Editing Active Template Library (section)

== Compiler COM support ==
Although not formally part of ATL, Microsoft Visual C++ also includes additional C++ RAII classes to simplify management of COM types. These ''compiler COM support'' classes can be used as replacement for or in combination with ATL, and includes:

* <code>_com_ptr_t</code><ref>Microsoft MSDN: [https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/417w8b3b.aspx _com_ptr_t Class]</ref> smart-pointer that decorates the COM interface name with a "Ptr" suffix,
* <code>_bstr_t</code><ref>Microsoft MSDN: [https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/zthfhkd6.aspx _bstr_t Class]</ref> BSTR wrapper,
* <code>_variant_t</code><ref>Microsoft MSDN: [https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/x295h94e.aspx _variant_t Class]</ref> VARIANT wrapper, and
* <code>_com_error</code><ref>Microsoft MSDN: [https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/0ye3k36s.aspx _com_error Class]</ref> HRESULT wrapper.
Note that as of Visual Studio 2012, the compiler COM support classes does not include a SAFEARRAY wrapper.