cleaned up variant serialization code. Its still broken. There just isn't as much of it now.

jni/Dispatch.cpp

@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ JNIEXPORT jobject JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Dispatch_QueryInterface
  * and connects to it.  does special code if the progid 
  * is of the alternate format (with ":")
  **/
-JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Dispatch_createInstance
+JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Dispatch_createInstanceNative
   (JNIEnv *env, jobject _this, jstring _progid)
 {
   jclass clazz = env->GetObjectClass(_this);
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ doDisp:
  * attempts to connect to an running instance of the requested program
  * This exists solely for the factory method connectToActiveInstance.
  **/
-JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Dispatch_getActiveInstance
+JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Dispatch_getActiveInstanceNative
   (JNIEnv *env, jobject _this, jstring _progid)
 {
   jclass clazz = env->GetObjectClass(_this);
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Dispatch_getActiveInstance
  * starts up a new instance of the requested program (progId).  
  * This exists solely for the factory method connectToActiveInstance.
  **/
-JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Dispatch_coCreateInstance
+JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Dispatch_coCreateInstanceNative
   (JNIEnv *env, jobject _this, jstring _progid)
 {
   jclass clazz = env->GetObjectClass(_this);

jni/Dispatch.h

@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ JNIEXPORT jobject JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Dispatch_QueryInterface
  * Method:    createInstance
  * Signature: (Ljava/lang/String;)V
  */
-JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Dispatch_createInstance
+JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Dispatch_createInstanceNative
   (JNIEnv *, jobject, jstring);
 
 /*
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Dispatch_createInstance
  * Method:    getActiveInstance
  * Signature: (Ljava/lang/String;)V
  */
-JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Dispatch_getActiveInstance
+JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Dispatch_getActiveInstanceNative
   (JNIEnv *, jobject, jstring);
 
 /*
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Dispatch_getActiveInstance
  * Method:    coCreateInstance
  * Signature: (Ljava/lang/String;)V
  */
-JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Dispatch_coCreateInstance
+JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Dispatch_coCreateInstanceNative
   (JNIEnv *, jobject, jstring);
 
 /*

jni/Variant.cpp

@@ -100,9 +100,15 @@ void zeroVariant(JNIEnv *env, jobject _this)
   env->SetIntField(_this, jf, (unsigned int)0);
 }
 
-JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Variant_Save
+
-  (JNIEnv *env, jobject _this, jobject outStream)
+/**
-{
+ * This is the core of the old Save method.
+ * It copies this variant to a byte stream.
+ * The unmarshalling part of this doesn't work but it was left in 
+ * with the hope that someone will want to fix this later
+ **/
+JNIEXPORT jbyteArray JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Variant_SerializationWriteToBytes
+  (JNIEnv *env, jobject _this){
   VARIANT *v = extractVariant(env, _this);
 	  if (v) 
 	  {
@@ -119,68 +125,35 @@ JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Variant_Save
 	    env->SetByteArrayRegion(ba, 0, size, pBuf);
 	    // and delete the original memory
 	    delete [] pBuf;
-
+		return ba;
-    //java code: DataOutputStream dos = new DataOutputStream(outStream);
+	  } else {
-    jclass dosCls = env->FindClass("java/io/DataOutputStream");
+	    jbyteArray ba = env->NewByteArray(0);
-    jmethodID dosCons =
+	    return ba;
-      env->GetMethodID(dosCls, "<init>", "(Ljava/io/OutputStream;)V");
+	  }
-    jmethodID dosWriteInt =
-      env->GetMethodID(dosCls, "writeInt", "(I)V");
-    jmethodID dosWriteBytes =
-      env->GetMethodID(dosCls, "write", "([B)V");
-    jobject dos = env->NewObject(dosCls, dosCons, outStream);
-    // write the size into the stream
-    env->CallVoidMethod(dos, dosWriteInt, size);
-    // write the buffer into the stream
-    env->CallVoidMethod(dos, dosWriteBytes, ba);
   }
-}
   
-JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Variant_Load
+/**
-  (JNIEnv *env, jobject _this, jobject inStream)
+ * This is the core of the old Load method.  It is broken because the 
-{
+ * unmarshalling code doesn't work under 2000/XP.
+ * 
+ * It probably needs a custom handler.
+ **/
+JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Variant_SerializationReadFromBytes
+  (JNIEnv *env, jobject _this, jbyteArray ba){
 
   VARIANT *v = extractVariant(env, _this);
-  if (!v) 
+	if (v){
-  {
-    // since the default constructor is not called when serializing in
-    // I need to init the underlying VARIANT
-    jclass clazz = env->GetObjectClass(_this);
-    jfieldID jf = env->GetFieldID( clazz, VARIANT_FLD, "I");
-    v = new VARIANT();
-    VariantInit(v);
-    env->SetIntField(_this, jf, (unsigned int)v);
-  }
-  if (v) 
-  {
-    //java code: DataInputStream dis = new DataInputStream(outStream);
-    jclass disCls = env->FindClass("java/io/DataInputStream");
-    jmethodID disCons =
-      env->GetMethodID(disCls, "<init>", "(Ljava/io/InputStream;)V");
-    jmethodID disReadInt =
-      env->GetMethodID(disCls, "readInt", "()I");
-    jmethodID disReadBytes =
-      env->GetMethodID(disCls, "readFully", "([B)V");
-    jobject dis = env->NewObject(disCls, disCons, inStream);
-
-    // read in the size from the input stream
-    jint size = env->CallIntMethod(dis, disReadInt);
-    // allocate a byte array of this size
-    jbyteArray ba = env->NewByteArray(size);
-    // read it in from the input stream
-    env->CallVoidMethod(dis, disReadBytes, ba);
-	if ( size > 0 )
-	{
 		// get a buffer from it
 		jbyte *pBuf = env->GetByteArrayElements(ba, 0);
 		// unmarshall the Variant from the buffer
 		DWORD flags = MSHCTX_LOCAL;
+		printf("about to unmarshall array elements\n");
 		VARIANT_UserUnmarshal(&flags, (unsigned char *)pBuf, v);
 		// release the byte array
+	    printf("about to release array elements\n");
 		env->ReleaseByteArrayElements(ba, pBuf, 0);
 	}
   }
-}
 
 JNIEXPORT jint JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Variant_toInt
   (JNIEnv *env, jobject _this)
@@ -947,12 +920,6 @@ JNIEXPORT jboolean JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Variant_getBooleanRef
   return NULL;
 }
 
-JNIEXPORT jobject JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Variant_getObjectRef
-  (JNIEnv *env, jobject _this)
-{
-  return NULL;
-}
-
 
 JNIEXPORT jbyte JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Variant_getByteRef
   (JNIEnv *env, jobject _this)

jni/Variant.h

@@ -489,14 +489,6 @@ JNIEXPORT jint JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Variant_getErrorRef
 JNIEXPORT jboolean JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Variant_getBooleanRef
   (JNIEnv *, jobject);
 
-/*
- * Class:     com_jacob_com_Variant
- * Method:    getObjectRef
- * Signature: ()Ljava/lang/Object;
- */
-JNIEXPORT jobject JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Variant_getObjectRef
-  (JNIEnv *, jobject);
-
 /*
  * Class:     com_jacob_com_Variant
  * Method:    getByteRef
@@ -601,21 +593,11 @@ JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Variant_release
 JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Variant_init
   (JNIEnv *, jobject);
 
-/*
+JNIEXPORT jbyteArray JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Variant_SerializationWriteToBytes
- * Class:     com_jacob_com_Variant
+  (JNIEnv *, jobject);
- * Method:    Save
- * Signature: (Ljava/io/OutputStream;)V
- */
-JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Variant_Save
-  (JNIEnv *, jobject, jobject);
 
-/*
+JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Variant_SerializationReadFromBytes
- * Class:     com_jacob_com_Variant
+  (JNIEnv *, jobject, jbyteArray);
- * Method:    Load
- * Signature: (Ljava/io/InputStream;)V
- */
-JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_jacob_com_Variant_Load
-  (JNIEnv *, jobject, jobject);
   
