Managed C++/CLI

Re: No output from << operator in console app - code correction

18-Jan-03 0:17

You have the wrong forum; the Visual C++ forum is for regular C++ questions. However, you might want to use the new-style C++ headers, which omit the ".h":

#include <iostream>

and make sure you include:

using namespace std;

or use "std::cout".

malmi18-Jan-03 6:02

malmi

18-Jan-03 6:02

Thanks Jeff it solved the problem . Big Grin | :-D

Sorry about wrong forum. Roll eyes | :rolleyes:

Stupid question about VC6 to VC.Net migration reason

Member 13901616-Jan-03 0:23

Member 139016

16-Jan-03 0:23

Please, can anyone say me reasons for buying VS.Net and using managed C++ instead unmanaged C++ (and C# instead Java for Web) ?
Except compatibility ( "you can use this applications anywere... where Windows and .Net framework installed, heh ")and fashion reasons %)
I'm sorry for this vulgar question, but i cant find this reasons by myself.
Can anyone help me ?
P.S. I forgot - call "delete" for any called "new" is not a problem for me

WBR NB

System::String/StringBuilder as out parameter

Paul Selormey14-Jan-03 22:23

14-Jan-03 22:23

Hello All,
What is the recommended way to handle strings out parameters
of functions/methods?
Interestingly, I could not find single example in any book and just
not confidence on which way will work and across languages like
VB.NET and C#.
Any help?

The simply one I am currently considering (which works) is:

#using <mscorlib.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Text;

void GetString(StringBuilder* pOut)
{
   pOut->set_Length(0);
   pOut->Append("Out--string");
}

int _tmain()
{
   StringBuilder* pOut = new StringBuilder("In--string");

   GetString(pOut);

   Console::WriteLine(pOut->ToString());

   return 0;
}

Any better solution? Something that could be used in other languages too.

Best regards,
Paul.

Jesus Christ is LOVE! Please tell somebody.

Jeff J15-Jan-03 10:16

15-Jan-03 10:16

If all you are looking to do is get a String/StringBuilder back when passed as a parameter, then passing by reference will achieve what you want. Your current example would need to be modified to something like:

void GetString(StringBuilder **pOut)<br />
{<br />
   (*pOut)->set_Length(0);<br />
   (*pOut)->Append(S"Out--string");<br />
}

This is very COM-like, and both C# and VB.Net prototypes will ask for a reference, such as:

void GetString(ref StringBuilder pOut); //in C#

which would be called like:

GetString(ref pOut);    //C#<br />
GetString(ByRef pOut);  //VB.Net<br />
GetString(&pOut);       //MC++

For various reasons, just asking for a pointer to a parameter is not enough with the CLR (unlike in C++); one must ask for a pointer to a pointer in order for the modification to get back to the caller. Your current version may well work when the StringBuilder is not reallocated, but all bets are off after reallocation, since the callee will then have a pointer to a new object (and this is always the case when passing String).

I believe there is also a way to make the call look like:

void GetString(out StringBuilder pOut); //C#

but I have not bothered so far, as I am waiting for finalisation of VS 2003 with possibly further MC++ refinements, and I have also not really needed to do so.

When passing by the CLR's definition of "by ref", you will no longer need to pre-size the StringBuilder before calling GetString():

int _tmain()<br />
{<br />
   StringBuilder *pOut = new StringBuilder();<br />
   GetString(&pOut);<br />
   Console::WriteLine(pOut->ToString());<br />
   return 0;<br />
}

That is probably obvious to you, but it is mainly why I have used passing by ref. For example, I have written some MC++ functions that are expected to be called repeatedly. They take StringBuilders by ref specifically so that internal arrays rarely need to be reallocated, and I suspect you might be trying to do the same. I have also done this with plain CLR strings, though reallocation would need to occur on each call:

void GetString(String **ppStr)<br />
{<br />
   *ppStr = new String(S"Out--string");<br />
}

However, if the function has no length of string to return, then chars do not have to be allocated for nothing. I hope some of this is valid for your purposes Smile | :)

Cheers

Paul Selormey15-Jan-03 15:40

15-Jan-03 15:40

Hello Jeff,
Thanks so much for taken the time to explain this so well. I tried the pointer to pointer stuff in an out System::Drawing::Rectangle case, and the compile will not work claiming it is a value and that I should use the "__nogc new" instead:

void GetRectangle(Rectangle** pOut)
{
    *pOut = new Rectangle(...);
}

Not knowing whether the C++ heap will be accessible or not from other languages, I changed it to reference like this:

void GetRectangle(Rectangle& pOut)
{
    pOut.X = ;...
}

However, the IL output from the MC++ seems to carry some VC specific information attached to the parameter:

modopt([Microsoft.VisualC]Microsoft.VisualC.IsCXXReferenceModifier)

So, I got confused as to what will really be accepted as the standard way of doing it.

Best regards,
Paul.

Jesus Christ is LOVE! Please tell somebody.

Paul Selormey15-Jan-03 15:48

15-Jan-03 15:48

Well, I just got this response on the VC news group:

There is no real need to change to pointers. C# handles this fine. The
"modopt" means that it is an OPTional MODifier for the signature. When the
C++ compiler sees it it know to treat it as a C++ reference, the C# compiler
will just treat it as a byref parameter.

Ronald Laeremans
Visual C++ team

It seems the modopt stuff is "safe" to work with Smile | :)

Best regards,
Paul.

Jesus Christ is LOVE! Please tell somebody.

