I have some code intended to get a struct from a byte array:
public static T GetValue<T>(byte[] data, int start) where T : struct
{
T d = default(T);
int elementsize = Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(T));
GCHandle sh = GCHandle.Alloc(d, GCHandleType.Pinned);
Marshal.Copy(data, start, sh.AddrOfPinnedObject(), elementsize);
sh.Free();
return d;
}
However, the structure d is never modified, and always returns its default value.
I have looked up the 'correct' way to do this and am using that instead, but am still curious, as I cannot see why the above should not work.
Its as simple as can be: allocate some memory, d, get a pointer to it, copy some bytes into the memory pointed at by this, return.
Not only that, but when I use similar code but with d being an array of T, it works fine.
Unless sh.AddrOfPinnedObject() isn't really pointing to d, but then what is the point of it?
Can anyone tell me why the above does not work?
GCHandle sh = GCHandle.Alloc(d, GCHandleType.Pinned);
That's where your problem started. A struct is a value type, GCHandle.Alloc() can only allocate handles for reference types. The kind whose objects are allocated on the garbage collected heap. And the kind that make pinning sensible. The C# compiler is being a bit too helpful here, it automatically emits a boxing conversion to box the value and make the statement work. Which is normally very nice and creates the illusion that value types are derived from System.Object. Quacks-like-a-duck typing.
Problem is, Marshal.Copy() will update the boxed copy of the value. Not your variable. So you don't see it change.
Directly updating the structure value is only possible with Marshal.PtrToStructure(). It contains the required smarts to convert the published layout of the struct (StructLayout attribute) to the internal layout. Which is not the same and otherwise undiscoverable.
Warning implementation detail alert, this may not be true in future versions of .Net.
structs are value types and are (generally) stored on the stack (*) , not on the heap. An address of a struct is meaningless since they are passed by value, not by reference. The array of struct is a reference type, that is a pointer to memory on the heap, so the address in memory is perfectly valid.
The point of AddrOfPinnedObject is to get the address of an object thats memory is pinned, not a struct.
Additionally, Eric Lippert has written a series of very good blog posts on the subject of reference types and value types.
(*) Unless:
1 They are fields on a class
2 They are boxed
3 They are "captured variables"
4 They are in an iterator block
(nb points 3 and 4 are corollaries of point 1)
Here's a working example:
public static T GetValue<T>(byte[] data, int start) where T : struct
{
int elementsize = Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(T));
IntPtr ptr = IntPtr.Zero;
try
{
ptr = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(elementsize);
Marshal.Copy(data, start, ptr, elementsize);
return (T)Marshal.PtrToStructure(ptr, typeof(T));
}
finally
{
if (ptr != IntPtr.Zero)
{
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(ptr);
}
}
}
But I would use explicit layout here because of struct alignment.
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Explicit, Size = 3)]
public struct TestStruct
{
[FieldOffset(0)]
public byte z;
[FieldOffset(1)]
public short y;
}
Related
I am writing an class that retrieves binary data and supports generically converting it into primitive types. It's supposed to be as efficient as possible. Here is what it looks like right now:
public abstract class MemorySource {
public abstract Span<byte> ReadBytes(ulong address, int count);
public unsafe bool TryRead<T>(ulong address, out T result) where T : unmanaged {
Span<byte> buffer = ReadBytes(address, sizeof(T));
result = default;
// If the above line is commented, `result = ref <...>` won't compile, showing CS0177.
if (!buffer.IsEmpty) {
result = ref Unsafe.As<byte, T>(ref buffer.GetPinnableReference());
return true;
} else
return false;
}
}
Since I'm working with large amounts of memory, and my code is going to be performing a lot of small reading operations. I want to minimize the amount of times the memory is copied around.
The ReadBytes implementation will either a) create a span across a part an already existing array on the heap, or b) stackalloc a buffer and fill it with data from a remote source (depending on the data I'll be working with). The point is, it will not be allocating anything on the heap by itself.
I want my TryRead<T> method to return a typed reference to the span's memory, rather than copy that memory into a new value, and I want to know if that's possible. I've noticed that I can't assign a ref value to an out argument without initializing it, but I can after, which makes little sense if we assume that I'm assigning a reference.
