Develop Reference

Unable to get pointer of structure C#

Scenario is like there is GUI and Dll, GUI is in C#(WPF) and it is using c++ Dll and dll needs structure pointer of structure created in GUI for processing commands.
In Dll structure having fixed size array so same created in GUI also.
C++ structure
struct _TempData
{
Int32 iOnFly_StepCalib;
Int32 iOnFly_BiDiCalib;
UNIT Unit;
byte uiPrintDirection;
Int16 siStep_Feed[20];
};
so In GUI(C#) structure is like...
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, Pack = 4)]
public struct _TempData
{
public Int32 iOnFly_StepCalib;
public Int32 iOnFly_BiDiCalib;
public UNIT Unit;
public byte uiPrintDirection;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValArray, SizeConst = 20)]
public Int16[] siStep_Feed;
};
and my c# code for getting this structure pointer is here
[DllImport("Dll12.dll")]
public static extern UIntPtr sendMessageToHSM(Int32 MSG, IntPtr CmdStruct);
static void Main(string[] args)
{
_TempData tempData;
tempData.iOnFly_BiDiCalib = 1;
tempData.iOnFly_StepCalib = 2;
tempData.uiPrintDirection = 1;
tempData.Unit = UNIT.INCH;
unsafe
{
void* tempdata1 = &tempData;
sendMessageToHSM((int)HSM_COMMANDS.HSM_GUI_PC_UPDATE_STEP_CALIB, (IntPtr)tempdata1 );
}
}
This error is showing...
Error CS0208 Cannot take the address of, get the size of, or declare a pointer to a managed type ('_TempData')
on commenting this line in structure
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValArray, SizeConst = 20)]
public Int16[] siStep_Feed;
then code is running fine.
I am new to C#.
Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks.

There are many errors in your code, also unsafe keyword is no use here
I believe what you might be looking for is
// get the size
int size = Marshal.SizeOf(tempData);
// Create some unmanaged memory
IntPtr ptr = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(size);
// marshal the structure to pointer
Marshal.StructureToPtr(tempData, ptr, false);
// call the funky api
sendMessageToHSM((int)HSM_COMMANDS.HSM_GUI_PC_UPDATE_STEP_CALIB, ptr);
// get the result if there is any
_TempData tempData2 = (_TempData)Marshal.PtrToStructure(ptr, typeof(_TempData));
// clean up the memory
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(ptr);
Also in C# we don't name types with an underscore

Tracing source of access violation in unmanaged C# code

I am currently working on some C# code that talks to a C++ dll. This is not an area in which I - or anyone else at my company - has any experience. It's been an eye-opener to say the least.
After a lot of reading, trial and error, and frustration, I've managed to iron out most of the kinks and get something that's largely functional. However, from time to time, it still throws this at me ...
System.AccessViolationException: Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.
.. and then dies. This error only appears when I run the call on parallel threads - it's fine single threaded. This dll is supposed to be thread safe and we've good reason to believe it ought to be, if handled correctly.
The cause of this error is always a call to the same function:
[DllImport(DLL, SetLastError = true, CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
public static extern int QABatchWV_Close(IntPtr vi1);
I have the header file for the library, which defines this function as:
__declspec(dllimport) int __stdcall QABatchWV_Close(int);
From what I understand there are additional tools at my disposal like SafeHandle and MarshalAs. But, frankly, I'm unsure as to how to best deploy them in this situation.
This error tends to take several hours of use time to show up, so tweaking and hoping isn't going to be a productive approach here. Can anyone point me as to what I might be doing wrong in calling down to the C++ function?

Well, first of all you don't need setting Charset here, because there are no strings.
Second of all - function in cpp should be declared as exported not imported, so it should look like:
__declspec(dllimport) int __stdcall QABatchWV_Close(int);
Next, you should set calling convention in your C# code to stdcall:
[DllImport(DLL, SetLastError = true, CallingConvention=CallingConvention.Stdcall)]
Next you should have int instead of IntPtr in C# code. And I'm nearly sure that name of this function (in C++ dll) is mangled and it's not QABatchWV_Close but rather something like QABatchWV_Close#32. You should check it using "dll export viewer".