 /*
  * Class:     com_jacob_com_Variant

samples/com/jacob/samples/applet/AppTest.java

@@ -24,8 +24,6 @@ public class AppTest extends Applet implements ActionListener {
 
 	ActiveXComponent sC = null;
 
-	Dispatch sControl = null;
-
 	/**
 	 * startup method
 	 */
@@ -46,10 +44,9 @@ public class AppTest extends Applet implements ActionListener {
 		if (sC == null) {
 			String lang = "VBScript";
 			sC = new ActiveXComponent("ScriptControl");
-			sControl = sC.getObject();
+			Dispatch.put(sC, "Language", lang);
-			Dispatch.put(sControl, "Language", lang);
 		}
-		Variant v = Dispatch.call(sControl, "Eval", in.getText());
+		Variant v = Dispatch.call(sC, "Eval", in.getText());
 		out.setText(v.toString());
 	}
 }

samples/com/jacob/samples/office/WordDocumentProperties.java

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 package com.jacob.samples.office;
 
 import com.jacob.activeX.ActiveXComponent;
-import com.jacob.com.ComFailException;
+import com.jacob.com.ComException;
 import com.jacob.com.Dispatch;
 import com.jacob.com.Variant;
 
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ public class WordDocumentProperties {
         try {
             cusPropName = Dispatch.call((Dispatch) custDocprops, "Item",
                     cusPropName).toString();
-        } catch (ComFailException e) {
+        } catch (ComException e) {
             // Do nothing
             cusPropName = null;
         }
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ public class WordDocumentProperties {
         try {
             builtInPropName = Dispatch.call((Dispatch) builtInDocProps, "Item",
                     builtInPropName).toString();
-        } catch (ComFailException e) {
+        } catch (ComException e) {
             // Do nothing
             builtInPropName = null;
         }

samples/com/jacob/samples/test/SafeArrayViaExcel.java

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ package com.jacob.samples.test;
 import com.jacob.com.*;
 import com.jacob.activeX.*;
 
-public class safearray
+public class SafeArrayViaExcel
 {
  public static void main(java.lang.String[] args) 
  {
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ public class safearray
 		SafeArray sAProdText;
 		Dispatch workbooks = xl.getProperty("Workbooks").toDispatch();
 		System.out.println("have workbooks");
-		Dispatch workbook = Dispatch.call(workbooks, "Open", "d:\\jacob_15\\samples\\test\\jacobtest.xls").toDispatch();
+		Dispatch workbook = Dispatch.call(workbooks, "Open", "d:\\jacob\\samples\\test\\ExcelSafeArray" +
+				".xls").toDispatch();
 		System.out.println("Opened File - jacobtest.xls\n");
 		Dispatch sheet = Dispatch.get(workbook,"ActiveSheet").toDispatch();
 		cell = Dispatch.invoke(sheet,"Range",Dispatch.Get,new Object[] {"A1:D1000"},new int[1]).toDispatch();

samples/com/jacob/samples/test/test.java

@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ class test
    printArray(bback);
 
    try {
-     // this should throw ComFailException
+     // this should throw ComException
      bba2.fromCharArray(new char[] {'a'});
    } catch (Exception e) {
      e.printStackTrace();

