An “import library” is a static library (usually with a .LIB extension) that can be read by the LINK utility. You specify the import library to LINK in the same ways you specify standard libraries created by the LIB utility. You can use LIB to combine an import library with other static libraries, either standard or import. For more information on LINK, see Chapter 14. For more information on LIB, see Chapter 19.
Import libraries are recommended for resolving references from applications to DLLs. Without an import library, an external reference to a dynamic-link routine must be either declared in an IMPORTS statement in the application's .DEF file or explicitly coded in your program.
This section assumes you are familiar with import libraries, dynamic linking, and module-definition files. For information on module-definition files, see Chapter 16. For information on dynamic linking and import libraries, see the C for Windows manual.
IMPLIB uses only the following statements from a module-definition file and ignores other text in the .DEF file:
LIBRARY
EXPORTS
INCLUDE