Develop Reference

P/Invoke Returning Array of Structs with string fields

i use p/invoke to return an array of "DN_OPstruct"s from my unmanaged code:
struct DN_OPstruct {
const char* TargetNode_Identifier;
const char* Name;
int TargetNode_NamespaceIndex;
...
};
EXTERN_C UA_EXPORT_WRAPPER_IMPORT int getOpToArr(const char* _rootGuid, DN_OPstruct ** array, int * arraySizeInElements){
std::list<UA_Ref_and_TargetNode> uaList;
uaList = getLisT(...)
*arraySizeInElements = uaList.size();
int bytesToAlloc = sizeof(DN_OPstruct) * (*arraySizeInElements);
DN_OPstruct * a = static_cast<DN_OPstruct*>(CoTaskMemAlloc(bytesToAlloc));
*array = a;
for (UA_Ref_and_TargetNode &i: uaList){
DN_OPstruct iterOp;
iterOp = getOp(...);
opList.push_back(iterOp);
}
return 1;
}
My managed Code looks like this:
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
public struct DN_OPstruct
{
private IntPtr TargetNode_Identifier;
private IntPtr NamePtr;
public string Guid
{
get { return Marshal.PtrToStringAnsi(TargetNode_Identifier); }
set { TargetNode_Identifier = Marshal.StringToHGlobalAnsi(value); }
}
public string Name
{
get { return Marshal.PtrToStringAnsi(NamePtr); }
set { NamePtr = Marshal.StringToHGlobalAnsi(value); }
}
public int TargetNode_NamespaceIndex;
...
};
[DllImport(#"...", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl,
EntryPoint = "getOpToArr",
ExactSpelling = true, CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
public static extern int getOpToArr([MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPStr)]string myNodeGuid,
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPArray, SizeParamIndex = 2)] out DN_OPstruct[] array, out int arraySizeInElements);
If i'm trying to call the method, i will jump in the unmanaged code and can debug it through sucessfully and i get an array with my DN_OPstructs back. However, if i read out its fields like .Name or .Guid, i get this error:
First-chance exception at 0x000007fefd921757 in (...).exe: 0xC0000005:
Access violation reading location 0xffffffffffffffff.
If there is a handler for this exception, the program may be safely
continued.
I tried to add "ArraySubType = UnmanagedType.LPStruct" to my method declaration; it did not help.

public static extern int getOpToArr(
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPStr)]
string myNodeGuid,
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPArray, SizeParamIndex = 2)]
out DN_OPstruct[] array,
out int arraySizeInElements
);
The problem is the second parameter. The unmanaged code cannot synthesise a managed .net array. You need to declare the p/invoke like this:
public static extern int getOpToArr(
string myNodeGuid,
out IntPtr arrayPtr,
out int arrayLen
);
Then you will need to use Marshal.PtrToStructure to marshal the elements of the array to a managed array.
IntPtr arrayPtr;
int arrayLen;
int retval = getOpToArr(nodeGuid, out arrayPtr, out arrayLen);
// check retval
IntPtr ptr = arrayPtr;
DN_OPstruct[] arr = new DN_OPstruct[arrayLen];
for (int i = 0; i < arrayLen; i++)
{
arr[i] = (DN_OPstruct)Marshal.PtrToStructure(ptr, typeof(DN_OPstruct));
ptr += Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(DN_OPstruct));
}
I'm also a little sceptical of the properties in your struct. Why do you have setters as well as getters? It doesn't look like the data flows in that direction. And the unmanaged code that you use shows allocation with CoTaskMemAlloc which doesn't match StringToHGlobalAnsi. So even though I doubt that you should be writing settings and so perhaps should remove the calls to StringToHGlobalAnsi, I also suspect there is confusion over the allocator that you are using.
Do note that the code in your question gives no evidence of how you allocated the array which is returned to the caller. So, for all we know, there could be a problem in that part of the code.

