 10:13:47)

If you ever want to save an Excel(.xls) file into the Office Excel 2003 XML format, just use
$excel->Workbooks[1]->SaveAs('new_file_name.xml', 46);
That's the number you need, 46.

halfer (2007-06-21 05:03:17)

Thanks to paul at completewebservices who added a note earlier; I have used his code to solve a particularly difficult issue with the Crystal 9 runtime component. For some reason, VBA/VBS can pass a native Date type as a parameter to a Crystal Report requiring a date, but in PHP I've tried all manner of strings, unix timestamps, COM variant dates etc and all of these resulted in a com_exception.

My solution was to employ VBScript to borrow the CDate function, which works correctly. Not the most elegant of solutions, but this parameterised approach is to be preferred to search-n-replacing the RecordSelectionFormula string. Of course if anyone here has an even better approach, do post it here - I am sure it would be of use.

<?php
// $rptParam is a report parameter object having a type of date
$oScript = new COM("MSScriptControl.ScriptControl");
$oScript->Language = "VBScript";
$oScript->AllowUI = false;
$oScript->AddObject('rptParam', $rptParam, true);
$oScript->AddCode('Function SetDateParameter(strDate)
rptParam.AddCurrentValue(CDate(strDate))
End Function');
$oScript->Run("SetDateParameter", "25 April 2006");
?>

hwcshirley at gmail dot com (2006-05-21 22:59:10)

Reply to: djogopatrao at gmail dot com
I have change little bit your code. Its work.
$COM_Object = "CrystalDesignRunTime.Application";
$my_report = "C:\\appserv\\www\\mc\\test.rpt";
$my_pdf = "C:\\appserv\www\\mc\\test.pdf";
$crapp= New COM($COM_Object) or die("Unable to Create Object");
$creport = $crapp->OpenReport($my_report, 1);
$creport->ReadRecords(); // attention!
$creport->ExportOptions->DiskFileName=$my_pdf;
$creport->ExportOptions->PDFExportAllPages=true;
$creport->ExportOptions->DestinationType=1; // Export to File
$creport->ExportOptions->FormatType=31; // Type: PDF
$creport->Export(false);

djogopatrao at gmail dot com (2006-04-05 12:25:00)

My previous notes about Crystal Reports have vanished away, but anyway I was up to correct them.
The code above connects to COM (beware of the version number! search on the Registry Editor for the correct name to put in $COM_Object), opens a report from a file ($my_report), reload records from database and then exports it to a PDF file ($my_pdf).
* IMPORTANT * this code, when invoked from the browser (I'm using Apache) AND with a report that connects to a ODBC database, does not work (the problem is specificly the line ReadRecords(), but may arise without it too when data is not saved into the report file).
But when you run this code by PHP-CLI (that is, by the command line), it works ok! I bug-reported this, but have no answer till now ( give it a vote, if you thing it's important: http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=36959 ).
Also, exceptions may arise, so put it on a try_catch block.
--------------------------
// by dfcp '06 (djogopatrao@gmail.com)
$COM_Object = "CrystalReports11.ObjectFactory.1";
$my_report = "C:\\report.rpt";
$my_pdf = "C:\\report.pdf";
$ObjectFactory= New COM($COM_Object);
$crapp = $ObjectFactory->CreateObject("CrystalDesignRunTime.Application");
$creport = $crapp->OpenReport($my_report, 1);
$creport->ReadRecords(); // attention!
$creport->ExportOptions->DiskFileName=$my_pdf;
$creport->ExportOptions->PDFExportAllPages=true;
$creport->ExportOptions->DestinationType=1; // Export to File
$creport->ExportOptions->FormatType=31; // Type: PDF
$creport->Export(false);

djogopatrao at gmail dot com (2006-03-04 07:27:30)

I found somewhere (http://www.recrystallize.com/merchant/supportfaq/supportfaq0003.htm) a list relating each version of Crystal Reports to its respective progID - it may help some fellows out there.
7 Crystal.CRPE.Application
8.0 CrystalRuntime.Application or CrystalRuntime.Application.8
8.5 CrystalRuntime.Application or CrystalRuntime.Application.8.5
9 (RDC) CrystalRuntime.Application.9
9 (RAS) CrystalReports.ObjectFactory.2
10 (RDC) CrystalRuntime.Application.11
10 (CEE) CrystalReports10.ObjectFactory.1

