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Return function value from dll c++ to c# [duplicate]

I have a C++ function that produces a list of rectangles that are interesting. I want to be able to get that list out of the C++ library and back into the C# application that is calling it.
So far, I'm encoding the rectangles like so:
struct ImagePatch{
int xmin, xmax, ymin, ymax;
}
and then encoding some vectors:
void MyFunc(..., std::vector<int>& rectanglePoints){
std::vector<ImagePatch> patches; //this is filled with rectangles
for(i = 0; i < patches.size(); i++){
rectanglePoints.push_back(patches[i].xmin);
rectanglePoints.push_back(patches[i].xmax);
rectanglePoints.push_back(patches[i].ymin);
rectanglePoints.push_back(patches[i].ymax);
}
}
The header for interacting with C# looks like (and works for a bunch of other functions):
extern "C" {
__declspec(dllexport) void __cdecl MyFunc(..., std::vector<int>& rectanglePoints);
}
Are there some keywords or other things I can do to get that set of rectangles out? I found this article for marshalling objects in C#, but it seems way too complicated and way too underexplained. Is a vector of integers the right way to do this, or is there some other trick or approach?

The STL is a C++ specific library, so you cant directly get it across as one object to C#.
The one thing that is guaranteed about std::vector is that &v[0] points to the first element and all the elements lie linearly in memory (in other words, its just like a C array in terms of memory layout)
So marshal as array of int... which shouldn't be hard - There are lot of examples on the web.
Added
Assuming you only pass the data from C++ to C# :
C# cannot handle a C++ vector object, so do not try passing it by reference : Instead your C++ code must return a pointer to an array of ints...
If you are not going to be using this function from multiple threads, you can use static storage :
int *getRects(bool bClear)
{
static vector<int> v; // This variable persists across invocations
if(bClear)
{
v.swap(vector<int>());
}
else
{
v.clear();
// Fill v with data as you wish
}
return v.size() ? &v[0] : NULL;
}
call getRects(true) if the returned data is significant in size, so you release the memory in v.
For simplicity, instead of passing out the size of the vector data too, just put a sentinel value at the end (like say -1) so the C# code can detect where the data ends.

Yes. You can. Actually, not just std::vector, std::string, std::wstring, any standard C++ class or your own classes can be marshaled or instantiated and called from C#/.NET.
Wrapping a std::vector<any_type> in C# is indeed possible with just regular P/Invoke Interop, it is complicated though. even a std::map of any type can be done in C#/.NET.
public class SampleClass : IDisposable
{
[DllImport("YourDll.dll", EntryPoint="ConstructorOfYourClass", CharSet=CharSet.Ansi, CallingConvention=CallingConvention.ThisCall)]
public extern static void SampleClassConstructor(IntPtr thisObject);
[DllImport("YourDll.dll", EntryPoint="DestructorOfYourClass", CharSet=CharSet.Ansi, CallingConvention=CallingConvention.ThisCall)]
public extern static void SampleClassDestructor(IntPtr thisObject);
[DllImport("YourDll.dll", EntryPoint="DoSomething", CharSet=CharSet.Ansi, CallingConvention=CallingConvention.ThisCall)]
public extern static void DoSomething(IntPtr thisObject);
[DllImport("YourDll.dll", EntryPoint="DoSomethingElse", CharSet=CharSet.Ansi, CallingConvention=CallingConvention.ThisCall)]
public extern static void DoSomething(IntPtr thisObject, int x);
IntPtr ptr;
public SampleClass(int sizeOfYourCppClass)
{
this.ptr = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(sizeOfYourCppClass);
SampleClassConstructor(this.ptr);
}
public void DoSomething()
{
DoSomething(this.ptr);
}
public void DoSomethingElse(int x)
{
DoSomethingElse(this.ptr, x);
}
public void Dispose()
{
if (this.ptr != IntPtr.Zero)
{
// The following 2 calls equals to "delete object" in C++
// Calling the destructor of the C++ class will free the memory allocated by the native c++ class.
SampleClassDestructor(this.ptr);
// Free the memory allocated from .NET.
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(this.ptr);
this.ptr = IntPtr.Zero;
}
}
}
Please see the below link,
C#/.NET PInvoke Interop SDK
(I am the author of the SDK tool)
Once you have the C# wrapper class for your C++ class ready, it is easy to implement ICustomMarshaler so that you can marshal the C++ object from .NET.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.runtime.interopservices.icustommarshaler.aspx

I'm pretty sure you can't do this. You have to be able to translate the C++ code directly to a C# class, so you would at least have to replicate the internals of the vector class to marshall it correctly. I'm also pretty sure you won't be able to move references across the boundary, you'll have to use IntPtr (raw pointers). The approach that i know works is to marshall a raw array of the structs.

