In summary:
I`m trying to use a C++ dll with cdecl calling convention all ran fine unless i get to this method signature:
int SaveToBuffer( char **buf, int *buf_size );
from what i have read i should use it like this:
[DllImport("entry.dll",
CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl,
EntryPoint = "SaveToBuffer")]
private static int SaveToBuffer( ref sbyte[] buf, ref int buf_size );
This does not work if this function is called from C# program crashes.
I suppose this is related to Cdecl calling model and should use Marshal.AllocHGlobal(value),
I can`t imagine how should it be done correct.
I also tryed this:
[DllImport("entry.dll",
CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl,
EntryPoint = "SaveToBuffer")]
private static int SaveToBuffer( IntPtr buf, ref int buf_size );
And then alocate enough memory
IntPtr data=Marshal.AllocHGlobal(128000);
int bufSize=128000;
var sCode=SaveToBuffer(data,bufSize ); /* value of scode idicate succses*/
Calling this way i get return value from SaveToBuffer indicating function succseeded but: bufSize returns to 0 and how should i read my data from IntPtr.
I`m completly stuck on this.
This is not an issue with the calling convention. The problem is in the buffer handling.
There's really only one sensible way to interpret the C++ argument types and the apparent intent to return an array of bytes. That is that the buffer is allocated and populated by the callee, and its address returned in buf. The buffer length is returned in buf_size.
With these semantics the function arguments cannot be marshalled automatically and you'll have to do it manually:
[DllImport("entry.dll", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
private static int SaveToBuffer(out IntPtr buf, out int buf_size);
Call like this
IntPtr buf;
int buf_size;
int retval SaveToBuffer(out buf, out buf_size);
// check retval
Then copy to byte array like this:
byte[] buffer = new byte[buf_size];
Marshal.Copy(buf, buffer, 0, buf_size);
The DLL will also need to export a function to deallocate the unmanaged buffer.
Related
I am trying to pass a byte array to a c++ dll:
c++:
extern "C" __declspec(dllexport) char* myfunction(byte bytes[])
{
char *byteschar = (char*)bytes;
//do somethings with it
return byteschar;
}
c#:
[DllImport("mydll", CallingConvention = System.Runtime.InteropServices.CallingConvention.Cdecl
,CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
[return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPStr)]
public static extern string myfunction(byte[] bytes);
but I get a System.AccessViolationException when I call myfunction.
When I run the executable without the debugger it seems to be working fine
If you want a buffer be allocated in C# and filled in C++, the approach is a little bit different.
You should allocate a kind of "unmanaged" buffer, pass to the DLL and then convert the result and free the buffer. It's exactly the same way in C, but calling from a managed environment.
Your C++ code should be something like:
extern "C" __declspec(dllexport) void myfunction(char* buffer, int length)
{
//Fill buffer with something observing the maximum length of the buffer.
}
The signature of your DLL in C# should be:
[DllImport("mydll", CallingConvention = System.Runtime.InteropServices.CallingConvention.Cdecl
,CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
public static extern string myfunction(IntPtr buffer, Int32 length);
To call it from C#, you should do:
IntPtr unmanagedBuffer = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(100);
// Your Unmanaged Call
myfunction(unmanagedBbuffer, 100);
string yourString = Marshal.PtrToStringUni(unmanagedBuffer);
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(unmanagedBuffer);
Don't forget to call FreeHGlobal if you don't want a memory leak in your app. It's interesting to protect this in "try/finally" clauses.
Other observation is the encoding of the string. Uni, means Unicode. If you use another string representation, check for an equivalent PtrToStringXXX function.
It suppose to be:
extern "C" __declspec(dllexport) char* myfunction(unsigned char * bytes)
{
//do somethings with it
return bytes;
}
I'm working in c# and I need to use this function from a c++ dll:
extern "C" char IMPEXP __stdcall service_GetParameter ( const char* parameter, const int value_lenght, char** value );
I have used it in c++ code as follow:
char *val = new char[256];
service_GetParameter("firmware_version", 255, &val);
AnsiString FirmwareVersion = val;
delete[] val;
How can I import this function and use it in c#?
Thanks in advance
If this function allocates memory and makes the caller responsible for freeing it, I'm afraid you'll have to manage this manually: Declare the parameter as a ref IntPtr and use the methods of the Marshal class to get a String with a copy of the pointed data.
Then call the appropriate function for freeing the memory (as Dirk said, we can't say more about this without more information on the function).