C# to C++ process with WM_COPYDATA passing struct with strings

From a c# program I want to use WM_COPYDATA with SendMessage to communicate with a legacy c++/cli MFC application.
I want to pass a managed struct containing string objects.
I can find the handle to the c++ application for use with SendMessage fine.
The bit I don't know about is how the struct and it's strings can be marshalled and read at the other end. Especially as it contains non-blittables.
Do people think this is feasible?
I'll continue to work on it, but would apprecite someone who's done this sort of thing telling me if it just isn't going to work.
Here is some demo code if it was a c++/cli program and it's not difficult to get it working.
However, I'd like this to be in a .Net class library so it can easily be re-used.
//Quick demonstation code only, not correctly styled
int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance,
HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,
LPSTR lpCmdLine,
int nCmdShow)
{
struct MessageInfo
{
int nVersion;
char szTest[ 10 ];
};
MessageInfo sMessageInfo;
sMessageInfo.nVersion = 100;
strcpy( sMessageInfo.szTest, "TEST");
COPYDATASTRUCT CDS;
CDS.dwData = 1; //just for test
CDS.cbData = sizeof( sMessageInfo );
CDS.lpData = &sMessageInfo;
//find running processes and send them a message
//can't just search for "MYAPP.exe" as will be called "MYAPP.exe *32" on a 64bit machine
array<System::Diagnostics::Process^>^allProcesses = System::Diagnostics::Process::GetProcesses();
for each (System::Diagnostics::Process^ targetProcess in allProcesses)
{
if (targetProcess->ProcessName->StartsWith("MYAPP", System::StringComparison::OrdinalIgnoreCase))
{
HWND handle = static_cast<HWND>(targetProcess->MainWindowHandle.ToPointer());
BOOL bReturnValue = SendMessage( handle, WM_COPYDATA, (WPARAM)0, (LPARAM)&CDS ) == TRUE;
}
}
return 0;
}

I have it working.
A simple approach is to serialize the struct to a single string and transfer a string.
The swhistlesoft blog was helpful http://www.swhistlesoft.com/blog/2011/11/19/1636-wm_copydata-with-net-and-c
This may be enough to provide the simple messaging.
The struct can be re-constructed at the other end if necessary.
If a struct with any number of strings is to be marshalled as-is then it must be a fixed size, that's the main thing I wasn't getting.
The
MarshalAs(System.Runtime.InteropServices.UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 9)
basically sets the size to match the c++ size which in our case is a TCHAR szTest[ 9 ];
In order to transfer a .Net struct via WM_COPYDATA from c# to c++(/cli) I had to do as follows:
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = System.Runtime.InteropServices.CharSet.Auto)]
static extern IntPtr SendMessage(IntPtr hWnd, UInt32 Msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam);
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = System.Runtime.InteropServices.CharSet.Auto)]
static extern bool SetForegroundWindow(IntPtr hWnd);
public static uint WM_COPYDATA = 74;
//from swhistlesoft
public static IntPtr IntPtrAlloc<T>(T param)
{
IntPtr retval = System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.AllocHGlobal(System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.SizeOf(param));
System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.StructureToPtr(param, retval, false);
return (retval);
}
//from swhistlesoft
public static void IntPtrFree(IntPtr preAllocated)
{
if (IntPtr.Zero == preAllocated) throw (new Exception("Go Home"));
System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.FreeHGlobal(preAllocated);
preAllocated = IntPtr.Zero;
}
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.StructLayout(System.Runtime.InteropServices.LayoutKind.Sequential)]
struct COPYDATASTRUCT
{
public uint dwData;
public int cbData;
public IntPtr lpData;
}
/// <summary>
/// Dot net version of AppInfo structure. Any changes to the structure needs reflecting here.
/// struct must be a fixed size for marshalling to work, hence the SizeConst entries
/// </summary>
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.StructLayout(System.Runtime.InteropServices.LayoutKind.Sequential, Pack = 1)]
struct AppInfoDotNet
{
public int nVersion;
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.MarshalAs(System.Runtime.InteropServices.UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 9)]
public string test;
};
To send a string:
COPYDATASTRUCT cd = new COPYDATASTRUCT();
cd.dwData = 2;
cd.cbData = parameters.Length + 1;
cd.lpData = System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.StringToHGlobalAnsi(parameters);
IntPtr cdBuffer = IntPtrAlloc(cd);
messageReceived = ((int)SendMessage(targetProcess.MainWindowHandle, WM_COPYDATA, IntPtr.Zero, cdBuffer)) != 0;
To receive string in C++:
else if(pCDS->dwData == 2)
{
//copydata message
CString csMessage = (LPCTSTR)pCDS->lpData;
OutputDebugString("Copydata message received: " + csMessage);
}
To send struct:
AppInfoDotNet appInfo = new AppInfoDotNet();
appInfo.test = "a test";
COPYDATASTRUCT cds3;
cds3.dwData = 1;
cds3.cbData = System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.SizeOf(appInfo);
IntPtr structPtr = System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.AllocCoTaskMem(System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.SizeOf(appInfo));
System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.StructureToPtr(appInfo, structPtr, false);
cds3.lpData = structPtr;
IntPtr iPtr = System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.AllocCoTaskMem(System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.SizeOf(cds3));
System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.StructureToPtr(cds3, iPtr, false);
messageReceived = ((int)SendMessage(targetProcess.MainWindowHandle, WM_COPYDATA, IntPtr.Zero, iPtr)) != 0;
System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(iPtr);
System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(structPtr);
To receive struct in C++:
LRESULT CMainFrame::OnCopyData( WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam )
{
LRESULT lResult = FALSE;
COPYDATASTRUCT *pCDS = (COPYDATASTRUCT*)lParam;
//Matching message type for struct
if(pCDS->dwData == 1)
{
AppInfo *pAppInfo = (AppInfo*)pCDS->lpData
lResult = true;
}
Please note this is demo code and needs work in terms of styling, exception handling etc, etc...