Passing struct array pointer from c# to c++

I have a c++ dll from a third party, I can't modify.
I've made a c++ wrapper to call the functions inside that c++ dll.
That wrapper is called from a C# class with IJW.
It works well with natives types, but I ran into a struct array problem.
This is the c++ wrapper class :
int Helper::GetCameras(cameraStruct * cameraArray, size_t * size)
{
return originalC++Dll_getCameraList(cameraArray, size);
}
And the C# call :
var ret = m_Helper.GetCameras(pointer, size);
Do I need to redefine the "cameraStruct" in c# like this ?
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
public class aivusdk_cameraInfo
{
public int blabla;
}
To use it like with a pointer in the C# function, or is it another way of doing it (mashalling), or am I completly wrong ?
Forgive my bad english and thanks for your response.

The primary reason to use IJW is to avoid all the hassle of trying to define parallel structures in your C# code using StructLayout and calling all that stuff in the Marshal class. If you are going to go to that trouble, you may as well do everything using P/Invoke.
One approach would be to define, in your C# assembly, an interface that will be implemented by the c++/clr assembly and a managed class containing properties corresponding to the interesting fields of the cameraStruct structure.
public interface IHelper
{
public void GetCameras(IList<Camera> cameras);
public Picture TakePicture(Camera camera);
public void LoseCamera(Camera camera);
}
public class Camera
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public int BlaBla { get; set; }
}
The Helper class in your c++/clr assembly would implement the IHelper interface. The implementation of the GetCameras method would call originalDLL_getCameraList with a locally allocated array of cameraStruct. It would then iterate over the returned cameras and gcnew a Camera object for each one. It would copy the information from the cameraStruct to the Camera object and then add the Camera object to the cameras list. The locally allocated cameraStruct array can then be freed.
One issue is that the c++/clr project must have a build dependency (reference) to the C# project. The C# project cannot have a reference to the c++/clr project. For your C# code to get a Helper object, you could dynamically load the c++/clr assembly from the C# assembly and use reflection to create a Helper object that you cast to an IHelper.
You can turn that relationship around, but that means defining more in c++/clr and less in C#. (For example, you would need to define the Camera class in the c++/clr assembly.) I prefer to define things using C# when practical.

You need to allocate unmanaged memory for the array that you can pass to the API.
This is how I would do that:
// the input here is a managed C# array
public IntPtr AllocateNativeArray(CameraInfo[] myArray)
{
if (myArray == null || myArray.Count == 0)
return IntPtr.Zero;
// building native structures
var nativeArray = new Aivusdk_CameraInfo[myArray.Length];
for (int i = 0; i < myArray.Length; i++)
{
// TODO: fill properties
}
// allocating unmanaged memory and marshaling elements
int elementSize = Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(Aivusdk_CameraInfo));
IntPtr result = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(nativeArray.Length * elementSize);
for (int i = 0; i < nativeArray.Length; i++)
{
Marshal.StructureToPtr(nativeArray[i], new IntPtr((long)result + i * elementSize), false);
}
return result;
}
After calling the C++ API you might need to free the array (unless the C++ part does that):
private static void FreeNativeArray(IntPtr address, uint length)
{
if (address== IntPtr.Zero)
return;
int elementSize = Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(Aivusdk_CameraInfo));
for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)
{
Marshal.DestroyStructure(new IntPtr((long)address + i * elementSize), typeof(Aivusdk_CameraInfo));
}
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(address);
}

System.AccessViolationException while marshaling from native to managed by implementing ICustomMarshaler

