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Marshaling an IntPtr[] inside a struct causes midiStream functions to bug out, but unrolling the array to a bunch of fields works

I'm trying to use the Windows multimedia MIDI functions from C#. Specifically:
MMRESULT midiOutPrepareHeader( HMIDIOUT hmo, LPMIDIHDR lpMidiOutHdr, UINT cbMidiOutHdr );
MMRESULT midiOutUnprepareHeader( HMIDIOUT hmo, LPMIDIHDR lpMidiOutHdr, UINT cbMidiOutHdr );
MMRESULT midiStreamOut( HMIDISTRM hMidiStream, LPMIDIHDR lpMidiHdr, UINT cbMidiHdr );
MMRESULT midiStreamRestart( HMIDISTRM hms );
/* MIDI data block header */
typedef struct midihdr_tag {
LPSTR lpData; /* pointer to locked data block */
DWORD dwBufferLength; /* length of data in data block */
DWORD dwBytesRecorded; /* used for input only */
DWORD_PTR dwUser; /* for client's use */
DWORD dwFlags; /* assorted flags (see defines) */
struct midihdr_tag far *lpNext; /* reserved for driver */
DWORD_PTR reserved; /* reserved for driver */
#if (WINVER >= 0x0400)
DWORD dwOffset; /* Callback offset into buffer */
DWORD_PTR dwReserved[8]; /* Reserved for MMSYSTEM */
#endif
} MIDIHDR, *PMIDIHDR, NEAR *NPMIDIHDR, FAR *LPMIDIHDR;
From a C program, I can successfully use these functions, by doing the following:
HMIDISTRM hms;
midiStreamOpen(&hms, ...);
MIDIHDR hdr;
hdr.this = that; ...
midiStreamRestart(hms);
midiOutPrepareHeader(hms, &hdr, sizeof(MIDIHDR)); // sizeof(MIDIHDR) == 64
midiStreamOut(hms, &hdr, sizeof(MIDIHDR));
// wait for an event that is set from the midi callback when the playback has finished
WaitForSingleObject(...);
midiOutUnprepareHeader(hms, &hdr, sizeof(MIDIHDR));
The above calling sequence works and produces no errors (error checks have been omitted for readability).
For the purpose of using those in C#, I have created some P/Invoke code:
[DllImport("winmm.dll")]
public static extern int midiOutPrepareHeader(IntPtr handle, ref MidiHeader header, uint headerSize);
[DllImport("winmm.dll")]
public static extern int midiOutUnprepareHeader(IntPtr handle, ref MidiHeader header, uint headerSize);
[DllImport("winmm.dll")]
public static extern int midiStreamOut(IntPtr handle, ref MidiHeader header, uint headerSize);
[DllImport("winmm.dll")]
public static extern int midiStreamRestart(IntPtr handle);
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct MidiHeader
{
public IntPtr Data;
public uint BufferLength;
public uint BytesRecorded;
public IntPtr UserData;
public uint Flags;
public IntPtr Next;
public IntPtr Reserved;
public uint Offset;
//[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValArray, SizeConst = 8)]
//public IntPtr[] Reserved2;
public IntPtr Reserved0;
public IntPtr Reserved1;
public IntPtr Reserved2;
public IntPtr Reserved3;
public IntPtr Reserved4;
public IntPtr Reserved5;
public IntPtr Reserved6;
public IntPtr Reserved7;
}
The call sequence is the same as in C:
var hdr = new MidiHeader();
hdr.this = that;
midiStreamRestart(handle);
midiOutPrepareHeader(handle, ref header, headerSize); // headerSize == 64
midiStreamOut(handle, ref header, headerSize);
mre.WaitOne(); // wait until the midi playback has finished.
midiOutUnprepareHeader(handle, ref header, headerSize);
MIDI output works and the code produces no error (error checks are again omitted).
As soon as I uncomment the two lines with the array in MidiHeader, and instead remove the Reserved0 to Reserved7 fields, it doesn't work anymore. What happens is the following:
Everything is normal until and including midiStreamOut. I can hear the midi output. The playback length is correct. However, the event callback is never called when the playback ends.
At this point the value of MidiHeader.Flags is 0xe, indicating that the stream is still playing (even though the callback has been notified with the message that playback has finished). The value of MidiHeader.Flags should be 9, indicating that the stream has finished playing.
The call to midiOutUnprepareHeader fails with the error code 0x41 ("Cannot perform this operation while media data is still playing. Reset the device, or wait until the data is finished playing."). Note that resetting the device, as suggested in the error message, does in fact not fix the problem (neither does waiting or trying it multiple times).
