I have a .NET exe compiled for "AnyCPU", so it can theoretically run in both 32-bit and 64-bit mode (on a 64-bit operating system). Since my exe strongly interacts with MS Office, I need to run it with the same bitness as the installed Office version. (Please take this requirement as granted, I will gladly provide details in the comments, if you are interested.)
Now, I have thought up a solution for this, but it seems more complicated than necessary:
Compile two versions: MyExe32.exe and MyExe64.exe, targeting x86 and x64, respectively, instead of AnyCPU.
Create a launcher application Launcher.exe, which determines the bitness of the locally installed Office version (I know how to do that) and then starts MyExe32.exe or MyExe64.exe.
This would work, but I'd rather have a single, simple MyExe.exe with something like the following pseudo-code during start-up:
if (Environment.Is64BitProcess && IsOffice32BitInstalled)
{
// restart myself in a 32-bit process instead of a 64-bit process
??? // <-- this is where I need help
}
Is that possible? If yes, how?
Notes: I know about the CorFlags utility, but I'd rather have a solution that does not require modifying the exe itself at runtime.
Apparently I don't have reputation enough to post comments, so posting this as an answer instead.
If, as you say, you're deploying to an internal network, I'd recommend using a launcher anwyay.
That way users can have a single network shortcut to the launcher, that doesn't move around. The launcher can determine which bitness is required, and which is the latest release, and launch the EXE for that release.
If you allow users to go directly at the EXE, you will either encounter problems with users having the EXE opened, so you can't overwrite it, or have to create new user shortcuts for every release.
Is restarting via runtime parameter an option?
dotnet run -r win-x86
https://stackoverflow.com/a/63252884/18152293
Related
I am designing a client application that will list several applications that I offer. A user will pick the application, and press run, then the application will be downloaded and will be loaded into the client application's domain using Assembly.Load. Here's the snippet of where it gets loaded:
var vAsm = Assembly.Load(client.GetBase());
var vEP = vAsm.EntryPoint;
var vSC = vAsm.GetType(vEP.DeclaringType.FullName).GetMethod("SetClient");
var vInst = vAsm.CreateInstance(vEP.Name);
vSC.Invoke(vInst, new object[] { client, license });
vEP.Invoke(vInst, null);
Problem: Two of the current applications are 32bit. However one of my applications is 64bit.
Question: If I build the client application in AnyCPU, will it be able to load both the 32bit applications AND the 64bit application? Or is there maybe a setting that launches it in 64bit if the machine supports it? This would be ideal, as I would just detect if they are 32bit/64bit and warn them that the one application is not supported on their machine if that's the case.
I will be testing this myself, but maybe somebody could give me some sort of advice to handle this.
Thanks!
To answer your first question, if you compile the application as AnyCPU you let Windows decide which CLR to pick. In my experience, it usually works out to Windows picking the x64 CLR on x64 operating systems and the x86 CLR on x86 operating systems but I'm not certain if that's always a guarantee. AnyCPU does not mean that it gets to run in both. You will only be able to load the version of the application which corresponds to the architecture of the CLR which loaded your client application.
I've had to deal with this sort of thing in some of the applications that I work with at the place where I'm working. I've run into some frustrating bugs when I tried interoperating with applications compiled for a specific architecture and applications compiled for AnyCPU. To make things easier and more predictable, I just ended up compiling the "AnyCPU" applications which had to interact with the "non AnyCPU" applications for each architecture for which they had to interact. There may be some people who have a more sophisticated setup but it wasn't worth the headache for me.
So, the answer to the second question is more advice. I'd just compile the client application for a specific architecture so that you know for sure which architecture that you're dealing with and then add appropriate code to detect the architecture. In fact, I think that you could use some compiler directives to store some sort of indicator as to which architecture that you're running under or even put a "detection" branch specific to each architecture in the compiler directive and that would help you do the warning that you're thinking of doing.
The alternative is to keep the client application as AnyCPU and detect which architecture the application is currently running under (if memory serves, it's IntPtr.Size == 8 for x64 applications but there may be more reliable methods; not sure...) and then only launch the appropriate applications. But still, you have to be mindful of the fact that, even with AnyCPU, you can only load applications of the specific architecture of the CLR which is running your AnyCPU client application.
