Automation-Server
Component Object Model (COM) is a Microsoft® centric interface standard for software componentry. It is used to enable interprocess communication and dynamic object creation in programming languages that support COM. The term COM is often used in the software development industry as an umbrella term that encompasses OLE, OLE Automation, ActiveX® , COM+ and DCOM.
Origin now functions as an automation server for client applications, such as Microsoft® Excel®, Microsoft® Visual Basic®, and National Instruments™ LabVIEW™, that support COM programming. Data can be passed to Origin from the client application, graphed, analyzed, and the result exported or brought back into your application without ever seeing Origin.
Once the client closes the connection, the user could later launch Origin and just re-open the saved project for further processing.
A network (server/client) installation of Origin is ideal for taking advantage of this feature. Origin gets installed as a server on one computer and as a client on multiple computers, using a FlexLM license manager. Then, any technician who uses a client machine can be provided with a simple interface, such as an Excel worksheet or in-house Visual Basic application, by the company. These simple interfaces can then use the Origin client installation on their local machine to call the Origin server. In doing so, the technician does not have to learn how to use Origin itself, since all required controls would be on the customized interface.
Topics covered in this section: