"Declaration Expected"

[lbrechler]

Hi all.

I'm trying to create a VB.NET Class Library and reference a DLL from inside that library. I'm able to add a reference, import the dll, and then dim a new object using it, but then I get a "declaration expected" error on the next line(s) of the program.

My code:
--------
Imports MyDLL

Public Class Class1
Dim objAgent As New MyDLL.Agent()

'Set the hostname (Omit if local)
objAgent.Host = "

http://hostaddress.com"

End Class
---------
the error that I'm seeing is the "Declaration Expected" on the objAgent.Host line.

I'm sure it's obvious, but what am I missing?

Thanks in advance,
~L

 

[woyler]

1) Is the ";" at the end of objAgent.Host = "

http://hostaddress.com";

in your code?

2) Does the Host property have any code behind it?

 

[lbrechler]

1.) Wow, how'd that get there? No, not in my code... Thanks for checking though.

2.) I'm using a (poorly documented) 3rd party DLL, so I'm not sure, but I don't think there is any code behind it. I believe it's just a Property associated with the Agent object.

 

[woyler]

if you type objAgent.Host(
does the intellisense show you anything for a parameter, and for that matter, does intellisense bring up MyDLL.Agent() as an option when you declare:
Dim objAgent As New MyDLL.Agent()

 

[lbrechler]

Gotcha --

MyDLL.Agent() -- yes
objAgent.Host() -- no

 

[woyler]

Does the third party vendor say anything about it supporting .NET or any known issues?
Can you give me the name of the tool you are trying to use?

 

[lbrechler]

The product is Latitude's MeetingPlace SDK (though MyDLL is not the actual name). I believe it was developed pre-.Net, but thought I'd try just in case.

The documentation has nothing about known issues, or, of course, about supporting .NET, though I will follow up with our contact at the vendor. The most relevant statement from the documentation is: "MyDLL is a dynamic link library (mydll.dll) that exposes the Agent Service through an exported procedural interface and a COM interface. This COM interface can be used to create ASP scripts instead of using the CGI executables, or it can be used with Visual Basic, Java or C++."

If, in fact, the SDK does not support .NET, do I have any other integration options? I believe it supports URL-encoding the parameters, but that seems kind of kludgey, and I'm not sure how to send HTTP requests from a VB.NET program... Is there a way to create a VB6.0 program to call the DLL and then reference that from my VB.NET Class -- or is that just as kludgey?

 

[olichap]

If you can NOT access the dll directly through .NET you might consider creating a small VB6 app/dll that makes calls to MyDll.

Then you just add the VB6 dll to your project, the wrapper takes over, and any NET/COM issues (related at least to your MyDll) should be more or less resolved.

I've had to do this with a couple of things and so far haven't run into too many issues (other than those typically dealt with related to COM; versioning, etc.).

Hope this helps.

O.

 

[woyler]

How difficult would it be to write your own class for the functionality you are getting out of the 3rd party tool? It seems that there is a lot of work and maintenance going to go in to making this work.