I guess what I'm asking is, what's really going on in this code? Am I returning a reference to an existing value, or is that value being copied into a new stack-allocated one? And how would the behavior be different with stack-allocated and heap-allocated spans? Would GC know to update the reference of type T when moving the data, in case of a heap-allocated span being used?
Primitive types are value types anyway, so you shouldn't worry about allocating on the heap when reading them.
You cannot use stackalloc for this code, because you can't (or shouldn't try to) return a pointer to it, as it will be destroyed at the end of the function.
The code you have so far is dangerous, because you are returning a pinnable reference which is not actually pinned.
The reason you are having problems with the ref parameter is because in the else you are not assigning it at all. You should move the result = default; line into the else branch.
Either way, you are far better off using MemoryMarshal for all of this, note that this does not require unsafe code
public bool TryRead<T>(ulong address, out T result) where T : unmanaged
{
ReadOnlySpan<byte> buffer = ReadBytes(address, sizeof(T));
if (!buffer.IsEmpty)
{
result = MemoryMarshal.Read<T>(buffer);
return true;
}
result = default;
return false;
}
How do I marshal this C++ type?
The ABS_DATA structure is used to associate an arbitrarily long data block with the length information. The declared length of the Data array is 1, but the actual length is given by the Length member.
typedef struct abs_data {
ABS_DWORD Length;
ABS_BYTE Data[ABS_VARLEN];
} ABS_DATA;
I tried the following code, but it's not working. The data variable is always empty and I'm sure it has data in there.
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.StructLayoutAttribute(System.Runtime.InteropServices.LayoutKind.Sequential, CharSet = System.Runtime.InteropServices.CharSet.Ansi)]
public struct abs_data
{
/// ABS_DWORD->unsigned int
public uint Length;
/// ABS_BYTE[1]
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.MarshalAsAttribute(System.Runtime.InteropServices.UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 1)]
public string Data;
}
Old question, but I recently had to do this myself and all the existing answers are poor, so...
The best solution for marshaling a variable-length array in a struct is to use a custom marshaler. This lets you control the code that the runtime uses to convert between managed and unmanaged data. Unfortunately, custom marshaling is poorly-documented and has a few bizarre limitations. I'll cover those quickly, then go over the solution.
Annoyingly, you can't use custom marshaling on an array element of a struct or class. There's no documented or logical reason for this limitation, and the compiler won't complain, but you'll get an exception at runtime. Also, there's a function that custom marshalers must implement, int GetNativeDataSize(), which is obviously impossible to implement accurately (it doesn't pass you an instance of the object to ask its size, so you can only go off the type, which is of course variable size!) Fortunately, this function doesn't matter. I've never seen it get called, and it the custom marshaler works fine even if it returns a bogus value (one MSDN example has it return -1).
First of all, here's what I think your native prototype might look like (I'm using P/Invoke here, but it works for COM too):
// Unmanaged C/C++ code prototype (guess)
//void DoThing (ABS_DATA *pData);
// Guess at your managed call with the "marshal one-byte ByValArray" version
//[DllImport("libname.dll")] public extern void DoThing (ref abs_data pData);
Here's the naïve version of how you might have used a custom marshaler (which really ought to have worked). I'll get to the marshaler itself in a bit...
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct abs_data
{
// Don't need the length as a separate filed; managed arrays know it.
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.CustomMarshaler, MarshalTypeRef=typeof(ArrayMarshaler<byte>))]
public byte[] Data;
}
// Now you can just pass the struct but it takes arbitrary sizes!
[DllImport("libname.dll")] public extern void DoThing (ref abs_data pData);
Unfortunately, at runtime, you apparently can't marshal arrays inside data structures as anything except SafeArray or ByValArray. SafeArrays are counted, but they look nothing like the (extremely common) format that you're looking for here. So that won't work. ByValArray, of course, requires that the length be known at compile time, so that doesn't work either (as you ran into). Bizarrely, though, you can use custom marshaling on array parameters, This is annoying because you have to put the MarshalAsAttribute on every parameter that uses this type, instead of just putting it on one field and having that apply everywhere you use the type containing that field, but c'est la vie. It looks like this:
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct abs_data
{
// Don't need the length as a separate filed; managed arrays know it.
