DLL's

[GerardMcL]

Hi,

I was just wonering - Im programming with VB6 at the minute and having a hard time with DLL's. Most of my applications are used over a network, with a server and up to five clients.

When putting code on client machines Ive got all kinds of problems with Active X and DLL's.

Does VB.Net hold any advantage here? I think I read somewhere that VB.Net has really improved working with DLL's just wanted to hear from people that know the best.

Cheers

 

[jubble]

Just copy and paste your .Net dll's now. No more fraffing about with registering and unregistering.

I remember listening to a tutor do a Microsoft spiel about how you could copy and paste over current exe's and dll's even if they're being used and this seemed unbelievable at the time. Unfortuneately it is (unless something's changed recently)... if the exe or dll is running you can't remove it.

 

[jebenson]

It is my understanding that for a computer to run a .NET application, it has to have the .NET framework installed. The .NET framework contains all of the "standard" controls, function libraries, etc. that are used to develop the app (asuming the same version of the framework), so the app isn't supposed to need anything extra installed to work. That is, no loading and registering .dlls, etc.

However, .NET has its own little idiosyncracies with installation, configuration, etc. Just do a search of this forum for "install problem" and while not all of the results apply to installing .NET apps, a good number of them do.



I used to rock and roll every night and party every day. Then it was every other day. Now I'm lucky if I can find 30 minutes a week in which to get funky. - Homer Simpson

 

[ThatRickGuy]

I remember listening to a tutor do a Microsoft spiel about how you could copy and paste over current exe's and dll's even if they're being used and this seemed unbelievable at the time. Unfortuneately it is (unless something's changed recently)... if the exe or dll is running you can't remove it.

True, but on Terminal server, even if the app is running, you can uninstall/reinstall.

However, .NET has its own little idiosyncracies with installation, configuration, etc. Just do a search of this forum for "install problem" and while not all of the results apply to installing .NET apps, a good number of them do.

I'm not a big fan of the .Net installer. But I'm a huge fan of the DLL system now w/ the GAC. There are tons of advantages, but the bigest is you no longer have to worry about DLL Hell with multiple versions of the same DLL being used by different software. DLL's in the GAC can have a strong name so that App A that uses your customer General.dll writen 2 years ago doesn't break when you install App B that has an updated General.dll.

-Rick

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[jubble]

GerardMcL , to avoid any confusion concerning dll's note that I mentioned dotNet dll's. Your current non-dotNet dll's and ocx's will still need to be registered / unregistered same as before.
Also note that your old dll's SHOULD work with dot net app's as they do with VB6 apps (there may be slight differences in method/property names) but it is recommended that you upgrade to dotnet dll's as the code will be 'managed' (ie being more secure and performing better...much better)