Registration free COM without generated manifest

Question

Is it possible to activate a COM component registration free without using a manifest file at all? I'd like to load from memory instead of pointing to files if possible.

I'd assume this would just mean duplicating whatever .Net does with the manifest file behind the scenes, but I'm not sure how to find out what it's doing exactly.

Answer 1

There is an Activation Context API which looks to do what you are asking. I've never used it, but I came across it when I was researching registration free COM.

See:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms973913.aspx#rfacomwalk_topic9

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/gpalem/archive/2007/03/26/avoid-registration-free-com-manifest-problems-with-activation-context-api.aspx