Have a look at the following code which I use to call a c (not c++) dll. I know it is not really an answer to your question, but perhaps you can use some of this going foreward.
Note the "CallingConvention"-specifier in the dll declaration and also the "FreeGlobal" in the "finally" part of the try catch.
public class csInterface
{
[DllImport(#"myDLL.dll", EntryPoint = "dllFunc", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall)]
private static extern void dllFunc(IntPtr inp, IntPtr outp);
public static int myDll(ref MyInput myInput, ref MyOutput myOutput)
{
int sizeIn, sizeOut;
IntPtr ptr_i = IntPtr.Zero, ptr_u = IntPtr.Zero;
sizeIn = Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(myInput));
sizeOut = Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(myOutput));
/* Calling C */
try
{
ptr_i = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(sizeIn);
ptr_u = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(sizeOut);
Marshal.StructureToPtr(myInput, ptr_i, true);
Marshal.StructureToPtr(myOutput, ptr_u, true);
dllFunc(ptr_i, ptr_u);
myOutput = (MyOutput)(Marshal.PtrToStructure(ptr_u, typeof(MyOutput)));
}
catch (Exception)
{
//Return something meaningful (or not)
return -999;
}
finally
{
//Free memory
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(ptr_i);
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(ptr_u);
}
//Return something to indicate it all went well
return 0;
}
}
In C# I declare my types
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
public struct MySubType
{
public int a;
public double b;
}
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
public struct MyInput
{
[MarshalAsAttribute(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 4)]
public string aString; //A string of length 3
public bool aBoolean;
public int anInt;
public char aChar;
public double aDouble;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValArray, ArraySubType = UnmanagedType.Struct, SizeConst = 12)]
public MySubType[] aSubType; //Array of struct of length 12
}
And something similar for the output.
Now in C (its probably the same or similar in c++) i declare my dll
__declspec(dllexport) void _stdcall dllFunc(MyCInput *myCInput, MyCOutput *myCOutput)
{
//Code
}
And the corresponding C types which obviously have to mirror the C# types exactly
typedef struct
{
int a;
double b;
} MyCSubType;
typedef struct
{
char aString[4];
int aBoolean; //This needs to be cast over to your C boolean type
int anInt;
char aChar;
double aDouble;
MyCSubType myCSubType[12];
} MyCType;
Now the types I have used in this example do not exactly match what I have used in my code, and i have not tested this code. So there may be typos and such, but the "principle" is ok.

