Binary compatibility

I am trying to learn what binary compatibity is, how it works and how to set it up...

Does any of you have tips on where to look for that information ?

:confused:

Thanks !

http://msdn.microsoft.com

search on:
VB component versioning
Binary Compatibility

(and other relevant keywords)

When you register a dll file on a pc, i.e. in an installation, the PC will create a registry folder and reference to tell the PC of where the file is, what it does etc.

Lets say we have an installation that puts dllxxx down as :
regkeydllfile1

Now, every time you recompile / make a dll file, a new unique key's generated.So, with our installation, if you wanted to replace just that dll on the pc 'cause you've added some super-funky extra code to the file, copied the file to the pc & reregisted it, this would create a new registry key :
regkeydllfile2 for example

When you run you're exe, it'll pick up the location from the registry (regkeydllfile1) and run the old copy - not recognising there's a new copy of the dll - bugger :rolleyes:

Rather than recompiling the project, and making a new setup file just for this, you can set the binary compatibilty on a dll file in the project. That way, no matter how many times it's recompiled, the dll will overwrite the old registry key (regkeydllfile1) rather than creating a new one each time, so you can replace a single file on the PC.

[phew, hope that made some sense !]