Using C++ or VB made DLLs.

Blitz3D Forums/Blitz3D Programming/Using C++ or VB made DLLs.

Smurftra(Posted 2006) [#1]
Hi,

First of all, i'm quite new to blitz so please excuse me if this is explained somewhere, i could not find it.

Context:

I've built a software to manage sport centers which enjoys much success. It uses SQL Server and the interface is in VB. All the intelligence and business rules are on the server. Meanign the interface is very light and all it really does is show stuff and takes user input.

I've built a VB dll with easy to use/intelligent methods to connect and work with SQL Server (That the VB interface uses).

Given the big success of our software, the fact that it is practically bug free (at least nothing reported and not fixed up to this date) and doesnt really necessitate any support, we've got alot of free time on our hands and decided to revamp the UI to create something more graphic. We already get big WOWs when we show all of what our software can do. The UI is ok too, its not the normal window styles (nothing wrong with this either) and does look good. But we want to make something better, you know, a bigger WOW factor.

End of Context.


So my questions are:

How can i include a VB DLL in a Blitz3d project? or a C++ one? (Rewriting it if i cant use the VB one should not be too much of an hassle)

and

I have lots of text to draw on screen and i often hear about text functions to be quite slow, is this true and if it is what are the alternatives to fast text drawing (on textures)?

thanks and sorry for the long context i just wanted to make clear what i want to do and why because usually, the more information you give to someone the better the answers (a good example would be that i do not want to be answered: 42 :) )

Smurftra


jhocking(Posted 2006) [#2]
As far as I know VB DLLs are fine. Look in 'Specs and Utils' (top of the page) for examples of DLL usage with Blitz.

Bitmap fonts are much faster, and look better (eg. they're anti-aliased, and can have nifty graphical effects like color gradients.) That said, the slowness of the text commands may not matter to you, depending on what exactly you are doing. I would say start with normal text commands, and then switch to bitmap fonts if you need faster and/or nicer looking text.


Pinete(Posted 2006) [#3]
Hi,
you can find a lot of stuff related to bitmap fonts in the section 'code archives' and 'toolbox'.
There exist a lot of source code and tools to make this possible without a lot of effort.
The only problem with this is unicode. If your game of app needs to kind of support you will need to do it by yourself.

regards!


VP(Posted 2006) [#4]
Would I advertise my bitmap font routine, linked to in my sig?

Yes.


Smurftra(Posted 2006) [#5]
Thanks for the answers, much appreciated