Another variant that works correctly is if I use IntPtr instead of ref MidiHeader in the signatures of the C# declarations, and then manually allocate unmanaged memory, copying my MidiHeader structure onto that memory, and then using the allocated memory to call the functions.
Furthermore, I tried decreasing the size I'm passing to the headerSize argument to 32. Since the fields are reserved (and, in fact, didn't exist in previous version of the Windows API), they seemed to have no particular purpose anyway. However, this does not fix the problem, even though Windows should not even know that the array exists, and therefore it should not do anything. Commenting out the array entirely yet again fixes the problem (i.e., both the array as well as the 8 Reserved* fields are commented out, and the headerSize is 32).
This hints to me that the IntPtr[] Reserved2 cannot be marshaled correctly, and attempting to do so is corrupting other values. To verify that, I have created a Platform Invoke test project:
WIN32PROJECT1_API void __stdcall test_function(struct test_struct_t *s)
{
printf("%u %u %u %u %u %u %u %u\n", s->test0, s->test1, s->test2, s->test3, s->test4, s->test5, s->test6, s->test7);
for (int i = 0; i < sizeof(s->pointer_array) / sizeof(s->pointer_array[0]); ++i)
{
printf("%u ", ((uint32_t)s->pointer_array[i]) >> 16);
}
printf("\n");
}
typedef int32_t *test_ptr;
struct test_struct_t
{
test_ptr test0;
uint32_t test1;
uint32_t test2;
test_ptr test3;
uint32_t test4;
test_ptr test5;
uint32_t test6;
uint32_t test7;
test_ptr pointer_array[8];
};
Which is called from C#:
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
struct TestStruct
{
public IntPtr test0;
public uint test1;
public uint test2;
public IntPtr test3;
public uint test4;
public IntPtr test5;
public uint test6;
public uint test7;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValArray, SizeConst = 8)]
public IntPtr[] pointer_array;
}
[DllImport("Win32Project1.dll")]
static extern void test_function(ref TestStruct s);
static void Main(string[] args)
{
TestStruct s = new TestStruct();
s.test0 = IntPtr.Zero;
s.test1 = 1;
s.test2 = 2;
s.test3 = IntPtr.Add(IntPtr.Zero, 3);
s.test4 = 4;
s.test5 = IntPtr.Add(IntPtr.Zero, 5);
s.test6 = 6;
s.test7 = 7;
s.pointer_array = new IntPtr[8];
for (int i = 0; i < s.pointer_array.Length; ++i)
{
s.pointer_array[i] = IntPtr.Add(IntPtr.Zero, i << 16);
}
test_function(ref s);
Console.ReadLine();
}
And the output is as expected, hence the marshaling of the IntPtr[] pointer_array worked in this program.
I am aware that not using SafeHandle is suboptimal, however, when using that, the behavior of the MIDI functions when using the array is even weirder, so I chose to maybe tackle one problem at a time.
Why does using IntPtr[] Reserved2 cause an error?
Here is some more code to produce a complete example:
C Code
/*
* example9.c
*
* Created on: Dec 21, 2011
* Author: David J. Rager
* Email: djrager#fourthwoods.com
*
* This code is hereby released into the public domain per the Creative Commons
* Public Domain dedication.
*
* http://http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
*/
#include <windows.h>
#include <mmsystem.h>
#include <stdio.h>
HANDLE event;
static void CALLBACK example9_callback(HMIDIOUT out, UINT msg, DWORD dwInstance, DWORD dwParam1, DWORD dwParam2)
{
switch (msg)
{
case MOM_DONE:
SetEvent(event);
break;
case MOM_POSITIONCB:
case MOM_OPEN:
case MOM_CLOSE:
break;
}
}
int main()
{
unsigned int streambufsize = 24;
char* streambuf = NULL;
HMIDISTRM out;
MIDIPROPTIMEDIV prop;
MIDIHDR mhdr;
unsigned int device = 0;
streambuf = (char*)malloc(streambufsize);
if (streambuf == NULL)
goto error2;
memset(streambuf, 0, streambufsize);
if ((event = CreateEvent(0, FALSE, FALSE, 0)) == NULL)
goto error3;
memset(&mhdr, 0, sizeof(mhdr));
mhdr.lpData = streambuf;
mhdr.dwBufferLength = mhdr.dwBytesRecorded = streambufsize;
mhdr.dwFlags = 0;
// flags and event code
mhdr.lpData[8] = (char)0x90;
mhdr.lpData[9] = 63;
mhdr.lpData[10] = 0x55;
mhdr.lpData[11] = 0;
// next event
mhdr.lpData[12] = 96; // delta time?
mhdr.lpData[20] = (char)0x80;
mhdr.lpData[21] = 63;
mhdr.lpData[22] = 0x55;
mhdr.lpData[23] = 0;
if (midiStreamOpen(&out, &device, 1, (DWORD)example9_callback, 0, CALLBACK_FUNCTION) != MMSYSERR_NOERROR)
goto error4;
//printf("sizeof midiheader = %d\n", sizeof(MIDIHDR));
if (midiOutPrepareHeader((HMIDIOUT)out, &mhdr, sizeof(MIDIHDR)) != MMSYSERR_NOERROR)
goto error5;
if (midiStreamRestart(out) != MMSYSERR_NOERROR)