XI (RDC) CrystalRuntime.Application.11
XI (RAS) CrystalReports11.ObjectFactory.1

paul at completewebservices dot com dot au (2006-01-28 15:49:39)

It seems that PHP does not support setting of properties with arguments. This is how I got around the problem:
// Object with method I want to set
$auth = new COM("AUTHXOCX.AuthXOCXCtrl.1");
// ScriptControl
$oScript = new COM("MSScriptControl.ScriptControl");
$oScript->Language = "VBScript";
$oScript->AllowUI = TRUE;
// Add out object to the control
$oScript->AddObject('auth', $auth, true);
// Create a VBScript function that allow me to set them
$oScript->AddCode(
'Function fixAccess(accessname)
auth.AuthDataReferrerEnabled(accessname) = 1
auth.AuthDataAuthentiXDBEnabled(accessname) = 0
End Function');
// Execute function
$oScript->Run("fixAccess", $dir);

volker at kybs dot de (2005-10-07 00:51:04)

sadi at unicornsoftbd dot com (2005-10-06 01:56:12)

If your PHP is configured as ISAPI module then the COM object you create in ur php page will use the same memory space as the web server. If your COM object takes too much memory then this may force some COM error as PHP does not handle the memory usage of COM itself. And also Web server doesnt know what do to free COM memory. But if you use PHP as CGI then PHP itself handle the memory usage of COM. Once in a script where i used COM and PHP as ISAPI module i got unknown COM error.But when i used PHP as CGI there was no error. So those who want to use COM object in your application please be careful about it.

deletethis@bjoern(at)syltonline(doot)de (2005-09-15 07:36:45)

If you can get the old "TaskScheduler.dll" and register it, it is quite simple to handle and start Windows tasks from PHP.
This is extremely useful when you got things to do which must be run in a different user context. Prepare a task with the user and use PHP & Com to build a webinterface for it.
Here is an example how to start a Windows task:
function start_task ($taskname) {
$SchedObj = new COM("Scheduler.SchedulingAgent.1");
foreach ($SchedObj->Tasks as $task) {
if (strtolower( (string) $task) == strtolower( $taskname.".job" )) {
$task->Run();
}
}
}
I'm also working on a class to handle infos, adding and removing of tasks via PHP. If you are interested drop me a line.

jbr at ya-right dot com (2005-08-19 13:07:17)

Getting * directory * permissions ( attributes ) with COM

PHP (5) example...

<?
    $dir = 'e:/www/docs/www/docs/junk/';

    define ( 'READ_ONLY', 1 );
    define ( 'IS_HIDDEN', 2 );
    define ( 'IS_SYSTEM', 4 );

    $hold = array ();

    $obj = new COM ( 'scripting.filesystemobject' );

    if ( is_object ( $obj ) )
    {
        $all = $obj->getfolder ( $dir );

        foreach ( $all->subfolders AS $directory )
        {
            if ( substr ( $directory->name, - 3 ) != 'cnf' )
            {
                $hold[$dir . $directory->name . '/'] =  array ( 'read_only' => ( ( $directory->Attributes & READ_ONLY ) <> 0 ? 1 : 0 ), 'is_hidden' => ( ( $directory->Attributes & IS_HIDDEN ) <> 0 ? 1 : 0 ), 'is_system' => ( ( $directory->Attributes & IS_SYSTEM ) <> 0 ? 1 : 0 ) );
            }
        }

        $obj = null;
    }
    else
    {
        echo 'sorry can not crate object: file_system_object';
    }

    print_r ( $hold );
?>

To do the same thing for * files * with in the directory named in $dir, change above ( foreach() ) to what is below...

        foreach ( $all->files AS $file )
        {
            $hold[$file->name] =  array ( 'read_only' => ( ( $file->Attributes & READ_ONLY ) <> 0 ? 1 : 0 ), 'is_hidden' => ( ( $file->Attributes & IS_HIDDEN ) <> 0 ? 1 : 0 ), 'is_system' => ( ( $file->Attributes & IS_SYSTEM ) <> 0 ? 1 : 0 ) );
        }

pretty much anything you could think of doing in windows can be done using PHP and COM...

John

csaba at alum dot mit dot edu (2005-03-03 17:21:48)

Getting IE to the foreground
If you are using a command line (CLI) version of PHP on a Win32 platform (e.g. XP Pro, SP2), you might want to have output directed to IE (perhaps you'll want to work with the output there) when Popup does not suffice (see my earlier post, below).

