i want to import a Type Library (tlb) into C#.
How do i import a .tlb
into a .cs
code file?
Borland Delphi can import a .tlb
into .pas
by using the command line tool tlibimp.exe
:
C:\Develop>tlibimp.exe SopQuotingEngineActiveX.tlb
Borland TLIBIMP Version 5.1 Copyright (c) 1997, 2000 Inprise Corporation
Type library loaded...
Created C:\Develop\SopQuotingEngineActiveX_TLB.dcr
Created C:\Develop\SopQuotingEngineActiveX_TLB.pas
And now there is a .pas
source code file containing constants, enumerations, interfaces that were inside the compiled Type Library (tlb) file:
SopQuotingEngineActiveX_TLB.pas:
unit SopQuotingEngineActiveX_TLB;
interface
...
const
CLASS_XSopQuotingEngine: TGUID = '{3A46FFB8-8092-4920-AEE4-0A1AAACF81A0}';
...
// *********************************************************************//
// Interface: IXSopQuotingEngine
// Flags: (4416) Dual OleAutomation Dispatchable
// GUID: {AA3B73CC-8ED6-4261-AB68-E6AE154D7D52}
// *********************************************************************//
IXSopQuotingEngine = interface(IDispatch)
['{AA3B73CC-8ED6-4261-AB68-E6AE154D7D52}']
procedure OnStartPage(const AScriptingContext: IUnknown); safecall;
procedure OnEndPage; safecall;
procedure Connect(const ConnectionString: WideString); safecall;
procedure Disconnect; safecall;
function xmlRateQuote(const xmlQuote: WideString): WideString; safecall;
end;
...
CoXSopQuotingEngine = class
class function Create: IXSopQuotingEngine;
end;
What is the .NET C# equivalent for importing a type library into native C# code?
Note: i have tried using tlbimp.exe
that comes with the Windows SDK, but that imports a type library into a managed assembly dll:
C:\Develop>"c:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.1\Bin\NETFX 4.0 Tools\x64\tlbimp" SopQuotingEngineActiveX.tlb
Microsoft (R) .NET Framework Type Library to Assembly Converter 4.0.30319.1
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
TlbImp : warning TI3002 : Importing a type library into a platform agnostic assembly. This can cause errors if the type library is not truly platform agnostic.
TlbImp : Type library imported to SopQuotingEngineActiveX.dll
What is the .NET C# equivalent for importing a type library into native C# code?
Note: What i want to see is a .cs
code file with all the required interfaces, constants, enumerations - everything required to call the COM object. For examples sake:
SopQuotingEngineActiveX.cs
[ComImport, Guid("AA3B73CC-8ED6-4261-AB68-E6AE154D7D52")
]
public interface IXSopQuotingEngine
{
void OnStartPage(object AScriptingContext);
void OnEndPage();
void Connect(string ConnectionString);
void Disconnect();
string xmlRateQuote(string xmlQuote);
}
[ComImport, Guid("3A46FFB8-8092-4920-AEE4-0A1AAACF81A0")]
public class XSopQuotingEngineClass
{
}
(except without the bugs)
You've already found the .Net equivalent, Tlbimp.exe - The output from this is an assembly and unfortunately there is no way to change this.
If you want to see C# declarations of interfaces etc... then you should use a decompiler (such as Reflector or ILSpy) on the resulting assembly. Also the official advice from Microsoft on how to modify these declarations is to modify the resulting MSIL - see Customizing Primary Interop Assemblies .
The only alternative to this (currently) is to hand craft all the declarations yourself.