Does that make sense?
You should build all your binaries in AnyCPU. That way, on a 64-bit OS, they'll run as 64-bit and on a 32-bit OS, they'll run as 32-bit. If you compile to x64, it won't run on a 32-bit OS at all. If you compile to x86, you'll always run as 32-bit, even on a 64-bit OS. The final rule is that you can't mix & match x86 and x64 bins in the same process. The mismatching ones will fail to load.
I have compiled a c natives 32bit DLL with Dev-C++, create the reference on my asp.net project, write a dllImport directives and use my new DLL. When launch my DEBUG session all work very well but when deploy my project on Web Server the runtime not load my DLL.
My IIS 7.0 w3wp.exe runs as a 64 bit process (to check if your process running as a 32 bit process under WOW64, open the task manager's Process tab and see if the process name contains "*32").
I believe that a 64 bit process can only load 64 bit native DLLs (and managed DLLs built for "Any CPU" or "X64"). Perhaps your debug session is a 32 bit session? If this is the cause, take a look at Using a 32bit or 64bit dll in C# DllImport .
For those of you who still cannot find a proper way to use a 32-bit DLL under a 64-bit IIS Application Pool, either by tweaking the registry, or by trying how to deal with the "COM+ Components Services", I have found a perfectly working solution : "Encapsulating" the 32-bit component into a new COM object as described on this page did the job perfectly, and I think that a lot of you will be interested to solve the problem this way ;)
http://www.chestysoft.com/component-services.asp
In my case, that allowed me to use the "XStandard.Zip" free Component from XStandard, which is sadly only available as a 32-bit ASP component, and that have an "InProcServer32" Key in the registry apparently preventing it to work by tweaking the registry, as described here : https://techtalk.gfi.com/32bit-object-64bit-environment/
In this post, a lot of comments reported that "InProcServer32-IDs are not reflected because Microsoft assumes that these are only InProc-Calls and not Out-Of-Proc-Calls".
And that was my case too, leading me to the situation where the registry tweaking solution described in the previous post was not working in my case, as other users.
Hoping having saved some days... or nights !
Alright, so I've got a Windows service that has a FileSystemWatcher that watches an output folder for some Visual FoxPro database files. And it leverages the VFPOLEDB.1 provider to read those files. I cannot go away from this provider because it's being used in production.
However, I've never had to support this application before so that's why my development box isn't setup for it. Here is my environment:
Windows 7 x64
Visual Studio 2005
.NET 2.0 Windows service
so, when I first started getting the error I figured I just didn't have the provider at all, and I was right. So, I downloaded and installed it from here.
I then proceeded to drop the files in the folder again, but I got the same error.
I figured because it's an x64 machine I might be experiencing problems with it getting registered since it was probably dropped into SysWOW64, and it was as I expected, so I ran this command:
regsvr32 "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\mscomct2.ocx"
and it said it was successfully registered (which means about nothing LOL) but I dropped the files in again - same error.
I have not yet rebooted my machine, and I can if somebody has a compelling reason that's the problem, but generally speaking if the assembly is registered properly with regsvr32 that's not necessary. I've worked with a ton of COM objects and never have to reboot to get to the object as long as I've registered it.
Does anybody know another step I need to perform to get this thing registered?
It is registered as it should. It is your application that is compiled for AnyCPU Platform.
In x64 operating system this produces 64bit code and 64bit code could not access 32bit drivers.
Change your Platform to x86 and you will be fine.
EDIT
Two years later there is something to add to this answer. Now with Visual Studio 2013 the cheese has been moved. The article linked explain in great details how the compiler setup defaults has been changed. The AnyCPU target CPU with Prefer 32 bit means that your application works as 32bit app also in x64bit operating systems leaving practically no-room to x64 application unless specifically required.
