From: Timothy Hunter <cyclists@...>
Date: 2005-12-20T23:37:51+09:00
Subject: Re: Very new to Ruby--needs help

Beginner wrote:
> Dear Eero,
> 
> I am not able to load even .dll, this is what I did:
> 
> require "C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\abc.dll"
> 
> I am doing anything wrong. The .dll does exist in the directory, I get
> the erro, "the specified procedure could not be found".(loadError)
> 
> thx,
> Mankan
> 
The "require" statement loads Ruby extensions, either those written in 
pure Ruby or those written in C using the Ruby extension API. So you 
can't use it to interface to an arbitrary .dll or .lib file.

There is a Ruby library that allows you to call functions in .dll files, 
though. Check out the Win32API class: 
http://www.rubycentral.com/book/lib_windows.html

You might also learn more about the Win32API library by searching 
through old postings to this list. Search for "Win32API".

Welcome to Ruby!