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Format

Type Library

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Summary

Name
Type Library
Version
Type 1
Identifiers
PUID: fmt/1601
Description
This record describes Type Library Type 1 file format, files which mostly belong to Borland Type Library by Borland Software Corporation. A type library (.tlb) is a binary file that stores information about a COM or DCOM object's properties and methods in a form that is accessible to other applications at runtime. Type libraries provide a language-neutral mechanism for defining types such as interfaces, methods, classes, and other COM elements that are defined and used by a server and called on by a client. Type libraries are saved as binary files with a .tlb extension or can be contained within the binary file representing the server ( *.dll , *.ocx , *.exe , *.olb ). Using a type library, an application or browser can determine which interfaces an object supports, and invoke an object's interface methods. This can occur even if the object and client applications were written in different programming languages. The COM/DCOM run-time environment can also use a type library to provide automatic cross-apartment, cross-process, and cross-machine marshaling for interfaces described in type libraries.
Note
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/midl/com-dcom-and-type-libraries https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/com/type-library-viewers-and-conversion-tools https://filext.com/file-extension/TLB https://flylib.com/books/en/3.264.1.146/1/
File extensions
tlb
Source
The National Archives and Records Administration / The National Archives and Records Administration

Internal signatures

Type Library Type 1

Note
BOF; Offset: 0; Magic Bytes: 'SLTG' & EOF; Offset: 0; Magic Bytes: 'TYPELIB'

Byte sequences

Min Frag Length
Absolute from BOF
Offset
0
Max offset
0
Byte Sequence
534C5447
Endianness
None
Min Frag Length
Absolute from EOF
Offset
13
Max offset
20
Byte Sequence
545950454C4942
Endianness
None

Changelog

  • Updated in V106

    Release date
    4 July 2022

    Type Library Type 1: Adjusted sequence. Submitted by Digital Preservation Department, The National Archives (UK).

  • Added in V101

    Release date
    15 February 2022

    Type Library Type 1: Signature researched and samples provided by The National Archives and Records Administration.

    Type Library Type 1: Full entry added. Submitted by The National Archives and Records Administration.