Running 32-bit dll on 64-bit machine in java
You cannot use a 32-bit DLL in a 64-bit Hotspot JVM. It won't work. And I don't know of any other 64-bit JVM that supports 32-bit DLLs.
Indeed, as Peter Lawrey points out, this is not just a JVM limitation. No mainstream operating system allows an application running in 64-bit mode to load and use a 32-bit library.
Your choices are:
- Switch to a 32-bit JVM. (You can run a 32bit JVM on a 64-bit OS ...)
- Port the DLL to 64-bit.
- Switch to an alternative library that is pure Java, or has a 64-bit DLL.
I have tried running in a 32-bit VM, which works in eclipse, but when I export the project, I get the same error.
That can only mean that you are running a 32-bit JVM to run the application within Eclipse, and a 64-bit JVM to run the application outside of Eclipse. (The issue is how you run the application, not how you export it ...)
The only way to use a 32-bit shared library from a 64-bit JVM is to run an additional 32-bit JVM and access it via RMI, JMS or some form of messaging.
Its an intrinsic limitation of 64-bit programs (not just Java) that it cannot exchange pointers with a 32-bit library.