I'm a C# programmer who hasn't used C++ since the pre-.Net days.
I have a C# .Net DLL that I use with other C# programs. In the calling program in Visual Studio I simply do an "Add Resource..." and a Using" statement in the code that calls into it and voilà! there it is.
Now I have a customer who wants to access our DLL in a Visual Studio 2010 C++ (CLI) program. So I want to make a practice C++ program that uses our DLL. What's the equivalent of Add Reference in a C++/CLI project and what do I put in the program to expose the namespace for my DLL? Where does the DLL have to physically be? In the Solution Explorer in Visual Studio for the C++ project I don't see the same things as I do in a C# project.
Right click on the project in Visual Studio, and select "References". You should have a dialog with a few references already attached ("System" and a few others perhaps). Click "Add New Reference" and browse to the assembly (or project if it's in the same solution) that you want to use.
Have you read the knowledgebase on calling native (.net) code from c++? It is about Visual Studio 2005, but the process should be the same.
How to call a managed DLL from native Visual C++ code in Visual Studio.NET or in Visual Studio
And there is a related (identical) question on here as well:
using c# dll in project c++
Edit since I missed the bit where it's about a managed C++ project:
How to add references to a managed Visual C++ project
.NET references
.NET references point to shared assemblies. For example, the assembly System.Windows.Forms.dll is a standard assembly for accessing the Windows Forms classes. In order to use this assembly in a Managed C++ application, you simply have to reference it with a #using preprocessor directive, as shown here:
#using <System.Windows.Forms.dll>
Related
So i have one C# desktop application that references a C++ dll. This dll project was developped by other persons, it can't be compiled on visual studio, I use NMake with the parameter -DCMAKE_BUILB=Debug to generate the .dll & .PDB files. I copied the files on the C# project reference folder and enabled Debugging of Unmanaged Code in the project properties. So im actualy able to debug unmanaged code from the dll. My issue is that i can't inspect any of the object nor the variables im lokking in the unmanaged code side. The visual studio contextual inspector doen't show when I passe my mouse on the objects/variables & when trying to add a spy it's not better. I need to see the values of the objects/variables from the unmanaged code to make sure it doen't do anything wrong.
Note : a coworker of mine had already opened a thread here How add spy on Visual studio using unmanaged code
But sadly the thread was closed for lack of details, so I tried to add more details to describe the issue.
Pls don't close this one
Inspect unmanaged C++ objects/variables on Visual studio 2017
Suggestion
Update 1
Please make sure that you have installed the C++ development and C# development workload in VS Installer. That's all the premises.
1) when you reference the path of the dll, make sure that the pdb file already exists under the reference folder(the folder where you referenced the dll) and then use DLLImport node to import the c++ functions.
2) Tools-->Options-->Debugging-->General-->check the option Used Managed Compatibility Mode
3) Right-click on your C# project-->Properties---> Debugging-->check the option Enable native code debugging
Also, check Allow unsafe code option under Build.
4) also, if your c++ dll is built with x64 platform, you should also use x64 platform to debug your c# main project.
In addition, you can refer to this similar issue for more detailed info.
We have a collection of C# functions (in a DLL) that are to be passed over COM, to be easily access from Visual Studio via the "Add Reference" feature. I've setup the registry such that it indeed shows it under Extensions when clicking Add Reference on a Visual Studio C# project.
However, the C# COM DLL calls on a C++ DLL. When I create a test C# project and then click "Add Reference" to add my C# COM DLL, it succeeds in adding the class, but does not include the C++ DLL, thus causing it to fail in the build process.
Manually adding the C++ DLL into the output causes it to function properly, but it would be nice to be able to click "Add Reference" and all of the necessary files are built into the output.
I followed the instructions here, creating the proper entry in the registry to the folder where both the C++ DLL and the C# DLL are located, but it doesn't seem to include it when simply clicking "Add Reference."
How would I go about getting my desired results? Note that the C++ DLL does not use any COM interface, it is just a standard DLL that exports functions and the C# COM DLL uses DllImport to access them.
Assume we have WPF/C# Project called A (A.exe).
It's using DLL built with C++/CLI ;which is project B (B.Dll)
And project B depends upon project D, which also a DLL built with native C/C++( D.Dll).
