'Server is not declared' .net server.createobject error

Question

I'm trying to convert an old VB6 file into a VB.net (which I have never used before) one... I'm getting an error on this line:

Dim JMail As Object
JMail = Server.CreateOBject("JMail.Message")

saying 'Server is not declared'

I have:

Imports System.Web

at the top - which I thought gave me access To Server.CreateObject???

Oh man, Server.CreateObject brings back (mostly bad) memories of ASP Classic and VB6 development at my first job. I do no envy your situation of needing to port this over. Best of luck — Jason Sperske
– Jason Sperske, Commented Mar 12, 2013 at 17:36
You know that JMail has a .net version which would allow you to use more idiomatic .net code dimac.net/default2.asp?M=Products/MenuDOTNET.asp&P=Products/… — Jason Sperske
– Jason Sperske, Commented Mar 12, 2013 at 18:14

Mike Christensen · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-12 19:28:45Z

1

There's not really a direct equivalent to Server.CreateObject in .NET since everything is strongly typed, though you might be able to use System.Type.GetTypeFromProgID and invoke various methods using InvokeMember (Ick). Something like:

Type proxyType = System.Type.GetTypeFromProgID("JMail.Message");
object proxy = Activator.CreateInstance(proxyType);
object result = proxyType.InvokeMember("MemberName",
   // System.Reflection.BindingFlags
   null,
   proxy,
   // An object array with your parameters for this call
);

The best solution is probably to create a COM wrapper around your library, and reference it in your solution.

If you could provide some more details about what exactly your code does, perhaps someone could suggest a native way to accomplish that in .NET. For example, if you're just trying to send email or something, there's a million ways to do that in .NET.

Update: Just get JMail.NET, no need to deal with old ActiveX libraries anymore.

edited Mar 12, 2013 at 19:28

answered Mar 12, 2013 at 17:34

Mike Christensen

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5 Comments

Jason Sperske Over a year ago

What about Activator.CreateInstance? msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/… (full declaimer, I don't have an environment where I can test if this will help, just googling)

Mike Christensen Over a year ago

@JasonSperske - Sure, but you'll still be calling InvokeMember and what not, since the compiler can't resolve the type information. The proxy implementation would be doing all this internally, and the typelib importer will generate all that code for you.

Jason Sperske Over a year ago

Rightness has been restored, I'm glad I haven't added to the problem of too much legacy code in production :)

tree Over a year ago

I'm trying to read a pop mail server...? any suggestions on how to not use JMAIL as this is not working.

Mike Christensen Over a year ago

@tree - The best solution is gonna be upgrading to the .NET version of JMail :) Trust me, trying to muck with ActiveX/COM libraries in .NET code is not fun. Unless you're an expert, or one owes you a favor, I would stay away from that.

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