goto error6;
if (midiStreamOut(out, &mhdr, sizeof(MIDIHDR)) != MMSYSERR_NOERROR)
goto error7;
WaitForSingleObject(event, INFINITE);
error7:
//midiOutReset((HMIDIOUT)out);
error6:
MMRESULT blah = midiOutUnprepareHeader((HMIDIOUT)out, &mhdr, sizeof(MIDIHDR));
printf("stuff: %d\n", blah);
error5:
midiStreamClose(out);
error4:
CloseHandle(event);
error3:
free(streambuf);
error2:
//free(tracks);
error1:
//free(hdr);
return(0);
}
C# Code
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Linq;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading;
namespace MidiOutTest
{
class Program
{
[DllImport("winmm.dll")]
public static extern int midiStreamOpen(out IntPtr handle, ref uint deviceId, uint cMidi, MidiCallback callback, IntPtr userData, uint flags);
[DllImport("winmm.dll")]
public static extern int midiStreamOut(IntPtr handle, ref MidiHeader header, uint headerSize);
[DllImport("winmm.dll")]
public static extern int midiStreamRestart(IntPtr handle);
[DllImport("winmm.dll")]
public static extern int midiOutPrepareHeader(IntPtr handle, ref MidiHeader header, uint headerSize);
[DllImport("winmm.dll")]
public static extern int midiOutUnprepareHeader(IntPtr handle, ref MidiHeader header, uint headerSize);
[DllImport("winmm.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
public static extern int midiOutGetErrorText(int mmsyserr, StringBuilder errMsg, int capacity);
[DllImport("winmm.dll")]
public static extern int midiStreamClose(IntPtr handle);
public delegate void MidiCallback(IntPtr handle, uint msg, IntPtr instance, IntPtr param1, IntPtr param2);
private static readonly ManualResetEvent mre = new ManualResetEvent(false);
private static void TestMidiCallback(IntPtr handle, uint msg, IntPtr instance, IntPtr param1, IntPtr param2)
{
Debug.WriteLine(msg.ToString());
if (msg == MOM_DONE)
{
Debug.WriteLine("MOM_DONE");
mre.Set();
}
}
public const uint MOM_DONE = 0x3C9;
public const int MMSYSERR_NOERROR = 0;
public const int MAXERRORLENGTH = 256;
public const uint CALLBACK_FUNCTION = 0x30000;
public const uint MidiHeaderSize = 64;
public static void CheckMidiOutMmsyserr(int mmsyserr)
{
if (mmsyserr != MMSYSERR_NOERROR)
{
var sb = new StringBuilder(MAXERRORLENGTH);
var errorResult = midiOutGetErrorText(mmsyserr, sb, sb.Capacity);
if (errorResult != MMSYSERR_NOERROR)
{
throw new /*Midi*/Exception("An error occurred and there was another error while attempting to retrieve the error message."/*, mmsyserr*/);
}
throw new /*Midi*/Exception(sb.ToString()/*, mmsyserr*/);
}
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
IntPtr handle;
uint deviceId = 0;
CheckMidiOutMmsyserr(midiStreamOpen(out handle, ref deviceId, 1, TestMidiCallback, IntPtr.Zero, CALLBACK_FUNCTION));
try
{
var bytes = new byte[24];
IntPtr buffer = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(bytes.Length);
try
{
MidiHeader header = new MidiHeader();
header.Data = buffer;
header.BufferLength = 24;
header.BytesRecorded = 24;
header.UserData = IntPtr.Zero;
header.Flags = 0;
header.Next = IntPtr.Zero;
header.Reserved = IntPtr.Zero;
header.Offset = 0;
#warning uncomment if using array
//header.Reserved2 = new IntPtr[8];
// flags and event code
bytes[8] = 0x90;
bytes[9] = 63;
bytes[10] = 0x55;
bytes[11] = 0;
// next event
bytes[12] = 96;
bytes[20] = 0x80;
bytes[21] = 63;
bytes[22] = 0x55;
bytes[23] = 0;
Marshal.Copy(bytes, 0, buffer, bytes.Length);
CheckMidiOutMmsyserr(midiStreamRestart(handle));
CheckMidiOutMmsyserr(midiOutPrepareHeader(handle, ref header, MidiHeaderSize));
CheckMidiOutMmsyserr(midiStreamOut(handle, ref header, MidiHeaderSize));
mre.WaitOne();
CheckMidiOutMmsyserr(midiOutUnprepareHeader(handle, ref header, MidiHeaderSize));
}
finally
{
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(buffer);
}
}
finally
{
midiStreamClose(handle);
}
}
}
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct MidiHeader
{
public IntPtr Data;
public uint BufferLength;
public uint BytesRecorded;
public IntPtr UserData;
public uint Flags;
public IntPtr Next;
public IntPtr Reserved;
public uint Offset;
#if false
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValArray, SizeConst = 8)]
public IntPtr[] Reserved2;
#else
public IntPtr Reserved0;
public IntPtr Reserved1;
public IntPtr Reserved2;
public IntPtr Reserved3;
public IntPtr Reserved4;
public IntPtr Reserved5;
public IntPtr Reserved6;
public IntPtr Reserved7;
#endif
}
}

