MIDL Compilation
Given an IDL file, such as Example2.idl, that defines one or more COM interfaces and a type library, the MIDL compiler (Midl.exe) generates the files described in the following table as the default output.
| Filename | Description |
|---|---|
| Example2.h |
The header file, containing type definitions and function declarations for all of the interfaces defined in the IDL file as well as forward declarations for routines that the stubs call. |
| Example2_p.c |
The proxy/stub file, which includes the surrogate entry points both for clients and for servers. |
| Example2_i.c |
The interface ID file, which defines the GUID for every interface specified in the IDL file. |
| Example2.tlb |
A compound document file that contains information about types and objects. |
| Dlldata.c |
Contains the data you need to create a proxy/stub DLL. |
You use the header file and all of the .c files to create a proxy DLL that can support the interface when used both by client applications and by object servers. You use the interface header file (Example2.h) and the interface ID (Example2_i.c) file when creating the executable file for a client application that uses the interface. You can choose to include the type library file as a resource in your EXE or DLL, or you can ship it as a separate file.