Thread: what to do with libs and dlls

Hey, i am sort of noob in this. I've been programming on C under linux for a while, but now, i'm heading for native win32 applications. I was building my code and I noticed that i don't know how to "include" libraries(.lib) nor dll files. I only know what to do with headers. Can anyone help me? I think it is simple, but i dont get it.

Thanks

Exampe to include library in a windows app using MS command line compiler.
The other command line parms just tell the compiler that we're
creating a Windows GUI app as opposed to a console app
cl /DWIN32 myapp.c advapi32.lib /link /subsystem:windows


Two different approaches for loading a DLL

First approach
DLL using the import library (mydll.lib) that was created while
compiling the DLL. All you have to do is include the header file
from the creation of the dll in your app and include the import
lib when you're linking your code as illustrated below
cl mydllapp.c mydll.lib



Second approach

Loading DLL on the fly.
cl mydllapp.c

Code:

 int main(void)
 {
 HINSTANCE hmyDLLlib=LoadLibrary("myDLL.DLL");
   if(hmyDLLlib==NULL) 
  printf("Unable to load library!\n");
 return 0;
 }

The /DWIN32 is defining a macro. In this case, it's defining the WIN32 macro to tell the compiler that we're building a 32 bit app. This macro is really not too relevant today. But it was common practice to use it a few years back when 32 bit Windows OS's were starting to emerge. Thus, it was used to distinguish between building a app for a 16 bit OS such as Windows 3.1 or the newer Windows 32 bit OSs.

Code:

// Compile cl sleep.c 

#include <windows.h>

int main(void)
{   // Sleep for 1 second (1000 milliseconds)
	Sleep(1000);
	return 0;
}