Introduction

The Microsoft Agent API provides services that support the display and animation of animated characters. Implemented as an OLE Automation (Component Object Model [COM]) server, Microsoft® Agent enables multiple applications, called clients or client applications, to host and access its animation, input, and output services at the same time. A client can be any application that connects to the Microsoft Agent's COM interfaces.

As a COM server, Microsoft Agent automatically starts up only when a client application uses the COM interfaces and requests to connect to it. It remains running until all clients close their connections. When no connected clients remain, Microsoft Agent automatically exits.

Although you can call Microsoft Agent's COM interfaces directly, Microsoft Agent also includes a Microsoft ActiveX® control. This control makes it easy to access Microsoft Agent's services from programming languages that support the ActiveX control interface. See the Agent control and server interfaces, for more information on the specific API.

In addition to supporting stand-alone programs written for Windows®, Agent can be scripted to support Web pages, provided that the browser supports the ActiveX interface. Microsoft Internet Explorer includes support for ActiveX as well as scripting languages that you can use to program Agent. If you are not using Internet Explorer, consult with your vendor or supplier about the browser's support for ActiveX.

Microsoft Agent is an extension of Microsoft Windows. As a result, it currently supports only Windows 95 or later versions. Microsoft Agent also requires certain system libraries (dlls). The best way to insure that you have these libraries (and their correct versions) is to install Internet Explorer 4.0 or later.