samples/com/jacob/samples/test/varSerTest.java

@@ -1,49 +0,0 @@
-package com.jacob.samples.test;
-
-import com.jacob.com.*;
-import java.io.*;
-
-class varSerTest 
-{
-  public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception
-  {
-    Variant vs1 = new Variant("hi");
-    Variant vs2 = new Variant(123.456);
-
-    FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream("foo.foo");
-    vs1.Save(fos);
-    vs2.Save(fos);
-    fos.close();
-
-    Variant  vl1 = new Variant();
-    Variant  vl2 = new Variant();
-    FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream("foo.foo");
-    vl1.Load(fis);
-    vl2.Load(fis);
-    System.out.println(vl1);
-    System.out.println(vl2);
-
-    // same thing with serialization
-
-    fos = new FileOutputStream("foo.ser");
-    ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(fos);
-    oos.writeObject(vs1);
-    oos.writeObject(vs2);
-    oos.close();
-    fos.close();
-
-
-    fis = new FileInputStream("foo.ser");
-    ObjectInputStream ois = new ObjectInputStream(fis);
-
-    Variant vss1, vss2;
-
-    vss1 = (Variant)ois.readObject();
-    vss2 = (Variant)ois.readObject();
-    ois.close();
-    fis.close();
-
-    System.out.println(vss1);
-    System.out.println(vss2);
-  }
-}

src/com/jacob/activeX/ActiveXComponent.java

@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ public class ActiveXComponent extends Dispatch {
     	ActiveXComponent mCreatedDispatch = null;
     	try {
     		mCreatedDispatch = new ActiveXComponent();
-    		mCreatedDispatch.coCreateInstanceJava(pRequestedProgramId);
+    		mCreatedDispatch.coCreateInstance(pRequestedProgramId);
     	} catch (Exception e){
     		mCreatedDispatch =null;
     		if (JacobObject.isDebugEnabled()){
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ public class ActiveXComponent extends Dispatch {
     	ActiveXComponent mCreatedDispatch = null;
     	try {
     		mCreatedDispatch = new ActiveXComponent();
-    		mCreatedDispatch.getActiveInstanceJava(pRequestedProgramId);
+    		mCreatedDispatch.getActiveInstance(pRequestedProgramId);
     	} catch (Exception e){
     		mCreatedDispatch =null;
     		if (JacobObject.isDebugEnabled()){

src/com/jacob/com/ComFailException.java

@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 package com.jacob.com;
 
 /**
- * COM Fail Exception class raise dwhen there is a problem
+ * COM Fail Exception class raised when there is a problem
  */
 public class ComFailException extends ComException {
     /**

src/com/jacob/com/ComNotImplementedException.java

@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 1999-2004 Sourceforge JACOB Project.
+ * All rights reserved. Originator: Dan Adler (http://danadler.com).
+ * Get more information about JACOB at http://sourceforge.net/projects/jacob-project
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
+ */
+package com.jacob.com;
+
+/**
+ * Thrown by java APIs that are not implemented either because
+ * they were never implemented or because they are bieng deprecated
+ * This is a subclass of ComException so callers can still just catch 
+ * ComException.
+ */
+public class ComNotImplementedException extends ComException {
+
+    /**
+	 * 
+	 */
+	private static final long serialVersionUID = -9169900832852356445L;
+
+	/**
+     * @param description
+     */
+    public ComNotImplementedException(String description) {
+        super(description);
+    }
+
+	
+}

src/com/jacob/com/Dispatch.java

@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ public class Dispatch extends JacobObject
     public Dispatch(String requestedProgramId) {
         programId = requestedProgramId;
         if (programId != null && !"".equals(programId)){
-        	createInstance(requestedProgramId);
+        	createInstanceNative(requestedProgramId);
         } else {
         	throw new IllegalArgumentException(
         			"Dispatch(String) does not accept null or an empty string as a parameter");
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ public class Dispatch extends JacobObject
      * 
      * @param progid
      */
-    private native void createInstance(String progid);
+    private native void createInstanceNative(String progid);
 
     /**
      * native call getActiveInstance only used by the constructor with the same parm
@@ -190,15 +190,18 @@ public class Dispatch extends JacobObject
      * 
      * @param progid
      */
-    private native void getActiveInstance(String progid);
+    private native void getActiveInstanceNative(String progid);
     
     /**
      * Wrapper around the native method
      * @param progid
      */
-    protected void getActiveInstanceJava(String progid){
+    protected void getActiveInstance(String pProgramIdentifier){
-    	this.programId = progid;
+    	if (pProgramIdentifier == null || "".equals(pProgramIdentifier)){
-    	getActiveInstance(progid);
+    		throw new IllegalArgumentException("program id is required");
+    	}
+    	this.programId = pProgramIdentifier;
+    	getActiveInstanceNative(pProgramIdentifier);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -213,15 +216,18 @@ public class Dispatch extends JacobObject
      * 
      * @param progid
      */
-    private native void coCreateInstance(String progid);
+    private native void coCreateInstanceNative(String progid);
 
