DLL created in .NET cannot use? (Inno Setup)

22 Aug 2006 12:13 PM

Jon

Hi,

I have created a DLL in VB.NET.

I try to use it in my Installer program which is written in pascal (inno
setup), however unsuccessfully..

Does that means any DLL created in .NET can only use within the .NET
platform??

Thanks

22 Aug 2006 12:25 PM

Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]

"Jon" <J**@discussions.microsoft.com> schrieb:
> I have created a DLL in VB.NET.
>
> I try to use it in my Installer program which is written in pascal (inno
> setup), however unsuccessfully..
>
> Does that means any DLL created in .NET can only use within the .NET
> platform??

Yes, the DLL will require the .NET Framework to be installed on the
destination machine in order to run.

--
M S Herfried K. Wagner
M V P <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/>
V B <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/dotnet/faqs/>

22 Aug 2006 2:13 PM

Phill W.

Jon wrote:

> I have created a DLL in VB.NET.
>
> I try to use it in my Installer program which is written in pascal (inno
> setup), however unsuccessfully..

You can make the DLL accessible via COM, by registering it for InterOp
and referencing the generated TLB from your Pascal installer.

Every DLL written in .Net requires the .Net Framework on the target
machine before it will run.

Regards,
Phill W.

22 Aug 2006 5:22 PM

Mythran

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"Phill W." <p-.-a-.-w-a-r-d@o-p-e-n-.-a-c-.-u-k> wrote in message
news:ecf3f0$qr5$1@south.jnrs.ja.net...
> Jon wrote:
>
>> I have created a DLL in VB.NET. I try to use it in my Installer program
>> which is written in pascal (inno setup), however unsuccessfully..
>
> You can make the DLL accessible via COM, by registering it for InterOp and
> referencing the generated TLB from your Pascal installer.
>
> Every DLL written in .Net requires the .Net Framework on the target
> machine before it will run.
>
> Regards,
> Phill W.

There is also the option to compile the .Net assembly with references into a
static, assembly that requires no framework installation....

There is software out there that does this (or at least did in 2002 when I
needed it)...

But for InnoSetup and PascalScript, you can ensure that the user has the
..Net Framework installed using a check in InitializeSetup() and then either
include the framework installer (check EULA to make sure you are allowed to
do this) or prompt the user to install the framework and point to
Microsoft's download site. Make sure it's installed before continuing :)

Something that stinks and you should be aware of, you really can't install
items into the GAC using InnoSetup. This is because to do this with inno
you will need to run gacutil to install. GacUtil is not part of the
redistributable for the .Net framework and you are not allowed to distribute
it. You can write your own gac installer using the framework classes
though, but there is no guarantee it will work, and no exceptions will be
thrown if an assembly couldn't be installed. There is also PInvoke you
could use, along with SHFusion.dll (in the .Net framework directory) ...

HTH,
Mythran

23 Aug 2006 6:10 PM

Jon

Thanks for all the reply.

Could you please tell me more about how to set it as a COM?
Because at the moment when I try to IMPORT into InnoSetup, it said the DLL
is not a proper DLL...?

Any help is appreciated!

Many thanks,
Jon