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ActivateActCtx (kernel32)
 
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Summary
The ActivateActCtx function activates the specified activation context. It does this by pushing the specified activation context to the top of the activation stack. The specified activation context is thus associated with the current thread and any appropriate side-by-side API functions.

C# Signature:

[DllImport("Kernel32.dll", SetLastError=true)]
[return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
private static extern bool ActivateActCtx(IntPtr hActCtx, out IntPtr lpCookie);

VB Signature:

Private Declare Function ActivateActCtx Lib "Kernel32" (ByVal hActCtx As IntPtr, _
                    <Out()> ByVal lpCookie As IntPtr) As Boolean
<Out()> ByVal lpCookie As IntPtr) As Boolean

User-Defined Types:

None.

Alternative Managed API:

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Notes:

None.

Tips & Tricks:

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Sample Code:

MFC automatically manages activation context switching for fusion/winsxs support.

Interop dll's don't. I had to add support for this in our application. To do so, define

these adt's and values:

[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]

    private struct ACTCTX
    {
    public int cbSize;
    public uint dwFlags;
    public string lpSource;
    public ushort wProcessorArchitecture;
    public ushort wLangId;
    public string lpAssemblyDirectory;
    public UInt16 lpResourceName;
    public string lpApplicationName;
    }

    private const uint ACTCTX_FLAG_PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_VALID = 0x001;
    private const uint ACTCTX_FLAG_LANGID_VALID = 0x002;
    private const uint ACTCTX_FLAG_ASSEMBLY_DIRECTORY_VALID = 0x004;
    private const uint ACTCTX_FLAG_RESOURCE_NAME_VALID = 0x008;
    private const uint ACTCTX_FLAG_SET_PROCESS_DEFAULT = 0x010;
    private const uint ACTCTX_FLAG_APPLICATION_NAME_VALID = 0x020;
    private const uint ACTCTX_FLAG_HMODULE_VALID = 0x080;

    private const uint RT_MANIFEST = 24;
    private const uint CREATEPROCESS_MANIFEST_RESOURCE_ID = 1;
    private const uint ISOLATIONAWARE_MANIFEST_RESOURCE_ID = 2;
    private const uint ISOLATIONAWARE_NOSTATICIMPORT_MANIFEST_RESOURCE_ID = 3;


To create the context:

private bool EnsureActivateContextCreated()
    {
    string rgchFullModulePath = null;
    rgchFullModulePath = System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location;

    actCtx = new ACTCTX();
    actCtx.cbSize = Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(ACTCTX));
    actCtx.dwFlags = ACTCTX_FLAG_RESOURCE_NAME_VALID;
    actCtx.lpSource = rgchFullModulePath;
    actCtx.lpResourceName = ISOLATIONAWARE_MANIFEST_RESOURCE_ID;

    hActCtx = CreateActCtx(ref actCtx);
    contextCreationSucceeded = (hActCtx != new IntPtr(-1));

    if (!contextCreationSucceeded)
    {
        actCtx.lpResourceName = ISOLATIONAWARE_NOSTATICIMPORT_MANIFEST_RESOURCE_ID;
        hActCtx = CreateActCtx(ref actCtx);
        contextCreationSucceeded = (hActCtx != new IntPtr(-1));
    }
    if (!contextCreationSucceeded)
    {
        actCtx.lpResourceName = CREATEPROCESS_MANIFEST_RESOURCE_ID;
        hActCtx = CreateActCtx(ref actCtx);
        contextCreationSucceeded = (hActCtx != new IntPtr(-1));
    }

    return contextCreationSucceeded;
    }

Now, in all your function calls, call Activate and Deactivate to get the fusion manifest of you file!

Read up on the "Programming the Context Activation API" at msdn for more info.

Documentation

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