Windows versions of LINGO include a callable DLL. The ability to call a DLL is a standard feature of all Windows development environments (e.g., Visual Basic, Delphi, and Visual C++). The LINGO DLL is supplied in either 32-bit of 64-bit configurations and, thus, will run under all current releases of Windows (Win32 and Win64).

The interface to the LINGO DLL is relatively simple and gives you the ability to run a LINGO command script from within your application. Given that you can access all the major features of LINGO from a command script, the LINGO DLL interface is very powerful. You will, however, need to familiarize yourself with LINGO's command language in order to build useful command scripts. For more details on the commands available in the command language, see Command-line Commands. For an example of a script file, see A Command Script Example.

When LINGO is installed a number of examples on calling the DLL are installed, too.  These examples may be found in the Programming Samples folder below the main LINGO folder.  You will find examples for each of the following development environments:

In this chapter, we will walk through detailed examples on calling the LINGO DLL using both Visual C/C++ and Visual Basic. Users of other development environments will also be interested in these programming examples. Many of the ideas presented carry over to other development environments.