Problem:
Case:
When migrating from Net Express 3.1 to 4.0, there exist 11 .DLL files that are believed created using Net Express 3.1 but it is unsure if the original project or source code still exists.
Is it possible to tell if these Dynamic Link Libraries were indeed created by Net Express instead of by a 3rd party compiler such as Microsoft C/C ?
Resolution:
The answer is yes, there is a way to identify an existing executable (.EXE) or Dynamic Link Library (.DLL) file as being generated by Net Express.
Using a binary editor or a program dump utility, open the .DLL file and search it using this tool. If no binary file editor is available then it is also possible to open the file using a standard text editor like Windows Notepad but since the information being displayed is not standard ASCII text it will look very strange.
It will however, accomplish the task at hand.
After opening the .DLL file within the editor it is necessary to perform a text Find or Search operation using the contents of the file.
A Dynamic Link Library which was created by Net Express will contain a number of program entry point names that are specific to the Net Express product and that would not be found in third party .DLLs that were created using a different language.
These entry points would begin with the string "_mF" for example: "_mFdllinfo" and "_mFldhandle".
If a Find Text command is run using the Windows Notepad editor and a search for the value of one of these entry point names is successful then the chances are very good that this Dynamic Link Library was created as the result of a Net Express build operation.
