INFO: Bitness Roundup Whitepaper: x86, x64, AnyCPU

One of the most common issues/questions that has customers reaching out to support is the issue of "bitness"

DotImage contains a lot of unmanaged code, and this means we have x86 and x64 specific builds/DLLs, and the ability to target AnyCPU is not directly supported.

To further complicate matters, Microsoft exceptions are not always all that clear and user friendly.

We've seen a lot of cases where System.BadImageFormatException is mistaken for being something about image formats (as in DotImage, an Imaging toolkit). The equally unhelpful "An attempt was made to load a program with an incorrect format" message is often at the end of a long error message that looks nearly identical to several other exceptions.

Here is a roundup of our various "bitness-specific" KB articles

Run-Time Exceptions

BadImageFormatException / Attempt was made to load a program with an incorrect format

This is the most common bitness related exception and this article endeavors to cover desktop and web fixes for it

ERRMSG: Cause of System.BadImageFormatException, "An attempt was made to load a program with an incorrect format"

HOWTO: IIS Express in 64 bit / 32 bit

FAQ: Common Problems with x64 TWAIN Scanning

HOWTO: Run 32-bit DotImage Assemblies in an ASP.NET Application on a 64-bit Machine

Design-Time Issues

FIX: Drag-Drop of Some Atalasoft Viewers Not Adding Control to Designer

Compile-Time  / License Compiler Exceptions

Here is some general info about fixing compile time

If you are using Visual Studio 2022:
INFO: Visual Studio 2022 and Newer Now Native 64 Bit

INFO: Workaround for a license compiler exception when targeting x64 in .NET framework 4.0 and up

If you are getting compile errors while targeting x64 in  .NET 2.0, 3.0, or 3.5
INFO: Workaround for a license compiler exception when targeting x64 in .NET framework 2.0, 3.0, or 3.5

Original Article:

Q10480 - INFO: Bitness Roundup Whitepaper: x86, x64, AnyCPU