Somehow the continuation to the question I recently posted, I've a nasty System.AccessViolationException while trying to marshal from native to managed (by using ICustomMarshaler), which I do not understand. Here a sample code that reproduce the error (**). The C++ side:
typedef struct Nested1{
int32_t n1_a; // (4*)
char* n1_b;
char* n1_c;
} Nested1;
typedef struct Nested3{
uint8_t n3_a;
int64_t n3_b;
wchar_t* n3_c;
} Nested3;
typedef struct Nested2{
int32_t n2_a;
Nested3 nest3;
uint32_t n2_b;
uint32_t n2_c;
} Nested2;
typedef struct TestStruct{
Nested1 nest1; // (2*)
Nested2 nest2;
} TestStruct;
void ReadTest(TestStruct& ts)
{
ts.nest2.n2_c = 10; // (3*)
}
On the C# side a fake TestStruct just to show the error and the ICustomMarshaler implementation:
class TestStruct{};
[DllImport("MyIOlib.dll", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
extern static void ReadTest([Out, MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.CustomMarshaler, MarshalTypeRef = typeof(CustomMarshaler))]TestStruct ts);
class CustomMarshaler : ICustomMarshaler
{
public static ICustomMarshaler GetInstance(string Cookie) { return new CustomMarshaler(); }
public object MarshalNativeToManaged(IntPtr pNativeData)
{
return new TestStruct();
}
public void CleanUpNativeData(IntPtr pNativeData)
{
} // (1*)
public int GetNativeDataSize() { return 40; }
public IntPtr MarshalManagedToNative(object ManagedObj)
{
TestStruct ts = (TestStruct)ManagedObj;
IntPtr intPtr = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(GetNativeDataSize());
return intPtr;
}
}
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
TestStruct ts = new TestStruct();
ReadTest(ts);
}
Now, I have the following:
with exactly this code I get a System.AccessViolationException just after line (1*);
if I comment out line (2*) or line (3*) I get no exception and everything works fine;
if I comment one among several other struct fields, e.g. line (3*) I get a "Managed Debugging Assistant 'FatalExecutionEngineError' has detected a problem in [...] This error may be a bug in the CLR or in the unsafe or non verifiable portions of user code. Common sources of this bug include user marshaling errors for COM-interop or PInvoke, which may corrupt the stack"
(**) I did an heavy editing of my original post because I think I've found an easier way to show the problem and leaving my previous text would have confused the reader. Hope is not a problem, however if previous readers want I can re-post my original text.

You need the In attribute as well as Out. Without the In attribute, MarshalManagedToNative is never called. And no unmanaged memory is allocated. Hence the access violation.
extern static void ReadTest(
[In, Out, MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.CustomMarshaler,
MarshalTypeRef = typeof(CustomMarshaler))]
TestStruct ts
);
Strictly speaking, the unmanaged code should use a pointer to the struct rather than a reference parameter. You can pass null from the managed code but that is then invalid as a C++ reference parameter.
void ReadTest(TestStruct* ts)
{
ts->nest2.n2_c = 10;
}

David Haffernan's reply (thanks a lot BTW!) is correct (so read that for the quick reply), here I add only a few considerations, which might be helpful for readers (even if I'm not an expert on the matter, so please take it with a pinch of salt). When MarshalManagedToNative is called to pass the struct to the native code (only [In] attribute), the code is something similar to:
public IntPtr MarshalManagedToNative(object managedObj)
{
IntPtr intPtr = MarshalUtils.AllocHGlobal(GetNativeDataSize());
// ...
// use Marshal.WriteXXX to write struct fields and, for arrays,
// Marshal.WriteIntPtr to write a pointer to unmanaged memory
// allocated with Marshal.AllocHGlobal(size)
return intPtr;
}
Now, when it is needed to read the struct from the native code as David Haffernan said we still need to allocate memory (it cannot be done on the native side as also Hans Passant suggested), hence the need to add also in this case the [In] attribute (aside the [Out] one).
However I need only the memory for the first level struct and not all the other memory for storing arrays (I have several memory consuming arrays), which is allocated on the native side (e.g. with malloc()) and should be freed later on (with a call to a method that uses free() to reclaim the native memory), hence I detect that MarshalManagedToNative is going to be used for that purpose using a public static variable in CustomMarshaler that I set once I know I need to read the struct from the native code (I understand it is not an elegant solution, but it helps me to save time):
public IntPtr MarshalManagedToNative(object managedObj)
{
IntPtr intPtr = MarshalUtils.AllocHGlobal(GetNativeDataSize());
if(readingFromNative) // this is my public static variable
return intPtr;
// ...
// use Marshal.WriteXXX to write struct fields and, for arrays, Marshal.WriteIntPtr
// to write a pointer to unmanaged memory allocated with Marshal.AllocHGlobal(size)
return intPtr;
}