It's easy enough to get an instance of IE using $ie = new COM("InternetExplorer.Application");.  The problem is, you don't necessarily see it in the foreground (especially if you already have one open) and who wants to waste keystrokes getting to it?  The code below has been working for me (If you want to do other adjustments (e.g. $ie->Document->ParentWindow->resizeTo(800,500); or $ie->Document->Body->bgColor = "yellow";), doing them before the $ie->Visible = true; line will avoid screen distractions):

<?php
function newIEtoForeground($title, $evtPrefix="") {
    // brings new instance of IE to foreground with title $title
    if (!$extPrefix) $ie = new COM("InternetExplorer.Application");
    else $ie = new COM("InternetExplorer.Application", $evtPrefix);
    $ie->Navigate2("about:blank");
    $oWSH = new COM("WScript.Shell");
    while ($ie->ReadyState!=4) usleep(10000);

    $ie->Document->Title = ($tmpTitle = mt_rand());  //unique title
    $ie->Visible = true;
    while (!$oWSH->AppActivate("$tmpTitle - M")) usleep(10000);

    $ie->Document->Title = $title;
    $ie->Document->ParentWindow->opener="me";  // allows self.close()
    return $ie;
}
?>

Csaba Gabor from Vienna

csaba at alum dot mit dot edu (2005-02-14 12:22:21)

Basic Windows IO
If you are using a command line (CLI) version of PHP on a Win32 platform, you might like to have a simple graphical interface to get input and output.  The following gives an illustration for both.

<?php
    // first we get some input
    $oScript = new COM("MSScriptControl.ScriptControl");
    $oScript->Language = "VBScript";
    $title = "I/O Demo: Input half";
    $initial = "Change this value";
    $prompt = "Please enter a value";
    
    $code = <<<EOF
Function getInput()
    inVal = InputBox("$prompt", "$title", "$initial")
    getInput = inVal         'how return values are assigned in VB
End Function
EOF;

    $oScript->AddCode($code);
    $input = $oScript->Eval("getInput()");    
    if (gettype($input)=="NULL") $input = "Input box was cancelled";

    // now we show some output
    $oWSH = new COM("WScript.Shell");
    $title = "I/O Demo: Output half";
    $timeout = 2;        // 0 for no timeout
    $style = 0 + 48;    // buttons to show + alert symbol
    $oWSH->Popup($input, $timeout, $title, $style);
?>

This is example is overblown for illustrative purposes.  The whole input part collapses if the amount of code used is a single statement.  So, this would have sufficed:
$code = "InputBox(\"$prompt\", \"$title\", \"$initial\")";
$input = $oScript->Eval($code);

This technique exposes quite a bit of scripting power tied into the Windows operating system and VBScript.  However, you should have a really specific reason for using it since VBScript tends to be dog slow when compared to PHP in my tests.  Simple IO like this is good, however, and the popup size can be quite large.  Furthermore, this could be a viable route to go for accessing WinAPI's.

http://www.ss64.com/wsh/popup.html shows some documentation for $oWSH->Popup

Csaba Gabor from Vienna

phpguy _from_ toshpro _dot_ com (2004-11-12 05:55:20)

if you ever need to connect to an access database (on the server, using the IIS or APACHE user account), here is code below that can help to ease the process.  It is written like this because we have a MySQL as well as an Access database and need to be able to switch back and forth.  The runQuery function will return a 2 dimensional array and can use column names or numbers for the index of the internal arrays.  External arrays are always integer-indexed.  We also have found issues with Access staying open and growing from 7MB to 2.5GB within two hours, so we open and close it each time we run a query.  If it is not a select query it will return TRUE.  if it fails with errors, it will return false.

There is a showErr flag that we mostly only use for MySQL, since you can output MySQL errors without PHP errors.  Access doesn't appear to be that friendly.