Simply A.exe -> uses B.Dll -> uses D.Dll
Here is my native environment is - Windows 10 ,Visual Studio 2017 ,Visual C/C++ 141 .NET 4.6.1/4.7.1.
Note that C++/CLI (CLR) project is a wrapper for native C/C++ functions, which means it's being used as a mediator between native C/C++ and WPF/C# and also all projects built under one Visual Studio Solution, therefore respective project was added as reference to other project.
Startup program is A.exe as mentioned above which is WPF/C# project.
Problem is I cannot debug C/C++ while running the project through Visual Studio 2017.
Following things I have already tried:
Set up working directory to built path(All DLLs,PDBs and exe there) in all projects.
Set up Symbol path in Visual Studio 2017.
Set Debugger Type to Mixed within respective projects (under Project properties -> Debugging).
Set(checked) Use Managed Compatibility Mode(under Visual Studio Debug->Options->Debugging).
Set(checked) Enable native code debugging option in WPF project(Project properties->Debug->Debugger engines).
I couldn't break the execution at least on single breakpoint marked on C++ code.
Please help to solve this issue.
Thank you.
Target output file name for each project should be differ,
else firstly loaded module's symbols will be visible to debugger.
In my case A and D had similar target out file names(not implies project names). Since A is the target executable,its pdb overwrites Projects D's pdb.
Nevertheless,it's wise to configure things I mentioned in my questions.
I have been trying to monitor video memory for a highly performance intensive program.
So I used the NVIDIA CUDA libraries in a C++ Visual Studio Application to collect the data I need.
Unfortunately I need a package that can be used with Ruby, C# and the Software Testing tools my company has.
So I decided to compile a C++ DLL and import it into a C# Visual Studio Project for testing.
I was able to compile the DLL but importing it into my Visual C# Program has been an issue.
I right Click on References -> Add Reference. Then I click on the Browse tab and browse to the location of my DLL; "TestProgram.dll" and I click "OK"
Then I get the following Error message "A reference to C:.... could not be added. Please make sure that the file is accessible, and that it is a valid assembly or COM component."
What I have tried so far:
1. Importing the DLL from several different locations on my system.
2. Moving the DLL into my Solution Explorer and importing it
3. Using the "Invoke" method: [DllImport("PathToMyDll")]
4. Using the "Invoke" method with just my dll name.
5. Typing 'using' path to my DLL
6. Exporting the dll as a .lib file instead
What am I doing wrong? I thought that if I exported a DLL using Visual Studio 2010 then surely that same DLL could be Added into a Visual Studio 2010 project.
Well, is it a valid Assembly or COM component? Just because it's a C++ DLL doesn't mean it can be used with just a reference, in fact, most can't. It needs to be a managed DLL or a COM object. If it's none of those, then you have to invoke unmanaged code from a managed assembly. That means defining each function in a stub.
More info here: how to call a C++ dll exported function from c#
Be aware, you also have to deal with 64/32 bit issues, since if the DLL is compiled for 32 bit, you can't use it in a 64 bit application.
I found the solution to this problem. CUDA creates a Windows Console Application project. So the solution was to just use that instead of a DLL.
This worked well because Ruby, Test Complete and Visual C# can read the output from a basic .exe console program (with some work).
The compiled exe is simple. All I need to do is pass in an integer as an argument when I launch the program and the program will get the data I need from my NVIDIA card.
The challenge now will be finding a good way to interface with the .exe.
I'm working on a three projects.
The first one is a native C++ dll, let's name it as a native.dll.
The second is a C++/CLI dll (man.dll), which contains a bunch of wrapper functions (native.dll is statically linked).
Finally, the man.dll is used( as a reference) in a C# WinForm project. Everything work perfect, I can use a native function in C#, but after a couple(!) builds (in debug mode) the C# project, I can't recompile native.dll, I can't even delete this file because Windows says that the file is being in use by Visual Studio.
Why?
I'm working in Visual Studio 2010.
Virus scanner can definately cause problems but in my experience they tend to be intermittent.
Have you tried the obvious things:
- restart visual studio?
- logout then back in?
- reboot?
Silly as it sounds in this day and age - sometimes it really can be that simple...