How to get array from aaC++/C DLL to C#
See the question and my original answer on StackOverflowThere are multiple ways to return arrays, but in all cases you must solve two problems:
- be able to tell .NET the count of items in the array;
- use a common memory allocator for the native and .NET Size. The allocator of choice is the COM allocator as it's known to .NET;
Here are two examples using .NET safe code:
Native code 1:
extern __declspec(dllexport) SAFEARRAY * sumSafeArray()
{
int a = 50, b = 80, sum, neg;
sum = a + b;
neg = b - a;
int arr[2] = { sum, neg };
// SAFEARRAY is a OLE/COM automation type well known to Windows and .NET
// (note it implicitly uses the COM allocator too)
SAFEARRAY* psa = SafeArrayCreateVector(VT_I4, 0, 2);
void* data;
SafeArrayAccessData(psa, &data);
CopyMemory(data, arr, sizeof(arr));
SafeArrayUnaccessData(psa);
return psa;
}
Managed code 1:
[DllImport("mydll")]
[return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.SafeArray)]
private static extern int[] sumSafeArray();
foreach (var i in sumSafeArray())
{
Console.WriteLine(i);
}
Native code 2:
extern __declspec(dllexport) void sumArray(int** out, int* count)
{
int a = 50, b = 80, sum, neg;
sum = a + b;
neg = b - a;
int arr[2] = { sum, neg };
// always use COM allocator
*out = (int*)CoTaskMemAlloc(sizeof(arr));
CopyMemory(*out, arr, sizeof(arr));
*count = sizeof(arr) / sizeof(int);
}
Managed code 2:
[DllImport("mydll")]
private static extern void sumArray(out IntPtr array, out int size);
sumArray(out var ptr, out var size);
var ints = new int[size];
Marshal.Copy(ptr, ints, 0, size);
Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(ptr);
foreach (var i in ints)
{
Console.WriteLine(i);
}
And one example using .NET unsafe code:
Native code:
extern __declspec(dllexport) int* sum(int* count)
{
int a = 50, b = 80, sum, neg;
sum = a + b;
neg = b - a;
int arr[2] = { sum, neg };
// always use COM allocator
int* out = (int*)CoTaskMemAlloc(sizeof(arr));
CopyMemory(out, arr, sizeof(arr));
*count = sizeof(arr) / sizeof(int);
return out;
}
Managed code:
[DllImport("mydll")]
private unsafe static extern int* sum(out int count);
var ints = sum(out var count);
for (var i = 0; i < count; i++)
{
Console.WriteLine(*ints);
ints++;
}
You could also use another allocator (new/malloc/custom, etc.) but in this case you would need to expose/export to .NET the corresponding "free" method and do the free yourself when needed.