Dynamic Link Libraries

The following routines and objects should, wherever possible, be placed in dynamic link libraries:

Those application objects that have been identified as having potential for future reuse by other applications

Those routines identified as generic routines, which will be accessed from more than one window procedure

Those Presentation Manager resources (for example, dialog definitions, along with their associated dialog procedures) that are accessed from multiple window procedures within the application.

The placement of such items in dynamic link libraries enhances their independence from the application's code, enabling changes to be made without affecting the code or requiring application maintenance. In addition, placement in dynamic link libraries facilitates reuse of such items by multiple applications. It is thus possible to achieve object code reuse at both the application object and at the subroutine level.

To this end, all items placed in dynamic link libraries should have their external interfaces documented, baselined and included in an Interface Control Document, for subsequent use as development library routines. It is the responsibility of the development organization to establish procedures for the testing and acceptance of reusable code modules into libraries from which they may subsequently be accessed by application developers, and the creation of a repository of documentation detailing the application objects that are available, their behavior and external interfaces.

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