// This isn't an array anymore; we pass an array of this instead.
public byte Data;
}
// Now you pass an arbitrary-sized array of the struct
[DllImport("libname.dll")] public extern void DoThing (
// Have to put this huge stupid attribute on every parameter of this type
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.CustomMarshaler, MarshalTypeRef=typeof(ArrayMarshaler<abs_data>))]
// Don't need to use "ref" anymore; arrays are ref types and pass as pointer-to
abs_data[] pData);
In that example, I preserved the abs_data type, in case you want to do something special with it (constructors, static functions, properties, inheritance, whatever). If your array elements consisted of a complex type, you would modify the struct to represent that complex type. However, in this case, abs_data is basically just a renamed byte - it's not even "wrapping" the byte; as far as the native code is concerned it's more like a typedef - so you can just pass an array of bytes and skip the struct entirely:
// Actually, you can just pass an arbitrary-length byte array!
[DllImport("libname.dll")] public extern void DoThing (
// Have to put this huge stupid attribute on every parameter of this type
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.CustomMarshaler, MarshalTypeRef=typeof(ArrayMarshaler<byte>))]
byte[] pData);
OK, so now you can see how to declare the array element type (if needed), and how to pass the array to an unmanaged function. However, we still need that custom marshaler. You should read "Implementing the ICustomMarshaler Interface" but I'll cover this here, with inline comments. Note that I use some shorthand conventions (like Marshal.SizeOf<T>()) that require .NET 4.5.1 or higher.
// The class that does the marshaling. Making it generic is not required, but
// will make it easier to use the same custom marshaler for multiple array types.
public class ArrayMarshaler<T> : ICustomMarshaler
{
// All custom marshalers require a static factory method with this signature.
public static ICustomMarshaler GetInstance (String cookie)
{
return new ArrayMarshaler<T>();
}
// This is the function that builds the managed type - in this case, the managed
// array - from a pointer. You can just return null here if only sending the
// array as an in-parameter.
public Object MarshalNativeToManaged (IntPtr pNativeData)
{
// First, sanity check...
if (IntPtr.Zero == pNativeData) return null;
// Start by reading the size of the array ("Length" from your ABS_DATA struct)
int length = Marshal.ReadInt32(pNativeData);
// Create the managed array that will be returned
T[] array = new T[length];
// For efficiency, only compute the element size once
int elSiz = Marshal.SizeOf<T>();
// Populate the array
for (int i = 0; i < length; i++)
{
array[i] = Marshal.PtrToStructure<T>(pNativeData + sizeof(int) + (elSiz * i));
}
// Alternate method, for arrays of primitive types only:
// Marshal.Copy(pNativeData + sizeof(int), array, 0, length);
return array;
}
// This is the function that marshals your managed array to unmanaged memory.
// If you only ever marshal the array out, not in, you can return IntPtr.Zero
public IntPtr MarshalManagedToNative (Object ManagedObject)
{
if (null == ManagedObject) return IntPtr.Zero;
T[] array = (T[])ManagedObj;
int elSiz = Marshal.SizeOf<T>();
// Get the total size of unmanaged memory that is needed (length + elements)
int size = sizeof(int) + (elSiz * array.Length);
// Allocate unmanaged space. For COM, use Marshal.AllocCoTaskMem instead.
IntPtr ptr = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(size);
// Write the "Length" field first
Marshal.WriteInt32(ptr, array.Length);
// Write the array data
for (int i = 0; i < array.Length; i++)
{ // Newly-allocated space has no existing object, so the last param is false
Marshal.StructureToPtr<T>(array[i], ptr + sizeof(int) + (elSiz * i), false);
}
// If you're only using arrays of primitive types, you could use this instead:
//Marshal.Copy(array, 0, ptr + sizeof(int), array.Length);
return ptr;
}
// This function is called after completing the call that required marshaling to
// unmanaged memory. You should use it to free any unmanaged memory you allocated.
// If you never consume unmanaged memory or other resources, do nothing here.
public void CleanUpNativeData (IntPtr pNativeData)
{
// Free the unmanaged memory. Use Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem if using COM.
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(pNativeData);
}
// If, after marshaling from unmanaged to managed, you have anything that needs
// to be taken care of when you're done with the object, put it here. Garbage
// collection will free the managed object, so I've left this function empty.
public void CleanUpManagedData (Object ManagedObj)
{ }
// This function is a lie. It looks like it should be impossible to get the right
// value - the whole problem is that the size of each array is variable!
// - but in practice the runtime doesn't rely on this and may not even call it.
