How can we export C# methods?
I have a dll and I want to use its methods in the Python language with the ctypes module.
Because I need to use the ctypes module, I need to export the C# methods for them to be visible in Python.
So, how can I export the C# methods (like they do in C++)?
Contrary to popular belief, this is possible.
See here.
With the normal Python implementation ("CPython"), you can't, at least not directly.
You could write native C wrappers around our C# methods using C++/CLI, and call these wrappers from Python.
Or, you could try IronPython. This lets you run Python code and call code in any .Net language, including C#.
That's not possible. If you need DLL exports you'll need to use the C++/CLI language. For example:
public ref class Class1 {
public:
static int add(int a, int b) {
return a + b;
}
};
extern "C" __declspec(dllexport)
int add(int a, int b) {
return Class1::add(a, b);
}
The class can be written in C# as well. The C++/CLI compiler emits a special thunk for the export that ensures that the CLR is loaded and execution switches to managed mode. This is not exactly fast.
Writing [ComVisible(true)] code in C# is another possibility.
(This may no longer be relevant since SLaks has found that ingenious link, but I'll leave an edited version for reference...)
The "normal" way of exposing .NET/C# objects to unmanaged code (like Python) is to create a COM-callable wrapper for the C# DLL (.NET assembly), and call that using Python's COM/OLE support. To create the COM-callable wrapper, use the tlbexp and/or regasm command-line utilities.
Obviously, however, this does not provide the C/DLL-style API that SLaks' link does.
Related
A third-party app I have can call extension DLLs if they have C-compliant interfaces as described below.
I would like the third-party app to call my C# DLL, since I would rather write in C# than C. (Maybe my other choice would be to write a C DLL wrapper to call my C# DLL, which is an extra step that I might not get right).
I've searched the net and SO but haven't found (or recognized) a good match to my question.
The best suggestion seemed to be this special marshalling declarations in the C# code here: Calling a C# DLL from C; linking problems
Is it possible to write a C# DLL that has a C-compliant interface like the one below? If so, could someone tell me what I have to do or point me to some documentation?
The third-party app documentation says, "The DLL function must be a PASCAL function that takes a single LPCSTR (long pointer to a constant string) argument. C or C++ DLL functions called must have prototypes equivalent to:
extern "C" __declspec(dllexport) void __stdcall fn(LPCTSTR szParam );
Take a look at this article: https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/12512/Using-the-CDECL-calling-convention-in-C-changing
It discusses a different problem (opposite to yours) but also explains the linkage of C# functions - by default C# uses __stdcall (and it cannot be overridden). This means your third party app should be able to call the C# function as it stands. Have you tried it? Did you get any errors?
I have a code written in C++ (that I did not write) and want to use it in C#, so I decided to make a dll and use this class from there.
I have very little knowledge of C++ and am having problems referencing the methods of this class in my C# project.
The C++ code is like this:
#ifndef BeamAn_class
#define BeamAn_class
#define DllExport __declspec( dllexport )
#include <vector>
#include <cmath>
using namespace std;
public class DllExport BeamAn
{
public:
BeamAn();
~BeamAn();
bool SetGeometry(vector<double>); //I didn't put the DllExport here because I already did it for the whole class. It's okay to do this, right?
//other public methods an stuff
private:
//private methods an stuff
}
#endif
In my C# project I added the reference to the C++ dll normally (right click on the project, add reference. The .lib and .h files are in the same folder of the dll).
But looks like Visual Studio can't "see" the methods of my class. I can create a object of the BeamAn type, but can't use any of its methods.
For example, I can do this:
BeamAn contBeam = new BeamAn();
But can't use any of the methods or atributes inside the class, like this: contBeam.SetLoadFactors(1.0,1.2);
Visual Studio says that "BeamAn does not contain a definition for 'SetLoadFactors' and no extension method 'SetLoadFactors' accepting a first argument type 'BeamAn' could be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)
Is there more something I should write in the C++ code to make the dll work properly, or am I doing something wrong when referencing it? I know that I'd have to use "DllImport" in my C# code if I was explicit linking, but that's not what I want to do.
Thank you very much!
There are several ways to make C++ library available in C#.
Use PInvoke - directly call your C++ code. See this article for more information. Also see pinvoke.net for general reference.
Use an interop language to create a managed wrapper around your unmanaged code. If you're in the Microsoft world I would recommend C++/CLI to create mixed mode libraries (dlls that contain both managed and unmanaged code). Here is a brief (and old) article introducing C++/CLI.
Make your C++ COM accessible. Since the code isn't yours this one might not be useful to you. See this post for more information about C++ and COM.
For simple scenarios PInvoke is probably the easiest. For more complicated interactions of the managed and unmanaged code I would recommend writing a mixed mode dll with an interop language. And if those don't work for you, use COM.
To address the error you receive: you can't add a reference to a C++ library from a C# project - they are completely different languages with different memory management systems, different type systems, different everything (well, a lot of things). Also, you can't pass data structures (like vectors, maps or sets) from unmanaged code to managed code.
to use c++ code in a c# project, you have 2 options:
wrap your c++ class in a managed c++ class
use a library called swig
a link that might interest you: Wrapping Visual C++ in C#
Can I instantiate and "work with" an unmanaged C++ class from C# code (say, using DllImport and such)?
On Windows, you can use COM interop to work with C++. This won't work on Linux/Mac OS X, however.
Another alternative is to expose a C wrapper around the C++ class (extern "C" in C++). This is necessary because DllImport expects a C ABI.
