wwtools/graccesscli/GRAccess-DLL-and-DotNet10-Notes.md

AVEVA GRAccess DLL and .NET 10 Notes

Date: 2026-04-26

Installed GRAccess files

Primary AVEVA/System Platform GRAccess files found on this machine:

Path	Purpose	Runtime / architecture
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\ArchestrA\Framework\Bin\GRAccess.dll	Main GRAccess COM in-process server	Native PE32 x86, file version 5200.0051.1991.1
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\ArchestrA\ArchestrA.GRAccess.dll	.NET COM interop assembly	IL-only, CLR v2 metadata, assembly version 2.0.0.0, file version 2000.0002.1957.1
C:\Windows\assembly\GAC\ArchestrA.GRAccess\2.0.0.0__23106a86e706d0ae\ArchestrA.GRAccess.dll	GAC copy of the interop assembly	Same assembly version 2.0.0.0
C:\Program Files (x86)\ArchestrA\Framework\Bin\GRAccessApp.exe	GRAccess COM out-of-process server	Native PE32 x86, file version 5200.0051.1991.1
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\ArchestrA\GRAccess20.tlb	Current GRAccess type library	COM metadata

Older type libraries are also installed in:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\ArchestrA

Files present:

• GRAccess10.tlb
• GRAccess11.tlb
• GRAccess111.tlb
• GRAccess12.tlb
• GRAccess13.tlb
• GRAccess14.tlb
• GRAccess15.tlb
• GRAccess16.tlb
• GRAccess17.tlb
• GRAccess18.tlb
• GRAccess19.tlb
• GRAccess20.tlb

AutoBuild-related GRAccess files:

Path	Purpose	Runtime / architecture
C:\Program Files (x86)\Wonderware\OI-Server\AutoBuild\Bin\ArchestrA.GRAccess.dll	AutoBuild interop assembly	IL-only, CLR v2 metadata, assembly version 1.8.0.0
C:\Program Files (x86)\Wonderware\OI-Server\AutoBuild\Bin\GRAccessUtility.dll	AutoBuild helper	Managed IL-only, references .NET Framework 4-era assemblies
C:\Program Files (x86)\Wonderware\OI-Server\AutoBuild\Bin\GRAccessProcess.exe	AutoBuild process helper	Managed IL-only, 32BITREQUIRED

COM registration

GRAccess / GRAccess.1

• CLSID: {40F5AD46-FE1A-4D0E-B92D-C643E8D2BDF3}
• Registered under the 32-bit COM registry view: HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Classes\CLSID\{40F5AD46-FE1A-4D0E-B92D-C643E8D2BDF3}
• In-process server: C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\ArchestrA\Framework\Bin\GRAccess.dll
• Threading model: Apartment

GRAccessApp / GRAccessApp.1

• CLSID: {949654D1-B9C0-468f-B43D-33431004297A}
• AppID: {604B52A4-FD85-4F02-9C53-C61B23D2039C}
• Local server: C:\Program Files (x86)\ArchestrA\Framework\Bin\GRAccessApp.exe
• TypeLib: {054F998C-9E20-425C-A69D-FCEA0F44442E}

The GRAccessApp type library registration points to:

C:\Program Files (x86)\ArchestrA\Framework\Bin\GRAccessApp.exe

ExportObjects TYPE_E_LIBNOTREGISTERED finding

IgObjects.ExportObjects(...) can fail with:

Library not registered. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8002801D (TYPE_E_LIBNOTREGISTERED))

Two separate issues were verified locally:

1. .NET publisher policy redirects ArchestrA.GRAccess to the GAC 2.0.0.0 interop assembly unless the CLI opts out. The CLI carries and builds against the local 1.7.0.0 interop assembly, which matches the working command surface. src/ZB.MOM.WW.GRAccess.Cli/App.config disables publisher policy for ArchestrA.GRAccess so the private assembly is used.
2. Late-bound reflection calls against IgObjects.ExportObjects can trigger type-library lookup failures even when the typed interface call works. Export/package fallback code should call the strongly typed IgObjects.ExportObjects(...), IgObjects.ExportObjectsAsProtected(...), and IgObjects.Add(...) methods instead of using InvokeMember.

After both fixes, this command successfully exports $TestMachine from ZB to an .aaPKG:

graccess objects export --galaxy ZB --node . --type template --name '$TestMachine' --output "$env:TEMP\TestMachine.aaPKG" --export-type exportAsPDF --confirm --confirm-target "$env:TEMP\TestMachine.aaPKG" --llm-json

.NET 10 / x64 compatibility notes

The installed AVEVA GRAccess stack is not a .NET 10, full-managed, x64-compatible DLL stack.

Key findings:

• GRAccess.dll is native PE32 x86. It cannot be loaded into a .NET 10 x64 process.
• ArchestrA.GRAccess.dll is an interop assembly, not the implementation. It contains mostly [ComImport] interfaces/classes such as IGRAccess, GRAccessClass, and GRAccessAppClass.
• The interop assembly uses old CLR metadata and references mscorlib, Version=1.0.5000.0.
• The in-process COM class GRAccess is registered only in the 32-bit COM view. Creating it from 64-bit PowerShell/.NET fails with REGDB_E_CLASSNOTREG / 0x80040154.
• The out-of-process COM class GRAccessApp can be created from a 64-bit process because COM can launch the 32-bit local server EXE.
• GRAccessApp.exe.config uses:

<startup useLegacyV2RuntimeActivationPolicy="true">
  <supportedRuntime version="v4.0"/>
</startup>

This is .NET Framework-era hosting/configuration, not .NET 10.

Native dependency imports

GRAccess.dll imports these native DLLs:

ADVAPI32.dll
ATL100.DLL
dbghelp.dll
KERNEL32.dll
MSVCP100.dll
MSVCR100.dll
ole32.dll
OLEAUT32.dll
Secur32.dll
SHLWAPI.dll
USER32.dll
WWPackageManager.DLL

GRAccessApp.exe imports:

ADVAPI32.dll
ATL100.DLL
dbghelp.dll
KERNEL32.dll
MSVCP100.dll
MSVCR100.dll
ole32.dll
OLEAUT32.dll
SHLWAPI.dll
USER32.dll

Practical options for a new .NET 10 project

For a .NET 10 x64 project, there are three realistic approaches:

1. Use GRAccessApp as an out-of-process COM bridge if its exposed API covers the required operations.
2. Build a 32-bit sidecar process that loads the native GRAccess COM stack, then expose a modern IPC API to .NET 10 x64.
3. Reimplement the needed GRAccess behavior in managed .NET 10 x64 using the type libraries and observed behavior as reference material.

Do not plan on directly referencing GRAccess.dll from .NET 10 x64. It is a 32-bit native COM server.