PInvoke Nikon c++ DLL Function from c#

I'm trying to access the Nikon image SDK(for those interested see: 1) to implement access to *.nef file in a programm. I'm stuck at a return code from the dll which should be interpreted as "invalid parameter" and I'm running out of ideas.
Yes I know the chance, that somebody is exactly using this dll is sparse, but I'm rather looking for "writing"/"thinking" errors... I'm still learning (so excuse to any wrong used terms, etc...) and also for this reason this is a little "longer" post (some "aloud thinking" on my side ;-) )
1.) the dll has an entry function where you pass a identifier and a struct as parameter. The identifier stands for a specific command (like open,close,etc....). The struct is used for data exchange with the camera.
2.) I do have everything together and working (since, I'm getting a "return code") but I can't figure out the reason for the return code (maybe some datatype is incompatible?)
So first the "C++"-part:
c++ function definition:
extern "C" unsigned long __declspec(dllexport) WINAPI Nkfl_Entry(unsigned long ulCommand, void* pParam );
this is stdcall, so I do need to worry about any further options to dllimport, since usigned long(c++) corresponds to uint(c#) i get two uints one "out" and one "in"...
c++ struct defintion:
typedef struct tagNkflLibraryParam
{
unsigned long ulSize; // Size of structure
unsigned long ulVersion; // Version
unsigned long ulVMMemorySize; // Size of vertual memory
NkflPtr* pNkflPtr; // Pointer of StratoObject
unsigned char VMFileInfo[ MAX_PATH ]; // Swap file info
} NkflLibraryParam, *NkflLibraryPtr;
so I do need to pass 3 times uints, one pointer to an "StratoObject" ((1.) the doc says "typedef void* NkflPtr" so this is "just" a void* pointer 2.) the doc says if this is zero it will be filled up by the sdk) and finally one byte (since unsigned char(c++) corresponds to byte(c#)).
So first question: Is this correct?
Then going to the "coding-part":
c# struct defintion:
namespace NikonStruct
{
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct NkflLibraryParam
{
public uint ulSize; // size of the NkflLibraryParam structure
public uint ulVersion; // version number of the interface specification
public uint ulVMMMemorySize; // upper limit of the physical memory that can be used
public IntPtr pNkflPtr; // pointer to the StratoManager object
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValArray, SizeConst = 260)]
public byte[] VMFileInfo; // swap file information
}
}
now this should correspond to my defintions above...
c# Program class:
class Program
{
public enum eNkflCommand : int
{
kNkfl_Cmd_OpenLibrary = 1,
kNkfl_Cmd_CloseLibrary = 2,
};
[DllImport("NkImgSDK.dll", EntryPoint = "Nkfl_Entry")]
public static extern uint kNkfl_Cmd_OpenLibrary(eNkflCommand ulCommand, ref NikonStruct.NkflLibraryParam data);
[DllImport("NkImgSDK.dll", EntryPoint = "Nkfl_Entry")]
public static extern uint kNkfl_Cmd_CloseLibrary(eNkflCommand ulCommand, IntPtr close);
static void Main(string[] args)
{
try
{
// specify return value of entry function
uint result1, result2;
/// call the kNkfl_Cmd_OpenLibrary Function
// generate data structure, which is used to communicate with kNkfl_Cmd_OpenLibrary function
NikonStruct.NkflLibraryParam _NkflLibraryParam = new NikonStruct.NkflLibraryParam();
// fill the fields of _NkflLibraryParam structure for kNkfl_Cmd_OpenLibrary function
_NkflLibraryParam.ulVersion = 16777216;
_NkflLibraryParam.ulSize = ((uint)Marshal.SizeOf(_NkflLibraryParam)); ;
// call the entry function with parameters for kNkfl_Cmd_OpenLibrary
result1 = kNkfl_Cmd_OpenLibrary(eNkflCommand.kNkfl_Cmd_OpenLibrary, ref _NkflLibraryParam);
Console.WriteLine(result1);
/// call the kNkfl_Cmd_CloseLibrary Function
result2 = kNkfl_Cmd_CloseLibrary(eNkflCommand.kNkfl_Cmd_CloseLibrary, IntPtr.Zero);
Console.WriteLine(result2);
}
catch
{
string errorMsg = new System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception(Marshal.GetLastWin32Error()).Message;
throw new ArgumentException(errorMsg);
}
}
}
So nothing specific here:
eNkflCommand is from the doc
the structure is passed by reference so ref...
the "close" function expects "null pointer" (according to doc)
ulVersion is 0x01000000 (according to doc)
all other struct values are not set (and are zero by default if I understood the clr doc correctly)
Compiles and runs as already mentioned but result1 returns wrong "status-code" which translates to "invalid param" as already mentioned.
Any help appreciated....

FOUND IT:
never trust a documentation of a software developer: there was actually a missing parameter (not declared in the documentation BUT in an additional header definition file which was in another sub-directory of the sdk-package...)
so actually the struct defintion in the c# should be:
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
public struct struktur
{
public uint ulSize; // size of the NkflLibraryParam structure
public uint ulVersion; // version number of the interface specification
public uint ulVMMMemorySize; // upper limit of the physical memory that can be used
public IntPtr pNkflPtr; // pointer to the StratoManager object
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValArray, SizeConst = 260)]
public byte[] VMFileInfo; // swap file information
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValArray, SizeConst = 260)]
public byte[] DefProfPath; // <- this one is not included in the doc of NIKON (I still don't now what this should hold but it works if it's empty...)
}
Thanks to jszigeti and DavidHeffernan for trying...

How do I call this c function in c# (unmarshalling return struct)?