<?php

function runQuery(&$conn,
                    $strSQL,
                    $associative=true,
                    $debug=false,
                    $showSQL=false,
                    $showErr=false) {     
    return runMSQuery($conn,$strSQL,$associative,$debug,$showSQL,$showErr); 
    //return runMyQuery($conn,$strSQL,$associative,$debug,$showSQL,$showErr); 
}

function openMSDB($dbfile="c:/path/and/filename.mdb") {
    if (!@$conn = new COM("ADODB.Connection")) 
        exit("Unable to create an ADODB connection<br>");
    $strConn = "DRIVER={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)}; DBQ=".$dbfile; 
    @$conn->open($strConn); 
    if($conn->State == 0) return false;
    return $conn;
}

function closeMSDB(&$conn) {
    @$conn->Close();
    $conn = null;
    return true;
}

function runMSQuery(&$conn,
                    $strSQL,
                    $associative=true,
                    $debug=false,
                    $showSQL=false,
                    $showErr=false) {
    if(!is_object($conn)) if(!$conn=openMSDB()) return false;
    if( $showSQL || $debug ) echo $strSQL."\n<br>\n";
    $rtn = false;
    if($debug) $rs = $conn->execute($strSQL);
    else $rs = @$conn->execute($strSQL);

    if(!$rs) {
        if($showErr) echo "Error running SQL.<br>\n";
        closeMSDB($conn);
        return false; 
    }
    if ($rs->State == 0) {
        closeMSDB($conn);
        return true;
    } else {    
        $rows=0;
        while(!$rs->EOF) {
            for($i=0;$i<$rs->Fields->count;$i++) {
                $rsf = $rs->Fields($i);
                if($associative) $rtn[$rows][$rsf->Name] = $rsf->value;
                else $rtn[$rows][$i] = $rsf->value;
            }
            $rows++;
            $rs->MoveNext();
        }
        if($rs->State != 0) $rs->Close();
        $rs = null;
    }
    if($debug) var_dump($rtn);
    closeMSDB($conn);
    return $rtn;
}
?>

sodeh at dana dot ir (2004-10-30 03:11:10)

for connection to sql server and know the utf-8 code
use this method to connect the database
$db = new COM("ADODB.Connection",NULL, 65001 );

jbr at ya-right dot net (2004-05-12 11:23:37)

"Keeping an instance of a Server object loaded"

When dealing with COM objects like 'Word' or 'Excel' you are pretty
much dealing with personal COM type objects. The reason I say this
is because they in no way have any direct relationship to a real COM
server object. The differences between a 'Server COM Object' and a
'Personal COM Type Object' are great. Server COM objects, do not contain
and properties or methods related to any type of program dialog.

Most Enterprise COM objects are designed to run under IIS where they
are loaded into the server process. So once the first instance call is
made or when the server is started the object loads it properties, methods
and data related to the service the object provides!

Many objects load large data set(s) 10 MB to 200 MB into memory, this makes
any process after the initial loading of the object fast and very system
friendly!

In PHP, when an initial instance of an object is loaded some where in a
PHP script, PHP will check if an instance of the object is already running
if it is, then it will use that instance. If it can not find an instance to
the object running, it will create a new instance to the object!

In the case of personal COM type objects, you can point to a running instance
of an object, and reference that instance...

<?

$obj = new COM ( 'X:\reports\june.doc' );

?>

For Server type COM objects that load large data set(s), you really have no option
because each script run will unload the instance at the end of the script's run time.
Unless another http request is running and the new http request can access the other
object instance, you will have to load all the objects properties and methods and data
set(s) used by the object!

One way to work around this is to write a wrapper that can load the object into the
PHP or the Server process! I did this for the objects I use.

Another unorthodox way is to load your web browser to a PHP script that uses a combination
of ignore_user_abort(), set_time_limit(), load the object, sleep();!

Before I wrote the wrapper for a 'Map Server Object' I use in one of my project. I used
the 'unorthodox way' for almost a year and had over 15,000 object requests a day, and
never did the instance of the object ever have to start a new instance, ie: reload all the properties and methods and data
set(s) used by the object!

Like I said this is a very 'unorthodox way' to keep an object loaded, but it works!

set the object 'My.Object' in the script, call the script from the browser, then close the browser!

<?

    ignore_user_abort ( 'true' );

    set_time_limit ( 0 );

    com_load_typelib ( 'My.Object' ) or die ( 'Could not load TypeLib' );

    $obj = new COM ( 'My.Object' ) or die ( 'Could not load object' );

    $obj = null;

    sleep ( 63166608000 ); // one year

?>

John

flintjt at hotmail dot com (2004-03-11 11:45:01)

