Build Resource-only DLL in Visual Studio 2015

The Origin Dialog Project Template (odialog.awx) is only compatible with Visual Studio 6. This article will walk you through the steps necessary to make a resource-only DLL using Visual Studio 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2015 Community. It will then show you how to use your DLL in Origin C.

Creating a Resource-Only DLL

Here is an example of how to build a resource-only DLL that is accessible in Origin C. After following these steps you will have a Visual Studio solution for building a 32-bit DLL. The next section will then show you how to add 64-bit support to your solution.

1. Launch Visual Studio.(This example has been tested in Visual Studio Community 2015.)
2. Select "File > New > Project..." to create a new project.
3. In the "New Project" dialog:
   1. Select "Visual C++" templates.
   2. Select "Win32 Project".
   3. Enter a name for your project. For this example we will name our project "Welcome".
   4. Click the OK button.
      
4. In the "Win32 Application Wizard" dialog:
   1. Click "Next" until you see "Application Settings".
   2. Set "Application type" to "DLL".
   3. Under "Additional options", check "Empty project".
   4. Click the Finish button.
      
5. In "Solution Explorer", right-click on the project group and choose Properties.
6. In the "Properties Pages" dialog:
   1. Set Configuration to "All Configurations".
   2. Expand "Configuration Properties".
   3. Select "General".
   4. Set "Character Set" to "Use Multi-Byte Character Set".
   5. Expand "Linker".
   6. Select "Advanced".
   7. Set "No Entry Point" to "Yes".
   8. Click the OK button.
7. In "Solution Explorer", right-click on the project group and choose "Add > Resource...".
8. In the "Add Resource" dialog:
   1. Select Dialog.
   2. Click the New button.
      
9. In the dialog editor, add an "Edit Control" to the dialog by drag&drop the control from the Toolbox bar.
   
10. Select "File > Save All".
11. Select "Build > Rebuild Solution".

When you build 32-bit DLLs, Visual Studio creates the DLLs in the Debug and Release sub folders of your Visual Studio's project folder.

Creating a 64-Bit Resource-Only DLL

The above steps will create a 32-bit resource-only DLL. The following steps will show you how to create a 64-bit resource-only DLL by adding an x64 (64-bit) configuration to your Visual Studio project.

1. Select "View > Property Pages".
2. Click the "Configuration Manager" button in the top right corner to open the "Configuration Manager" dialog.
3. In the "Active solution platform" drop-down, select New to open the "New Solution Platform" dialog.
4. Set Type to x64
5. Click the OK button.
6. Back in the "Configuration Manager" dialog, click the Close button.
7. Set Platform to x64.
8. Change "Target Name" from "$(ProjectName)" to "$(ProjectName)_64".
9. Click the OK button.

Now you can switch between making a 32-bit (Win32) and a 64-bit (x64) DLL using the "Solutions Platform" setting in the toolbar.

When you build 32-bit DLLs, Visual Studio creates the DLLs in the Debug and Release sub folders of your Visual Studio's project folder. For 64-bit DLLs, they will be created in the x64\Debug and x64\Release sub folders of your Visual Studio's project folder.

Using a Resource-Only DLL in Origin C

Now that you have created a resource-only DLL using the steps above, we will show you how to use the DLL in Origin C.

Copy the DLL and Resource header into Origin C

The first step is to copy the DLL and the resource header file to the Origin C sub folder in your User Files folder.

As noted above, Visual Studio creates the 32-bit DLLs in the Debug and Release sub folders of your Visual Studio's project folder and the 64-bit DLLs are created in the x64\Debug and x64\Release sub folders.

The default name of the resource header file is resource.h and it is located in a sub folder with the same name as your Visual Studio's project folder. For example, the Welcome project we created above is in a folder named Welcome. That folder contains a sub folder also named Welcome.

The resource header file in this case is: .\Welcome\Welcome\resource.h

Later versions of Visual Studio will create this header file with unicode encoding. Origin C can not read this encoding so you can not simply copy the file to your Origin C folder. Instead, you need to convert the file from unicode to ANSI.

1. Open the header file in Windows Notepad.
2. Do "File > Save As..."
3. Navigate to the Origin C sub folder in your User Files folder.
4. Set Encoding to ANSI.
5. Click the Save button.

Writing Origin C code to Display the Dialog

At this point you should have created your DLL and copied it and it's resource header file to the Origin C sub folder in your User Files folder. Now we will write the Origin C code that will display the dialog and handle events.

1. Start Origin and open Code Builder.
2. In Code Builder select "File > New" to create a new C file.
3. Copy the Origin C code below and paste it at the end of your new C file.
4. Select "Build > Build".
5. In Code Builder's "Command & Results" window type "DoMyDialog" and press Enter.
6. When the Welcome dialog appears enter a message into the edit control and click OK.

#include <Dialog.h>
#include "resource.h"


class MyDialog : public Dialog
{
public:
	MyDialog() : Dialog(IDD_DIALOG1, "Welcome")
	{
	}

	int DoModal(HWND hParent = NULL)
	{
		InitMsgMap();
		int nRet = Dialog::DoModal(hParent);
		return nRet;
	}

protected:
	EVENTS_BEGIN
		ON_INIT(OnInitDialog)
		ON_OK(OnOK)
		ON_CANCEL(OnCancel)
	EVENTS_END

	BOOL OnInitDialog()
	{
		this->Text = "Welcome";
		m_editCtrl = GetItem(IDC_EDIT1);
		m_editCtrl.Text = "Enter a message here.";
		return TRUE;
	}

	BOOL OnOK()
	{
		MessageBox(GetSafeHwnd(), m_editCtrl.Text, this->Text);
		return TRUE;
	}

	BOOL OnCancel()
	{
		return TRUE;
	}

	Edit m_editCtrl;
};


bool DoMyDialog() 
{
	MyDialog myDlg;
	myDlg.DoModal( GetWindow() );
	return true;
}