Beginner COM problem (Windows)

[Kirby Urner]

I've written (actually downloaded [1]) a COM object in Visual FoxPro 5.
I'd like Python to be its client.

The object is registered, and when I write a macro in Excel, using VBA, 
the behavior works as advertized.  

Here's the VBA from Excel:

Sub test()
   '-- Declare variable to hold the reference
    Dim VFPOLE As Object
 
    '-- Assign object reference to variable
    Set VFPOLE = CreateObject("VFP_OLE.VFP_OLE_Server")
 
    VFPOLE.FoxCommand _
             ("Wait Window 'Executing Query' Nowait")
 
    VFPOLE.FoxCommand ("Select * From G:\VFPAPPS\PATS\ACC\CVL1 " & _
                       "Into Table TestAll3")
 
    VFPOLE.FoxCommand ("CLOSE ALL")
    
    VFPOLE.FoxCommand ("Wait Clear")
 
    '-- Release the reference
    Set VFPOLE = Nothing
    

End Sub

However, when I try to do something similar in Python, with win32all 
installed, the following occurs:

  >>> import win32com.client
  >>> vfpole = win32com.client.Dispatch("VFP_OLE.VFP_OLE_Server")
  >>> vfpole
  <COMObject VFP_OLE.VFP_OLE_Server>

  >>> vfpole.FoxCommand ("Wait Window 'Executing Query' Nowait")
  Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "<pyshell#4>", line 1, in ?
      vfpole.FoxCommand ("Wait Window 'Executing Query' Nowait")
    File "D:\Program Files\Python21\win32com\client\dynamic.py", 
    line 432, in   __getattr__
      raise pythoncom.com_error, details
  com_error: (-2147352567, 'Exception occurred.', (99, 'Visual FoxPro 
  for Windows', 'Procedure canceled.', None, 0, 0), None)

Any ideas?  I tried setting _unicode_to_string_ to 1, but that
didn't make any difference.  

I actually get an error the second I hit a parenthesis key 
after vfpole.FoxCommand -- unless I move the (argument) out 
a space -- legal.  That postpones the error message until after 
I hit enter.  That behavior tells me something, but I'm not 
sure what.

Pls CC:  urnerk at qwest.net and/or urner at alumni.princeton.edu 

Muchas gracias,

Kirby