I have searched for ways to open and read an excel document and I found some information which I thought that I would document.  Information on the object model to help with programming COM objects can be found in your MS Office help files, search for VBA*.chm.
Also, here is a script that I used to pull a cell from each worksheet, complete w/ variable for pathnames & worksheets.  This script also closes excel completely.  The coding might be dirty, but it gets the job done.
--------copy from here-----------
<pre>
<?PHP
$filename = "c:/spreadhseet/test.xls";
$sheet1 = 1;
$sheet2 = "sheet2";
$excel_app = new COM("Excel.application") or Die ("Did not connect");
print "Application name: {$excel_app->Application->value}\n" ; 
print "Loaded version: {$excel_app->Application->version}\n";
$Workbook = $excel_app->Workbooks->Open("$filename") or Die("Did not open $filename $Workbook");
$Worksheet = $Workbook->Worksheets($sheet1);
$Worksheet->activate;
$excel_cell = $Worksheet->Range("C4");
$excel_cell->activate;
$excel_result = $excel_cell->value;
print "$excel_result\n";
$Worksheet = $Workbook->Worksheets($sheet2);
$Worksheet->activate;
$excel_cell = $Worksheet->Range("C4");
$excel_cell->activate;
$excel_result = $excel_cell->value;
print "$excel_result\n";
#To close all instances of excel:
$Workbook->Close;
unset($Worksheet);
unset($Workbook);
$excel_app->Workbooks->Close();
$excel_app->Quit();
unset($excel_app);
?>
</pre>
----------------------------------

jon at jonroig dot com (2003-12-03 12:28:35)

Here's a simple example of printing formatted templates with MS Word.

To begin with, I've already built my invoice in Word and saved it as an RTF file.
In this case, I'm using "sampleInvoice.php" 

Fields that will be replaced have been marked as ||CUSTOMER ID|| and so on. 

<?php
$dataText = "";

// open the file
if(!($fp= fopen ("C:\wordTest\sampleInvoice.rtf", "r"))) die ("Can't open");
$dataText = fread($fp, 2000000);
fclose ($fp);

// replace the template fields
$dataText = str_replace ("||CUSTOMER ID||",$customerIDValue, $dataText);

// save the file as an rtf
$timeStamp = time();
$saveFile = "C:/wordTemp/".$timeStamp."-invoice-".$customerIDValue.".rtf";
if(!($fq= fopen ($saveFile, "w+"))) die ("Can't open");
fwrite ($fq, $dataText);
fclose ($fq);

// initialize the word components
$word = new COM("word.application") or die("Unable to instantiate Word"); 

print "Loaded word version ($word->Version)\n";
$word->visible = true;
$word->Documents->Add();

// open the file
$word->Documents->Open("$saveFile");

// output the file to the default printer
$word->ActiveDocument->PrintOut(1);

// shutdown word
$word->Quit();
?>

jnv at jnv dot ch (2003-12-03 03:42:53)

Be sure you have Word, Excel, .. on your server or it will not work !

drich at nea-online dot net (2003-11-18 14:47:40)

Changing Fields (Not FORMFIELDS) In MS Word....

Searched most of the afternoon for this, as it is something needed here for our projects.  Maybe this can help someone else as well.

<?php
$input = "x:\\path\\to\\test.doc";
$word = @new COM("word.application") or die("Unable to instantiate Word"); 
print "Loaded Word, version {$word->Version}\n<br>";
$word->Visible = 1;
print "Set Word To Visible<br>";
$word->Documents->Open($input);
print "Opened $input<br>";
$word->Activate;
print "Activated Word<br>";

print "Editing Fields<br>";
$Field = $word->ActiveDocument->Fields(1);
$fieldData = $Field->Result;
$fieldData->Text = "Testing";

// Print the document.
$word->Printout();

// closing word
$word->Quit();

// free the object
$word->Release();
$word = null;

?>

Mihael Peternelj; Slovenia (2003-10-18 05:22:26)

If you wnat to connect to Access MDB Library you can use this small "progy". It works so, that if someone other accesses the library, it waits for so long to access it again because (as i know) MDB librarys can be accessed only once at the same time.

