How Can I Automatically Export All Symbols from a DLL in Visual Studio without Using __declspec(dllexport) or .def Files?

Automatic Symbol Export for DLLs without Explicit Declarations

In Visual Studio 2005, you can automatically export all symbols from a DLL without manually adding __declspec(dllexport) attributes or creating .def files. Here's how:

Using CMake (Recommended)

1. Install the latest development version of CMake (cmake-3.3.20150721-g9cd2f-win32-x86.exe or higher).
2. Create a CMake project with the CMakeLists.txt file.
3. Add the following line to the CMakeLists.txt file:

set(CMAKE_WINDOWS_EXPORT_ALL_SYMBOLS ON)

4. Generate the Visual Studio project using CMake (cmake-gui) and compile.

Benefits:

• This method doesn't require any explicit export macros in classes or functions.
• It eliminates the need for manual creation of .def files.

Note: Whole Program Optimization (/GL) cannot be used with this approach.

Creating .def File with Object File Information

As an alternative to the CMake approach, you can create a .def file manually using the following steps:

1. Create a static library from the code you want to export.
2. Use dumpbin /LINKERMEMBER to extract exports from the static library.
3. Parse the output of dumpbin and create a .def file.
4. Link the DLL using the .def file.

Benefits:

• Allows for finer control over symbol export.

Drawbacks:

• Requires manual creation of static library, dumpbin parsing, and .def file writing.
• May not be as efficient as the CMake approach.

Additional Tips:

• If using the class export approach, add __declspec(dllexport) or extern "C" __declspec(dllexport) to the class or method declaration.
• Consider using %2 instead of __cdecl in the .def file for compatibility with older versions of Windows.
• Ensure that the name mangling settings are consistent between the code and the .def file (if created manually).

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