IDL For VB Tutorial

The Interface Definition Language, or IDL, is a language for describing collections of data types, constants, methods (functions, procedures, etc.), and groups of methods known as interfaces. This is not all IDL can describe, but its what were primarily concerned with. When you use VBs object browser to look at classes, functions, and types native to VB, or those provided by some other component, you are looking at what is commonly called type information. VB creates type information for you automatically when you create ActiveX components, but you can also create independent type information using IDL and the Microsoft IDL compiler. Using IDL in this way can enhance your programming skills and allow you to solve some pretty complex problems. The best way to get an understanding of how to write IDL, compile it to a type library, and use the type library in VB is see some real examples in a tutorial format. I believe this will give you a better understanding of this technique. To that end, I have written this article with a strong emphasis on good, meaningful, examples.