// The MSDN example returns -1; I'll try to be a little more realistic.
public int GetNativeDataSize ()
{
return sizeof(int) + Marshal.SizeOf<T>();
}
}
Whew, that was long! Well, there you have it. I hope people see this, because there's a lot of bad answers and misunderstanding out there...
It is not possible to marshal structs containing variable-length arrays (but it is possible to marshal variable-length arrays as function parameters). You will have to read your data manually:
IntPtr nativeData = ... ;
var length = Marshal.ReadUInt32 (nativeData) ;
var bytes = new byte[length] ;
Marshal.Copy (new IntPtr ((long)nativeData + 4), bytes, 0, length) ;
If the data being saved isn't a string, you don't have to store it in a string. I usually do not marshal to a string unless the original data type was a char*. Otherwise a byte[] should do.
Try:
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValArray, SizeConst=[whatever your size is]]
byte[] Data;
If you need to convert this to a string later, use:
System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetString(your byte array here).
Obviously, you need to vary the encoding to what you need, though UTF-8 usually is sufficient.
I see the problem now, you have to marshal a VARIABLE length array. The MarshalAs does not allow this and the array will have to be sent by reference.
If the array length is variable, your byte[] needs to be an IntPtr, so you would use,
IntPtr Data;
Instead of
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValArray, SizeConst=[whatever your size is]]
byte[] Data;
You can then use the Marshal class to access the underlying data.
Something like:
uint length = yourABSObject.Length;
byte[] buffer = new byte[length];
Marshal.Copy(buffer, 0, yourABSObject.Data, length);
You may need to clean up your memory when you are finished to avoid a leak, though I suspect the GC will clean it up when yourABSObject goes out of scope. Anyway, here is the cleanup code:
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(yourABSObject.Data);
You are trying to marshal something that is a byte[ABS_VARLEN] as if it were a string of length 1. You'll need to figure out what the ABS_VARLEN constant is and marshal the array as:
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPArray, SizeConst = 1024)]
public byte[] Data;
(The 1024 there is a placeholder; fill in whatever the actual value of ASB_VARLEN is.)
In my opinion, it's simpler and more efficient to pin the array and take its address.
Assuming you need to pass abs_data to myNativeFunction(abs_data*):
public struct abs_data
{
public uint Length;
public IntPtr Data;
}
[DllImport("myDll.dll")]
static extern void myNativeFunction(ref abs_data data);
void CallNativeFunc(byte[] data)
{
GCHandle pin = GCHandle.Alloc(data, GCHandleType.Pinned);
abs_data tmp;
tmp.Length = data.Length;
tmp.Data = pin.AddrOfPinnedObject();
myNativeFunction(ref tmp);
pin.Free();
}
I have a class definition as follows:
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public class OUR_MEM_STR
{
public byte[] p;
public int len;
};
This is an equivalent defintion of the C structure below:
typedef struct
{
void *p;
int len;
} OUR_MEM_STR;
I used byte[] instead of IntPtr type for member p becuase of the way it was being used thorughout c# project.
I have defined an object obj with len = 10 and p = new byte[10]
I want to make it an intptr. How do I get the size of the object for that?
IntPtr pObj = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(obj.len + sizeof(int));
Marshal.StructureToPtr(obj, pObj, true);
See what I did there. It seems too hard coded. If I do the below snippet;
IntPtr pObj = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(Marshal.SizeOf(obj));
Doing this returns the wrong size because obj.p returns a size of 4 and not 10. Because of the memory taken by the pointer pointing to the byte array is 4 bytes.
Is there a better way?
The return value is correct, p is a pointer, it takes 4 bytes.
You cannot leave it this way, there are two memory allocations. The marshaller allocated the memory for the array. It created a SAFEARRAY, a COM array type. Pretty unlikely that your C code is going to be happy with that. Declare it like this instead:
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public class OUR_MEM_STR {
public IntPtr p;
public int len;
};
And use Marshal.AllocHGlobal(10) to assign p. Don't forget to clean-up again.
Don't pass true to StructureToPtr(), the memory allocated by AllocHGlobal() isn't initialized. That's going to randomly crash your program. You must pass false.
I have the following C# code with a structure definition (CInput), obj definition and init, and a call to a C++ (native) DLL function (that has also been written by me).