From the documentation of midiOutPrepareHeader:
Before you pass a MIDI data block to a device driver, you must prepare the buffer by passing it to the midiOutPrepareHeader function. After the header has been prepared, do not modify the buffer. After the driver is done using the buffer, call the midiOutUnprepareHeader function.
You are not adhering to this. The marshaller creates a temporary native version of your struct which lives for the duration of the call to midiOutPrepareHeader. Once midiOutPrepareHeader returns, the temporary native struct is destroyed. But the MIDI code still has a reference to it. And that's the key point, the MIDI code holds a reference to your struct and needs to be able to access it.
The version with the separately written fields works because that struct is blittable. And so the p/invoke marshaller optimises the call by pinning the managed structure which is binary compatible with the native structure. There's still a window of opportunity for the GC to relocate the struct before you call midiOutUnprepareHeader but it seems that you've not been caught out by that yet. Were you to persevere with the bittable struct you would need to pin it until you called midiOutUnprepareHeader.
So, the bottom line is that you need to provide a structure that lives until you call midiOutUnprepareHeader. Personally, I suggest that you use Marshal.AllocHGlobal, Marshal.StructureToPtr, and then Marshal.FreeHGlobal once midiOutUnprepareHeader returns. And obviously switch the parameters from ref MidiHeader to IntPtr.
I don't think I need to show you any code because it is clear from your question that you know how to do this stuff. Indeed the solution I propose is one that you've already tried and observed work. But now you know why!

