EEFileLoadException when using C# classes in C++(win32 app)

Question

For deployment reasons, I am trying to use IJW to wrap a C# assembly in C++ instead of using a COM Callable Wrapper.

I've done it on other projects, but on this one, I am getting an EEFileLoadException. Any help would be appreciated!

Managed C++ wrapper code (this is in a DLL):

extern "C" __declspec(dllexport) IMyObject* CreateMyObject(void)
{
    //this class references c# in the constructor
    return new CMyWrapper( );
}

extern "C" __declspec(dllexport)  void DeleteMyObject(IMyObject* pConfigFile)
{
    delete pConfigFile;
}

extern "C" __declspec(dllexport) void TestFunction(void)
{
    ::MessageBox(NULL, _T("My Message Box"), _T("Test"), MB_OK);
}

Test Code (this is an EXE):

typedef void* (*CreateObjectPtr)();
typedef void (*TestFunctionPtr)();

int _tmain testwrapper(int argc, TCHAR* argv[], TCHAR* envp[])
{
    HMODULE hModule = ::LoadLibrary(_T("MyWrapper"));
    _ASSERT(hModule != NULL);

    PVOID pFunc1 = ::GetProcAddress(hModule, "TestFunction");
    _ASSERT(pFunc1 != NULL);
    TestFunctionPtr pTest = (TestFunctionPtr)pFunc1;

    PVOID pFunc2 = ::GetProcAddress(hModule, "CreateMyObject");
    _ASSERT(pFunc2 != NULL);
    CreateObjectPtr pCreateObjectFunc = (CreateObjectPtr)pFunc2;

    (*pTest)();  //this successfully pops up a message box
    (*pCreateObjectFunc)();  //this tosses an EEFileLoadException

    return 0;
}

For what it's worth, the Event Log reports the following: .NET Runtime version 2.0.50727.143 - Fatal Execution Engine Error (79F97075) (80131506)

Unfortunately, Microsoft has no information on that error.

Answer 1

The first issue is to make sure the Debugger type is set to mixed. Then you get useful exceptions.

Answer 2

The problem was where the DLLs were located.

• c:\dlls\managed.dll
• c:\dlls\wrapper.dll
• c:\exe\my.exe

I confirmed this by copying managed.dll into c:\exe and it worked without issue. Apparently, the CLR won't look for managed DLLs in the path of the unmanaged DLL and will only look for it where the executable is. (or in the GAC).

For reasons not worth going into, this is the structure I need, which meant that I needed to give the CLR a hand in located the managed dll. See code below:

AssemblyResolver.h:

/// <summary>
/// Summary for AssemblyResolver
/// </summary>
public ref class AssemblyResolver
{
public:

static Assembly^ MyResolveEventHandler( Object^ sender, ResolveEventArgs^ args )
{
    Console::WriteLine( "Resolving..." );

    Assembly^ thisAssembly = Assembly::GetExecutingAssembly();
    String^ thisPath = thisAssembly->Location;
    String^ directory = Path::GetDirectoryName(thisPath);
    String^ pathToManagedAssembly = Path::Combine(directory, "managed.dll");

    Assembly^ newAssembly = Assembly::LoadFile(pathToManagedAssembly);
    return newAssembly;
}

};

Wrapper.cpp:

#include "AssemblyResolver.h"

extern "C" __declspec(dllexport) IMyObject* CreateMyObject(void)
{
    try
    {
        AppDomain^ currentDomain = AppDomain::CurrentDomain;
        currentDomain->AssemblyResolve += gcnew ResolveEventHandler( AssemblyResolver::MyResolveEventHandler );

        return new CMyWrapper( );
    }
    catch(System::Exception^ e)
    {
        System::Console::WriteLine(e->Message);

        return NULL;
    }
}

Answer 3

Do you have tests in place to verify that the assembly loads from the same directory?