use of DLL : put an entire class in the dll source ? possible ?

[kenny]

hi,
i d like to put an entire class in a dll (an MFC extended one)

But there are some member variables in this one..
Shall i put them outside in application code and pass them by reference
(in this case ...what can i do for constructors and destructor ) ?
or
Can I really put the entire class in the library ? (I ve read it somewhere
but found it that weird because I ve not understood how handling of variables
was managed : writing of variables to be read ans vice&versa). So if it is
possible.. How can I do it as far as application and dll code are concerned
?

[Ralph]

"kenny" <javatoto@yahoo.fr> wrote:
>
>hi,
>i d like to put an entire class in a dll (an MFC extended one)
>
>But there are some member variables in this one..
>Shall i put them outside in application code and pass them by reference
>(in this case ...what can i do for constructors and destructor ) ?
>or
>Can I really put the entire class in the library ? (I ve read it somewhere
>but found it that weird because I ve not understood how handling of variables
>was managed : writing of variables to be read ans vice&versa). So if it
is
>possible.. How can I do it as far as application and dll code are concerned
>?

Yes, you can place an entire 'class' in a MFC Extension DLL and use it just
as you would if it was statically compiled within your application. It can
be a very useful method to share common code between a suite of MFC applications.
(Your only other options are 'regular' DLLs, which would only allow you to
export 'C' style functions, or an ActiveX component.)

(However, be aware of a MFC Extension DLL limitations; it can only be used
with other MFC applications that are dynamically linked to the MFC libraries,
you have to make sure you handle dynamic loading/unloading, and use the AFX_EXT_CLASS
macro in your class definition to insure everything gets exported correctly.)

As to "member variables" are you referring to 'public' variables? (While
one might question the design...<smile>) you can reference them the same
as you would any class members.