Using GhostScript 9.10 in Windows with Unicode characters in parameters

I want to use Ghostscript in a .NET / C# application to convert a .tiff file to PDF.
My problem: When the file path contains non-ansi characters (e.g. Umlaute), the function
gsapi_init_with_args
fails. (With GS 8.x, it works fine!).
I found information that the behaviour was changed in 9.x, and I also found a function called
gsapi_init_with_argsW
And this function should work with .NET without any problems (see http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.comp.printing.ghostscript.cvs/31721)
So I use the following DLLImport:
[DllImport(#"gsdll32.dll")]
public static extern int gsapi_init_with_argsW( IntPtr instace, int argc, string[] argv);
but this still does not work, I get the error:
Error: /undefinedfilename
in (C:\\304NDERUNGEN\\TEST.PDF)
The name of the file schould be
C:\\ÄNDERUNGEN\\TEST.PDF
so the umlaut "Ä" is not recognized correctly.
I´ve search the web a lot but did not found a solution.
Any idea?
Thank you!

I suspect that you will need to use UTF-8 here. Make a call to gs_set_arg_encoding passing GS_ARG_ENCODING_UTF8.
Any strings that you pass to Ghostscript should be declared as IntPtr. To convert from a C# string to a null-terminated UTF-8 encoded string use this function provided by Hans Passant:
public static IntPtr NativeUtf8FromString(string managedString)
{
int len = Encoding.UTF8.GetByteCount(managedString);
byte[] buffer = new byte[len + 1]; // null-terminator allocated
Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(managedString, 0, managedString.Length, buffer, 0);
IntPtr nativeUtf8 = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(buffer.Length);
Marshal.Copy(buffer, 0, nativeUtf8, buffer.Length);
return nativeUtf8;
}
Make sure that you remember to clean up with a call to Marshal.FreeHGlobal.
The overall code might look a little like this:
public class Ghostscript
{
public const int GS_ARG_ENCODING_LOCAL = 0;
public const int GS_ARG_ENCODING_UTF8 = 1;
[DllImport("gsdll32.dll")]
private static extern int gsapi_new_instance(out IntPtr inst, IntPtr handle);
[DllImport("gsdll32.dll")]
private static extern int gsapi_set_arg_encoding(IntPtr inst, int encoding);
[DllImport("gsdll32.dll")]
private static extern int gsapi_init_with_args(IntPtr inst, int argc, IntPtr[] argv);
[DllImport("gsdll32.dll")]
private static extern int gsapi_exit(IntPtr inst);
[DllImport("gsdll32.dll")]
private static extern void gsapi_delete_instance(IntPtr inst);
private static void checkReturnValue(int retval)
{
if (retval != 0)
throw ...; // implement error handling here
}
public static void run(string[] argv)
{
IntPtr inst;
checkReturnValue(gsapi_new_instance(out inst, IntPtr.Zero));
try
{
IntPtr[] utf8argv = new IntPtr[argv.length];
for (int i=0; i<utf8argv.Length; i++)
utf8argv[i] = NativeUtf8FromString(argv[i]);
try
{
checkReturnValue(gsapi_set_arg_encoding(inst, GS_ARG_ENCODING_UTF8));
checkReturnValue(gsapi_init_with_args(inst, utf8argv.Length, utf8argv));
checkReturnValue(gsapi_exit(inst));
finally
{
for (int i=0; i<utf8argv.Length; i++)
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(utf8argv[i]);
}
}
finally
{
gsapi_delete_instance(inst);
}
}
}

