Re: HOW

[Marc Schellens <m_schellens(at)hotmail.com>]

Mark Chan wrote:
> 
> Anyone dare to answer my questions? Email me directly if needed. What is the
> function of .so file and what is it's intended use?
> 
> MC

Hi Mark,

a .so file is a so called 'dynamic library' (and .a file a static
library there
are also some .la files, but I don't know what they are or what all
those extensions mean,
somebody out there who knows?) at Solaris and Linux at least.
The same (or similar) as a .dll file under windows.
A dynamic library is a file which contains parts of a program, which are
only
loaded to memory when actually needed by the program.
I.e. a library must be referenced by the (binary) program (here 'idl' or
'idlde')
to be of any use. 
So the answer to your question is no, you cannot use any (binary) part
of an
old IDL version with a new version, unless you change (patch) the binary
file.
But to do this you need lots of knowledge about the binary (and .so
files ;-)

For compeltelyness: a static libray is a part of the program which is
directly
included in the program, so only needed during building the program. 

cheers,
:-) marc