How to wrap a .NET assembly?

[bobcat]

Could anyone tell me (in a step-by-step fashion) how to wrap a visual .NET assembly using VA Smalltalk 8.0? Is this even possible?
(I'm familiar with the OLE-wrapper generator for ActiveX controls, but I'm starting at ground zero regarding .NET components)

[marten]

Could anyone tell me (in a step-by-step fashion) how to wrap a visual .NET assembly using VA Smalltalk 8.0? Is this even possible?
(I'm familiar with the OLE-wrapper generator for ActiveX controls, but I'm starting at ground zero regarding .NET components)

* if you have the sources, you could make that assembly COM aware and then you might create calls using the OLE wrapper feature of VA
* if you do not have the sources, you might ask Georg Heeg for its general .NET wrapper stuff, which was initially developed for VW - but they would love to sell it to Instantiations as part of the VA product ..... (I have to admit, that I have never used the .NET wrapper - therefore I do not know the possible features of that product).
* I asked Instantiations several times over the last years about interacting with .NET and they always answer, that there is no real demand/request from their customers. So tell Instantiations about your wishes !!!
* if you do not have the sources, you might write a wrapper .NET assembly to wrap that .NET assembly and make that wrapper COM aware.
* try to write a general wrapper library, doing calls to .NET using introspection

Point 1) and 4) are more work, because in general you will not make all available methods available via COM - but you might perhaps design an interface to that library (by introducing new classes and methods) and make only this interface available via COM.

Just some ideas ....