Re: [Dev-C++] Nobody can help me with .tlb ?? :/

[Mac R. <re...@no...>]

At 10:48 AM 6/26/02 -0500, Mac Reiter wrote:
>A .tlb is a TypeLibrary, which is a COM idea.  A TLB file provides
>interface information to a COM client about the services that are present
>in a COM server.  A COM server could be a DLL, or an EXE, or an ActiveX
>Control (a highly specialized DLL or EXE).  Unless you really want to get
>into COM component creation, you won't be making TLB files.
>
>Mac

OK, before I get flamed to death, I just remembered something else about
TLBs.  A TLB can be made such that it contains all of the information
needed to talk to a set of DLLs, even if those DLLs are not COM components.
 IMPORTANT : the TLB does not contain the DLLs themselves.  All it contains
is information for a client that says "If you want to call function foo(),
you need to load DLL BAR and use the 7th function in the import list."  The
DLLs would still need to be installed separately.

The only place I personally have seen TLBs used is in Visual Basic
development.  The best example, relevant to the "group of DLLs" approach,
is a Win32 TLB.  Visual Basic does not use header files, so it can't just
"#include <windows.h>" to get access to the Win32 SDK.  Someone extremely
patient managed to build a Win32 TLB, which allows VB programmers to just
add that TLB to their project and now all of the Win32 SDK functions appear
to be normal VB functions.

Hopefully that is closer to the whole truth and nothing but the truth...
Mac
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