Addref on COM RCW

Question

Is it possible to increase the RCW reference count on an unknown interface? (i.e. not the reference count on the underlying COM object)

I have some old COM server code

int Method1(object comobject) {
    try {
        // do something with comobject
        return 0;
    }
    finally {
        Marshal.ReleaseComObject(comobject);
    }
 }

This code works fine but now I need to call it from another method.

int Method2(object comobject) {
    int result = Method1(comobject);
    // Do something with combject
}

The type of comobject will vary (that is why it is object)

Answer 1

The RCW proxy is a .NET object. Any live reference to it will block the GC from collecting it.

There is no reference count for .NET types.

Answer 2

There's the Marshal.AddRef() method, wrong reference count change though. I'm pretty sure incrementing the RCW count directly is not possible. Dig yourself out of the deep hole you're in and fix the old code.