     /**
      * Wrapper around the native method
-     * @param progid
+     * @param pProgramIdentifier
      */
-    protected void coCreateInstanceJava(String progid){
+    protected void coCreateInstance(String pProgramIdentifier){
-    	this.programId = progid;
+    	if (pProgramIdentifier == null || "".equals(pProgramIdentifier)){
-    	coCreateInstance(progid);
+    		throw new IllegalArgumentException("program id is required");
+    	}
+    	this.programId = pProgramIdentifier;
+    	coCreateInstanceNative(pProgramIdentifier);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -391,11 +397,10 @@ public class Dispatch extends JacobObject
      * @param dispatchTarget
      * @param name
      * @param val
-     * @throws ClassCastException
+     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComNotImplementedException
-     *             because???
      */
     public static void put_Casesensitive(Dispatch dispatchTarget, String name, Object val) {
-        throw new ClassCastException("not implemented yet");
+        throw new ComNotImplementedException("not implemented yet");
     }
 
     /*============================================================
@@ -447,12 +452,12 @@ public class Dispatch extends JacobObject
      * @param dispatchTarget
      * @param name
      * @param values
-     * @return never returns anything because throws ClassCastException
+     * @return never returns anything because 
-     * because not implemented yet
+     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComNotImplementedException
      */
     public static Variant callN_CaseSensitive(Dispatch dispatchTarget, String name,
             Object[] values) {
-        throw new ClassCastException("not implemented yet");
+        throw new ComNotImplementedException("not implemented yet");
     }
 
     /**
@@ -1273,13 +1278,14 @@ public class Dispatch extends JacobObject
     }
 
     /**
-     * not implemented , will throw class cast exception
+     * not implemented yet
      * @param dispatchTarget
      * @param name
      * @return Variant never returned
+     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComNotImplementedException
      */
     public static Variant get_CaseSensitive(Dispatch dispatchTarget, String name) {
-        throw new ClassCastException("not implemented yet");
+        throw new ComNotImplementedException("not implemented yet");
     }
     
 }

src/com/jacob/com/DispatchEvents.java

@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ public class DispatchEvents extends JacobObject {
      * @param progId optional program id.  most folks don't need this either
      * @param typeLib optional parameter for those programs that don't register their type libs (like Excel)
      */
-    protected native void init3(Dispatch src, Object sink, String progId, String typeLib);
+    private native void init3(Dispatch src, Object sink, String progId, String typeLib);
 
     /**
      *  now private so only this object can asccess

src/com/jacob/com/Variant.java

@@ -24,9 +24,13 @@ import java.util.Date;
 /**
  * The multi-format data type used for all call backs and most communications
  * between Java and COM. It provides a single class that can handle all data
- * types
+ * types.
+ * <p>
+ * This object no longer implements Serializable because serialization is broken 
+ * (and has been since 2000/xp).  The underlying
+ * marshalling/unmarshalling code is broken in the JNI layer.
  */
-public class Variant extends JacobObject implements java.io.Serializable {
+public class Variant extends JacobObject {
     /**
      * Use this constant for optional parameters
      */
@@ -157,31 +161,29 @@ public class Variant extends JacobObject implements java.io.Serializable {
 
     /**
      * @deprecated superceded by SafeArray
-     * @param in
+     * @param in doesn't matter because this method does nothing
-     *            doesn't matter because this method does nothing
+     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComNotImplementedException
-     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComFailException
      */
     public void putVariantArray(Variant[] in) {
-        throw new ComFailException("Not implemented");
+        throw new ComNotImplementedException("Not implemented");
     }
 
