Click here to Skip to main content
Search within:



Next

Exposing pointers in a .NET class wrapper
Sign Up to vote bad
good
See more: C++VB.NETargumenttypes
I have written in C++ a .NET class library which serves as a wrapper over an existing C++ API.
 
Some of the arguments are pointers (byte*) that allow the user to pass his own raw buffers as arguments.
 
All works fine as long as the library is referenced under C++ and C#. On the opposite, VB does not recognize the functions that use such arguments. They don't even appear in the Object Browser.
 
I am not really looking for a safe solution, just a workaround.
 
Any suggestion?
Posted 30 May '12 - 23:22
YvesDaoust6.2K
Edited 31 May '12 - 4:35
v3
Add a Solution


2 solutions

Not really familiar with VB, but the IntPtr[^] class should allow you to interact with pointers. You might want to overload the C++ functions to accept those as well (if I understand correctly, and the C++ is C++/CLI).
 
And worse case, if you can get it to work in C#, write a C# wrapper for the C++ functions that are giving you trouble.
  Permalink  
Posted 31 May '12 - 5:02
lewax0041.3K
Comments
YvesDaoust - 31 May '12 - 11:38
Interesting proposal. I am trying that, it works on a property and a method argument ! Thanks !
VB.Net does not have pointer types, but it does support pointers as method parameters. You didn't post your VB code, but at a guesss, your declarations are using the ByVal keyword for all parameters; try using ByRef for the pointers. That tells the Framework to treat the parameters as reference pointers, which should do what you need.
  Permalink  
Posted 31 May '12 - 4:25
Gregory.Gadow38.7K
Comments
YvesDaoust - 31 May '12 - 10:30
The class library is written in C++. The buffer arguments are typed as unsigned char* (unmanaged). I am not writing the VB declarations myself, the Object Browser does.
Add a Solution

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

  Print Answers RSS
Your Filters
Interested
Ignored
     
0 Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 425
1 OriginalGriff 315
2 Slacker007 240
3 Aarti Meswania 210
4 Maciej Los 200
0 Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 8,953
1 OriginalGriff 7,134
2 CPallini 3,758
3 Rohan Leuva 3,036
4 Maciej Los 2,488


Advertise | Privacy | Mobile
Web03 | 2.6.130516.1 | Last Updated 31 May 2012
Copyright © CodeProject, 1999-2013
All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use
Layout: fixed | fluid