From the documentation:
The data being passed must not contain pointers or other references to objects not accessible to the application receiving the data.
So you need to pack your string into COPYDATASTRUCT.lpData. If you have a max length for each string then you can embed it in a fixed length structure
typedef struct tagMYDATA
{
char s1[80];
char s2[120];
} MYDATA;
If you have only one variable length string you can put the string at the end and use a header followed by string data
typedef struct tagMYDATA
{
int value1;
float value2;
int stringLen;
} MYDATAHEADER;
MyCDS.cbData = sizeof(MYDATAHEADER)+(int)stringData.size();
MyCDS.lpData = new BYTE[MyCDS.cbData];
memcpy(MyCDS.lpData,&dataHeader,sizeof*(MYDATAHEADER);
StringCbCopyA (
((BYTE*)MyCDS.lpData)+sizeof*(MYDATAHEADER)
,stringData.size()
,stringData.c_str());
If you have multiple variable length strings you can still use a header and allocate more spaces for every strings plus a double null terminator, or serialize everything into one XML string.

AccessViolation

I keep getting an AccessViolationException when calling the following from an external C DLL:
short get_device_list(char ***device_list, int *number_of_devices);
I set up a DLLImport declaration as such:
[DLLImport("mydll.dll")]
static public extern short get_device_list([MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPArray)] ref string[] devices, ref int number_of_devices);
My C# application code:
{
string[] devices = new string[20];
int i = 0;
short ret = 0;
ret = get_device_list(ref devices, ref i); // I receive the AccessViolation Exception here
// devices[0] = "2255f796e958f7f31a7d2e6b833d2d426c634621" which is correct.
}
Although I receive the exception, the device array gets filled correctly with the 2 UUIDs of the devices connected (and also gets resized to size = 2; i is also 2;).
What is wrong?
PS: After a long research I also tried:
[DLLImport("mydll.dll")]
static public extern short get_device_list(ref IntPtr devices, ref int number_of_devices);
and
{
IntPtr devices = new IntPtr();
int i = 0;
short ret = 0;
ret = get_device_list(ref devices, ref i); // No AccessViolation Exception here
string b = Marshal.PtrToStringAuto(devices); // b = "歀ׄ", which is incorrect
}
but that did not help me.
Thanks in advance!

[DLLImport("mydll.dll")]
static public extern short get_device_list(out IntPtr devices,
out int number_of_devices);
Is the best way to tackle this. The memory is allocated and owned on the native side of the interface. The trick is how to get at it. Something like this should work.
static public string[] getDevices()
{
IntPtr devices;
int deviceCount;
short ret = get_device_list(out devices, out deviceCount);
//need to test ret in case of error
string[] result = new string[deviceCount];
for (int i=0; i<deviceCount; i++)
{
IntPtr ptr = (IntPtr)Marshal.PtrToStructure(devices, typeof(IntPtr));
result[i] = Marshal.PtrToStringAnsi(ptr);
devices += IntPtr.Size;//move to next element of array
}
return result;
}
Your code was using PtrToStringAuto but that's going to interpret the data as UTF-16 encoded. But your C++ code uses char* which is 8 bit ANSI. So you need PtrToStringAnsi. OK, there's an assumption here that the encoding is not UTF-8, but that's a detail I cannot provide. It's easy enough to adapt this to UTF-8.
You should also double check that the native code uses the stdcall calling convention and isn't using cdecl.

