Confused with the DLL. No .lib or .h

Question

I currently have a C# project that uses a 32 bit dll. What I am trying to do is to use the dll in a C++ project , unfortunately the dll referenced in the project does not come with a .h or .lib file so I am confused on how I could access the classes in the dll or use the dll file in my project in C++ (Visual Studio 2010) . I read here that if a dll file contains classes its a good chance it might be a COM component.Any suggestions on what I should be looking at in order to integrate and consume methods and objects in that dll.

Update:

I checked if it was a COM by doing an import statement. However I get a "cannot find .tlb file". Then I decided to use dependency walker to check for any exported methods (objects)it seems there are none. I clicked on the main file (which has been highlighted) and couldn't see any exported functions. Any hints on what I should check for next ?. Here is what I get from dependency walker.

Answer 1

With only a .dll and without a corresponding .h or .exp, one place that you might try looking would be the exports table. Tools such as Dependency Walker can show you this information.

One caveat with Dependency Walker is that you'll want to use the right version (x86 or x86_64) for the binary (your DLL). If you're not sure, pick one version and try loading it. Under the CPU column, middle panel, look to see if it says "x64" or "x86" to determine which one you should be using.

With the provided screenshot of Dependency Walker (indicating a dependency on MSCOREE.DLL), I agree with Eugene - this is most likely a .NET library, not a COM library. You will want to check one of the other questions about calling .NET managed code from C/C++.

Answer 2

The dll is most likely a .Net assembly (seeing that it imports mscoree.dll), so you probably want this: How do I call a .NET assembly from C/C++?