[openal] OpenAL-soft Readme Notes

[Kirk Baker]

Hello,

I have a question about what is said in the introduction to the binary distribution readme.txt file.  It says:

"Note that it is still expected to install the OpenAL redistributable provided
by Creative Labs (at http://openal.org/), as that will provide the "router"
OpenAL32.dll that applications talk to, and may provide extra drivers for the
user's hardware. The DLLs provided here will simply add additional devices for
applications to select from. If you do not wish to use the redistributable,
then rename soft_oal.dll to OpenAL32.dll (note: even the 64-bit DLL should be
named OpenAL32.dll). Just be aware this will prevent other system-installed
OpenAL implementations from working.”

Does this mean that if I place the soft_oal.dll in my application’s directory renamed as OpenAL32.dll and use it in my application it will prevent other system-installed OpenAL implementations from working?

I am trying to avoid tying our application to the OpenAL redistributable package that appears to no longer be supported by Creative Labs.  Our needs are fairly simple and hardware acceleration is not needed by our application.  Can we install the OpenAl-soft implementation in our app’s directory and have it run independently of any existing OpenAL (if any is installed at all)?

Thanks,

-Kirk

Kirk A. Baker
Senior Software Engineer
Camera Bits, Inc.