Thanks to the undocumented TlbInf32 library you can emulate the VB6 CallByName() function in VB5 too. First, add a reference to the “TypeLib Information” type library in your project. This library contains the InvokeHook function, which is very similar to CallByName.

Let’s suppose you have an ActiveX DLL called MyServer.dll that exposes this function:

' Class.clsPublic Function MyFunc (FirstParam, SecondParam) As String:End Function

In VB6 you’re able to call MyFunc() with:

Dim obj As ObjectDim First, SecondDim obj As ObjectDim result As String' create the objectSet obj = CreateObject("MyServer.Class")' call MyFuncresult = CallByName(obj, "MyFunc", VbMethod, First, Second)

The following code demonstrates how to do the same in VB5:

Dim TLI As New TLIApplicationDim obj As ObjectDim First, SecondDim obj As ObjectDim result As String' create the objectSet obj = CreateObject("MyServer.Class")' call MyFuncresult = InvokeHook(obj, "MyFunc", INVOKE_FUNC, Second, First)

The sintax of InvokeHook() is simple: the first parameter is the object which you want to work, the second one indicates the name of the property or method to call, the third parameter is the type of call being made and can be one of the following values:

• INVOKE_PROPERTYGET to assign a property value (vbGet in CallByName)
• INVOKE_PROPERTYPUT to retrieve a property value (vbLet in CallByName)
• INVOKE_PROPERTYPUTREF to assign an object reference to a property (vbSet in CallByName)
• INVOKE_FUNC for a sub or function call (vbMethod in CallByName)