Java code:

package jnahelloworldtest;

import com.sun.jna.Library;
import com.sun.jna.Native;
import com.sun.jna.NativeLong;
import com.sun.jna.Platform;
import com.sun.jna.*;

/** Simple example of native library declaration and usage. */
public class Main {
    public interface simpleDLL extends Library {
        simpleDLL INSTANCE = (simpleDLL) Native.loadLibrary(
            (Platform.isWindows() ? "simpleDLL" : "simpleDLLLinuxPort"), simpleDLL.class);
		// it's possible to check the platform on which program runs, for example purposes we assume that there's a linux port of the library (it's not attached to the downloadable project)
        byte giveVoidPtrGetChar(Pointer param); // char giveVoidPtrGetChar(void* param);
        int giveVoidPtrGetInt(Pointer param);   //int giveVoidPtrGetInt(void* param);
        int giveIntGetInt(int a);               // int giveIntGetInt(int a);
        void simpleCall();                      // void simpleCall();
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        simpleDLL sdll = simpleDLL.INSTANCE;

        sdll.simpleCall();  // call of void function

        int a = 3;
        int result1 = sdll.giveIntGetInt(a);  // calling function with int parameter&result
        System.out.println("giveIntGetInt("+a+"): " + result1);

        String testStr = "ToBeOrNotToBe";
        Memory mTest = new Memory(testStr.length()+1);  // '+1' remember about extra byte for \0 character!
        mTest.setString(0, testStr);
        String testReturn = mTest.getString(0); // you can see that String got properly stored in Memory object
        System.out.println("String in Memory:"+testReturn);

        Memory intMem = new Memory(4);  // allocating space
        intMem.setInt(0, 666); // setting allocated memory to an integer
        Pointer intPointer = intMem.getPointer(0);

        int int1 = sdll.giveVoidPtrGetInt(Pointer.NULL); // passing null, getting default result
        System.out.println("giveVoidPtrGetInt(null):" + int1); // passing int stored in Memory object, getting it back
        int int2 = sdll.giveVoidPtrGetInt(intMem);
       //int int2 = sdll.giveVoidPtrGetInt(intPointer);  causes JVM crash, use memory object directly!
        System.out.println("giveVoidPtrGetInt(666):" + int2);

        byte char1 = sdll.giveVoidPtrGetChar(Pointer.NULL);  // passing null, getting default result
        byte char2 = sdll.giveVoidPtrGetChar(mTest);        // passing string stored in Memory object, getting first letter

        System.out.println("giveVoidPtrGetChar(null):" + (char)char1);
        System.out.println("giveVoidPtrGetChar('ToBeOrNotToBe'):" + (char)char2);

    }
}

Mappings table

Not every native type maps directly to Java type, furthermore a class representing pointers had to be introduced.  You can read a handy type mapping table below:

Downloads:

• DLLVisual Studio source project – ready to use Visual Studio 2010 project. You can alter it to continue experimenting with invoking DLL methods of library attached to the Netbeans project.
• Netbeans project – ready to use NetBeans 6 project using example code explained in this article with appropriate jars and DLL library attached
• JNA library jars – link to official JNA libraries download page

Useful links:

• An article about using JNA and windows kernel library (eg. checking state of joystick)
• JNA project home page. You can find JavaDoc FAQ and other documentation here

DLL library C++ functions source :

#include "simpleDLL.h"

#include <stdexcept>

using namespace std;

namespace simpleDLLNS
{
    char simpleDLL::giveVoidPtrGetChar(void* param)
    {
        if(param != 0)
		{
		char* paramChrPtr = (char*)param;
		return *paramChrPtr;
		}
		else
		{
			return 'x';
		}

    }

	int simpleDLL::giveIntGetInt(int a)
	{
		return 2*a;
	}

	void simpleDLL::simpleCall(void)
	{
		int x = 3;
		return;
	}

	int simpleDLL::giveVoidPtrGetInt(void* param)
	{
		if(param!=0)
		{
			int* x = (int*)param;
			return *x;

		}
		else
		{
			return -1;
		}
	}

}