I have to use a method from a library that has the following signature in the header file:
NKREMOTELIB_API int __stdcall GetEvfFrame(
const unsigned char*& buffer,
size_t& size,
NKRemoteEvfDisplayInfo& displayInfo);
I am calling these from c# using the following:
[DllImport("NKRemoteLib.dll")]
public static extern int GetEvfFrame(out IntPtr buffer, out IntPtr size, out NKRemoteEvfDisplayInfo displayInfo);
private void Test() {
IntPtr size = new IntPtr();
IntPtr buffer = new IntPtr();
NKRemoteEvfDisplayInfo displayInfo;
int res = GetEvfFrame(out buffer, out size, out displayInfo);
}
I have displayInfo defined as a struct in c# as well.
My question is where there is any significance to the ampersand in the function signature in the header file? Why size_t& instead of size_t or char*& instead of char*?
This has nothing to do with C++/C# interop. It's actually about C++.
C++ has the concept of references. When you pass an object by reference, you are actually passing the object itself, and not just a copy. That means any modification to the object in the callee will appear in the caller. C# has a similar concept with the out and ref keywords.
You can test it that way:
void f(int i)
{
i = 5;
}
void g(int &i)
{
i = 5;
}
int i = 0, j = 0;
f(i);
g(j);
std::cout << i; // should print 0
std::cout << j; // should print 5
As to "why" there's an ampersand, well, it's probably because those are out parameters: that is, the caller wants the function to modify these values. This is done to circumvent the "single return value" restriction of C-like languages.
The ampersand denotes pass-by-reference semantics. In other words, the GetEvfFrame function is passed a reference to a size_t value, not the size_t value itself.
Your p/invoke signature should really use ref rather than out.
The ampersand (&) stands for "reference". This is basically the same as your c# out modifier.
Related
interoping nim dll from c# i could call and execute the code below
if i will add another function (proc) that Calls GetPacks() and try to echo on each element's buffer i could see the output in the C# console correctly
but i could not transfer the data as it is, i tried everything but i could not accomplish the task
proc GetPacksPtrNim(parSze: int, PackArrINOUT: var DataPackArr){.stdcall,exportc,dynlib.} =
PackArrINOUT.newSeq(parSze)
var dummyStr = "abcdefghij"
for i, curDataPack in PackArrINOUT.mpairs:
dummyStr[9] = char(i + int8'0')
curDataPack = DataPack(buffer:dummyStr, intVal: uint32 i)
type
DataPackArr = seq[DataPack]
DataPack = object
buffer: string
intVal: uint32
when i do same in c/c++ the type i am using is either an IntPtr or char*
that is happy to contain returned buffer member
EXPORT_API void __cdecl c_returnDataPack(unsigned int size, dataPack** DpArr)
{
unsigned int dumln, Index;dataPack* CurDp = {NULL};
char dummy[STRMAX];
*DpArr = (dataPack*)malloc( size * sizeof( dataPack ));
CurDp = *DpArr;
strncpy(dummy, "abcdefgHij", STRMAX);
dumln = sizeof(dummy);
for ( Index = 0; Index < size; Index++,CurDp++)
{
CurDp->IVal = Index;
dummy[dumln-1] = '0' + Index % (126 - '0');
CurDp->Sval = (char*) calloc (dumln,sizeof(dummy));
strcpy(CurDp->Sval, dummy);
}
}
c# signature for c code above
[DllImport(#"cdllI.dll", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl), SuppressUnmanagedCodeSecurity]
private static extern uint c_returnDataPack(uint x, DataPackg.TestC** tcdparr);
C# Struct
public unsafe static class DataPackg
{
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct TestC
{
public uint Id;
public IntPtr StrVal;
}
}
finally calling the function like so:
public static unsafe List<DataPackg.TestC> PopulateLstPackC(int ArrL)
{
DataPackg.TestC* PackUArrOut;
List<DataPackg.TestC> RtLstPackU = new List<DataPackg.TestC>(ArrL);
c_returnDataPack((uint)ArrL, &PackUArrOut);
DataPackg.TestC* CurrentPack = PackUArrOut;
for (int i = 0; i < ArrL; i++, CurrentPack++)
{
RtLstPackU.Add(new DataPackg.TestC() { StrVal = CurrentPack->StrVal, Id = CurrentPack->Id });
}
//Console.WriteLine("Res={0}", Marshal.PtrToStringAnsi((IntPtr)RtLstPackU[1].StrVal));//new string(RtLstPackU[0].StrVal));
return RtLstPackU;
}
how could i produce similar c code as above from Nim ?
it doesn't have to be same code, but same effect, that in c# i would be able to read the content of the string. for now, the int is readable but the string is not
Edit:
this is what i tried to make things simple
struct array of int members
Update:
it seem that the problem is to do with my settings of nim in my windows OS.
i will be updating as soon as i discover what exactly is wrong.
