SxS Managed COM With Manifest Resource (WinXP and Win2K3)

White Steve Blog SxS Managed COM With Manifest Resource WinXP and Win2K3 | Cellulite Creams

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:44:45 GMT

PingBack from http://cellulitecreamsite.info/story.php?id=2571

White Steve Blog SxS Managed COM With Manifest Resource WinXP and Win2K3 | Portable Greenhouse

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 22:39:57 GMT

PingBack from http://portablegreenhousesite.info/story.php?id=9815

re: SxS Managed COM With Manifest Resource (WinXP and Win2K3)

Steve White — Mon, 21 Feb 2005 04:20:00 GMT

This article is now superseded by the "Registration-Free Activation of .NET-Based Components: A Walkthrough" article. That article answers the questions raised in the comments.

re: SxS Managed COM With Manifest Resource (WinXP and Win2K3)

jason buxton — Fri, 18 Feb 2005 04:10:00 GMT

Sorry to produce a red herring with my comment regarding relevance.

I'll see what I can do about locating all the files necessary to support the #include, and will run the experiment again. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. Thanks for sticking with me.

re: SxS Managed COM With Manifest Resource (WinXP and Win2K3)

Steve White — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 00:51:00 GMT

> the #include <windows.h> isn't relevant to a VB project anyway, right?

So, you said initially "my environment is almost exclusively VB6 apps that need to interop with .NET assemblies." The only step in this article which is potentially relevant to VB6 is step 4. To make VB6 relevant you'd create a VB6 app instead of a C++ app in step 4, reference the .tlb generated when you registered your .NET assembly for COM Interop and use it as normal.

All the other steps *have to be done as written*. The build.cmd file is to build your .NET assembly. So although #include <windows.h> isn't relevant to VB6, it is relevant to this article and it's not one of the bits which are replaced by replacing the C++ client with a VB6 client.

I mentioned the #include <windows.h> as an example of something which, if forgotten, will prevent the experiment from working.

As I said before, If you can get to step 5 (and this is nothing to do with SxS yet) then the remaining steps will apply to a VB6 app.

re: SxS Managed COM With Manifest Resource (WinXP and Win2K3)

jason buxton — Wed, 16 Feb 2005 23:34:00 GMT

Thanks for your patience and diligence, Steve. I'm going to have to wait for the MSDN article; I'm rather busy as well, which is why I've been asking you to fit a square peg in a round hole, rather than buck up and learn rudimentary C++.

For the record, though - the #include <windows.h> isn't relevant to a VB project anyway, right? I see other #includes in the file itself, which would mean those files would have to be there in order for the build.cmd file to execute successfully...

Thanks again, and good luck on the article.

re: SxS Managed COM With Manifest Resource (WinXP and Win2K3)

Steve White — Wed, 16 Feb 2005 18:53:00 GMT

There are multiple possible points of failure in getting SxS to work, most resulting in the error message you quote. For example if you omit #include <windows.h> in step 10, you'll see it.

What I suggest is two things. First, do your experiments on Win2K3 and check the System event log. Win2K3 gives better messages than XP's which are unhelpful. Second, I really urge you to get a functioning frame of reference for SxS by following the steps given in this article. Get some practice in what does and doesn't work before we 'move the goalposts' by moving to VB6. You see, I only have the proofs published here, I have no proofs involving VB6. I do plan to do that work in due course, but I'm maxed out right now. Another option for you is to raise a case with MS Product Support.

I do sympathise with your frustration - getting this far has been a struggle for me. But I will get round to VB6 in time and I intend to cover it in the eventual MSDN article.

re: SxS Managed COM With Manifest Resource (WinXP and Win2K3)

jason buxton — Wed, 16 Feb 2005 05:44:00 GMT

Steve -

It's not working.... I've followed the steps you outlined and the best I can get is what I had before. I run the VB6 executable, and get a messagebox that says this:

"This application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem."

That's about all I can get. Would it be worthwhile for you to see the three objects (EXE, Manifest and DLL)?

re: SxS Managed COM With Manifest Resource (WinXP and Win2K3)

Steve White — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 06:38:00 GMT

It looks like .NET assemblies registered for COM are Both-threaded which means no marshalling takes place whether the object is called from an MTA or an STA. So your VB client, calling from an STA, will be fine with the assembly manifest as I first showed it, i.e. no need for the extra comInterfaceExternalProxyStub element.

I'd say go ahead with my original set of steps and just build a VB6 client instead of a C++ one. For reference, I rebuilt my C++ client but made it STA (as VB is) and it worked without changing the manifest.

Cheers,
Steve

re: SxS Managed COM With Manifest Resource (WinXP and Win2K3)

Steve White — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 02:21:00 GMT

Sure, go for it.