BlitzMax DLLs

Does anybody here know what a DEF file is needed for? Is it used for late dynamic linking? I have no idea...

Def stands for "definition".

It's a bit like a header file, in that it lists what functions are available in the dll. Can be used for building against a specific dll.

For GCC (MinGW) you need to convert .def files into .a with a command line tool, which are used for the same purpose - defininng what is available in a dll.

:-)

Just for fun, here's a link :

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/28d6s79h(VS.71).aspx

Thanks for the link!
If I don't get it wrong, I don't need the DEF file for anything unless I'm linking the functions at link time, instead of linking them at runtime?

You need them if you want to export any symbols from your DLL, ie making it usable from other sources ;)

But does not the DLL include simbols in itself? I've used a lot of DLLs without the need of any def file... ??