//C# code
public struct CInput
{
[MarshalAsAttribute(UnmanagedType.R8)]
public double Time;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.SafeArray, SafeArraySubType = VarEnum.VT_R8)]
public double[] Database;
/* other similar fields*/
}
CInput Inputs = new CInput();
/* init of Inputs fields*/
int bfr = Example(ref Inputs); //'Example' being the C++ DLL call
Messagebox.Show(bfr.ToString());
There is an error in the marshaling of the second parameter, I don't know where. Then:
//C++ code
struct CInput {
double Time;
double Database[3650];
/*etc*/
}
int Example(CInput& ObjIn) {
return ObjIn.Database[0]; // just an example
}
If I'm not careful and specify only "SafeArray" in the Database marshaling I get a 'error in reading/writing memory, probably corrupt' etc.
if "Database" was marshaled as ByValArray everything is fine, the values show up correctly. Unfortunately I get an internal size exception because I have many arrays of that size, therefore I have to go for pointers - but anything with "SizeArray" will bring the following results (with the code just posted):
(from C++):
Database[0] = **0**
Database[1..etc] = values of the next parameters in the struct marshaled with ByValArray.
I think I should mention that I need the same identical structure from C# to C++, I'm not looking for anything fancy. So Array in a Struct >>> Array in a Struct.
ANY insight in reference to this would be of great value. I have been looking for hours and I don't have yet a solution.
Many thanks in advance.
As I understand your question, you can't use ByValArray with SizeConst because your real struct has a large number of such arrays which results in the stack overflowing.
You opine that maybe you need to use pointers in your structs and I agree with you. Here is how to do it.
On the C++ side you should declare each array as a pointer to the element type:
struct CInput {
double *array;
}
You may also wish to include the length of the arrays in the struct to avoid excessive amounts of hard-coded constants.
All the hard work happens on the C# side.
public struct CInput
{
public IntPtr array;
}
...
double[] theArray = new double[3650];
CInput input = new CInput();
input.array = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(double))*theArray.Length);
try
{
Marshal.Copy(theArray, 0, input.array, theArray.Length);
//call your C++ function here
}
finally
{
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(input.array);
}
public struct CInput
{
public double Time;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValArray, SizeConst = 3650)]
public double[] Database;
}
CInput Inputs = new CInput();
int bfr = Example(ref Inputs);
Edit. If you need to have dynamically allocated Database array, both C++ and C# code should be changed. In C++ Database should be defined as double*, and you need to add array length somewhere. In C# Database should be declared as IntPtr, and allocated using Marshal.AllocHGlobal method. Please correct C++ structure according to your requirements, and then C# code can be fixed according to this.
How do I marshal this C++ type?
The ABS_DATA structure is used to associate an arbitrarily long data block with the length information. The declared length of the Data array is 1, but the actual length is given by the Length member.
typedef struct abs_data {
ABS_DWORD Length;
ABS_BYTE Data[ABS_VARLEN];
} ABS_DATA;
I tried the following code, but it's not working. The data variable is always empty and I'm sure it has data in there.
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.StructLayoutAttribute(System.Runtime.InteropServices.LayoutKind.Sequential, CharSet = System.Runtime.InteropServices.CharSet.Ansi)]
public struct abs_data
{
/// ABS_DWORD->unsigned int
public uint Length;
/// ABS_BYTE[1]
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.MarshalAsAttribute(System.Runtime.InteropServices.UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 1)]
public string Data;
}
Old question, but I recently had to do this myself and all the existing answers are poor, so...
The best solution for marshaling a variable-length array in a struct is to use a custom marshaler. This lets you control the code that the runtime uses to convert between managed and unmanaged data. Unfortunately, custom marshaling is poorly-documented and has a few bizarre limitations. I'll cover those quickly, then go over the solution.
Annoyingly, you can't use custom marshaling on an array element of a struct or class. There's no documented or logical reason for this limitation, and the compiler won't complain, but you'll get an exception at runtime. Also, there's a function that custom marshalers must implement, int GetNativeDataSize(), which is obviously impossible to implement accurately (it doesn't pass you an instance of the object to ask its size, so you can only go off the type, which is of course variable size!) Fortunately, this function doesn't matter. I've never seen it get called, and it the custom marshaler works fine even if it returns a bogus value (one MSDN example has it return -1).
