OpenLibrary

gain access to a library

This function returns a pointer to a library that was previously installed into the system. If the requested library is exists, and if the library version is greater than or equal to the requested version, then the open will succeed.

The library may exist in memory, or on disk; this is transparent to the OpenLibrary() caller. Only Processes are allowed to call OpenLibrary() (since OpenLibrary() may in turn call dos.library).

A full path name for the library name is legitimate. For example "wp:libs/wp.library". This allows the use of custom libraries without requiring the user to copy the library into the system's LIBS: directory.

All calls to OpenLibrary() should have matching calls to CloseLibrary()!

Libraries on disk cannot be opened until after AmigaDOS has been started.

Starting with Kickstart 2.0 (V36) Tasks can safely call OpenLibrary(), though AmigaDOS may open system requesters (e.g., asking the user to insert the Workbench disk if "LIBS:" is not online). You must call this function from an AmigaDOS Process if you want to turn off AmigaDOS requesters.

libName

the name of the library to open

version

the version of the library required.

library

a library pointer for a successful open, else zero

AmigaDOS file names are not case sensitive, but Exec lists are. If the library name is specified in a different case than it exists on disk, unexpected results may occur. The same holds true if the library exists in memory and the library name is specified in a different case.

Prior to Kickstart 2.0 (V36), Tasks could not make OpenLibrary() calls requiring disk access (since Tasks are generally not allowed to make dos.library calls). Now OpenLibrary() is protected from Tasks.

The version number of the resident tag in a disk based library must match the version number of the library, or V36 may fail to load it.

CloseLibrary()