Using COM Components Between Different Platforms (32-/64-bit)

enaio® • 11.0 »

To allow COM components (DLL) to be used between different platforms (32-bit Windows DLL and 64-bit Windows EXE), the Windows Registry must be modified. For this, the COM components must already be registered. As part of the customization, Windows automatically creates a runtime environment for the COM component and communicates with COM-DLL and the calling application across processes. This approach is not normally possible with COM components such as OCX and ActiveX, but these are also not usually used for scripting. Therefore, please test the functionality of the corresponding COM component beyond the platform boundary.

By way of example, we will now show you how to use the OXVBBAS library (Dim oxbas : Set oxbas = createObject("Oxvbbas.functions")) in 64-bit server scripts, as required for the ad-hoc workflow.

Other examples concern the connection of enaio® client (ANSI/32-bit) to an installed 64-bit Microsoft Office and of enaio® client (Unicode/64-bit) to an installed 32-bit Microsoft Office. The latter examples are connected via the corresponding redemption libraries from the client installation directory for creating e-mails.

enaio® server 64-bit and server-side workflow scripts, as in ad-hoc workflow, or DMS scripts using methods from oxvbbas.dll:

  • Run oxvbbas.reg with administrative privileges to ensure that oxvbbas.dll can be used in 64-bit scripts.
    Afterwards, restart the applications (enaio® server, enaio® client). Register oxvbbas.dll again to be on the safe side. The file is located in the \win32 installation directory of enaio® server.

  • Run the redemption.reg file and restart enaio® client. Register the redemption.dll again just to be safe. The file is located in the \client64 installation directory of enaio® client.

  • Run the redemption64.reg file and restart enaio® client. Register the redemption.dll again just to be safe. The file is located in the \client32 installation directory of enaio® client.

For project-specific components, these registry adjustments must be made according to the following schema.

  1. First determine the CLSID (class id) of the COM server in the registry.

  2. If it is a 32-bit component, download the template file template.reg. Open this in an editor of your choice and change the CLSID. Import the file; you can also reuse it.
    If it is a 64-bit component, download the template file template64.reg. Open this in an editor of your choice and change the CLSID. Import the file; you can also reuse it.

  3. Register the COM component again to make sure.