     /**
      * @deprecated superceded by SafeArray
-     * @return never returns
+     * @return never returns anything
-     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComFailException
+     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComNotImplementedException
      */
     public Variant[] getVariantArray() {
-        throw new ComFailException("Not implemented");
+        throw new ComNotImplementedException("Not implemented");
     }
 
     /**
      * @deprecated superceded by SafeArray
-     * @param in
+     * @param in doesn't matter because this method does nothing
-     *            doesn't matter because this method does nothing
+     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComNotImplementedException
-     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComFailException
      */
     public void putByteArray(Object in) {
-        throw new ComFailException("Not implemented");
+        throw new ComNotImplementedException("Not implemented");
     }
 
     /**
@@ -287,12 +289,12 @@ public class Variant extends JacobObject implements java.io.Serializable {
     public native String getStringRef();
 
     /**
-     * @return never returns anything
-     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComFailException
      * @deprecated superceded by SafeArray
+     * @return never returns anything
+     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComNotImplementedException
      */
     public Object toCharArray() {
-        throw new ComFailException("Not implemented");
+        throw new ComNotImplementedException("Not implemented");
     }
 
     /**
@@ -427,10 +429,6 @@ public class Variant extends JacobObject implements java.io.Serializable {
 
     public native double getDouble();
 
-    public Object getObject() {
-        return toDispatch();
-    }
-
     public native void putCurrency(long in);
 
     /** puts an object into the */
@@ -470,8 +468,6 @@ public class Variant extends JacobObject implements java.io.Serializable {
 
     public native boolean getBooleanRef();
 
-    public native Object getObjectRef();
-
     public native byte getByteRef();
 
     /**
@@ -498,11 +494,11 @@ public class Variant extends JacobObject implements java.io.Serializable {
     public native void noParam();
 
     /**
-     * superceded by SafeArray
+     * @deprecated superceded by SafeArray
-     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComFailException
+     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComNotImplementedException
      */ 
     public void putCharArray(Object in) {
-        throw new ComFailException("Not implemented");
+        throw new ComNotImplementedException("Not implemented");
     }
 
     public native float getFloat();
@@ -518,19 +514,19 @@ public class Variant extends JacobObject implements java.io.Serializable {
     }
 
     /**
-     * superceded by SafeArray
+     * @deprecated superceded by SafeArray
-     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComFailException
+     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComNotImplementedException
      */ 
     public void putVariantArrayRef(Variant[] in) {
-        throw new ClassCastException("Not implemented");
+        throw new ComNotImplementedException("Not implemented");
     }
 
     /**
-     * superceded by SafeArray
+     * @deprecated superceded by SafeArray
-     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComFailException
+     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComNotImplementedException
      */ 
     public Variant[] getVariantArrayRef() {
-        throw new ClassCastException("Not implemented");
+        throw new ComNotImplementedException("Not implemented");
     }
 
     public native void changeType(short in);
@@ -555,7 +551,7 @@ public class Variant extends JacobObject implements java.io.Serializable {
     }
 
     /**
-     * constructor that calls init() and then putXXX()
+     * Constructor that accepts a primitive rather than an object
      * @param in
      */
     public Variant(int in) {
@@ -564,7 +560,7 @@ public class Variant extends JacobObject implements java.io.Serializable {
     }
 
     /**
-     * constructor that calls init() and then putXXX()
+     * Constructor that accepts a primitive rather than an object
      * @param in
      */
     public Variant(double in) {
@@ -573,7 +569,7 @@ public class Variant extends JacobObject implements java.io.Serializable {
     }
 
     /**
-     * constructor that calls init() and then putXXX()
+     * Constructor that accepts a primitive rather than an object
      * @param in
      */
     public Variant(boolean in) {
@@ -582,32 +578,9 @@ public class Variant extends JacobObject implements java.io.Serializable {
     }
 