C# call C++ DLL passing pointer-to-pointer argument

Could you guys please help me solve the following issue?
I have a C++ function dll, and it will be called by another C# application.
One of the functions I needed is as follow:
struct DataStruct
{
unsigned char* data;
int len;
};
DLLAPI int API_ReadFile(const wchar_t* filename, DataStruct** outData);
I wrote the following code in C#:
class CS_DataStruct
{
public byte[] data;
public int len;
}
[DllImport("ReadFile.dll", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl, CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
private static extern int API_ReadFile([MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)]string filename, ref CS_DataStruct data);
Unfortunately, the above code is not working... I guess that is due to the C++ func takes a pointer-to-pointer of DataStruct, while I just passed a reference of CS_DataStruct in.
May I know how can I pass a pointer-to-pointer to the C++ func? If it is not possible, is there any workaround? (the C++ API is fixed, so changing API to pointer is not possible)
Edit:
Memory of DataStruct will be allocated by c++ function. Before that, I have no idea how large the data array should be.
(Thanks for the comments below)

I used the following test implementation:
int API_ReadFile(const wchar_t* filename, DataStruct** outData)
{
*outData = new DataStruct();
(*outData)->data = (unsigned char*)_strdup("hello");
(*outData)->len = 5;
return 0;
}
void API_Free(DataStruct** pp)
{
free((*pp)->data);
delete *pp;
*pp = NULL;
}
The C# code to access those functions are as follows:
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
struct DataStruct
{
public IntPtr data;
public int len;
};
[DllImport("ReadFile.dll", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl, CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
unsafe private static extern int API_ReadFile([MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)]string filename, DataStruct** outData);
[DllImport("ReadFile.dll", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
unsafe private static extern void API_Free(DataStruct** handle);
unsafe static int ReadFile(string filename, out byte[] buffer)
{
DataStruct* outData;
int result = API_ReadFile(filename, &outData);
buffer = new byte[outData->len];
Marshal.Copy((IntPtr)outData->data, buffer, 0, outData->len);
API_Free(&outData);
return result;
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
byte[] buffer;
ReadFile("test.txt", out buffer);
foreach (byte ch in buffer)
{
Console.Write("{0} ", ch);
}
Console.Write("\n");
}
The data is now transferred to buffer safely, and there should be no memory leaks. I wish it would help.

It isn't necessary to use unsafe to pass a pointer to an array from a DLL. Here is an example (see the 'results' parameter). The key is to use the ref attribute. It also shows how to pass several other types of data.
As defined in C++/C:
#ifdef __cplusplus
extern "C" {
#endif
#ifdef BUILDING_DLL
#define DLLCALL __declspec(dllexport)
#else
#define DLLCALL __declspec(dllimport)
#endif
static const int DataLength = 10;
static const int StrLen = 16;
static const int MaxResults = 30;
enum Status { on = 0, off = 1 };
struct Result {
char name[StrLen]; //!< Up to StrLen-1 char null-terminated name
float location;
Status status;
};
/**
* Analyze Data
* #param data [in] array of doubles
* #param dataLength [in] number of floats in data
* #param weight [in]
* #param status [in] enum with data status
* #param results [out] array of MaxResults (pre-allocated) DLLResult structs.
* Up to MaxResults results will be returned.
* #param nResults [out] the actual number of results being returned.
*/
void DLLCALL __stdcall analyzeData(
const double *data, int dataLength, float weight, Status status, Result **results, int *nResults);
#ifdef __cplusplus
}
#endif
As used in C#:
private const int DataLength = 10;
private const int StrLen = 16;
private const int MaxThreatPeaks = 30;
public enum Status { on = 0, off = 1 };
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
public struct Result
{
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = StrLen)] public string name; //!< Up to StrLen-1 char null-terminated name
public float location;
public Status status;
}
[DllImport("dllname.dll", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall, EntryPoint = "analyzeData#32")] // "#32" is only used in the 32-bit version.
public static extern void analyzeData(
double[] data,
int dataLength,
float weight,
Status status,
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPArray, SizeConst = MaxResults)] ref Result[] results,
out int nResults
);
Without the extern "C" part, the C++ compiler would mangle the export name in a compiler dependent way. I noticed that the EntryPoint / Exported function name matches the function name exactly in a 64-bit DLL, but has an appended '#32' (the number may vary) when compiled into a 32-bit DLL. Run dumpbin /exports dllname.dll to find the exported name for sure. In some cases you may also need to use the DLLImport parameter ExactSpelling = true. Note that this function is declared __stdcall. If it were not specified, it would be __cdecl and you'd need CallingConvention.Cdecl.
Here is how it might be used in C#:
Status status = Status.on;
double[] data = { -0.034, -0.05, -0.039, -0.034, -0.057, -0.084, -0.105, -0.146, -0.174, -0.167};
Result[] results = new Result[MaxResults];
int nResults = -1; // just to see that it changes (input value is ignored)
analyzeData(data, DataLength, 1.0f, status, ref results, out nResults);

