Example Code for Reading a Constructed Attribute

The following code example shows a method that can be used to retrieve an attribute value that will work with all attributes types.

Public Function GetAttribute(oObject As IADs, AttributeName As String) As String
    Const E_ADS_PROPERTY_NOT_FOUND = &H8000500D
    
    On Error Resume Next
    
    ' Attempt to get the attribute value.
    GetAttribute = oObject.Get(AttributeName)
    If (Err.Number = E_ADS_PROPERTY_NOT_FOUND) Then
        ' Reset the error number.
        Err.Number = 0
        
        ' Use IADs.GetInfoEx to explicitly load the attribute value into the cache.
        oObject.GetInfoEx Array(AttributeName), 0
        If Err.Number = 0 Then
            ' Attempt to get the attribute value.
            GetAttribute = oObject.Get(AttributeName)
        End If
    End If
End Function

The following code example shows a method that can be used to retrieve an attribute value that will work with all attributes types.

/***************************************************************************

    GetAttribute()

***************************************************************************/

HRESULT GetAttribute(IADs *pads, BSTR bstrAttribute, VARIANT *pvar)
{
    if(!pads || !pvar)
    {
        return E_INVALIDARG;
    }

    HRESULT hr;
    CComVariant svar;

    // Attempt to get the attribute with IADs.Get.
    hr = pads->Get(bstrAttribute, &svar);
    if(E_ADS_PROPERTY_NOT_FOUND  == hr)
    {
        // Attempt to get the attribute with IADs.GetInfoEx and then IADs.Get.

        CComVariant svarArray;
        hr = ADsBuildVarArrayStr(&(LPWSTR)bstrAttribute, 1, &svarArray);
        if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
        {
            hr = pads->GetInfoEx(svarArray, 0L);
            if(SUCCEEDED(hr))
            {
                hr = pads->Get(bstrAttribute, &svar);
            }
        }

    }

    if(S_OK == hr)
    {
        hr = svar.Detach(pvar);
    }

    return hr;
}