Calling a C DLL from a C# Program

I need to pass a pointer to a structure to my DLL, any ideas how would I go about doing that?
In my C DLL:
typedef struct
{
int length;
unsigned char *value;
} Sample;
__declspec(dllexport) void __stdcall helloWorld( Sample *sample );
In my C# code:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
namespace CSharpConsole
{
class Program
{
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, Pack = 1)]
private struct Sample
{
public Int32 length;
// What Should I Declare Here?
}
[DllImport("C:\\CTestDLL.dll")]
private static extern void helloWorld( Sample sample ); // How would I make this a pointer?
void HelloWorld()
{
Sample sample = new Sample();
sample .length = 20;
// How can I fill up the values of value?
helloWorld( sample ); // How should I pass it inside here
return;
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Program program = new Program();
program.HelloWorld();
}
}
}

To pass a pointer to a value type into a P/Invoke function just declare the parameter as a ref or out. This implicitly takes a reference to the parameter and passes that:
[DllImport("C:\\CTestDLL.dll")]
private static extern void helloWorld(ref Sample sample);
Since your structure has an array in it, you'll have to take care to declare it properly for this to work. I strongly recommend, if possible, that you turn it into a fixed-length array, as it will make the marshaler much, much happier:
typedef struct
{
int length;
unsigned char value[MAX_LENGTH];
} Sample;
This becomes:
public struct Sample
{
int length;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPArray, SizeConst = MAX_LENGTH)] byte[] value;
}
If that is not possible, then the runtime has no way of knowing how much data to marshal back; in that case, you probably will have to resort to manual marshaling of your data:
public struct Sample
{
int length;
IntPtr value;
}
var sample = new Sample();
helloWorld(ref sample);
byte[] value = new byte[sample.length];
Marshal.Copy(sample.value, value, 0, sample.Length);
However, based on your comment to another answer, it looks like you just need to get a block of bytes out of the C DLL into C#. For that you don't really need a structure at all, and eliminating it would simplify things a lot. If you just want to pass in an array and have it filled in and returned to you, try something like this:
(This assumes you have control over both C and C# code bases; if not then the ref suggestion is the way to accomplish what you need.)
// In C# code:
[DllImport(#"C:\CTestDll.dll")]
private static extern void helloWorld(
int length,
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPArray, SizeParamIndex = 0)] byte[] buffer);
byte[] buffer = new byte[1024 * 8];
helloWorld(1024 * 8, buffer);
// In C:
__declspec(dllexport) void __stdcall helloWorld(int, unsigned char *);
void helloWorld(int cb, unsigned char *buf)
{
memcpy(buf, DATASRC, cb);
}
In C, an unsigned char is, by definition, the same size as a C# byte - 8 bits, no sign. In C#, a char is actually two bytes. The runtime will automatically "convert" an unsigned char * to a byte[] for you. (There's not really a conversion at all; they are just different names for the same type.)