I want to use c# interop to call a function from a dll written in c. I have the header files.
Take a look at this:
enum CTMBeginTransactionError {
CTM_BEGIN_TRX_SUCCESS = 0,
CTM_BEGIN_TRX_ERROR_ALREADY_IN_PROGRESS,
CTM_BEGIN_TRX_ERROR_NOT_CONNECTED
};
#pragma pack(push)
#pragma pack(1)
struct CTMBeginTransactionResult {
char * szTransactionID;
enum CTMBeginTransactionError error;
};
struct CTMBeginTransactionResult ctm_begin_customer_transaction(const char * szTransactionID);
How do I call ctm_begin_customer_transaction from c#. The const char * mapps well to string, but despite various attempts (looking at stackoverflow and other sites), I fail to marshal the return structure. If I define the function to return IntPtr it works ok...
Edit
I changed the return type to IntPtr and use:
CTMBeginTransactionResult structure = (CTMBeginTransactionResult)Marshal.PtrToStructure(ptr, typeof(CTMBeginTransactionResult));
but it throws AccessViolationException
I also tried:
IntPtr ptr = Transactions.ctm_begin_customer_transaction("");
int size = 50;
byte[] byteArray = new byte[size];
Marshal.Copy(ptr, byteArray, 0, size);
string stringData = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(byteArray);
stringData == "70e3589b-2de0-4d1e-978d-55e22225be95\0\"\0\0\a\0\0\b\b?" at this point. The "70e3589b-2de0-4d1e-978d-55e22225be95" is the szTransactionID from the struct. Where is the Enum? Is it the next byte?

There's a memory management problem hidden in this struct. Who owns the C string pointer? The pinvoke marshaller will always assume that the caller owns it so it will try to release the string. And passes the pointer to CoTaskMemFree(), same function as the one called by Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(). These functions use the COM memory allocator, the universal interop memory manager in Windows.
This rarely comes to a good end, C code does not typically use that allocator unless the programmer designed his code with interop in mind. In which case he'd never have used a struct as a return value, interop always works much less trouble-free when the caller supplies buffers.
So you cannot afford to let the marshaller do its normal duty. You must declare the return value type as IntPtr so it doesn't try to release the string. And you must marshal it yourself with Marshal.PtrToStructure().
That however still leaves the question unanswered, who owns the string? There is nothing you can do to release the string buffer, you don't have access to the allocator used in the C code. The only hope you have is that the string wasn't actually allocated on the heap. That's possible, the C program might be using string literals. You need to verify that guess. Call the function a billion times in a test program. If that doesn't explode the program then you're good. If not then only C++/CLI can solve your problem. Given the nature of the string, a "transaction ID" ought to change a lot, I'd say you do have a problem.

I hate to answer my own question, but I found the solution to marshal the resulting struct. The struct is 8 bytes long (4 bytes for the char * and 4 bytes for enum). Marshalling the string does not work automatically, but the following works:
// Native (unmanaged)
public enum CTMBeginTransactionError
{
CTM_BEGIN_TRX_SUCCESS = 0,
CTM_BEGIN_TRX_ERROR_ALREADY_IN_PROGRESS,
CTM_BEGIN_TRX_ERROR_NOT_CONNECTED
};
// Native (unmanaged)
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, Pack = 1, CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
internal struct CTMBeginTransactionResult
{
public IntPtr szTransactionID;
public CTMBeginTransactionError error;
};
// Managed wrapper around native struct
public class BeginTransactionResult
{
public string TransactionID;
public CTMBeginTransactionError Error;
internal BeginTransactionResult(CTMBeginTransactionResult nativeStruct)
{
// Manually marshal the string
if (nativeStruct.szTransactionID == IntPtr.Zero) this.TransactionID = "";
else this.TransactionID = Marshal.PtrToStringAnsi(nativeStruct.szTransactionID);
this.Error = nativeStruct.error;
}
}
[DllImport("libctmclient-0.dll")]
internal static extern CTMBeginTransactionResult ctm_begin_customer_transaction(string ptr);
public static BeginTransactionResult BeginCustomerTransaction(string transactionId)
{
CTMBeginTransactionResult nativeResult = Transactions.ctm_begin_customer_transaction(transactionId);
return new BeginTransactionResult(nativeResult);
}
The code works, but I still need to investigate, if calling the unmanaged code results in memory leaks.

