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Asked: 2026-06-08T19:29:58+00:00

I have a COM DLL written in unmanged C++, and compiled with VS 2010.

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I have a COM DLL written in unmanged C++, and compiled with VS 2010. I can register the DLL using regsvr32 and I can invoke it via VBscript.

When I try to add a reference to it, while creating a C# client, I don’t see the COM object listed in Add Reference -> COM tab. If I manually browse to the DLL and try to select it, it says that the DLL is not a valid assemlby or COM component.

Now, I can use tlbimp tool to generate an interop DLL and use that to add as a reference to my C# client. And everything works fine.

My questions are:

  1. Why the original COM is not listed in COM tab in Add Reference dialog when it’s registered via regsvr32?
  2. Why does VS IDE think that it’s not a valid COM when I can invoke it from VBScript and C++ native code?
  3. What exactly does tlbimp do which the IDE can’t do?
  4. What do I need to read further to improve my understanding of the
    type libraries and interoperability at play here?
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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Looks like a typelib issue — your COM classes may be have been registered correctly, but your typelib probably is not. Maybe you forgot to invoke RegisterTypeLib from within your DllRegisterServer function?

    Referring to your questions:

    1. The dialog looks for registered typelibs, not for COM classes

    2. VBscript invokes IDispatch and does not care about typelibs. tlbimp does not care about IDispatch and requires a typelib

    3. You passed the DLL name to tlbimp — so tlbimp knew how to get hold of the typelib. VS, in contrast, refers to the registry which lacks the approriate registration data

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