<?php
function mdb($sql, $array = 0, $base = "Base.mdb", $timelimit = 5)
    {
    $r_items = array();
    $c = new COM("ADODB.Connection");
    $r = false;
    $time = time();
    $process = $i = 0;
    while($r == false && $process <= $timelimit)
        {
        $deb = $c->open('DRIVER={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)}; Dbq='. realpath($base) .';');
        $r = $c->execute($sql);
        $process = time() - $time;
        }
    if($process >= $timelimit) exit("mdbSQL Query Timeout!");
    if(strtolower(substr($sql, 0, 6)) == "insert" or strtolower(substr($sql, 0, 6)) == "update" or strtolower(substr($sql, 0, 6)) == "delete") return true;
    $num_fields = $r->fields->count();
    while (!$r->EOF)
        {
        for($j = 0; $j < $num_fields; $j++)
            {
            $key = $r->Fields($j);
            if($array == 0) $r_items[$i][$key->name] = $key->value;
            else $r_items[$i][$j] = $key->value;
            }
        $i++;
        $r->MoveNext(); 
        }
    $r->close();
    $c->close();
    $r = null;
    $c = null;
    return $r_items;
    }
?>

I got the source from the Manual, what i did is that i made it more compatible and user frendly. :)

I hope it could some day help someone so as it did me...

Greetings from Slovenia!

Mihael Peternelj

admin at CdnDomainRegistry dot ca (2003-09-20 15:57:12)

Here's an example/comparison of VBScript vs PHP's COM component to connect to an IIS Webserver.
The examples backup the IIS MetaBase (your server's website(s) configuration) in IIS.

VBScript:
  Dim obj, iFlags 
  Set obj = GetObject("IIS://LocalHost") 
  ' Backup to next available version number. 
  ' Set flags to save the metabase first and 
  ' force the backup even if save fails. 
  iFlags = (MD_BACKUP_SAVE_FIRST or MD_BACKUP_FORCE_BACKUP)
  obj.Backup "MyBackups", MD_BACKUP_NEXT_VERSION, iFlags
  ' Note: The above was copied from Microbucks.
  ' This is how you would have to do it.
  ' i.e. use the actual constant's value.
  iFlags = (2 or 4)  
  obj.Backup "MyBackups", &HFFFFFFFF, iFlags

PHP:
  <?php
  $obj = new COM("IIS://LocalHost")or die("Unable to instantiate IIS");  
  $err = com_invoke ($obj, "Backup", "MyBackups", "&HFFFFFFFF", 2|4 );
  $obj = null;
  print "err=".$err; // returns 0 on success
  ?>

Glen

(2003-09-20 10:49:04)

Example on how to read a registry value:

<?php
  $shell= &new COM('WScript.Shell');
  var_dump($shell->regRead('HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Environment\TEMP'));
?>

(outputs string(39) "%USERPROFILE%\Lokale Einstellungen\Temp" on my system)

EuresMan (2003-08-01 03:21:09)

To mstaiger
I have encountered the same problem you report.
I tried to use the above code for a word document but it doesn't works, although the same code was good if i use it on a excel sheet.
The solution is explained at the following link :
http://www.phpbuilder.net/columns/venkatesan20030501.php3

rickardsjoquist at hotmail dot com (2003-07-09 10:33:12)

If you want to use a DSN-less connection to a database (access for example) and return the results of a query as a multidimensional array with the fieldnames as identifier try this. Hope it helps someone :-)
--------------------------------------------------------

<?php
function db($sql) {
    $c = new COM("ADODB.Connection");
    $c->open('DRIVER={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)}; DBQ=' . realpath("relative_path/db.mdb"));
    $r = $c->execute($sql);
    $i = 0;
    $num_fields = $r->fields->count();
    while (!$r->EOF)
        {
            for($j = 0;$j<$num_fields;$j++) {
            $key = $r->Fields($j);
            $r_items[$i][$key->name] = $key->value;
        }
        $i++;
        $r->MoveNext(); 
    }
    $r->close();
    $c->close();
    $r = null;
    $c = null;
    return $r_items;
}
?>

--------------------------------------------------------
use it like this:
--------------------------------------------------------
<?php
$results = db("SELECT field_a, field_b FROM table");
foreach($result as $i => $item) {
    echo $item['field_a'];
    echo $item['field_b'];
}
?>
--------------------------------------------------------
You can also use: print_r($result); if you want the structure of the array to be printed.

info at sharedprojects dot nl (2003-06-16 09:41:55)

<?php
// An other way to connect
// this connect to a ODBC-datasourced added in the 
// ODBC Data Source Administrator under System DSN

$odbcname = "northwind";
$conn->Open("DSN=$odbcname");
?>

eguan1ao_at_yahoo_dot_com (2002-11-20 13:35:27)

An example of connecting to a Microsoft Access database, executing an SQL query, and displaying the results in HTML.

