BRIEF HISTORY: I am basically new to Java and most of what I know (vb and java) is self-taught I took a couple CSC Java classes in college about 5 years ago, and am currently doing the Head First Design Patterns book. I am starting a small application, so I decided now would be the perfect time to make the switch to Java I am mostly using jEdit, but turned to NetBeans for debugging help.

I mention all of that so that you know to dumb your responses down; I promise I won't be offended.

PROBLEM: I have to use a third-party DLL to fetch files from a repository (I did try to get them to give up the source code but no luck)

They gave me their DLL and a VB.net example: Private o as TheirDllNamespace.TheirClass = new TheirDllNamespace.TheirClass o.SignIn(user, pwd, repo) meaning SignIn is a method in TheirClass, and the full arch is: TheirDllNamespace.TheirClass.SignIn (String, String, String)

The DLL is strongly typed, and it is loaded in my GAC. I also put a copy in the project directory.

Initially I called: DllIface INSTANCE = (DllIface)Native.loadLibrary ("TheirDllNamespace", DllIface.class); That compiles but crashes at runtime saying: Unable to load library 'TheirDllNamespace' DllIface INSTANCE = (DllIface)Native.loadLibrary("c:/ TheirDllNamespace.dll", DllIface.class); So using the same call, I put the full path to the Dll and it now loads.

The error I get now is: Exception in thread "main" java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: Cannot locate function 'SignIn'

MY GUESSES: 1. I have to figure out how to create and access an instance of TheirClass 2. Maybe their DLL doesn't satisfy this?: "This can be any library with exported functions, and it must be loadable from the JDK just like any native library. A good example is the local C library ( libc.so on linux or msvcrt.dll on windows)." 3. I have to figure out how to map to their funct?

Any help, suggestions, or other things to check are greatly appreciated!

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import com.sun.jna.*;

public interface DllIface extends Library { DllIface INSTANCE = (DllIface)Native.loadLibrary("c:/ TheirDllNamespace.dll", DllIface.class);

public boolean SignIn(String user, String pswd, String dbName); }

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public class DllInstance{

public boolean connect(String user, String pswd, String dbName){ try{ DllIface INSTANCE = DllIface.INSTANCE; INSTANCE.SignIn(user, pswd, dbName); return true; } catch(Exception ex){ return false; } } }

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public class DllMain { public static void main(String[] args) { DllInstance dll = new DllInstance(); dll.connect("guest", "", "TestRepo"); } }