Type Library Exporter (Tlbexp.exe)
The Type Library Exporter generates a type library that describes the types defined in a common language runtime assembly.
tlbexp assemblyName [/out:file] [/nologo] [/silent] [/verbose]
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| assemblyName | The assembly for which to export a type library. |
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| /help | Displays command syntax and options for the tool. |
| /names:filename | Specifies the capitalization of names in a type library. The filename argument is a text file. Each line in the file specifies the capitalization of one name in the type library. |
| /nologo | Suppresses the Microsoft startup banner display. |
| /out:file | Specifies the name of the type library file to generate. If you omit this option, Tlbexp.exe generates a type library with the same name as the assembly (the actual assembly name, which might not necessarily be the same as the file containing the assembly) and a .tlb extension. |
| /silent | Suppresses the display of success messages. |
| /verbose | Specifies verbose mode; displays a list of any referenced assemblies for which a type library needs to be generated. |
| /? | Displays command syntax and options for the tool. |
Note The command-line options for Tlbexp.exe are case-insensitive and can be supplied in any order. You only need to specify enough of the option to uniquely identify it. For example, /n is equivalent to /nologo, and **/o:**outfile.tlb is equivalent to **/out:**outfile.tlb.
Remarks
Tlbexp.exe generates a type library that contains definitions of the types defined in the assembly. Applications such as Visual Basic 6.0 can use the generated type library to bind to the .NET types defined in the assembly.
The entire assembly is converted at once. You cannot use Tlbexp.exe to generate type information for a subset of the types defined in an assembly.
You cannot use Tlbexp.exe to produce a type library from an assembly that was imported using the Type Library Importer (Tlbimp.exe). Instead, you should refer to the original type library that was imported with Tlbimp.exe. You can export a type library from an assembly that references assemblies that were imported using Tlbimp.exe. See the examples section below.
Tlbexp.exe places generated type libraries in the current working directory or the directory specified for the output file. A single assembly might cause several type libraries to be generated.
Tlbexp.exe generates a type library but does not register it. This is in contrast to the Assembly Registration tool (Regasm.exe), which both generates and registers a type library. To generate and register a type library with COM, use Regasm.exe.
Because type libraries cannot accommodate all the information found in assemblies, Tlbexp.exe might discard some data during the export process. For an explanation of the transformation process and identification of the source of each piece of information emitted to a type library, see the Assembly to Type Library Conversion Summary.
Examples
The following command generates a type library with the same name as the assembly found in myTest.dll.
tlbexp myTest.dll
The following command generates a type library with the name clipper.tlb.
tlbexp myTest.dll /out:clipper.tlb
The following example illustrates using Tlbexp.exe to export a type library from an assembly that references assemblies that were imported using Tlbimp.exe.
First use Tlbimp.exe to import the type library myLib.tlb and save it as myLib.dll.
tlbimp myLib.tlb /out:myLib.dll
The following command uses the C# compiler to compile the Sample.dll, which references myLib.dll created in the previous example.
CSC Sample.cs /reference:myLib.dll /out:Sample.dll
The following command generates a type library for Sample.dll that references myLib.dll.
tlbexp Sample.dll
See Also
.NET Framework Tools | Assembly Registration Tool (RegAsm.exe) | Assembly to Type Library Conversion Summary | Type Library Importer (TlbImp.exe)