If it really must be allocated before calling, it should be something looking like this:
[DllImport("yourfile.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
public static extern sbyte service_GetParameter ( String parameter, Int32 length, ref IntPtr val);
public static string ServiceGetParameter(string parameter, int maxLength)
{
string ret = null;
IntPtr buf = Marshal.AllocCoTaskMem(maxLength+1);
try
{
Marshal.WriteByte(buf, maxLength, 0); //Ensure there will be a null byte after call
IntPtr buf2 = buf;
service_GetParameter(parameter, maxLength, ref buf2);
System.Diagnostics.Debug.Assert(buf == buf2, "The C++ function modified the pointer, it wasn't supposed to do that!");
ret = Marshal.PtrToStringAnsi(buf);
}
finally { Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(buf); }
return ret;
}
I'd start with something like this:
[DllImport("yourfile.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Ansi]
public static extern Int32 service_GetParameter([MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPStr)] String szParameter, Int32 value_length, [Out] StringBuilder sbValue);
I'm trying to marshall some data that my native dll allocated via CoTaskMemAlloc into my c# application and wondering if the way I'm doing it is just plain wrong or I'm missing some sublte decorating of the method c# side.
Currently I have c++ side.
extern "C" __declspec(dllexport) bool __stdcall CompressData( unsigned char* pInputData, unsigned int inSize, unsigned char*& pOutputBuffer, unsigned int& uOutputSize)
{ ...
pOutputBuffer = static_cast<unsigned char*>(CoTaskMemAlloc(60000));
uOutputSize = 60000;
And on the C# side.
private const string dllName = "TestDll.dll";
[System.Security.SuppressUnmanagedCodeSecurity]
[DllImport(dllName)]
public static extern bool CompressData(byte[] inputData, uint inputSize, out byte[] outputData, out uint outputSize );
...
byte[] outputData;
uint outputSize;
bool ret = CompressData(packEntry.uncompressedData, (uint)packEntry.uncompressedData.Length, out outputData, out outputSize);
here outputSize is 60000 as expected, but outputData has a size of 1, and when I memset the buffer c++ side, it seems to only copy across 1 byte, so is this just wrong and I need to marshall the data outside the call using an IntPtr + outputSize, or is there something sublte I'm missing to get working what I have already?
Thanks.
There are two things.
First, the P/Invoke layer does not handle reference parameters in C++, it can only work with pointers. The last two parameters (pOutputBuffer and uOutputSize) in particular are not guaranteed to marshal correctly.
I suggest you change your C++ method declaration to (or create a wrapper of the form):
extern "C" __declspec(dllexport) bool __stdcall CompressData(
unsigned char* pInputData, unsigned int inSize,
unsigned char** pOutputBuffer, unsigned int* uOutputSize)
That said, the second problem comes from the fact that the P/Invoke layer also doesn't know how to marshal back "raw" arrays (as opposed to say, a SAFEARRAY in COM that knows about it's size) that are allocated in unmanaged code.
This means that on the .NET side, you have to marshal the pointer that is created back, and then marshal the elements in the array manually (as well as dispose of it, if that's your responsibility, which it looks like it is).
Your .NET declaration would look like this:
[System.Security.SuppressUnmanagedCodeSecurity]
[DllImport(dllName)]
public static extern bool CompressData(byte[] inputData, uint inputSize,
ref IntPtr outputData, ref uint outputSize);
Once you have the outputData as an IntPtr (this will point to the unmanaged memory), you can convert into a byte array by calling the Copy method on the Marshal class like so:
var bytes = new byte[(int) outputSize];
// Copy.
Marshal.Copy(outputData, bytes, 0, (int) outputSize);
Note that if the responsibility is yours to free the memory, you can call the FreeCoTaskMem method, like so:
Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(outputData);
Of course, you can wrap this up into something nicer, like so:
static byte[] CompressData(byte[] input, int size)
{
// The output buffer.
IntPtr output = IntPtr.Zero;
// Wrap in a try/finally, to make sure unmanaged array
// is cleaned up.
try
{
// Length.
uint length = 0;
// Make the call.
CompressData(input, size, ref output, ref length);
// Allocate the bytes.
var bytes = new byte[(int) length)];
// Copy.
