Linux C++ program using 3rd-party DLL?

[lawson_whitney at juno.com]

On Wed, 14 Aug 2002, Axel Siebenwirth wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I'm working with a spectrometer at an research institute but they only
> have windows 16-bit dll to control the sprectrometer. The dll is documented.

It would be better if the spectrometer was.
>
> My question is: Can I write a linux c++ program that uses this dll with
> wine?
>
If you have the source to the dll, you can rewrite it as a 32 bit Wine
dll.  That would be easier.  16 bit "native" dll's are not well
supported: linux c compilers don't do 16 bit code.  Not easily, anyway.
Maybe you can kluge something using LoadLibrary, GetProcAddress, and
CallProcEx, as you would have to do from a windows 32 bit program.
I guess.  I don't do windows, but I did parts of Wine's CallProcEx some
years ago.

One other caution:  If that 16 bit dll expects to get at the hardware
directly, it is going to be frustrated.  Wine works hardware through the
OS (linux in your case).

> On the wine webpage it says "Optional use of external vendor DLLs" but
> how do I do it? On a first glance I have also not found any hints on
> that in the documentation.
>
Did you exen look in <wine>/documentation?  There is a whole bunch of
doco on winelib.  Also, see "man winemaker".

> Thank you very much for any help,
> best regards,
> Axel Siebenwirth

Lawson
---oops---



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