C# calling C function that returns struct with fixed size char array

So, there have been many variants of this question, and after looking at several I still can't figure it out.
This is the C code:
typedef struct
{
unsigned long Identifier;
char Name[128];
} Frame;
Frame GetFrame(int index);
This is the C# code:
struct Frame
{
public ulong Identifier;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValArray, ArraySubType = UnmanagedType.I1, SizeConst = 128)]
public char[] Name;
}
[DllImport("XNETDB.dll", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl, CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
private static extern Frame GetFrame(int index);
This is the last attempt I tried in C#, and it seems pretty logical, but I get the error "Method's signature is not PInvoke compatible." So, I'm kind of lost on what to try next. Any help is appreciated.
Thanks,
Kevin
Updated Kevin added this as an edit to my answer
I should instead change my C code:
void GetFrame(int index, Frame * f);
and use instead for C#:
struct Frame
{
public uint Identifier;
[MarshalAsAttribute(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 128)]
public string Name;
}
[DllImport("XNETDB.dll", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl, CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
private static extern void GetFrame(int index, ref Frame f);

There are two problems with the PInvoke signature that you've chosen.
The first is easy to fix. You have a mistranslation of unsigned long. In C an unsigned long is typically only 4 bytes. You chose the C# type long which is 8 bytes. Changing the C# code to use uint will fix this.
The second is a bit harder. As Tergiver pointed out the CLR Marshaller only supports a struct in the return position if it's blittable. Blittable is a fancy way of saying that it has the exact same memory representation in native and managed code. The struct definition you've chosen isn't blittable because it has a nested array.
This can be worked around though if you remember that PInvoke is a very simple process. The CLR Marshaller really just needs you to answer 2 questions with the signature of your types and pinvoke methods
How many bytes am I copying?
In which direction do they need to go?
In this case the number of bytes is sizeof(unsigned long) + 128 == 132. So all we need to do is build up a managed type that is blittable and has a size of 132 bytes. The easiest way to do this is to define a blob to handle the array portion
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, Size = 128)]
struct Blob
{
// Intentionally left empty. It's just a blob
}
This is a struct with no members that will appear to the marshaller as having a size of 128 bytes (and as a bonus it's blittable!). Now we can easily define the Frame structure as a combination of an uint and this type
struct Frame
{
public int Identifier;
public Blob NameBlob;
...
}
Now we have a blittable type with a size the marshaller will see as 132 bytes. This means it will work just fine with the GetFrame signature you've defined
The only part left is giving you access to the actual char[] for the name. This is a bit tricky but can be solved with a bit of marshal magic.
public string GetName()
{
IntPtr ptr = IntPtr.Zero;
try
{
ptr = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(128);
Marshal.StructureToPtr(NameBlob, ptr, false);
return Marshal.PtrToStringAnsi(ptr, 128);
}
finally
{
if (ptr != IntPtr.Zero)
{
Marshal.FreeHGlobal(ptr);
}
}
}
Note: I can't comment on the calling convention portion because I'm unfamiliar with the GetFrame API but that's something i would definitely check on.

The problem is that the native function returns a non-blittable type as a return value.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ef4c3t39.aspx
P/Invoke cannot have non-blittable types as a return value.
You cannot p/Invoke that method. [EDIT It is actually possible, see JaredPar's answer]
Returning 132 bytes by value is a bad idea. If this native code is yours, I would fix it. You can fix it by allocating the 132 bytes and returning a pointer. Then add a FreeFrame method to release that memory. Now it can be p/Invoked.
Alternately, you could change it to accept a pointer to the Frame memory that it will fill in.

Another option to JaredPar's is to utilize the C# fixed size buffer feature. This does however require you to turn on the setting to allow unsafe code, but it avoids having 2 structs.
class Program
{
private const int SIZE = 128;
unsafe public struct Frame
{
public uint Identifier;
public fixed byte Name[SIZE];
}
[DllImport("PinvokeTest2.DLL", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl, CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
private static extern Frame GetFrame(int index);
static unsafe string GetNameFromFrame(Frame frame)
{
//Option 1: Use if the string in the buffer is always null terminated
//return Marshal.PtrToStringAnsi(new IntPtr(frame.Name));
//Option 2: Use if the string might not be null terminated for any reason,
//like if were 128 non-null characters, or the buffer has corrupt data.
return Marshal.PtrToStringAnsi(new IntPtr(frame.Name), SIZE).Split('\0')[0];
}
static void Main()
{
Frame a = GetFrame(0);
Console.WriteLine(GetNameFromFrame(a));
}
}