List all methods in COMobject

Question

Is it possible?

Something in the lines of :

import win32com.client
ProgID = "someProgramID"
com_object = win32com.client.Dispatch(ProgID)

for methods in com_object:
    print methods

I got the com_object.__dict__, which lists:

[_oleobj_, _lazydata_, _olerepr_, _unicode_to_string_, _enum_, _username_, _mapCachedItems_, _builtMethods_]

Most are empty, except:

_oleobj_ (PyIDispatch)
_lazydata_ (PyITypeInfo)
_olerepr_ (LazyDispatchItem instance)
_username_ (<unknown>)

But I don't know how to access anything on those types.

z33k · Answer 1 · 2021-10-12T13:58:31.813

For those who find the accepted answer not working (look here for the reasons) - there's still a way to get objects having a _prop_map_get_ attribute (a dict that holds object's fields as keys). You just have to create the main app object with win32com.client.gencache.EnsureDispatch().

Here's a convenience function I wrote that lists fields and methods of a passed COM object created that way:

from inspect import getmembers


def print_members(obj, obj_name="placeholder_name"):
    """Print members of given COM object"""
    try:
        fields = list(obj._prop_map_get_.keys())
    except AttributeError:
        print("Object has no attribute '_prop_map_get_'")
        print("Check if the initial COM object was created with"
              "'win32com.client.gencache.EnsureDispatch()'")
        raise
    methods = [m[0] for m in getmembers(obj) if (not m[0].startswith("_")
                                                 and "clsid" not in m[0].lower())]

    if len(fields) + len(methods) > 0:
        print("Members of '{}' ({}):".format(obj_name, obj))
    else:
        raise ValueError("Object has no members to print")

    print("\tFields:")
    if fields:
        for field in fields:
            print(f"\t\t{field}")
    else:
        print("\t\tObject has no fields to print")

    print("\tMethods:")
    if methods:
        for method in methods:
            print(f"\t\t{method}")
    else:
        print("\t\tObject has no methods to print")

For an Excel object created with win32com.client.gencache.EnsureDispatch("Excel.Application") its output would be:

Members of 'Excel.Application' (Microsoft Excel):
    Fields:
        ActiveCell
        ActiveChart
        ActiveDialog
        ActiveEncryptionSession
        ...
        Workbooks
        WorksheetFunction
        Worksheets
        _Default
    Methods:
        ActivateMicrosoftApp
        AddChartAutoFormat
        AddCustomList
        Calculate
        ...
        Union
        Volatile
        Wait

This worked for me on Python 2.7 - I just had to change the {method} syntax in the print statements to make it compatible. — Matt Williams, Feb 13 '19 at 02:48
This is a good answer but note that this will only work with the application object. If you want further objects and to stick with `win32com.client.Dispatch(ProgID)` method then you have to run the makepy.py file found at `win32com\client\makepy.py` a dialog will open up, select the appropriate library. See more info at https://www.pythonstudio.us/introduction-2/implementing-com-objects-in-python.html . Its the paragraph that starts with `In order to generate the Python files that support a specific COM object, ` . If you do this then you can now use `dir()` & go through all props and methods — Melendowski, Nov 20 '19 at 01:28
All methods will be listed with `dir()` and then r/w properties are listed under `_prop_mat_put_` and read only props under `_prop_map_get_`. — Melendowski, Nov 20 '19 at 01:31
This method is working for me. Is ther any way to print the signature of the method (argument type and number, return type)? — ZMJ, Jun 10 '20 at 09:56

score 9 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 05 '17 at 00:23

Just found how to get most of the methods:

Here's how:

import win32com.client
import pythoncom

ProgID = "someProgramID"
com_object = win32com.client.Dispatch(ProgID)

for key in dir(com_object):
    method = getattr(com_object,key)
    if str(type(method)) == "<type 'instance'>":
        print key
        for sub_method in dir(method):
            if not sub_method.startswith("_") and not "clsid" in sub_method.lower():
                print "\t"+sub_method
    else:
        print "\t",method

Here's a exemple output with ProgID = "Foobar2000.Application.0.7"

Output:

Playlists
    Add
    GetSortedTracks
    GetTracks
    Item
    Load
    Move
    Remove
    Save
Name
    foobar2000 v1.1.13
ApplicationPath
    C:\Program Files (x86)\foobar2000\foobar2000.exe
MediaLibrary
    GetSortedTracks
    GetTracks
    Rescan
Minimized
    True
Playback
    FormatTitle
    FormatTitleEx
    Next
    Pause
    Previous
    Random
    Seek
    SeekRelative
    Start
    Stop
ProfilePath
    file://C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\foobar2000

I tried this code with `Excel.Application` as `ProgId` and it doesn't seem to work (no attribute `_prop_map_get_`) on Python 3.3. — Dmitry Grigoryev, Feb 15 '16 at 10:36
Do you, by any chance, know of a way to list all "program IDs" available? I'm trying to run a microsoft program with python but I don't know if it has a COM object — maxdebayser, Nov 04 '16 at 18:49

score -5 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 09 '14 at 03:14

-5

To list the attributes of an object you can use the dir() function. This is a built in function of python and does not need to be imported.Try something like:

print dir(object)

To see the attributes of the object.

answered Dec 09 '14 at 03:14

laneseals

7
1

2

It doesn't work well with com objects. It list some stuff, but I know some others that aren't showing. – f.rodrigues Dec 09 '14 at 03:21

List all methods in COMobject

3 Answers3

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