--- /dev/null
+/*
+ * common.h -- Blackmagic Design DeckLink common functions
+ * Copyright (C) 2012 Dan Dennedy <dan@dennedy.org>
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with consumer library; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
+ */
+
+#ifndef DECKLINK_COMMON_H
+#define DECKLINK_COMMON_H
+
+#ifdef WIN32
+# include <objbase.h>
+# include "DeckLinkAPI_h.h"
+ typedef BSTR DLString;
+#else
+# include "DeckLinkAPI.h"
+# ifdef __DARWIN__
+ typedef CFStringRef DLString;
+# else
+ typedef const char* DLString;
+# endif
+#endif
+
+#define SAFE_RELEASE(V) if (V) { V->Release(); V = NULL; }
+
+char* getCString( DLString aDLString );
+void freeCString( char* aCString );
+void freeDLString( DLString aDLString );
+
+#endif // DECKLINK_COMMON_H