If you do call native code, make sure your structs are alligned in the memory. CLR does not guarantee alignment unless you push it.
Try
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Explicit)]
struct DataStruct
{
string data;
int len;
};
More info:
http://www.developerfusion.com/article/84519/mastering-structs-in-c/

Marshaling er Pinvoke Headache

I cannot seem to pass the right arguments correctly. I get
"Invalid Name Parsing buffer size" error
Lotus notes function in dname.h
STATUS LNPUBLIC DNParse(
DWORD Flags,
const char far *TemplateName,
const char far *InName,
DN_COMPONENTS far *Comp,
WORD CompSize);
structure below
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, Pack = 1)]
public struct DN_COMPONENTS
{
public int Flags;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)]
public string C;
public short OLength;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)]
public string O;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)]
public string CN;
};
c#
Below is what I have tried
Status sts = 0;
StringBuilder szServer = new StringBuilder(names.MAXUSERNAME);
string notUsedString = null;
DWORD notUsed = 0;
dname.DN_COMPONENTS xdDC = new DN_COMPONENTS();
sts = nnotesDLL.SECKFMGetUserName(szServer);
//IntPtr structPtr = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(dname.DN_COMPONENTS)));
//UInt16 num = Convert.ToUInt16(Marshal.SizeOf(structPtr));
//WORD num = Convert.ToUInt16(Marshal.SizeOf(structPtr));
int num = Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(DN_COMPONENTS));
IntPtr structPtr = Marshal.AllocCoTaskMem(num);
sts = nnotesDLL.DNParse(notUsed, notUsedString, szServer, structPtr, (UInt32)num);
this.xdDC = (dname.DN_COMPONENTS)Marshal.PtrToStructure(structPtr, typeof(dname.DN_COMPONENTS));
xdDC.CN = Decode(Marshal.ReadIntPtr(structPtr), ushort.MaxValue);
///CN=SomeFirstName SomeLastName/OU=Corp/O=test
I am looking for "SomeFirstName SomeLastName"
[DllImport("nnotes.DLL", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall)]
public unsafe static extern Status DNParse(DWORD notUsed, string notUsedString, StringBuilder InName, IntPtr structPtr, UInt32 structPtrSizeOf);
I have tried all variations by ref to all, ref to struct, changed to string, int, uint Nothing!!!
Help...
What I am looking for is CN=SomeFirstName SomeLastName/OU=Corp/O=test

The problems that I can see:
You did not declare all the fields in the struct.
It is unlikely that the struct is packed. Remove the Pack setting.
You need to declare the pointers in the struct as IntPtr. The marshaller cannot marshal them from native to managed. Declare them as IntPtr and use Marshal.PtrToStringAnsi to convert.