     /** 
-     * constructor that calls init() and then putXXX()
+     * Convenience constructor that calls the main one with
-     * @param in
+     * a byRef value of false
-     */
+     * @param in object to be made into variant
-    public Variant(String in) {
-        init();
-        putString(in);
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * constructor that calls init() and then putSafeArrayXXX()
-     * @param in
-     * @param fByRef is this data by reference or not?
-     */
-    public Variant(SafeArray in, boolean fByRef) {
-        init();
-        if (fByRef) {
-            putSafeArrayRef(in);
-        } else {
-            putSafeArray(in);
-        }
-    }
-
-    /** 
-     * constructor that calls two parameter constructor
-     * with 1st parameter as object and 2nd parameter as false
-     * @param in
      */
     public Variant(Object in) {
         this(in, false);
@@ -661,45 +634,6 @@ public class Variant extends JacobObject implements java.io.Serializable {
         }
     }
 
-    /**
-     * wierd constructor that is no longer supported
-     * @param in
-     * @param in1
-     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComFailException
-     */ 
-    public Variant(int in, int in1) {
-        throw new ComFailException("Not implemented");
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * wierd constructor that is no longer supported
-     * @param in
-     * @param in1
-     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComFailException
-     */ 
-    public Variant(int in, boolean in1) {
-        throw new ComFailException("Not implemented");
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * wierd constructor that is no longer supported
-     * @param in
-     * @param in1
-     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComFailException
-     */ 
-    public Variant(int in, double in1) {
-        throw new ComFailException("Not implemented");
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * wierd constructor that is no longer supported
-     * @param in
-     * @param in1
-     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComFailException
-     */ 
-    public Variant(int in, Object in1) {
-        throw new ComFailException("Not implemented");
-    }
 
     public native short getvt();
 
@@ -752,14 +686,22 @@ public class Variant extends JacobObject implements java.io.Serializable {
         }
     }
 
-    // superceded by SafeArray
+    /**
+     * @deprecated superceded by SafeArray
+     * @return
+     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComNotImplementedException
+     */
     public Variant[] toVariantArray() {
-        throw new ClassCastException("Not implemented");
+        throw new ComNotImplementedException("Not implemented");
     }
 
-    // superceded by SafeArray
+    /**
+     * @deprecated superceded by SafeArray
+     * @return
+     * @throws com.jacob.com.ComNotImplementedException
+     */
     public Object toByteArray() {
-        throw new ClassCastException("Not implemented");
+        throw new ComNotImplementedException("Not implemented");
     }
 
     static {
@@ -772,7 +714,14 @@ public class Variant extends JacobObject implements java.io.Serializable {
      */
     private void writeObject(java.io.ObjectOutputStream oos) {
         try {
-            Save(oos);
+        	byte[] ourBytes = SerializationWriteToBytes();
+        	int count = ourBytes.length;
+        	if (JacobObject.isDebugEnabled()){
+        		JacobObject.debug("writing out "+count+" bytes");
+        	}
+        	oos.writeInt(count);
+        	oos.write(ourBytes);
+            //Save(oos);
         } catch (Exception e) {
             e.printStackTrace();
         }
@@ -784,7 +733,18 @@ public class Variant extends JacobObject implements java.io.Serializable {
      */
     private void readObject(java.io.ObjectInputStream ois) {
         try {
-            Load(ois);
+        	// Load will do this if we don't but lets do it
+        	// from here so that the variant is set up exactly
+        	// the same as the ones not created from a stream
+        	init();
+        	int numBytes = ois.readInt();
+        	byte[] ourBytes = new byte[numBytes];
+        	if (JacobObject.isDebugEnabled()){
+        		JacobObject.debug("reading in "+numBytes+" bytes");
+        	}
+        	ois.read(ourBytes);
+        	SerializationReadFromBytes(ourBytes);
+            //Load(ois);
         } catch (Exception e) {
             e.printStackTrace();
         }
@@ -796,8 +756,17 @@ public class Variant extends JacobObject implements java.io.Serializable {
      */ 
     public native boolean isNull();
     
-    public native void Save(java.io.OutputStream os) throws java.io.IOException;
+    /**
+     * this is supposed to create a byte array that represents the underlying
+     * variant object struct
+     */
+    public native byte[] SerializationWriteToBytes();
     
