I'm not exactly away to the races, but the COM dll just enabled me to access the name field of one of my records. If I can access integers and strings as easily, I may be able to complete the conduit.
I think there is a point that isn't being considered here. I have never perceived myself or asserted to be a programmer who normally works with dll's at the level that some who address this forum are capable. As a result (and in part because some kind souls had tried to reassure me that conduits were, or should be, easy), I prefer to use straightforward mechanisms provided by PalmOS in an effort to achieve a goal at a level at which I can work. I posted the message that got this started because I had thought the code that someone was kind enough to send me was free from MFC references. Bob (Combee) indicated that one of the necessary dll's from PalmOS isn't, and a recent version of Borland's compiler wouldn't compile because of those references. A Borland programming group had suggested that I recompile the dll from source code for a C application rather than for C++, or get the source code and find a way around the MFC references, which seems comparable to writing this stub dll. (Would a future dll from PalmOS not potentially include MFC references that weren't in a stub dll meant to overcome MFC references in an older version of the dll?) All useful suggestions that I'm sure a more advanced programmer might have been able to apply, if they were willing to deal with creating certain complications to the development of their software and, potentially, multiple versions of a public dll, of which PalmOS would probably not approve. In the interest of keeping things simple for me while I learn how to develop a conduit, seeking out and installing other compilers based upon specific criteria, or developing a sufficient background in dll's to be able to write dll stub files, or acquiring PalmOS dll source code and compiling it for C rather than C++, are possible with time, but I'd rather find a straightforward route that is more in keeping with readily accessible and published help files and languages that PalmOS might consider supporting. Examples are very important to someone who is a beginner, like me. That put me on the COM track, and happily, VB5 is letting me access the records during a sync. It is fortunate that I did acquire this compiler years ago, as it has saved me from a level of C++ complexity that would probably have added days to my efforts. Of course, if my thinking is correct, I now have to take a byte array and, using the structure from my Palm application in CodeWarrior, convert each field in the record into a string or an int based upon the number of bytes it represents. This may well explain the reference to a "COM quagmire" in a prior response. Rest assured that I am always grateful for the helpful suggestions that I get here. I am quite new to C or C++ for more than engineering computations and matrix manipulation, and am simply trying to approach PalmOS programming from a perspective that is realistic for me. My sincerest thanks for all the helpful comments. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Moynihan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Palm Developer Forum" <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2005 11:15 AM Subject: Re: Linker Error > Jim Cooper wrote: > > > > >> It seems to be necessary if you don't have MFC on your system based > >> on no > >> install of VC++, because Builder won't compile with the indicated > >> references > >> in the .def file. > > > > > > I still say that's not necessary. I can call all these things from a > > different language that cannot possibly be using MFC. > > > > All these calls are just calls to DLL exported routines. You can call > > them from any almost any programming language capable of writing > > software for Windows. > > Hi Jim. > > I've never written a conduit, or a DLL for that matter, so I don't have > any direct assistance to provide to Del. But he seems to be stuck on > the requirement to use a prescribed environment to get his conduit > built. I always had the idea that a Palm conduit is, really, just a > DLL, and that you simply need to build a windows DLL, in whatever > environment, that includes the appropriate functions and headers to > interpret/read/write the respective database formats, and respond to the > correct system calls. What you've said suggests that my hunches are > correct: Del could use any of a number of Win compilers (there are free > ones out there), use the info contained within the COM information that > he already has, and he's away to the races. No? > > Bob > > -- > For information on using the PalmSource Developer Forums, or to unsubscribe, please see http://www.palmos.com/dev/support/forums/ > -- For information on using the PalmSource Developer Forums, or to unsubscribe, please see http://www.palmos.com/dev/support/forums/