Edit:
Ok I think I know the problem in your second attempt.
{
IntPtr devices = new IntPtr();
int i = 0;
short ret = 0;
ret = get_device_list(ref devices, ref i); // No AccessViolation Exception here
string b = Marshal.PtrToStringAuto(devices); // b = "歀ׄ", which is incorrect
}
You try to convert a pointer to an array of strings to a string. You have to deference it first. Please check whether this works for you:
IntPtr devices = new IntPtr();
int numDevices = 0;
short ret = get_device_list(ref devices, ref numDevices); // No AccessViolation Exception here
for (int i=0; i<numDevices; i++)
{
IntPtr ptrToString = Marshal.ReadIntPtr(devices);
string deviceString = Marshal.PtrToStringAnsi(ptrToString);
devices += IntPtr.size;
Console.WriteLine(deviceString);
}

How to convert C# string[] to System.IntPtr?

I need to use a native dll struct in my application.
struct da_i2k_input_file_info in the dll .h file is
struct DA_I2K_EXPORT_API da_i2k_input_file_info {
const WDCHAR * image_path;
const WDCHAR ** image_files;
int num_images;
};
and this is what user code might look like if written in C++
in_file_info.num_images = 3;
in_file_info.image_files = new const WDCHAR*[in_file_info.num_images];
in_file_info.image_files[0] = WSTR("IMG_8670.JPG");
in_file_info.image_files[1] = WSTR("IMG_8671.JPG");
in_file_info.image_files[2] = WSTR("IMG_8672.JPG");
But this C# code
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct da_i2k_input_file_info
{
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPTStr)]
public string image_path;
public IntPtr image_files;
public int num_images;
}
var openFileDialog = new OpenFileDialog{Multiselect = true};
da_i2k_input_file_info in_file_info;
in_file_info.image_path = null; // use full path in .image_files
in_file_info.num_images = openFileDialog.FileNames.Length;
in_file_info.image_files = openFileDialog.FileNames;
Causes this error
Cannot implicitly convert type 'string[]' to 'System.IntPtr'
Casting openFileDialog.FileNames as IntPtr does not help.
How can I load in_file_info.image_files from openFileDialog.FileNames?
Edit: OP cross posted this here

I believe you need to change you struct to be as follows:
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct da_i2k_input_file_info
{
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPTStr)]
public string image_path;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPArray)]
public string[] image_files;
public int num_images;
}

A working answer was posted here.
Code follows.
(included by tomfanning)
private static void DoTest()
{
var openFileDialog = new OpenFileDialog { Multiselect = true };
da_i2k_input_file_info in_file_info;
openFileDialog.ShowDialog();
in_file_info.image_path = null; // use full path in .image_files
in_file_info.num_images = openFileDialog.FileNames.Length;
// Create an array of IntPtrs.
IntPtr[] image_files_array = new IntPtr[in_file_info.num_images];
// Each IntPtr array element will point to a copy of a
// string element in the openFileDialog.FileNames array.
for (int i = 0; i < openFileDialog.FileNames.Length; i++)
{
image_files_array[i] = Marshal.StringToCoTaskMemUni(openFileDialog.FileNames[i]);
}
// In order to obtain the address of the IntPtr array,
// we must fix it in memory. We do this using GCHandle.
GCHandle gch = GCHandle.Alloc(image_files_array, GCHandleType.Pinned);
// pimage_files will point to the head of the IntPtr array.
IntPtr pimage_files = gch.AddrOfPinnedObject();
// Set pimage_files as the value of the "image_files" field/
in_file_info.image_files = pimage_files;
// Call a Test API.
TestStructure(in_file_info);
// After the API is called, free the GCHandle.
gch.Free();
// Free each string contained in the IntPtr array.
for (int i = 0; i < openFileDialog.FileNames.Length; i++)
{
Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(image_files_array[i]);
}
}