-    public native void Load(java.io.InputStream is) throws java.io.IOException;
+    /**
+     * this is supposed to cause the underlying variant object struct to 
+     * be rebuilt from a previously serialized byte array.
+     * @param ba
+     */
+    public native void SerializationReadFromBytes(byte[] ba);
     
 }

unittest/com/jacob/com/ExcelEventTest.java

@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package com.jacob.com;
 
 import com.jacob.activeX.ActiveXComponent;
-import com.jacob.com.ComFailException;
 import com.jacob.com.DispatchEvents;
 
 /**
@@ -60,7 +59,7 @@ public class ExcelEventTest extends InvocationProxy {
 			Dispatch.call(workbook, "Close", f);
 			axc.invoke("Quit", new Variant[] {});
 
-		} catch (ComFailException cfe) {
+		} catch (ComException cfe) {
 			cfe.printStackTrace();
 			System.out.println("Failed to attach to " + pid + ": "
 					+ cfe.getMessage());

unittest/com/jacob/com/VariantSerializationTest.java

@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+package com.jacob.com;
+
+import java.io.*;
+
+/**
+ * Verifies serialization works for variants.
+ * Variant serialization is BROKEN and has been since 1.7
+ * <pre>-Djava.library.path=d:/jacob/release</pre>
+ */
+class VariantSerializationTest {
+
+	static Variant vs1 = new Variant("hi");
+	static Variant vs2 = new Variant(123.456);
+
+	public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
+		doJustSerialization();
+		compareVariantBytes();
+	}
+
+	private static void compareVariantBytes() throws Exception{
+		System.out.println("compareVariantBytes");
+		Variant var1 = new Variant("hello");
+		Variant var2 = new Variant("hello");
+		byte[] var1Bytes = var1.SerializationWriteToBytes();
+		byte[] var2Bytes = var2.SerializationWriteToBytes();
+		for ( int i = 0 ; i < var1Bytes.length; i++){
+			if (var1Bytes[i]!=var2Bytes[i]){
+				System.out.println("variant strings differ at position "+i);
+				return;
+			}
+		}
+		System.out.println("two strings return identical serialization data");
+	}
+	
+	private static void doJustSerialization() throws Exception {
+		System.out.println("doJustSerialization");
+		// same thing with serialization
+		FileOutputStream fos;
+		FileInputStream fis;
+		fos = new FileOutputStream("foo.ser");
+		ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(fos);
+		oos.writeObject(vs1);
+		//oos.writeObject(vs2);
+		oos.close();
+		fos.close();
+
+		fis = new FileInputStream("foo.ser");
+		ObjectInputStream ois = new ObjectInputStream(fis);
+
+		Variant vss1 = null;
+		Variant vss2 = null;
+
+		vss1 = (Variant) ois.readObject();
+		//vss2 = (Variant) ois.readObject();
+		ois.close();
+		fis.close();
+
+		System.out.println(vss1);
+		System.out.println(vss2);
+	}
+}

unittest/com/jacob/com/VariantTest.java

@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
-package com.jacob.samples.test;
+package com.jacob.com;
 
-import com.jacob.com.*;
+/**
-
+ * runs through some of the get and set methods on Variant
-class variant_test {
+ */
+class VariantTest {
 	public static void main(String[] args) {
 		//deprecated
 		//System.runFinalizersOnExit(true);

unittest/com/jacob/com/WordEventTest.java

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 package com.jacob.com;
 
 import com.jacob.activeX.ActiveXComponent;
-import com.jacob.com.ComFailException;
+import com.jacob.com.ComException;
 import com.jacob.com.DispatchEvents;
 
 /**
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ public class WordEventTest extends InvocationProxy {
 			}
 			axc.invoke("Quit", new Variant[] {});
 
-		} catch (ComFailException cfe) {
+		} catch (ComException cfe) {
 			cfe.printStackTrace();
 			System.out.println("Failed to attach to " + pid + ": "
 					+ cfe.getMessage());