I wondered whether Inline::C's "autowrap" feature might be useful here
thanks, this seems like the "Inline option" I was looking for: function declaration only in C embedded in Perl, and no need in wrapper *.pm. However, I didn't expect that to compile my real code (not trivial add) -- which itself links to a few libs -- to a dll would require such effort to "construct" the correct command line (to type it, at least), it's a bit out of my league, I'm feeling like monkey copying text fragments without understanding the basics. All the more reason to appreciate what Inline::C is doing transparently, I think I'll stay with "blib" solution outlined in OP. Thank you everyone for answers.