Pinvoke C# from C++ dll using DLLimport in C#

C++ Function header in DLL this two function to get some information about the wifi stations around me using win mobile 6.5 device and i need to invoke them to use them in C# code
// (adapter names , pointer to destination buffer ,and the size , returned structs)
bool __declspec(dllexport) GetBBSIDs(LPWSTR pAdapter, struct BSSIDInfo *pDest, DWORD &dwBufSizeBytes, DWORD &dwReturnedItems);
bool __declspec(dllexport) RefreshBSSIDs(LPWSTR pAdapter);
bool __declspec(dllexport) GetAdapters(LPWSTR pDest, DWORD &dwBufSizeBytes);
C# sample
[DllImport(#"\Storage Card\Work\Beaad.dll", EntryPoint = "GetAdapters", SetLastError = true)]
public static extern bool getAdapters([MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] String buf, ref UInt32 dwBufSizeBytes);
[DllImport(#"\Storage Card\Work\Beaad.dll", EntryPoint = "RefreshBSSIDs", SetLastError = true)]
public static extern bool refreshBSSIDs([MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)]String buf);
[DllImport(#"\Storage Card\Work\Beaad.dll", EntryPoint = "GetBBSIDs", SetLastError = true)]
public static extern bool getBBSIDs([MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)]String buf,BSSIDInfo [] nfo, ref UInt32 dwBufSizeBytes, ref UInt32 dwReturnedItems);
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential,CharSet=CharSet.Auto)]
public struct BSSIDInfo
{
public byte[] BSSID; //mac
public char[] SSID;
public BSSIDInfo(byte[]bs,char[] ss)
{
this.RSSI = 0;
this.Infastructure = 0;
this.Channel = 0;
this.Auth = 0;
bs = new byte[6];
ss = new char[32];
BSSID = bs;
SSID = ss;
}
public int RSSI;
public int Channel;
public int Infastructure;
public int Auth;
}
public static byte[] StrToByteArray(string str)
{
System.Text.UTF8Encoding encoding = new System.Text.UTF8Encoding();
return encoding.GetBytes(str);
}
public static char[] c = new char[1024];
string buf = new string(c);
public void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
BSSIDInfo[] nfo = new BSSIDInfo[128];
byte[] bytee=StrToByteArray(buf);
UInt32 dwsize= new UInt32();
UInt32 dwTmp = new UInt32();
UInt32 dwCount = new UInt32();
dwTmp = Convert.ToUInt32(Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(BSSIDInfo)) * nfo.Length);
dwCount =0;
dwsize=Convert.ToUInt32(bytee.Length);
if (false == getAdapters(buf,ref dwsize) || dwsize == 0)
{
label1.Text = "no adabters";
}
else
{
String [] strList=new String[15];
if (buf.Contains(',') == false)// one adapter
{
textBox1.Text = buf;
}
else
{
strList = buf.Split(',');
for (int i = 0; i < strList.Length; i++)
{
textBox1.Text+= strList[i]+Environment.NewLine;
}
}
if (refreshBSSIDs(buf) && getBBSIDs(buf, nfo, ref dwTmp, ref dwCount) && dwCount > 0)
{
//refreshBSSIDs(buf) &&
for (int i = 0; i < dwCount; i++)
{
textBox2.Text += nfo.GetValue(i).ToString() + Environment.NewLine;
}
}
else
{
//make another thing
}
}
}
and when i put this dll on the mobile and the C# app.exe the first function that named as Getadapters(..) return to me the name of the adapter in the first textbox1 then the app stopped and give me not supported exception when the mobile tries to execute the other two function that named as refreshBSSID() and getBSSIDs() so what is the problem ? or is there another solution to get this information (BSSID ,SS ..etc) ?

C++ by default unless changed uses a caller( Cdecl ) calling convention. Your C++ code does not change the calling convention. Your C# code by default ( unless you change it ) will use a callee convention ( StdCall ).
While this might not be exactly the problem your having it still is technically incorrect. Even if you were to fix your current problem you likely will end up having a problem because of the calling convention.
I am going to guess your C# BSSIDInfo structure does not match the C++ structure. Why do the method StrToByteArray when all it does is GetBytes on the given string...
when the mobile tries to execute the
other two function that named as
refreshBSSID() and getBSSIDs() so what
is the problem ? or is there another
solution to get this information
I thought I knew the reason took another look and I was wrong.