General
MIDL Command-line Syntax
midl
[switch [switch-options
]] filename
switch
Specifies
MIDL compiler command-line switches. Switches can appear in any sequence.
switch-options
Specifies
options associated with switch. Valid options are described in the
reference entry for each MIDL compiler switch.
filename
Specifies the
name of the IDL file. This file usually has the extension .IDL, but it can have
any extension or no extension.
Remarks
The MIDL
compiler processes an IDL file and an optional ACF to generate a set of output
files. The attributes specified in the IDL file s interface attribute list
determine whether the compiler generates source files for an RPC interface or
for a custom OLE interface. The following lists show the default names of the
files generated for an IDL file named name.IDL. You can use command-line
switches to override these default names. Note that the name of the IDL file
can have no extension, or it can have an extension other than .IDL.
By default
(that is, if the interface attribute list does not contain the object or
local attribute), the compiler generates the following files for an RPC
interface:
Client stub (name_C.C)
Server stub (name_S.C)
Header file (name.H)
When the object
attribute appears in the interface attribute list, the compiler generates the
following files for an OLE interface:
Interface proxy file (name_P.C)
Interface header file (name.H)
Interface UUID file (name_I.C)
When the local
attribute appears in the interface attribute list, the compiler generates only
the interface header file, name.H.
The MIDL
compiler provided with Microsoft RPC invokes the C preprocessor as needed to process
the IDL file. It does not automatically invoke the C compiler to compile
generated files.
Note The MIDL
compiler provided with Microsoft RPC uses a different command-line syntax than
the DCE IDL compiler uses.
The MIDL
compiler switches /env,
/server, /sstub, and /out affect the server stub
file.
The Header File
The header
file contains definitions of all the data types and operations declared in the
IDL file. The header file must be included by all application modules that call
the defined operations, implement the defined operations, or manipulate the
defined types.
The MIDL
compiler switches /header
and /out
affect the header file.