exception/Exception clash using mixed dll in VB.NET

[Chris Baldwin]

Hello,

I'm having a problem with a mixed managed/unmanaged DLL. When I
attempt to reference "Exception" in my VB.NET code, it conflicts with
some other "exception" that gets somehow gets into the assembly.

This code reproduces the issue:

#using <System.dll>
// #include <vector> is in stdafx.h
#include "stdafx.h"

namespace ExceptionClash
{
public __gc class Class1
{
public:
System::String* SayHello()
{
return S"Hello";
}
};
}


And then, ExceptionClash.Class1 is used by this VB.NET code:

Imports ExceptionClash

Public Class Test
Public Shared Sub Main()
Dim o As New Class1
Try
Dim s As String
s = o.SayHello()
Console.WriteLine(s)
Catch ex As Exception
Console.WriteLine(ex.ToString())
End Try
End Sub
End Class

The error I get is upon compilation of the VB.NET code:

C:\temp\ExceptionClash\Debug\test.vb(14) : error BC30392: 'Catch'
cannot catch t
ype 'exception' because it is not 'System.Exception' or a class that
inherits fr
om 'System.Exception'.

If I view ExceptionClass.dll in ildasm, I see a type "exception" in
the root namespace. This is conflicting with System.Exception in
VB.NET. It seems to only happen when #include <vector> is in
stdafx.h. I am not sure where this other "exception" class is coming
from.

I can work around the issue by not using "Imports ExceptionClash" or
by specifying System.Exception instead of just Exception. But, I'm
looking for some understanding or a resolution as opposed to a
workaround.

Does anyone have any insight into this issue?

Thanks in advance,
Chris

 

[Ronald Laeremans [MSFT]]

Hi Chris,

Please look at the following reference:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;822330

Thanks.

Ronald Laeremans
Visual C++ team

 

[Chris Baldwin]

Ronald,

Thanks for the link. I should've mentioned in my first post that
we're compiling with VS2002. Knowing that, any other tips?

Thanks again,
Chris

 

[Ronald Laeremans [MSFT]]

VS 2002 does not have this behavior in the first place (it works as though
you would have specified /d1PrivateNativeTypes).

Can you sue ILDASM to look at the assembly you created to see exactly what
the definition of the exception object is you have in there?

VS 2002 really is not a great tool for creating MC++ applications. Is there
a specific reason why you have not upgraded to VC 2003 where many
significant issues have been fixed?

Ronald