Creating record wrappers
The first step in interfacing to an external function in a .DLL is to create the record wrapper class that you will use to pass parameters to the external function. The record wrapper class must be a subclass of OSPtr.
In prior releases of VA Smalltalk the record wrapper was created as a subclass of OSObject. Although this will still work for this release of VA Smalltalk the OSObject class might disappear in a future release. You should plan on converting your existing record wrappers to be subclasses of AbtForeignOSObject, and all new record wrappers should be created as subclasses of AbtForeignOSObject.
To create the record wrapper, class do the following:
1. Use the Application Browser to create a new application named MySampleCExtFunc or MySampleCOBOLExtFunc, depending on which language your using
2. Select AbtRecordStructureBaseApp as the prerequisite
3. Use the Class Browser to create a subclass of AbtForeignOSObject using your new application as the extension application
4. Name your new class SampleCATMStruct or SampleCOBOLATMStruct, depending on the language you are using.
After the record wrapper class is created, you are ready to parse the source file containing the interface to the external function.
Last modified date: 05/15/2020