C++ unmanaged DLL in c#

I've been asked to intergrate webcam ZoneTrigger in my project. The SDK provided in the site is C++ also the sample. I've been able to get few functions to work. the place i've been stuck is a function where char* is a parameter passed. I did a lot of digging and have come to know that MarshalAs has to be used...
the function i'd like to import from
c++ code
//header file
struct ZT_TRIG_STRUCT
{
int aSize; //STRUCT size
int CameraIndex;
int SpotIndex;
int SpotType;
char SpotName[32];
DWORD Dummy[16];
};
typedef int (WINAPI *f_ZT_EnumerateHotSpots)(int SpotIndex, char *Name, int *SpotType);
/*
You application can call this functions to retrieve information about spots by iterating the SpotIndex param.
Name is a pointer to a 32 byte buffer supplied by your application.
SpotType is a pointer to an 32 bit integer in your application.
Return value:
0 = Success, the Name and SpotType have been initialized
1 = Error, we have lost communication with Zone Trigger
2 = Enumaration is over, all spots have been enumerated. Your application should increment SpotIndex until this function returns 2.
*/
//code
//Enumerate current spots in Zone Trigger
int i=0;
char SpotName[32];
int SpotType;
check = ZT_EnumerateHotSpots(i, SpotName, &SpotType);
while (check == 0)
{
float sensitivity = ZT_GetSensitivity(i);
printf("Zone Trigger spot: %s Sensitivity: %0.1f%%\r\n", SpotName, sensitivity*100);
check = ZT_EnumerateHotSpots(++i, SpotName, &SpotType);
}
So when converting to c#
[DllImport("ZTcom.dll")]
private static extern int ZT_EnumerateHotSpots(int i, [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)]ref string SpotName, ref int SpotType);
public unsafe struct ZT_TRIG_STRUCT
{
public int aSize; //STRUCT size
public int CameraIndex;
public int SpotIndex;
public int SpotType;
public string SpotName ;
//[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPStr, SizeConst = 256)] string SpotName;
// public IntPtr SpotName;
}
//In code
int i = 0;
string SpotName;
int SpotType;
check = ZT_EnumerateHotSpots(i, ref SpotName, ref SpotType);
the above line gives:
Exception of type 'System.ExecutionEngineException' was thrown.
ERROR.
i know that the problem is in SpotName,Its a byte[32], if i dont use marshalAs,instead i use just char it works n gives the first char..
the code where it works fine n gives first char is below
public unsafe struct ZT_TRIG_STRUCT
{
public int aSize; //STRUCT size
public int CameraIndex;
public int SpotIndex;
public int SpotType;
public char SpotName ;
}
[DllImport("ZTcom.dll")]
private static extern int ZT_EnumerateHotSpots(int i, ref char SpotName, ref int SpotType);
public char SpotName;
int i = 0;
check = ZT_EnumerateHotSpots(i, ref SpotName, ref SpotType);
while (check == 0)
{
float sensitivity = ZT_GetSensitivity(i);
textBox1.Text = textBox1.Text + "\r\n" +"Zone Trigger spot: " + SpotName + " Sensitivity: " + (sensitivity * 100).ToString();
check = ZT_EnumerateHotSpots(++i, ref SpotName, ref SpotType);
}
but if i put char[] it gives
Method's type signature is not Interop compatible. ERROR
i've run out of options here.... where have i gone wrong? should i use MarshalAs or char[]???
please help.....
thanks in Advance....

I can't see where you are using ZT_TRIG_STRUCT, but that should be declared like this:
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, CharSet=CharSet.Ansi)]
public struct ZT_TRIG_STRUCT
{
public int aSize;
public int CameraIndex;
public int SpotIndex;
public int SpotType;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst=32)]
public string SpotName;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValArray, SizeConst=16)]
public uint[] Dummy;
}
The other problem you have is in the declaration of ZT_EnumerateHotSpots. That should be:
[DllImport("ZTcom.dll", CharSet=CharSet.Ansi)]
private static extern int ZT_EnumerateHotSpots(
int SpotIndex,
StringBuilder SpotName,
out int SpotType
);
As I read it, SpotName is actually an out parameter, i.e. you supply a buffer and ZT_EnumerateHotSpots writes to it.
You then call this like so
int SpotIndex = 0;
StringBuilder SpotName = new StringBuilder(32);
int SpotType;
int result = ZT_EnumerateHotSpots(SpotIndex, SpotName, out SpotType);