The string type in Nim is not equivalent to the C's const char* type. Strings in Nim are represented as pointers, pointing into a heap-allocated chunk of memory, which has the following layout:
NI length; # the length of the stored string
NI capacity; # how much room do we have for growth
NIM_CHAR data[capacity]; # the actual string, zero-terminated
Please beware that these types are architecture specific and they are really an implementation detail of the compiler that can be changed in the future. NI is the architecture-default interger type and NIM_CHAR is usually equivalent to a 8-bit char, since Nim is leaning towards the use of UTF8.
With this in mind, you have several options:
1) You can teach C# about this layout and access the string buffers at their correct location (the above caveats apply). An example implementation of this approach can be found here:
https://gist.github.com/zah/fe8f5956684abee6bec9
2) You can use a different type for the buffer field in your Nim code. Possible candidates are ptr char or the fixed size array[char]. The first one will require you to give up the automatic garbage collection and maintain a little bit of code for manual memory management. The second one will give up a little bit of space efficiency and it will put hard-limits on the size of these buffers.
EDIT:
Using cstring may also look tempting, but it's ultimately dangerous. When you assign a regular string to a cstring, the result will be a normal char * value, pointing to the data buffer of the Nim string described above. Since the Nim garbage collector handles properly interior pointers to allocated values, this will be safe as long as the cstring value is placed in a traced location like the stack. But when you place it inside an object, the cstring won't be traced and nothing prevents the GC from releasing the memory, which may create a dangling pointer in your C# code.
Try to change your struct to:
public unsafe static class DataPackg
{
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct TestC
{
public uint Id;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPStr)]
public String StrVal;
}
}
With C/C++ DLL SDK fun,like this:
INT CmdGetAllLog( BYTE *bStream, UINT16 *nCount, const UINT8 nblk )
but in project use c#,I do it with:
[DllImport("C:\\PrBioApi.dll", EntryPoint = "CmdGetAllLog")]
private static extern bool CmdGetAllLog(IntPtr bStream, ref UInt16 nCount, byte nblk);
and I use it with:
int nMallocSize = Marshal.SizeOf(new LOG_RECORD()) * stuSystem.wLogCnt + 4096;
byte[] pRecord = new byte[nMallocSize];
IntPtr p = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(Marshal.SizeOf(nMallocSize));
Marshal.Copy(pRecord, 0, p, pRecord.Length);
bGetSucc = CmdGetAllLog(p, ref nGet, nBlk++);
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(p);
but it did not work.
would anyone can help me ?thanks.
Your code which copies between the managed array, and the unmanaged pointer, is in the wrong place. It would need to be after the call to the unmanaged function.
But you may as well let the p/invoke marshaller do the work for you:
[DllImport(#"C:\PrBioApi.dll")]
private static extern bool CmdGetAllLog(
byte[] bStream,
ref ushort nCount,
byte nblk
);
int nMallocSize = ...;
byte[] pRecord = new byte[nMallocSize];
bool bGetSucc = CmdGetAllLog(pRecord, ref nGet, nBlk++);
Because a byte array is blittable then the marshaller will just pin your array during the call and hand it off to the native code.
I'm assuming that the other two parameters are passed correctly. Since you did not specify any more details of the interface, they could well be wrong. I'd guess that nGet is used to tell the function how big the buffer is, and to return how much was copied to it by the function. I cannot see where you specify nGet in the question. I'm trusting that you got that bit right.
Some other comments:
You may need to specify a calling convention in the DllImport attribute. Is the native code cdecl perhaps?
The return value is INT in the native code but you've mapped it to bool. That probably is fine if the protocol is that non-zero return means success. But if the return value indicates more than that then you'd clearly need to use int. Personally I'd be inclined to use int and stay true to the native.
I have a 3rd party C library which one of its exported method's is as follows:
#define MAX_INDEX 8
int GetStuff(IN char* index[MAX_INDEX], OUT char* buf, IN size_t size);
The first argument is populated with pointers into the buf argument where specific strings are stored. The size indicates how long each string is expected to be in the buf buffer. My C# P/Invoke method for this currently looks like this:
[DllImport("Path/To/Dll", CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
private static extern int GetStuff(IntPtr indecies, IntPtr buf, Int32 size);
The C# P/Invoke method is private because I'm wrapping it's functionality in a public "getter" method which handles the allocation/deallocation of memory for the caller. When I use this method in C++, iterating is quite simple actually. I simply do something like:
char* pIndecies[MAX_INDEX];
char* pBuffer = new char[MAX_INDEX * (256 + 1)]; // +1 for terminating NULL
GetStuff(pIndecies, pBuffer, 256);
// iterate over the items
for(int i(0); i < MAX_INDEX; i++) {
if(pIndecies[i]) {
std::cout << "String for index: " << i << " " << pIndecies[i] << std::endl;
}
}
Because of how these are used in C++, I decided I should probably use IntPtr objects and just allocate the memory that I'll need from the heap, call into the native code, and iterate over it the way I would in C++. Then I remembered that chars in C# are unicode characters and not ASCII characters. Would iteration in C# work the same even if I placed the iteration in an unsafe code block? My first thought was to do the following:
IntPtr pIndecies = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(MAX_INDEX * 4); // the size of a 32-pointer
IntPtr pBuffer = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(MAX_INDEX * (256 + 1)); // should be the same
NativeMethods.GetStuff(pIndecies, pBuffer, 256);
unsafe {
char* pCStrings = (char*)pIndecies.ToPointer();
for(int i = 0; i < MAX_INDEX; i++) {
if(pCStrings[i])
string s = pCStrings[i];
}
}
My question then is, "How should I iterate over what this native code method returns?" Is this the right way to marshal to this function? Should I use a StringBuilder object for the second argument? One constraining problem is that the first argument is a 1:1 mapping of a structure behind the GetStuff() method. The value of each index is crucial for understanding what you're looking at in the second buffer argument.
I appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks,
Andy
I think you are on the right track, but I'd do it without using unsafe code. Like this:
[DllImport("Path/To/Dll", CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
private static extern int GetStuff(IntPtr[] index, IntPtr buf, Int32 size);
....
IntPtr[] index = new IntPtr[MAX_INDEX];
IntPtr pBuffer = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(MAX_INDEX * 256 + 1);
try
{
int res = NativeMethods.GetStuff(index, pBuffer, 256);
// check res for errors?
foreach (IntPtr item in index)
{
if (item != IntPtr.Zero)
string s = Marshal.PtrToStrAnsi(item);
}
}
finally
{
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(pBuffer);
}
This is a pretty direct translation of your C++ version.
From safe, managed code in C#, I would like to call a function in a C API that receives an array of pointers (void**).
I have the corresponding managed array of IntPtr objects, but the Marshal methods advertised in the documentation at MSDN do not seem sufficient to provide an IntPtr to an unmanaged block of memory with the correct content.
I had hoped to obtain an IntPtr with 'Marshal.AllocHGlobal' and then assign the correct content using 'Marshal.Copy', but it seems the function has not been overloaded for an array of IntPtr.
Any thoughts on the best way to do this?
Thanks in advance.
The P/Invoke marshaller already does this, you don't have to help. Just declare the function argument as an array:
[DllImport("blah.dll")]
private static extern void SomeFunction(IntPtr[] array);
Just in case: although you don't have to use the unsafe keyword here, there isn't anything safe about it. The C code can easily corrupt the heap when it writes past the end of the block you allocated.
Pass the array as an IntPtr[], IntPtr are by default marshaled as void*. No
need for unsafe.
[DllImport("containingFoo.dll")]
public static extern void foo( IntPtr[] ptr);
...
// some floats
float[] fpa = {7.2F, 2.3F, 3.3F, 4.5F, 6.5F};
// allocate unmanaged for float[] fpa and int (length of array)
IntPtr fptr = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(fpa.Length *
Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(float)));
IntPtr iptr = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(int)));
// set length of array
Marshal.WriteInt32(iptr, fpa.Length);
// copy the array
Marshal.Copy(fpa, 0, fptr, fpa.Length);
// strore both pointers in IntPtr[]
IntPtr[] pptr = {fptr, iptr};
// call foo passing the IntPtr[] to C
foo(pptr);
//C/C++
// note that stdcall is the default calling convention when using
PInvoke!!!!
void __stdcall foo(void** data)
{
float * fa = (float*)*data; // first element points to float array
int *ip = (int*)data + 1; // pointer to next element in void array
int *pp = (int*)*ip; // get pointer to int
for (int i = 0; i < *pp ; i++)
{
printf("\t: %f\n", *fa++);
}
}
I have the following C++ method :
__declspec(dllexport) void __stdcall getDoubles(int *count, double **values);
the method allocates and fills an array of double and sets *count to the size of the array.
The only way i managed to get this to work via pinvoke is :
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.DllImportAttribute("xx.dll")]
public static extern void getDoubles(ref int count, ref System.IntPtr values);
and usage is :
int count = 0;
IntPtr doubles = new IntPtr();
Nappy.getDoubles(ref count, ref doubles);
double[] dvs = new double[count];
for(int i = 0;i < count;++{
dvs[i] = (double)Marshal.PtrToStructure(doubles, typeof(System.Double));
doubles = new IntPtr(doubles.ToInt64()+Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(System.Double)));
}
the values end up in the dvs array.
Is there a better way ti do this not invloving pointer arithmetic in a managed language...
I think you can use
Marshal.Copy( source, destination, 0, size );
You'll need to change the unmanaged method signature so it reads like this:
__declspec(dllexport) void __stdcall getDoubles(SAFEARRAY *array);
Then you should be able to use the following managed version of the function:
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.DllImportAttribute("xx.dll")]
public static extern void getDoubles(
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.SafeArray, SafeArraySubType=VT_R8)]
double[] array
);
Of course that you'll also have to rewrite your unmanaged code to work with SAFEARRAYs.
More about this topic can be found at MSDN.
One question though, I recall working with ZLib in C# which is able, without any wrapper, to work with byte[] while the unmanaged counterpart is BYTE*, have you tried working directly with double* / double[] ?