How to add a C++ DLL in Windows Phone 8 (C#) Framework

Question

I am trying to add a C++ DLL to Windows Phone 8 framework in Visual Studio Express 2012.

I have tried following ways

1. Import and invoke through PInvoke

   [DllImport("WP8DLL.dll", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]

   public static extern int functionReturningInteger();

   Result: This way though there were no compile errors, but when I try to access the method of the DLL it throws System.NotSupportedException.

2. Adding reference in the project properties

   Result: I get the message "A reference to a higher version or incompatible assembly cannot be added to the project"

Answer 1

You cannot add a reference from a Managed Windows Phone 8 Project directly to a native static or native dynamic library. You will need to create a Windows Phone Runtime Component. Those can be referenced by you UI project and also it can reference C++ projects, etc.

See for example this link for more information.