Shoutbox

I need to use a C++ Dll in my script using Interop.Call, however the function this Dll contains runs an infinite loop in the background, which ofcourse freezes WLM because the function does not return anything. I know that VB6 does not support multithreading so calling it through an ActiveX dll won't help. So I'm looking for suggestions.

If I wanted to run this dll in a new thread how would I do that? Can I run a specific function inside the C++ Dll in a new thread? If so how?

Thanks
CD

You could create a timer in MsgPlus to call the function every X milliseconds instead of using an infinite loop.

No the infinite loop is part of the C++ dll and that cannot be changed due to functionality reasons. The only thing I can do is run it in a separate thread so the main function does not wait for it to end and returns a value so that Plus can get going with the script.

You can call CreateThread, or alternatively, _bginthread if you're using Visual C++, in your C++ DLL.

But note: any cross-thread reference to the scripting objects will become invalid.

Multithreading is somewhat possible in VB though (for example with ActiveX, but it depends on what you exactly want to do... (Though doing it in C++ would be easier)

Anyways, out of curiosity, can I ask why the DLL needs an infinite loop? Because in most cases you could always develop a method without inifinate loops (infinite loops are to be avoided as much as possible). So the solution might not be to find a way to make your DLL multithreaded to run an infinite loop, but to improve the code so it doesn't need an infinite loop to start with.

Well I'm trying to use the Winpcap library, and as far as I have seen the only way to retrieve packetcapture events is using a loop.

The multithreaded problem has been fixed by the use of CreateThread api, thanks.