Menu
XCode's ARC refactoring forced my Cocoa Library DLL to be 64bit, and I don't know if I can still DllImport that DLL from an x86 C# application. Is this possible, and are there any consequences of doing so?
684
On 64-bit Windows, a 64-bit process cannot load a 32-bit dynamic-link library (DLL). Additionally, a 32-bit process cannot load a 64-bit DLL. However, 64-bit Windows supports remote procedure calls (RPC) between 64-bit and 32-bit processes (both on the same computer and across computers).
Because 32-bit device drivers cannot be used with the 64-bit operating system, these drivers must be recompiled as 64-bit objects. Moreover, the 64-bit drivers need to support both 32-bit applications and 64-bit applications.
If the first DLL in the path is 32 bit and your app is 32 bit, then the DLL load will work. If the app is 64 bit, it will fail to load the DLL and the process will abort. If you want two DLLs to coexist on the system path, you need to give them unique file names.
You can not run a 32-bit DLL inside a 64-bit process, no matter how hard you try, so you need to run it in a 32-bit process. If compiling your application for 32-bit only is not an option, you have no choice but to create a host application.
You cannot mix 32 bit and 64 bit code in a single process. So the only way to use mix bitness code is to have more than one process. You'll need some form of IPC to make it work. You cannot do it with DllImport since that is in-process.
62
If you love us? You can donate to us via Paypal or buy me a coffee so we can maintain and grow! Thank you!
Donate Us With
