64-bit with Visual Studio Express (VB.net)

[Anonymous]

We are starting to make the move to 64-bit AutoCAD, as such my 32-bit dlls for all of the vb.net applicatons I  have written are no longer functional.  I understand that I need to change the target platform somwhow but I am using the express version of visual studio 2010 (With some tweaks 2010 works fine) but x86 is the only option that I have available.

I have read that I need to install he Windows Software Devopment kit in order to get 64-bit working under these conditions and I have but I'm not sure where to go from here.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, as I am completely dead in the water right now.

Thanks,

Jason Self 

[StephenPreston]

Funny you should ask that today. See the post I just made about the updated AutoCAD .NET Wizards. You could use that to generate a revised project file and copy your old .vb or .cs files into the new one. I've been testingVB Express with the updated Wizards and AutoCAD 64-bit on Windows 7, and its working fine.

[Anonymous]

Initially I thought that this was going to solve my problem..and it looks like going forward it is what I will do.  My problem is that my original application is using winforms.  The wizard uses WPF and so when I try to import the forms I only get the vb code and not the form in 'design view'.  What all do I need to change in the files to get it to target any cpu?  I notice that x86 is all that is available using the standard templates.

[gopinath.taget]

Hi Jason,

If you dont want to use the wizard that Stephen mentioned, you will have to change the settings in the .vbproj file manually in a text editor.

I am attaching the VBPROJ file of a sample I created quickly (using VS 2008) with setting ANYCPU and referencing acmgd and acdbmgd from the 32 bit folder of the ObjectARX 2010 SDK.

Please open it with a text editor like notepad and compare it with the VBPROJ file of your application to see what the fundamental project differences are. It should be easy enough to spot.

However, there is another problem that might force you  to maintain separate source trees for 32 bit and 64 bit platforms (you will have to maintain at least separate VBPROJ files). Up until 2010 acmgd and acdbmgd had incompatible versions between 32 and 64 bit platforms. This issue was fixed in 2011 going forward but for 2010, this means that the reference paths have to be different between for 32 and 64 bit applications for acmgd and acdbmgd.

Sorry if this is bad news.

Cheers

Gopinath Taget

Autodesk Developer Network