Marshal.Copy(output, bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
// Return the byte array.
return bytes;
}
finally
{
// If the pointer is not zero, free.
if (output != IntPtr.Zero) Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(output);
}
}
The pinvoke marshaller cannot guess how large the returned byte[] might be. Raw pointers to memory in C++ do not have a discoverable size of the pointed-to memory block. Which is why you added the uOutputSize argument. Good for the client program but not quite good enough for the pinvoke marshaller. You have to help and apply the [MarshalAs] attribute to pOutputBuffer, specifying the SizeParamIndex property.
Do note that the array is getting copied by the marshaller. That's not so desirable, you can avoid it by allowing the client code to pass an array. The marshaller will pin it and pass the pointer to the managed array. The only trouble is that the client code will have no decent way to guess how large to make the array. The typical solution is to allow the client to call it twice, first with uOutputSize = 0, the function returns the required array size. Which would make the C++ function look like this:
extern "C" __declspec(dllexport)
int __stdcall CompressData(
const unsigned char* pInputData, unsigned int inSize,
[Out]unsigned char* pOutputBuffer, unsigned int uOutputSize)
i have a c++ dll ,that has some extern function.
and its look like this
//C++ Code
void GetData(byte * pData)
{
byte a[] = {3,2,1};
pData = a;
}
and i have use this code in C# side to get data :
//C# Code
[DllImport(UnmanagedDLLAddress)]
public static extern void GetData(ref IntPtr pData);
//and use it like
IntPtr pointer = IntPtr.Zero;
GetData(ref pointer);
byte[] data = new byte[3] // <===== think we know size
Marshal.Copy(pointer,data ,0,3);
but always "pointer" is zero so Marshal.Copy throw null exception
where i did mistake ?
ty
First, your C++ code puts the array to the stack. You need to allocate it some other way, for documentation start from here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366533%28VS.85%29.aspx
Second, pData is a "normal" value argument, effectively a local variable. You assign to it, then it gets forgotten when function returns. You need it to be reference to pointer or pointer to pointer if you want it to be "out parameter" returning a value back. If you want to actually copy the array contents to the buffer pointed to by pData, then you need to use memcpy function from #include <cstring>.
Actually, like hyde told, use pData as "out" parameter.
Because it's obviously a reference type and no value type, the called method shall take care about memory allocation. I used "ref" only for value types, like integer - e.g. getting the length of the array from the unmanaged method.
This way works fine for me, furthermore, i use the "cdecl" calling convention.
IntPtr aNewIntArray;
uint aNewIntArrayCount = 0;
NativeMethods.getEntityFieldIntArray(out aNewIntArray, ref aNewIntArrayCount);
int[] aNewIntArrayResult = new int[aNewIntArrayCount];
Marshal.Copy(aNewIntArray, aNewIntArrayResult, 0, (int)aNewIntArrayCount);
method declaration:
[DllImport(SettingsManager.PathToDLL, EntryPoint = "getEntityFieldIntArray", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
public static extern ErrorCode getEntityFieldIntArray(out IntPtr aNewIntArray, ref UInt32 aNewIntArrayCount);
in c++ I have such function
extern "C" _declspec(dllexport) uint8* bufferOperations(uint8* incoming, int size)
I am trying to call it from c# like this
[DllImport("MagicLib.DLL", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
//[return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValArray)]//, ArraySubType=UnmanagedType.SysUInt)]
public static extern byte[] bufferOperations(byte[] incoming, int size);
But I get the
Cannot marshal 'return value': Invalid managed/unmanaged type combination
((( The question is - how to marshal this correctly?
Thanks for reading my question
byte[] is a .Net array type with known length. You can't marshal byte* to it, because .Net does not know the length of output array. You should try manual marshalling. Replace byte[] with byte*. Then, do like this:
[DllImport("MagicLib.DLL", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
public static extern byte* bufferOperations(byte* incoming, int size);
public void TestMethod()
{
var incoming = new byte[100];
fixed (byte* inBuf = incoming)
{
byte* outBuf = bufferOperations(inBuf, incoming.Length);
// Assume, that the same buffer is returned, only with data changed.
// Or by any other means, get the real lenght of output buffer (e.g. from library docs, etc).
for (int i = 0; i < incoming.Length; i++)
incoming[i] = outBuf[i];
}
}
You don't need to use unsafe contexts in this case. Just use IntPtr.
[DllImport("MagicLib.DLL", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
public static extern IntPtr bufferOperations(IntPtr incoming, int size);
And then you can use Marshal.Copy to get your byte-array from it.