Edit: and a third alternative is C++/CLI, i.e. compile your C++ code for .Net. This is also a Windows-only solution.
You can also use SWIG. It works with Mono on Linux and Mac.
It generates a set of C functions which expose the C++ class, and generates a C# class that calls them with DllImport.
It allows inheriting C++ classes in C#, and with Directors feature C++ code can call back virtual methods overridden in C#.
This question might seem a repeat of previous ones. I have read through a series of posts, but not completely clear for my situation.
I have a c++ library which is created using momentics IDE. I have to be able to use this library into a c# project.
Someone had been working on this project before being handed over to me. Currently, there are 2 layers for making this possible. First, a c++ project includes the complete library with a c++ wrapper. This project creates a dll as the output. This c++ dll is then fed to a c# project, which has dllimport calls to the c++ dll. This c# project again creates a dll. Finally, in order to use the library in c# application, I have to include a reference to both of these dlls.
Is this the correct way to get it working? I was thinking probably there should be a way to simplify the process.
Can someone please help me with this question?
Given that you're using a C++ library, I'm assuming it takes advantage of C++ semantics like classes, rather than just exposing procedures. If this is the case, then the way this is typically done is via a manually-created managed C++ interop library.
Basically, you create a managed C++ library in Visual Studio, reference your existing C++ library, and create a managed wrapper around your existing C++ classes. You then reference this (managed) C++ assembly in your C# project and include the original (unmanaged) C++ library in your C# assembly just as a file that gets placed in the build directory.
This is required because there is no way to reference things like C++ classes via P/Invoke (DllImport) calls.
If your base library is just a series of functions, then you can reference that directly in the C# project via P/Invoke functions.
Either way, all of the libraries mentioned above (for the first, the unmanaged C++ library, the managed C++ assembly, and the C# project, or, for the second, the unmanaced C++ library and the C# project) must be included in any project that references them. You cannot statically link the unmanaged library into the managed assembly.
Seems like you have one wrapper too many but perhaps someone is implementing some sort of facade or adding properties or something. The basic connection between managed and unmanaged will be either DllImport of "flat" function calls - not member functions - or C++/CLI code calling member functions. If the wrapper is C++/CLI it's easiest to write (just include the header for the C++ library) and easiest to call (C# code just adds a .NET reference to it and carries on as normal) so it would be my first choice if there's C++ expertise on the project.
It sounds like whoever you were taking over from is doing it the hard way. If there are less than 20 methods, I would suggest starting over.
You can use:
DllImport
class Example
{
// Use DllImport to import the Win32 MessageBox function.
[DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
public static extern int MessageBox(IntPtr hWnd, String text, String caption, uint type);
static void Main()
{
// Call the MessageBox function using platform invoke.
MessageBox(new IntPtr(0), "Hello World!", "Hello Dialog", 0);
}
}
I have a C++ class I'd like to access from a C# application. I'll need to access the constructor and a single member function. Currently the app accepts data in the form of stl::vectors but I can do some conversion if that's not likely to work?
I've found a few articles online which describe how to call C++ DLLs and some others which describe how to make .dll projects for other purposes. I'm struggling to find a guide to creating them in Visual Studio 2008 for use in a C# app though (there seem to be a few for VS 6.0 but the majority of the options they specify don't seem to appear in the 2008 version).
If anyone has a step-by-step guide or a fairly basic example to get going from, I'd be very grateful.
The easiest way to interoperate between C++ and C# is by using managed C++, or C++/CLI as it is called. In VisualStudio, create a new C++ project of type "CLR Class Library". There is some new syntax for the parts that you want to make available to C#, but you can use regular C++ as usual.
In this example, I'm using std::vector<int> just to show that you can use standard types - however, in an actual application, I'd prefer to use the .NET types where possible (in this case a System::Collections::Generic::List<int>).
#pragma unmanaged
#include <vector>
#pragma managed
public ref class CppClass
{
public:
CppClass() : vectorOfInts_(new std::vector<int>)
{}
// This is a finalizer, run when GC collects the managed object
!CppClass()
{ delete vectorOfInts_; }
void Add(int n)
{ vectorOfInts_->push_back(n); }
private:
std::vector<int>* vectorOfInts_;
};
EDIT: Changed the class to hold the vector by pointer instead of by value.
If such DLL is unmanaged. You will have to use P/invoke. A p/invoke function definition looks like this:
[DllImport("Library_Name.dll", EntryPoint = "function")]
public static extern void function();
If, on the other hand, is a managed (C++/CLI) DLL (or assembly). You can access it by adding a reference to it on your .NET project.
EDIT:
I think I didn't answer your question at all. But to create a managed C++ DLL to be accessed from .NET, create a new project an choose:
Visual C++/CLR/Class Library. And then, just add its output DLL to your C# project.
That'd do it. :)
Do you have an existing C++ exe that you want to re-build as a dll? Or is all you have the C++ class?
If all you have is the C++ class, you might think about building a .Net dll. While you couldn't pass stl types from C# to C++, I am pretty sure you can pass managed .Net types.
If you must use the stl types in the class, you could convert the data in the C++ class, or the calling app.
I've found a tutorial which works. A quick note though, you have to be careful to copy the .dll into the same directory as the executable. I messed around with trying to tell the executable where the DLL was but gave up in the end.
Use of unmanaged C++ Dlls can be very tedious in C#.
An "easier" route is to place it in a COM wrapper.