Unregistering an ATL DLL or .exe file that was built with a version of Visual C++ prior to Visual C++ 6.0 might result in an access violation (194180)


The information in this article applies to:

  • The Microsoft Active Template Library (ATL) 3.0, when used with:
    • Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Enterprise Edition 6.0
    • Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Professional Edition 6.0
    • Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Learning Edition 6.0
This article was previously published under Q194180

SYMPTOMS

Unregistering an ATL DLL or .exe file that was built with a version of Microsfot Visual C++ prior to Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 might result in an access violation when Atl.dll (version 3.00.8168) that ships with Visual C++6.0 is installed on the computer.

Running "REGSVR32.EXE /U" to unregister an ATL DLL might display the following error message:
DllUnregisterServer in <component.dll> failed. Return code was: 0xc0000005
Running an ATL .exe file with the "/Unregserver" switch may display a dialog box titled "OleMainThreadWndName: <server.exe> - Application Error", with the following error message:
The instruction at 0x00000000 referenced memory at 0x00000000. The memory could not be read.
The ATL server has to be of build type Release MinSize or Unicode Release MinSize.

CAUSE

In the version of Atl.dll that comes with Visual C++ 6.0, the _ATL_OBJMAP_ENTRY structure has an additional member called "pfnGetCategoryMap". During unregistration, AtlModuleUnregisterServerEx() tries to access this member, which does not exist for ATL servers built prior to Visual C++ 6.0, and the access violation occurs.

RESOLUTION

To work around this problem, use one of the following options:
  • Rebuild your server with Release MinDependency. This statically links in all the code that was in Atl.dll, so your server isn't dependent on it. Even for a 'Release MinDependency' atl.dll may need to be shipped. For more information about this, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    244955 ATL projects built for MinDependency need Atl.dll if the projects use ATL control containment code in Visual C++ 6.0

  • Rebuild your server with Visual C++ 6.0.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.
This bug was corrected in Visual Studio 6.0 Service Pack 3.

REFERENCES

For more informationabout Visual Studio service packs, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

194022 Visual Studio 6.0 service packs, what, where, why

194295 How to determine whether Visual Studio Service Pack is installed

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:9/2/2005
Keywords:kbBug kberrmsg kbFAQ kbfix kbRegistry kbVS600sp3fix KB194180
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