Building Docklets in Visual Studio 2008

from Stardock Forums

Hey,

I've downloaded the ObjectDock SDK but i'm quite unable to build even the samples..

My question:
How do i compile the samples from Visual Studio 2008 into docklets?

[EDIT]
Let me clarify:
When i hit the build button VS2008 creates a multitude of files:

- BuildLog.htm
- DockletSDK.obj
- mt.dep
- SampleDocklet.dll.intermediate.manifest
- SampleDocklet.exp
- SampleDocklet.lib
- SampleDocklet.obj
- SampleDocklet.res
- vc90.idb

Now, i don't want these..
All i want is a SampleDocklet.dll!

Can anyone tell me how to resolve this?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

objectdock
9,642 views 4 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Is that with Visual Studio Express? All those files are just intermediate files created by the compiler. If there is no error during compilation/linking, there should be a .dll in the output folder (which might be different from the intermediate folder, check the project settings!).

If you are just starting with Win32/C++ development, I encourage you to dive into the Visual Studio Express documentation. There some nice articles there that explains the basic Visual Studio architecture and workflow when developing Win32 applications/dlls.

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Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Nope,

It's the full version i got from my school.
The compiler says evything went fine, but i really can't find any .dll in the release folder.

I've never worked with Visual studio before though.. just Eclipse.
I'll check out the documentation first thing tomorrow.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Ashes of the Singularity II
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top

There might be either a different folder defined for output (you can have a folder for intermediate files like the one on your list and for compiled & related files). You can check that by right-clicking the project root in the project tree and selecting Properties. Then in the first screen (General), there is "Output Directory" and "Intermediate Directory". The former is where you want to look for the compiled dll. If it's not there and VS doesn't give you any warnings or error, then the project/solution might be broken (I haven't checked the samples for a long time as I have my own test version of them - see later). Look in the project properties for odd things, like compiling to lib instead of dll. Or just throw that sample and start from the updated one.

You can find all that stuff in my source repository on Google Code. This includes a slightly updated/reworked documentation, better SDK source files with a few new hosts methods missing from the official SDK and updated samples for VS2008. All of this is unsupported and unofficial though, so you're on your own if you decided to use the new includes and stuff (same as with the official SDK really, but more so B) ).

There aren't that many programmers hanging around on the Wincustomize forums (and it can get lonely for us developpers that can't do graphics to save their life). Still, feel free to ask any questions regarding Docklets. While I'm pretty busy, I'll try to help if I can. You might also want to browse the AquaSoft Objectdock forum as there is some Docklet development going on there and a few people that will be happy to either help on technical problems or test your creations.

Good luck!

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Wow thanks,
You were right about the output directory!

I never knew C++ would be so incredibly different from AS3 or Java..
O well, this is going to fascinate me for the rest of the month i suppose!

You really helped me out here :)
I'm going to register to the AquaSoft Forums immediately

Thanks again!