First of all, here's what I think your native prototype might look like (I'm using P/Invoke here, but it works for COM too):
// Unmanaged C/C++ code prototype (guess)
//void DoThing (ABS_DATA *pData);
// Guess at your managed call with the "marshal one-byte ByValArray" version
//[DllImport("libname.dll")] public extern void DoThing (ref abs_data pData);
Here's the naïve version of how you might have used a custom marshaler (which really ought to have worked). I'll get to the marshaler itself in a bit...
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct abs_data
{
// Don't need the length as a separate filed; managed arrays know it.
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.CustomMarshaler, MarshalTypeRef=typeof(ArrayMarshaler<byte>))]
public byte[] Data;
}
// Now you can just pass the struct but it takes arbitrary sizes!
[DllImport("libname.dll")] public extern void DoThing (ref abs_data pData);
Unfortunately, at runtime, you apparently can't marshal arrays inside data structures as anything except SafeArray or ByValArray. SafeArrays are counted, but they look nothing like the (extremely common) format that you're looking for here. So that won't work. ByValArray, of course, requires that the length be known at compile time, so that doesn't work either (as you ran into). Bizarrely, though, you can use custom marshaling on array parameters, This is annoying because you have to put the MarshalAsAttribute on every parameter that uses this type, instead of just putting it on one field and having that apply everywhere you use the type containing that field, but c'est la vie. It looks like this:
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct abs_data
{
// Don't need the length as a separate filed; managed arrays know it.
// This isn't an array anymore; we pass an array of this instead.
public byte Data;
}
// Now you pass an arbitrary-sized array of the struct
[DllImport("libname.dll")] public extern void DoThing (
// Have to put this huge stupid attribute on every parameter of this type
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.CustomMarshaler, MarshalTypeRef=typeof(ArrayMarshaler<abs_data>))]
// Don't need to use "ref" anymore; arrays are ref types and pass as pointer-to
abs_data[] pData);
In that example, I preserved the abs_data type, in case you want to do something special with it (constructors, static functions, properties, inheritance, whatever). If your array elements consisted of a complex type, you would modify the struct to represent that complex type. However, in this case, abs_data is basically just a renamed byte - it's not even "wrapping" the byte; as far as the native code is concerned it's more like a typedef - so you can just pass an array of bytes and skip the struct entirely:
// Actually, you can just pass an arbitrary-length byte array!
[DllImport("libname.dll")] public extern void DoThing (
// Have to put this huge stupid attribute on every parameter of this type
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.CustomMarshaler, MarshalTypeRef=typeof(ArrayMarshaler<byte>))]
byte[] pData);
OK, so now you can see how to declare the array element type (if needed), and how to pass the array to an unmanaged function. However, we still need that custom marshaler. You should read "Implementing the ICustomMarshaler Interface" but I'll cover this here, with inline comments. Note that I use some shorthand conventions (like Marshal.SizeOf<T>()) that require .NET 4.5.1 or higher.
// The class that does the marshaling. Making it generic is not required, but
// will make it easier to use the same custom marshaler for multiple array types.
public class ArrayMarshaler<T> : ICustomMarshaler
{
// All custom marshalers require a static factory method with this signature.
public static ICustomMarshaler GetInstance (String cookie)
{
return new ArrayMarshaler<T>();
}
// This is the function that builds the managed type - in this case, the managed
// array - from a pointer. You can just return null here if only sending the
// array as an in-parameter.
public Object MarshalNativeToManaged (IntPtr pNativeData)
{
// First, sanity check...
if (IntPtr.Zero == pNativeData) return null;
// Start by reading the size of the array ("Length" from your ABS_DATA struct)
int length = Marshal.ReadInt32(pNativeData);
// Create the managed array that will be returned
T[] array = new T[length];
// For efficiency, only compute the element size once
int elSiz = Marshal.SizeOf<T>();
// Populate the array
for (int i = 0; i < length; i++)
{
array[i] = Marshal.PtrToStructure<T>(pNativeData + sizeof(int) + (elSiz * i));
}
// Alternate method, for arrays of primitive types only:
// Marshal.Copy(pNativeData + sizeof(int), array, 0, length);
return array;
}
// This is the function that marshals your managed array to unmanaged memory.