Default Marshaling for Value Types - gives some information on marshalling structs.
Calling Win32 DLLs in C# with P/Invoke - a little over half way down the page there's a table showing the type conversions between the standard unmanaged and managed types.
There are a few ways to pass around and convert the types.
As Michael Edenfield pointed out you can generally just use the ref keyword to indicate that a parameter should by passed by reference which is basically a pointer.
However sometimes things don't cooperate, particularly when it comes to strings or complex data types so this is where the IntPtr type comes in.
You have a couple of options for using IntPtrs.
You can create an IntPtr to a block of unmanaged memory of a specified size using:
IntPtr pointer = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(sizeOfBufferInBytes);
//Do stuff with the pointer
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(pointer); //Don't forget to release the memory
This is obviously a bit dangerous because you're manually allocating unmanaged memory.
You'll need to Marshal the data from the buffer back into a managed type, using something like Marshal.Copy(), Marshal.PtrToStructure(), Buffer.BlockCopy(), etc.
Alternatively you can create a managed object and pin it in memory while you need to, get a pointer to it and pass that to your method.
MyObject instance = new MyObject();
GCHandle gch = GCHandle.Alloc(instance, GCHandleType.Pinned);
importedMethod(gch.AddrOfPinnedObject()); //AddrOfPinnedObject() gives you an IntPtr
gch.Free(); //Release the pinned memory so the garbage collector can deal with it
This avoids the necessity for manually marshalling back to the correct data type but this is not always an option depending on the type of MyObject and whether it's blittable.

This works for me:
DLL:
typedef struct
{
int length;
unsigned char *value;
} Sample;
extern "C" __declspec(dllexport) void __stdcall helloWorld( Sample *sample )
{
MessageBoxA(NULL, (LPCSTR) sample->value, (LPCSTR) sample->value, 0);
}
C#:
class Program
{
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, Pack = 1)]
private class Sample
{
public Int32 length;
public String value;
}
[DllImport("C:\\Users\\Kep\\Documents\\Visual Studio 2010\\Projects\\SODLL\\Debug\\DLL.dll")]
private static extern void helloWorld(Sample sample);
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Sample s = new Sample();
s.length = 10;
s.value = "Huhu";
helloWorld(s);
}
}
Important thing is to mark it as a class, not a struct in C#.
With this, you could also use constructors etc. in C#:
class Program
{
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, Pack = 1)]
private class Sample
{
public Int32 length;
public String value;
public Sample(String s)
{
length = s.Length;
value = s;
}
}
[DllImport("C:\\Users\\Kep\\Documents\\Visual Studio 2010\\Projects\\SODLL\\Debug\\DLL.dll")]
private static extern void helloWorld(Sample sample);
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Sample s = new Sample("Huhu");
helloWorld(s);
}
}

Using .NET with UnrealScript

UDK uses .NET. So maybe it is possible somehow to use .NET from UnrealScript?
It is really great to use C# with UnrealScript.
One certainly could build C++ layer to interact between .NET and UnrealScript which will use dllimport, but it is not the subject for this question.

So there seems to be no way to access .NET libraries directly from UnrealScript, but one can combine [DllExport] extension for C# and UnrealScript interop system to interact with .NET without intermediate C++ wrapper.
Lets look at simple example of exchanging with int, string, structure and filling UnrealScript String in C#.
1 Create C# class
using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using RGiesecke.DllExport;
namespace UDKManagedTestDLL
{
struct TestStruct
{
public int Value;
}
public static class UnmanagedExports
{
// Get string from C#
// returned strings are copied by UnrealScript interop system so one
// shouldn't worry about allocation\deallocation problem
[DllExport("GetString", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall]
[return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)]
static string GetString()
{
return "Hello UnrealScript from C#!";
}
//This function takes int, squares it and return a structure
[DllExport("GetStructure", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall]
static TestStructure GetStructure(int x)
{
return new TestStructure{Value=x*x};
}
//This function fills UnrealScript string
//(!) warning (!) the string should be initialized (memory allocated) in UnrealScript
// see example of usage below
[DllExport("FillString", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall]
static void FillString([MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] StringBuilder str)
{
str.Clear(); //set position to the beginning of the string
str.Append("ha ha ha");
}
}
}
2 Compile the C# code, say, as UDKManagedTest.dll and place to [\Binaries\Win32\UserCode] (or Win64)
3 On UnrealScript side one should place declarations of the functions:
class TestManagedDLL extends Object
DLLBind(UDKManagedTest);
struct TestStruct
{
int Value;
}
dllimport final function string GetString();
dllimport final function TestStruct GetStructure();
dllimport final function FillString(out string str);
DefaultProperties
{
}
Then one can use the functions.
The only trick is filling UDK string like it is shown in FillString method. Since we pass string as fixed length buffer, this string MUST be initialized. The length of initialized string MUST be more or equal to length C# will work with.
Further reading could be found here.