---
description: "Learn more about: _com_ptr_t Class"
title: "_com_ptr_t Class"
ms.date: "11/04/2016"
f1_keywords: ["_com_ptr_t"]
helpviewer_keywords: ["_com_ptr_t class"]
ms.assetid: 3753a8a0-03d4-4cfd-8a9a-74872ea53971
---
# _com_ptr_t Class

**Microsoft Specific**

A **_com_ptr_t** object encapsulates a COM interface pointer and is called a "smart" pointer. This template class manages resource allocation and deallocation through function calls to the `IUnknown` member functions: `QueryInterface`, `AddRef`, and `Release`.

A smart pointer is usually referenced by the typedef definition provided by the _COM_SMARTPTR_TYPEDEF macro. This macro takes an interface name and the IID and declares a specialization of **_com_ptr_t** with the name of the interface plus a suffix of `Ptr`. For example:

```cpp
_COM_SMARTPTR_TYPEDEF(IMyInterface, __uuidof(IMyInterface));
```

declares the **_com_ptr_t** specialization `IMyInterfacePtr`.

A set of [function templates](../cpp/relational-function-templates.md), not members of this template class, support comparisons with a smart pointer on the right side of the comparison operator.

### Construction

| Name | Description |
|-|-|
|[_com_ptr_t](../cpp/com-ptr-t-com-ptr-t.md)|Constructs a **_com_ptr_t** object.|

### Low-Level Operations

| Name | Description |
|-|-|
|[AddRef](../cpp/com-ptr-t-addref.md)|Calls the `AddRef` member function of `IUnknown` on the encapsulated interface pointer.|
|[Attach](../cpp/com-ptr-t-attach.md)|Encapsulates a raw interface pointer of this smart pointer's type.|
|[CreateInstance](../cpp/com-ptr-t-createinstance.md)|Creates a new instance of an object given a `CLSID` or `ProgID`.|
|[Detach](../cpp/com-ptr-t-detach.md)|Extracts and returns the encapsulated interface pointer.|
|[GetActiveObject](../cpp/com-ptr-t-getactiveobject.md)|Attaches to an existing instance of an object given a `CLSID` or `ProgID`.|
|[GetInterfacePtr](../cpp/com-ptr-t-getinterfaceptr.md)|Returns the encapsulated interface pointer.|
|[QueryInterface](../cpp/com-ptr-t-queryinterface.md)|Calls the `QueryInterface` member function of `IUnknown` on the encapsulated interface pointer.|
|[Release](../cpp/com-ptr-t-release.md)|Calls the `Release` member function of `IUnknown` on the encapsulated interface pointer.|

### Operators

| Name | Description |
|-|-|
|[operator =](../cpp/com-ptr-t-operator-equal.md)|Assigns a new value to an existing **_com_ptr_t** object.|
|[operators ==, !=, \<, >, \<=, >=](../cpp/com-ptr-t-relational-operators.md)|Compare the smart pointer object to another smart pointer, raw interface pointer, or NULL.|
|[Extractors](../cpp/com-ptr-t-extractors.md)|Extract the encapsulated COM interface pointer.|

**END Microsoft Specific**

## Requirements

**Header:** \<comip.h>

**Lib:** comsuppw.lib or comsuppwd.lib (see [/Zc:wchar_t (wchar_t Is Native Type)](../build/reference/zc-wchar-t-wchar-t-is-native-type.md) for more information)

## See also

[Compiler COM Support Classes](../cpp/compiler-com-support-classes.md)