// If you only ever marshal the array out, not in, you can return IntPtr.Zero
public IntPtr MarshalManagedToNative (Object ManagedObject)
{
if (null == ManagedObject) return IntPtr.Zero;
T[] array = (T[])ManagedObj;
int elSiz = Marshal.SizeOf<T>();
// Get the total size of unmanaged memory that is needed (length + elements)
int size = sizeof(int) + (elSiz * array.Length);
// Allocate unmanaged space. For COM, use Marshal.AllocCoTaskMem instead.
IntPtr ptr = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(size);
// Write the "Length" field first
Marshal.WriteInt32(ptr, array.Length);
// Write the array data
for (int i = 0; i < array.Length; i++)
{ // Newly-allocated space has no existing object, so the last param is false
Marshal.StructureToPtr<T>(array[i], ptr + sizeof(int) + (elSiz * i), false);
}
// If you're only using arrays of primitive types, you could use this instead:
//Marshal.Copy(array, 0, ptr + sizeof(int), array.Length);
return ptr;
}
// This function is called after completing the call that required marshaling to
// unmanaged memory. You should use it to free any unmanaged memory you allocated.
// If you never consume unmanaged memory or other resources, do nothing here.
public void CleanUpNativeData (IntPtr pNativeData)
{
// Free the unmanaged memory. Use Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem if using COM.
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(pNativeData);
}
// If, after marshaling from unmanaged to managed, you have anything that needs
// to be taken care of when you're done with the object, put it here. Garbage
// collection will free the managed object, so I've left this function empty.
public void CleanUpManagedData (Object ManagedObj)
{ }
// This function is a lie. It looks like it should be impossible to get the right
// value - the whole problem is that the size of each array is variable!
// - but in practice the runtime doesn't rely on this and may not even call it.
// The MSDN example returns -1; I'll try to be a little more realistic.
public int GetNativeDataSize ()
{
return sizeof(int) + Marshal.SizeOf<T>();
}
}
Whew, that was long! Well, there you have it. I hope people see this, because there's a lot of bad answers and misunderstanding out there...
It is not possible to marshal structs containing variable-length arrays (but it is possible to marshal variable-length arrays as function parameters). You will have to read your data manually:
IntPtr nativeData = ... ;
var length = Marshal.ReadUInt32 (nativeData) ;
var bytes = new byte[length] ;
Marshal.Copy (new IntPtr ((long)nativeData + 4), bytes, 0, length) ;
If the data being saved isn't a string, you don't have to store it in a string. I usually do not marshal to a string unless the original data type was a char*. Otherwise a byte[] should do.
Try:
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValArray, SizeConst=[whatever your size is]]
byte[] Data;
If you need to convert this to a string later, use:
System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetString(your byte array here).
Obviously, you need to vary the encoding to what you need, though UTF-8 usually is sufficient.
I see the problem now, you have to marshal a VARIABLE length array. The MarshalAs does not allow this and the array will have to be sent by reference.
If the array length is variable, your byte[] needs to be an IntPtr, so you would use,
IntPtr Data;
Instead of
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValArray, SizeConst=[whatever your size is]]
byte[] Data;
You can then use the Marshal class to access the underlying data.
Something like:
uint length = yourABSObject.Length;
byte[] buffer = new byte[length];
Marshal.Copy(buffer, 0, yourABSObject.Data, length);
You may need to clean up your memory when you are finished to avoid a leak, though I suspect the GC will clean it up when yourABSObject goes out of scope. Anyway, here is the cleanup code:
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(yourABSObject.Data);
You are trying to marshal something that is a byte[ABS_VARLEN] as if it were a string of length 1. You'll need to figure out what the ABS_VARLEN constant is and marshal the array as:
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPArray, SizeConst = 1024)]
public byte[] Data;
(The 1024 there is a placeholder; fill in whatever the actual value of ASB_VARLEN is.)
In my opinion, it's simpler and more efficient to pin the array and take its address.
Assuming you need to pass abs_data to myNativeFunction(abs_data*):
public struct abs_data
{
public uint Length;
public IntPtr Data;
}
[DllImport("myDll.dll")]
static extern void myNativeFunction(ref abs_data data);
void CallNativeFunc(byte[] data)
{
GCHandle pin = GCHandle.Alloc(data, GCHandleType.Pinned);
abs_data tmp;
tmp.Length = data.Length;
tmp.Data = pin.AddrOfPinnedObject();
myNativeFunction(ref tmp);
pin.Free();
}