Microsoft® .NET Kick Start

Platform Invocation Services

Finally, depending on the lifetime of the application or component, it is quite possible that some pieces and components have been developed in Win32-based DLLs. Platform Invocation Services provides interoperability at the platform-level DLLs, giving the capability to a .NET developer to invoke functions exposed in legacy DLLs. Platform Invocation Services, better known as PInvoke, provide the capability for .NET applications to utilize functionalities exposed as Win32 DLLs. This includes the DLL functions that are exposed by Microsoft and any other third-party or home-grown DLLs. Unlike utilizing COM components in .NET applications, the process of using platform APIs is a bit tedious and involves manual creation ...