Register dll in type library and not in the type library file (TBL)

Question

I'm trying to register my DLL using the following command:

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v2.0.50727>RegAsm.exe /tlb d:\Certificate\d
igicorp\certificate.dll

I'm using a x64 machine. It is registered under type library file.

Screenshot of OLE/COM Object Viewer:

I want my dll registration to be like below, which point to the dll file and the same attribute.

Answer 1

Unmanaged COM servers indeed often have their type library embedded as an unmanaged resource. The build chain starts with an IDL file that describes the COM interfaces and coclasses, compiled by the midl.exe tool to produced a type library. Then the rc.exe resource compiler compiles a .rc resource script that includes an entry for the TYPELIB into a .res file. Then the linker embeds that into the DLL.

This is not normally the way it is done for COM servers created from [ComVisible] .NET code, they are not built the same way. A very problematic part is that you can't get the type library until after the DLL is built, a chicken-and-egg problem.

It is not impossible, you can certainly run rc.exe and get the .res file embedded with the /win32res compiler option. Also exposed in the IDE from Project + Properties, Application tab, Resource File radio button. You however get no help with that at all from the build system, you essentially have to build the DLL in two separate steps. First to get the type library created, again to embed it. Only ever contemplate this if you know how to write resource scripts, are familiar with running the Windows SDK command line tools and get your DLL to a point where it is very stable so you don't have to do this repeatedly. More about running rc.exe in this answer.