2.1 Introduction

This chapter is about Functional Developer's set of Win32 API interface libraries. These libraries provide a low-level Dylan interface to the Win32 API in Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Windows NT.

Each Dylan library is a simple translation of Win32 API header files into a set of interface declarations from Functional Developer's C-FFI library. So you can write Windows applications in Dylan by using the same functions and types as you would in C, albeit with slightly modified names so that they conform to Dylan naming conventions and requirements.

The Functional Developer Win32 API has been constructed from several Dylan libraries. Win32 functionality is divided among these libraries, matching the contents of Microsoft's DLLs, allowing Dylan applications to avoid references to DLLs they do not need to use.

With the exception of changes necessitated by Dylan naming conventions and requirements, the names of C items have been preserved in the Functional Developer Win32 API libraries. Hence this chapter does not provide an exhaustive list of the items available in the libraries. Instead, it explains the name mapping scheme we used in the conversion, and provides a collection of tips for writing Dylan applications with the libraries. Finally, there is a list of items not supported in our versions of these libraries.

Note: This release supports the Win32 API for Windows NT and Windows 95. No support for Win16 (16-bit applications on Windows 3.x) is planned.

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C FFI and Win 32 Reference - 31 MAR 2000