R.,
This is one of the issues that will be resolved in the upcoming Version 5.12. I know that the customer’s experience with the different combinations of .NET Framework and 32/64 bits in the current version is still not ideal. The blame is really on Microsoft – all the issues are caused by the fact the managed and mixed-mode C++ (C++/CLI) does not produce the same seamless experience as if the whole software was written in C# or VB.NET. And, it is quite difficult to overcome these limitations.
I spent a great deal of time in recent 2 months addressing precisely problems like this. The result, in Version 5.12, should be seamless experience between different .NET Framework versions, and 32/64 bits. Only a single set of assemblies will exist for all combinations. And the VS2010 designer/toolbox issues should be resolved, too. Here is an excerpt from current (pre-release) “What’s New” document:
Technology
- Minimum platform requirement is now unified to .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 (Client Profile or Full).
- In most scenarios, it is now possible to use the QuickOPC.NET assemblies from .NET Framework 4 CLR without extra precautions (i.e. without setting useLegacyV2RuntimeActivationPolicy in the configuration file).
Packaging
- Using a special technique, mixed-mode assemblies (containing native code, separate for x86 and x64 platforms) have been merged into a single assembly that appears as MSIL assembly to the consumers. You can now reference the same assemblies without regard for the target platform.
- Applications with QuickOPC.NET can now be built for “Any CPU” platform, without differentiating between 32-bit and 64-bit targets.
- The Visual Studio designer limitation (allowing only 32-bit components be loaded to the designer) no longer matters, also as result of the above assembly merging.
- Assemblies have been restructured (i.e. the product is now made of different assemblies as compared to Version 5.11), and assembly names have been made consistent, now always starting with “OpcLabs” prefix.
The only downside to these changes is that the structure of the assemblies has changed, i.e. existing projects will have to reference different assemblies. This is a small change, but it also affects all examples etc. Unfortunately there was no way of keeping the existing structure if I wanted to improve the developer’s experience.
Version 5.12 will be released in the similar timeframe as QuickOPC-UA 1.00, i.e. December 2011-January 2012. It should be free of charge to Version 5.1x users. I would therefore suggest that the customer waits until this release. Alternatively, I can provide a “pre-release” of Version 5.12 already. Let me know.
Best regards,
