newbie question: Accessiong non-Windows DLL's

Hello, I am very new to Ruby, as in about 1 week new. General Ruby programming is going well. However, I am having trouble accessing functions in non-Windows DLL's. We have custom DLL's used to talk to test equipment. These DLL's are created in C using Visual C++. They work fine with the original C program. I'm want to use Ruby scripts that access these DLL's. The documentation gives examples of accessing Windows libraries, which worked for me. But my stuff is giving me the "`initialize': GetProcAddress:" error. I also created a very basic DLL which just prints "Hello World" and had the same Ruby error. Is there a pointer to some documentation/code examples I can read? Or can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong? I'm using Ruby 1.8.6 on Windows XP and Cygwin bash shell. Thanks, Rich -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

On Jan 29, 12:50=A0pm, Rich Maniscalco <tmpr...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hello, > > I am very new to Ruby, as in about 1 week new. =A0General Ruby programmin= g > is going well. =A0However, I am having trouble accessing functions in > non-Windows DLL's. =A0We have custom DLL's used to talk to test equipment= .. > These DLL's are created in C using Visual C++. =A0They work fine with the > original C program. =A0I'm want to use Ruby scripts that access these > DLL's. =A0The documentation gives examples of accessing Windows libraries= , > which worked for me. =A0But my stuff is giving me the "`initialize': > GetProcAddress:" error. =A0I also created a very basic DLL which just > prints "Hello World" and had the same Ruby error. > > Is there a pointer to some documentation/code examples I can read? =A0Or > can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong? > > I'm using Ruby 1.8.6 on Windows XP and Cygwin bash shell. > > Thanks, > > =A0 Rich > -- > Posted viahttp://www.ruby-forum.com/. I think you may be able to use the Win32API module for that. http://www.rubytips.org/2008/05/13/accessing-windows-api-from-ruby-using-wi= n32api-library/

Philliam Auriemma wrote: > On Jan 29, 12:50?pm, Rich Maniscalco <tmpr...@gmail.com> wrote: >> prints "Hello World" and had the same Ruby error. >> Posted viahttp://www.ruby-forum.com/. > I think you may be able to use the Win32API module for that. > > http://www.rubytips.org/2008/05/13/accessing-windows-api-from-ruby-using-win32api-library/ Hi Philliam, Thanks for the info. I cut-n-pasted those examples and they work for me. However, I am trying to call NON Windows API functions. Any tips for that? Thanks, Rich -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

> which worked for me. But my stuff is giving me the "`initialize': > GetProcAddress:" error. I also created a very basic DLL which just > prints "Hello World" and had the same Ruby error. > I'm using Ruby 1.8.6 on Windows XP and Cygwin bash shell. You might get some traction by using a ruby compiled with the same compiler that made your dll's, like the old one click installer for MSVC compiled dll. -r -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

On Jan 29, 1:26=A0pm, Rich Maniscalco <tmpr...@gmail.com> wrote: > Philliam Auriemma wrote: > > On Jan 29, 12:50?pm, Rich Maniscalco <tmpr...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> prints "Hello World" and had the same Ruby error. > >> Posted viahttp://www.ruby-forum.com/. > > I think you may be able to use the Win32API module for that. > > >http://www.rubytips.org/2008/05/13/accessing-windows-api-from-ruby-us... > > Hi Philliam, > > Thanks for the info. =A0I cut-n-pasted those examples and they work for > me. =A0However, I am trying to call NON Windows API functions. =A0Any tip= s > for that? > > Thanks, > > =A0 Rich > -- > Posted viahttp://www.ruby-forum.com/. You should be able to make a DLL and have it export the correct symbols for your functions, and put the DLL file in C:/WINDOWS/ system32 (may be just C:/WINDOWS/ or C:/WINDOWS/system/, can't remember) and you can use your own DLL the same way. I'm not sure how to do it any other way without making your own ruby extension, which I found impossible.

Roger Pack wrote: > >> which worked for me. But my stuff is giving me the "`initialize': >> GetProcAddress:" error. I also created a very basic DLL which just >> prints "Hello World" and had the same Ruby error. >> I'm using Ruby 1.8.6 on Windows XP and Cygwin bash shell. > > You might get some traction by using a ruby compiled with the same > compiler that made your dll's, like the old one click installer for MSVC > compiled dll. > -r Hi Roger, Thanks for the info. I had installed Ruby using "Ruby 1.8.6 One-Click Installer" from ruby-lang.org. Are you suggesting I rebuild both Ruby and my DLL's? Just checking for clarity. Thanks, Rich -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

Rich Maniscalco wrote: > Roger Pack wrote: >> >>> which worked for me. But my stuff is giving me the "`initialize': >>> GetProcAddress:" error. I also created a very basic DLL which just >>> prints "Hello World" and had the same Ruby error. >>> I'm using Ruby 1.8.6 on Windows XP and Cygwin bash shell. >> >> You might get some traction by using a ruby compiled with the same >> compiler that made your dll's, like the old one click installer for MSVC >> compiled dll. >> -r > > Hi Roger, > > Thanks for the info. I had installed Ruby using "Ruby 1.8.6 One-Click > Installer" from ruby-lang.org. Are you suggesting I rebuild both Ruby > and my DLL's? Just checking for clarity. > > Thanks, > > Rich BTW, my current VC++ is " Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition version 9". Ruby is compiled with 6.0. Will that matter? Rich -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

Philliam Auriemma wrote: > On Jan 29, 1:26?pm, Rich Maniscalco <tmpr...@gmail.com> wrote: >> Thanks for the info. ?I cut-n-pasted those examples and they work for >> me. ?However, I am trying to call NON Windows API functions. ?Any tips >> for that? >> >> Thanks, >> >> ? Rich >> -- >> Posted viahttp://www.ruby-forum.com/. > > You should be able to make a DLL and have it export the correct > symbols for your functions, and put the DLL file in C:/WINDOWS/ > system32 (may be just C:/WINDOWS/ or C:/WINDOWS/system/, can't > remember) and you can use your own DLL the same way. I'm not sure how > to do it any other way without making your own ruby extension, which I > found impossible. That didn't work. I am going to rebuild Ruby and my DLL's using VC++ version 9. Hopefully that will resolve the issues. I'll report the outcome. Thanks, Rich -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

On 29 Jan 2010, at 22:24, Rich Maniscalco wrote: > That didn't work. I am going to rebuild Ruby and my DLL's using VC++=20= > version 9. Hopefully that will resolve the issues. I'll report the=20= > outcome. I've not used Windows for development in about seven years so take the = following with a pinch of salt. Ruby/DL allows dynamic loading of Windows DLLs and ships as part of = Ruby's standard library. You'll find links to what exists in the way of = English documentation in the Ruby Plumber's Guide to Unix presentation = linked to in my signature, but unfortunately there's very little = documentation online regarding its use under Windows. At the least you'll have to figure out the function signatures for the = DLL routines you want to access by trial and error and there'll probably = also be issues with type conversion... An alternative would be to rewrite your DLLs as Windows COM servers so = you could use the WinOLE library to access them. Ellie Eleanor McHugh Games With Brains http://slides.games-with-brains.net ---- raise ArgumentError unless @reality.responds_to? :reason