Customer Rating: 
Summary: Is This Book For You?
Comment: Keep in mind that this book is a reference book, and so I will get straight to the juicy stuff as to how this book is for you.1) As you are, fluent in C++ and you love COM.
2) Microsoft world, like it or hate it, but you STILL love COM.
3) You like to build simple component without having to jump through ATL de-la-hoops.
4) Your boss [does not want] to invest in a high quality monitor so eyeballs jiggle to the low refreshment rate whenever you read the MSDN documentations.
5) You need to know the critical requirements to build component for scripting client such as ASP.
6) You want a reference on ODL (or IDL) language.
7) You say it is nice to have a complete reference on ITypeLib and ITypeInfo functions.
8) Of course, throwing COM error and implementing collection objects are also nice to know.
9) Your component services ASP clients. SafeArray, no problem. Variant, no problem. It is because you have quick access to a complete table references on BSTR, Variant, and SafeArray APIs at your finger tips.
10) Nice to have a well indexed description of datatype's manipulation routines that are commonly used in COM programming.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Multiply the power of your applications with ActiveX
Comment: This is the comprehensive and official reference documentation on Automation! Use it to discover how ActiveX and OLE can multiply the power, the usefulness, and the value of all your applications for Microsoft Windows 95 and Microsoft Windows NT. It tells you how to use and enhance your applications using the ActiveX Techonology. It explains topics such as : Building applications and programming tools that expose objects,which can then be acted on by other executable ActiveX components. Using one application to create and manipulate ActiveX objects that are exposed in another application. Developing ActiveX components that act as clients and more, I think any one serious in ActiveX should read this book.
