Converting a vb.net dictionary to a vba dictionary

Question

I was pleased to find that I could call structs that I had set up in vb.net straight into excel vba - using COM visible and registering using regasm.exe.

I am struggling to do the same with a dictionary created in vb.net.

I found this link which suggested that the dictionary in vb.net was not the same as the runtime.scripting dictionary found in vba.

I was unable to have much luck with the links suggested in the comments though.

Here is the vb.net code:

Public Function ReturnDict() As Dictionary(Of String, Integer)
    Dim dict As New Dictionary(Of String, Integer)
    dict.Add("a", 10)
    dict.Add("b", 11)
    Return dict
End Function

Here is the vba code:

Function MyReturnDict()
   Dim classLib As New MyVBClass.Class1
   Set MyDict = classLib.ReturnDict()
     \\do stuff with dictionary
   MyReturnDict = Result
End Function

Any help/advice would be much appreciated!

Answer 1

Hans Passant's solutions in the comments above perfectly solved the problem:

In VB.net, either use:

Public Function ReturnDict() As System.Collections.IDictionary

or reference scrrun.dll and:

Public Function ReturnDict() As Scripting.Dictionary
    Dim dict As New Scripting.Dictionary

The latter solution provides a VBA dictionary that can be used as one would like.