With this new configuration becomes also important to remember what is posted in comments below by Mark Berry. If your (now 32bit) app needs to work in a IIS 64bit environment you need to set the Application Pool with Enable 32 bit Applications
I have desktop app (Win7 x64 VS 2015) - and kept getting the same error no matter what. I changed platform target to x86, installed MSI as admin etc - did everything I could google - and no luck. What helped me is to install MSI for Everyone instead of Just me - one of the last wizard's screen in the setup.
I have the same problem.
I install the VFP Ole DB Provider in my system and resolved.
download link
use Advantage OLE DB Provider,works for 32 or 64,here is the connection string
Why is my application, which I compiled with AnyCPU, running as a 32-bit process on my 64-bit machine, and therefore unable to interact with Notepad, which is running as a 64-bit process?
I have the following code which will not run on x64 Operating System since notepad.exe is x64 and a x86 application cannot get the modules information of a x64 process:
prc.Modules[0].FileName
.Net Exception throws on my code:
System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception (0x80004005): A 32 bit processes
cannot access modules of a 64 bit process.
According to many answers and articles on this forum, MSDN, ..., I know that I need to use AnyCPU instead because of the fact that using x64 has no specific benefit for me. Even when Compile on AnyCPU configuration, my error persists, furthermore, in Task Manager I see a (32-bit) at the end of my process name.
(Actually I tested the code with checking performance and the x64 code ran ~40 ms faster. never mind I do not want my code run 40 ms faster :D )
I do not know that is wrong.
VS 2011 Beta (x64)
Windows 8 Consumer Preview (x64)
Sincerely yours,
Peyman Mortazavi
Though the questioner has accepted the answer, I feel like the answer is incomplete since the questioner has mentioned that he is using Visual Studio 2011 and hence assuming the target .Net Framework would be 4.5 there are few caveats with respect to what "AnyCPU" means.
Please refer to both these links, to get a better understanding of how the meaning of "AnyCPU" has changed over time.
http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/sasha/2012/04/04/what-anycpu-really-means-as-of-net-45-and-visual-studio-11/
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/csharp/language-reference/compiler-options/platform-compiler-option
From these links, you can arrive at the answer to the question of why your application is running as 32 bit process
On a 64-bit Windows operating system:
Executables compiled with /platform:anycpu32bitpreferred execute on
the 32-bit CLR.
Here is your culprit.
Go into the project Properties. On the left side, select Build.
Take a look at the "Platform target:" setting for the current active platform. Change it to x64.
(I suspect your "Platform target:" will be explicitly x86 for "Any CPU")
I am developing a 32bit WinForm app (target: .NET 3.5). My client insists the app be installed into "Windows\System32\clientname" folder and autostarts on startup. Also, the app must be 32bit, so I can't use "Any CPU".
I am developing under Win7 x64 with VS2010 and all versions of .NET are installed. When I start the app I get the message "Unable to find a version of runtime to run this application".
On Win7 x86 it works without problem. It's not the app itself and I am 100% sure all the required frameworks are installed.
I know that on a x64 system this folder is not to be used for 32bit apps but as I said: client insists and won't budge.
Before I tell client definitively that it can't be done I want to explore all options. I googled of course and also searched this fine site but nothing helpful for my particular situation came up.
My app spawns another 32bit process located in the same folder. On x64 that didn't work either, of course, but I solved that by using "Wow64DisableWow64FsRedirection" and then copying it to another location to start it from there (which works fine).
I have done my homework but I just can't find a solution for starting the main app under x64 and in that particular folder.
Is there one?
In an attempt to solve this problem I created two folders on my Win7 x64 machine:
C:\Windows\System32\ClientName; and
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ClientName
Next I created a simple x86 WinForms application targeting .NET 3.5. I found that if I copied the executable to C:\Windows\System32\ClientName I got exactly the same error message as you reported.
However, if I copied the executable to both directories, then I could start it from C:\Windows\System32\ClientName, and it worked just fine.
I did not try this, but I suspect that if you have a multi-assembly application, you only need to copy the *.exe file to C:\Windows\System32\ClientName. All of the other files (and the EXE) would then reside in the C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ClientName directory.
This is a bit of an untidy solution, I know, but then again your client's requirement is a bit unusual to start with.