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I've created a setup project for my C# application that installs my software. I understand i can add an assembly reference and add my DLL to the installer this way (outlined here).

What i want to know, is how do i bundle in both a 32 bit dll, and a 64 bit dll and at install time, determine what assembly the machine is running, and then register the relative DLL.

All help would be greatly appreciated!

EDIT

The dll is not actually called from within the app - It is actually a shell extension used to call the app, therefore i cannot simply add code into my main app that calls certain DLL files, and they must be registered at install time.

I would also very much like to try and do this natively in Visual Studio if at all possible

PhilDW
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amartin94
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  • Possible duplicate of [Targeting both 32bit and 64bit with Visual Studio in same solution/project](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/145803/targeting-both-32bit-and-64bit-with-visual-studio-in-same-solution-project) – Ipsit Gaur Jun 04 '18 at 03:46
  • This answer seems to use the Advanced Installer product - Is there no way to do this entirely in VS and if not, is there a freeware/opensource version? – amartin94 Jun 04 '18 at 03:57
  • I think, you should publish separate installers fo x32 and x64. But, if you really need this, take a look at [Wix](http://wixtoolset.org/) and Custom Actions. There is (a bit outdated) [example on codeproject](https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/132918/Creating-Custom-Action-for-WIX-Written-in-Managed) – vasily.sib Jun 04 '18 at 04:09
  • Inno Setup is open source I believe, and very easy to use. I've used it in the past to do exactly the kind of task you're trying to do here. But it doesn't help you to figure out what to do in csproj. – Bent Tranberg Jun 04 '18 at 04:10
  • So there's no way to do this through a visual studio installer project? – amartin94 Jun 04 '18 at 04:25
  • It is not sensible to try to install both. The user has only one kind of OS and it is either 32 or 64-bit, never both. You in fact have to tell the project what kind of installer you create, set by the TargetPlatform property. It is pretty questionable that you should even try to support a 32-bit OS, that flavor has been rapidly disappearing over the past decade and if your user has one then it is likely to be old and troublesome. Implementing a shell extension in .NET is enough trouble as-is, you don't need more. – Hans Passant Jun 04 '18 at 08:10
  • The shell extension is written in C++ from this framework: https://code.msdn.microsoft.com/windowsapps/CppShellExtContextMenuHandl-410a709a#content . We need to support 32bit applications because a large portion of our userbase are running older systems and arent the tech savviest. Although i would like to avoid it, at this point would it just be easier to compile both a 32 and a 64 bit install ? – amartin94 Jun 04 '18 at 09:50

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If your setup project's architecture is 32-bit than it can't include the 64-bit Dll. If it's 64-bit setup project it can include both (different locations obviously). This assumes that your Dlls are explicitly 32-bit for 32-bit clients and 64-bit for 64-bit clients, because AnyCpu settings for the code can confuse things. That's why a 32-bit client code should be built as x86 and 64-bit as x64. You need separate architecture setups:

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/heaths/2008/01/15/different-packages-are-required-for-different-processor-architectures/

The registration setting in a setup project is in the Properties window (select the file, then F4) for the file in the File System view. See the Register setting. If it's a C++ shell extension there should be a vs Self register setting.

PhilDW
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