# How to: Create and Use Assemblies Using the Command Line (Visual Basic)

An assembly, or a dynamic linking library (DLL), is linked to your program at run time. To demonstrate building and using a DLL, consider the following scenario:

• MathLibrary.DLL: The library file that contains the methods to be called at run time. In this example, the DLL contains two methods, Add and Multiply.

• Add: The source file that contains the method Add. It returns the sum of its parameters. The class AddClass that contains the method Add is a member of the namespace UtilityMethods.

• Mult: The source code that contains the method Multiply. It returns the product of its parameters. The class MultiplyClass that contains the method Multiply is also a member of the namespace UtilityMethods.

• TestCode: The file that contains the Main method. It uses the methods in the DLL file to calculate the sum and the product of the run-time arguments.

## Example

' File: Add.vb
Namespace UtilityMethods
Public Shared Function Add(ByVal i As Long, ByVal j As Long) As Long
Return i + j
End Function
End Class
End Namespace

' File: Mult.vb
Namespace UtilityMethods
Public Class MultiplyClass
Public Shared Function Multiply(ByVal x As Long, ByVal y As Long) As Long
Return x * y
End Function
End Class
End Namespace

' File: TestCode.vb

Imports UtilityMethods

Module Test

Sub Main(ByVal args As String())

System.Console.WriteLine("Calling methods from MathLibrary.DLL:")

If args.Length <> 2 Then
System.Console.WriteLine("Usage: TestCode <num1> <num2>")
Return
End If

Dim num1 As Long = Long.Parse(args(0))
Dim num2 As Long = Long.Parse(args(1))

Dim product As Long = MultiplyClass.Multiply(num1, num2)

System.Console.WriteLine("{0} + {1} = {2}", num1, num2, sum)
System.Console.WriteLine("{0} * {1} = {2}", num1, num2, product)

End Sub

End Module

' Output (assuming 1234 and 5678 are entered as command-line arguments):
' Calling methods from MathLibrary.DLL:
' 1234 + 5678 = 6912
' 1234 * 5678 = 7006652


This file contains the algorithm that uses the DLL methods, Add and Multiply. It starts with parsing the arguments entered from the command line, num1 and num2. Then it calculates the sum by using the Add method on the AddClass class, and the product by using the Multiply method on the MultiplyClass class.

Notice that the Imports statement at the beginning of the file enables you to use the unqualified class names to reference the DLL methods at compile time, as follows:

MultiplyClass.Multiply(num1, num2)


Otherwise, you have to use the fully qualified names, as follows:

UtilityMethods.MultiplyClass.Multiply(num1, num2)


## Execution

To run the program, enter the name of the EXE file, followed by two numbers, as follows:

TestCode 1234 5678