Question

Convert OOP modules into a DLL

Asked by: diordonez

I have developed some modules for a solution i'm working in.  All of them have been built using OOP, Classes stuff, and i need to distribute them in order to be used by other developers.

Can i pack my classes and methods into a DLL avoiding distribute them in source code ?
what is the best choice that i should follow ?

Thanks you all !!

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Asked On
2006-09-05 at 09:09:55ID21978557
Tags

convert

,

dll

Topics

Delphi Programming

,

Delphi Components

Participating Experts
3
Points
250
Comments
7

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Answers

 

by: geobulPosted on 2006-09-05 at 10:31:47ID: 17457467

What about making a Delphi package?

 

by: rmeerePosted on 2006-09-06 at 00:04:25ID: 17461180

Try making a BPL (Borland Package Library). Include the compiled files (.dcu's) instead of the source files.

Dll's in delphi are tricky because Borland wrote their own memory managemant functionality and you have to include some units to be able to use it with other programming languages.

Making a BPL is different for each Delphi version but generally you are looking for a package.

 

by: diordonezPosted on 2006-09-06 at 06:18:15ID: 17462872

Once i have distributed my classes library using a BPL, any programmer can instantiate my classes, use methods and so on ?

Thanks ?

 

by: rmeerePosted on 2006-09-06 at 06:21:44ID: 17462895

Only Delphi developers will be able to access it. If you want developers with different languages to access it you'll have to create a dll or an ocx. So it really depends on who you want to give it to.

 

by: diordonezPosted on 2006-09-06 at 14:17:02ID: 17466484

OK. Final question.  If i choose dll option, should programmers make instances of my classes ? and use its methods ?

 

by: rmeerePosted on 2006-09-06 at 21:40:15ID: 17468263

I'm not sure what you are asking so I'll give you a rough explanation of how a dll works.

You can do almost anything in a dll that you can do in a normal program, but the interface to it is a bit different. You need to specify what gets "exported" from the dll and only the exported routines will be visible. If you want to instansiate instances of a class you can pass back pointers from the dll that specify where the instance can be found, but the other developer still needs to know the defenition (or interface) of the class because they will have to cast or assign the pointer you are sending(you may as well then distribute the source code).

You could make it entirely self contained and only export procedures and functions that will handle all of the instantiaton, memory management and any other methods that you may need but this is a lot of work and a bit on the dangerous side.

Your best bet might be an ocx then because it can be installed as a normal vcl component where all of the published and public methods and attributes will be visible but not the source code behind it.

I would personally rather go with and ocx if I were you.

 

by: Workshop_AlexPosted on 2006-09-07 at 00:46:36ID: 17468781

Don't know if you really want to distribute them as packages. Packages can be very, very version dependant. It will solve almost all possible conflicts between application and DLL but whomever else is going to use it must be using almost the same Delphi version including the same patches.

I think you'd prefer it if your DLL is more independant...

My personal preference with objects in DLL's is that I write an Interface definition for it and I just export a function that generates an object that matches the interface. Something like this:

library DLL;
uses Windows;
type
  IMyInterface = interface
    ['{BEB0CA0F-4C43-42F9-9DEE-63F1D6556EED}']
    procedure ShowMessage(const Message: string);
  end;
  TMyInterface = class(TInterfacedObject, IMyInterface)
  protected
    procedure ShowMessage(const Message: string);
  end;

function GetMyInterface: IMyInterface;
begin
  Result := TMyInterface.Create;
end;
exports GetMyInterface;

procedure TMyInterface.ShowMessage(const Message: string);
begin
  MessageBox(GetDesktopWindow, PChar(Message), 'DLL Message', MB_OK)
end;

end.

Yeah, it's overly simplified but it works. The drawback however is that the calling application also needs to know the interface definition so IMyInterface is better defined in a separate unit which then has to be shared.
The advantage however is that interfaces are much less dependant on the right Delphi version. Furthermore, they are less likely to cause memory leaks or memory allocation problems. Most of such problems can occur when an object is created in the DLL but freed in the main application. With an interface, the 'Free' method is always called in the context of the DLL. Unfortunately you still have to be careful when sharing string or array values between your application and DLL since these can still cause memory conflicts because they're cleaned up in the wrong context. (In the sample above, I avoided this by making the string parameter a Const, thus the DLL method knows it's not going to free it.

Of course, there is another solution for this all. You could create a COM wrapper around your objects. (Welcome to the COM Hell in that case.) COM is a bit more complicated than my 'interface' but it would allow you to create your DLL as just one binary with no additional sourcefiles. You'd also allow developers who use other languages (VB/C++) to use your objects which could make it a bit more popular.
Yet COM is a complex technology for beginning developers with a steep learning curve and can cause plenty of problems if your code has some flaws. (And code always has flaws...)

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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