Again an old book … for old people I guess … anyway I’ve read it and still look at it. It’s the Developing XML Web Services and Server Components from Microsoft’s self-paced training kit.

Once again looking at the chapter on serviced components, I came across something I missed last time around. You know, I find this serviced component stuff and all .NET and COM interoperability confusing. I suspect it’s because I came to .NET without first going through COM as most people have.

I think of a serviced component as a .NET component that derives from SystemEnterpriseServices and that can use COM+ services; and that’s why you use them – to use the COM+ services.

Then, the book mentions dynamic registration (the CLR registers the assembly in the COM+ Catalog) and constrasts this with the command line utility regsvs.exe. And then comes this kicker: “On the other hand for COM clients you should register the serviced components manually by using the command line utility, regsvs.exe.” For COM clients? Why would a COM client ever want to use a serviced component? COM clients can get at COM+ services much more directly it seems to me.

I talk to some people about this, but apparently serviced components are not in the path most people around here travel on.