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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-19T01:50:30+00:00

I was trying to export a simple test function for a dll to work

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I was trying to export a simple test function for a dll to work with an application (fyi: mIRC) that specifies the calling convention as:

int __stdcall test_func(HWND mWnd, HWND aWnd, char *data, char *parms, BOOL show, BOOL nopause)

Now, to call this from the application, I’d be using test_func but I have noticed due to name mangling it is not as simple as I’d thought.

Through similar topics here I have come to the understanding that using extern “C” in combination with __declspec(dllexport) is an equivelant (somewhat) method of removing mangling to module definitions (.def). However, when using the extern/dllexport method my function (as an example) is always _test_func@numbers whereas the .def removed all mangling as required for use with the application i needed to export to.

Could someone please explain why this is? I’m just curious about the two methods. Thanks!

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    dllexport/import are designed to be loaded back by themselves, not an old C library using GetProcAddress. The mangling you have seen is what all Microsoft compilers have done for a long time for __stdcall functions. Most likely, your target either expects a __cdecl function, not __stdcall, but if not, you will need to use a .def file to specifically un-mangle the name.

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