<?php

$db = 'C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office\\Samples\\Northwind.mdb';

$conn = new COM('ADODB.Connection');

// Two ways to connect. Choose one.
$conn->Open("Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0; Data Source=$db");
//$conn->Open("DRIVER={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)}; DBQ=$db");

$sql = 'SELECT   ProductName, QuantityPerUnit, UnitPrice
         FROM     Products
          ORDER BY ProductName';
$rs = $conn->Execute($sql);

?>

<table>
<tr>
          <th>Product Name</th>
         <th>Quantity Per Unit</th>
         <th>Unit Price</th>
</tr>
<?php while (!$rs->EOF): ?>
         <tr>
                  <td><?= $rs->Fields['ProductName']->Value ?></td>
                   <td><?= $rs->Fields['QuantityPerUnit']->Value ?></td>
                  <td><?= $rs->Fields['UnitPrice']->Value ?></td>
          </tr>
         <?php $rs->MoveNext() ?>
<?php endwhile ?>
</table>

<?php

$rs->Close();
$conn->Close();

?>

kmason at avaya dot com (2002-07-29 21:56:52)

It should be noted that to run anything that needs to interact with the UI (the word example), one needs to ensure that the process that the Web server is running under can access the UI. For Apache, this is an option in the Services control panel.

nospam at zamang dot co dot uk (2002-06-08 15:20:32)

The above Word example did not work for me when I tried it using Office 2000. I had to install the Office 2000 SR 2 upgrade to get everything working. It seems that the upgrade fixes some problems with permissions that affect PHP and some other applications that use COM.
David McCormack

yinon at xacct dot com (2002-04-06 12:33:04)

In order to get the Word exaple running, do the following on the server side.
Worked for me...
1. Click START-->RUN and enter "dcomcnfg"
2. In the "Applications" tab, go down to "Microsoft Word Document"
3. Click PROPERTIES button
4. Go to the "Security" Tab
5. Click "Use custom access permissions", and then click EDIT
6. Click ADD and then click SHOW USERS
7. Highlight the IIS anonymous user account (usually IUSR_<machinename>), click ADD
8. Go back to the "Security" tab by hitting OK
9. Click "Use custom launch permissions", and the click EDIT
10. Click ADD and then click SHOW USERS
11. Highlight the IIS anonymous user account (usually IUSR_<machinename>), click ADD
12. Hit OK, and then hit APPLY.
Also, you should look at the "Identity" tab in the Microsoft Word Document PROPERTIES and see that it is set to "Interactive User"

ALSO, log into the machine AS the IUSR_<machinename> account, start word, and make sure to click through the dialog boxes that Word shows the first time it is run for a certain user. In other words, make sure Word opens cleanly for the IUSR_ user.
More useful information could be found here:
http://www.email-screen.com/support-doc2txt.html

Franky at boucheros dot com (2002-03-19 06:38:07)

For Access to Ms Access
use another Provider like this:

<?php
$conn = new COM("ADODB.Connection") 
or die("Cannot start ADO");
$conn->Open("Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0; Data Source=./thefile.mdb;");
$rs = $conn->Execute("SELECT * FROM thetable");
?>

mstaiger at informatik dot uni-siegen dot de (2002-01-23 18:17:37)

The example above (MS Word) is quiet unsatisfying, as I find. Especially since I couldn't find anybody who actually got it running, including myself. 

You might therefore give this Powerpoint-example a chance:
----------------------------------
#Instantiate a PowerPoint object.
$ppoint = new COM("PowerPoint.application") or die("Unable to instantiate PowerPoint");

<?php
#Create a new presentation
$ppoint->Presentations->Add() or die ("Could not create presentation");

//Add a slide
$slide=$ppoint->Presentations[1]->Slides->Add(1,1);

//Get the name of this slide
$slidename = $slide->Name();
echo"<br>slidename : $slidename";

//Change the name of this new slide
$slide->Name = "New Slidename";
$slidename = $slide->Name();
echo"<br>NEW slidename : $slidename";

//Save the presentation
$ppoint->Presentations[1]->SaveAs("c:/InetPub/www/test.ppt");
$ppoint->Presentations[1]->Close();

//closing powerpoint
$ppoint->Quit();

//free the object
$ppoint->Release();
$ppoint = null;
-----------------------
?>

the config is : 
w2k-server/office2k/iis5/php 4.1.1 isapi

If you happen to run into a working word2k-example, please let me know.

Marc