Jeff J16-Jan-03 13:29

Help me!!! A issue of wrapping unmanaged class with Managed C++

16-Jan-03 13:29

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the bit from the Ronald Laeremans; there's nothing like inside info Smile | :)

I had been wondering why the compiler treats pointers to __value parameters the same as declaring them as C++ references. Knowing that this stuff is ".Net official" makes me feel better about the future for code I've written. Please feel free to post anything else you get from the inside!

Sorry I didn't cover passing __value types in my first post; I was only talking about types that are already "CLR reference object"/pointer types, when I talked about pointers to pointers. I pass __value types the same way you did (as a C++ reference), and skip the pointer syntax.

Cheers,
Jeff

Anonymous14-Jan-03 3:23

Anonymous

14-Jan-03 3:23

I met a problem when I tried to wrap unmanaged class into managed class with managed C++.

First, I built a static library, VcClass.lib, from the following source code with VC++ 6.0 :

/* interface.h */
#include <windows.h>

class CMyClassA
{
public:
BYTE *m_pBuf;
int m_bufLen;

CMyClassA() { m_pBuf = NULL; m_bufLen = 0; }
~CMyClassA() { FreeBuf(); }

HRESULT LoadBuf(BYTE *pBuf, DWORD dwBufLen);

private:

HRESULT FreeBuf(void);
};

class CMyClassB
{
public:
CMyClassB() { m_pA = NULL; }
~CMyClassB() { m_pA = NULL; }

HRESULT Func(CMyClassA *pClassA);
HRESULT Func2(void);

private:
CMyClassA *m_pA;
};

#endif

/* VcClass.cpp */
#include <stdio.h>
#include "interface.h"

HRESULT CMyClassA::LoadBuf(BYTE *pBuf, DWORD dwBufLen)
{
m_bufLen = dwBufLen;
m_pBuf = new BYTE[m_bufLen];
memcpy(m_pBuf, pBuf, m_bufLen);

return 0;
}

HRESULT CMyClassA::FreeBuf(void)
{
m_bufLen = 0;
delete [] m_pBuf;

return 0;
}

HRESULT CMyClassB::Func(CMyClassA *pClassA)
{
m_pA->m_pBuf = pClassA->m_pBuf;
m_pA->m_bufLen = pClassA->m_bufLen;

for (int i=0; i<m_pa->m_bufLen; i++)
printf("buf[%d] = %d\n", i, m_pA->m_pBuf[i]);

return 0;
}

HRESULT CMyClassB::Func2(void)
{
if (m_pA->m_pBuf == NULL) {
printf("buf is empty, call Func() first!\n");
return 1;
}

for (int i=0; i<m_pa->m_bufLen; i++)
printf("buf[%d] = %d\n", i, m_pA->m_pBuf[i]);

return 0;
}

then, I wrote two wrapped classes with VC++ 7.0 and compiled them into a DLL:

#include "interface.h"

using namespace System;

namespace McClass
{
public __gc class McMyClassA
{
public:
McMyClassA() { m_pClassA = new CMyClassA; }
~McMyClassA() { delete m_pClassA; }

int LoadBuf(System::Byte Buf[], int Len)
{
System::Byte __pin * p = &Buf[0];

return m_pClassA->LoadBuf(p, Len);
}

void *GetA() { return (void*)m_pClassA; }

private:
CMyClassA * m_pClassA;
};

public __gc class McMyClassB
{
public:
McMyClassB() { m_pClassB = new CMyClassB; }
~McMyClassB() { delete m_pClassB; }

int Func(McMyClassA *pMA)
{
CMyClassA *pA = (CMyClassA*)pMA->GetA();

return m_pClassB->Func(pA);
}

int Func2(void)
{
return m_pClassB->Func2();
}

private:
CMyClassB * m_pClassB;

};
}

Finally, I wrote an application with C# to call the DLL:

using System;
using McClass;

namespace CSharpApp
{
class Class1
{
[STAThread]
static void Main(string[] args)
{
int i;

McMyClassA classA = new McMyClassA();
McMyClassB classB = new McMyClassB();

Byte[] buf = new Byte[10];
for (i = 0; i<10; i++)
buf[i] = 54;

classA.LoadBuf(buf, 10);
classB.Func(classA);
Console.WriteLine("OK.");

classB.Func2();
Console.WriteLine("OK.");
}
}
}

When I run the C# application, a NullRefrenceException occurred and the additional information is :

Unhandled Exception: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to
an instance of an object.
at CMyClassB.Func(CMyClassB* , CMyClassA* )
at McClass.McMyClassB.Func(McMyClassA pMA)
at CSharpApp.Class1.Main(String[] args) Cry | :((

I think that the exception occurs because I used a wrong approach to pass a pointer of MyClassA into an instance of MyClassB.
So, what is the right way to do it? Data Marshal?
I hope MyClassA is independent on MyClassB, therefore I don’t want to merge MyClassA and MyClassB into one class.
Please help me!
Thank you very much!

Re: Help me!!! A issue of wrapping unmanaged class with Managed C++

Anonymous14-Jan-03 21:43

Anonymous

14-Jan-03 21:43

sorry, I made a mistake.
please don't reply.
thanks.

Re: Help me!!! A issue of wrapping unmanaged class with Managed C++

Paul Selormey14-Jan-03 22:25

static constructors - still cannot get it!

14-Jan-03 22:25

deadlock, this is the problem of not logging in before posting. You could have deleted the thread.

Best regards,
Paul.

Jesus Christ is LOVE! Please tell somebody.

Paul Selormey14-Jan-03 0:55

Re: std::string marshalling

14-Jan-03 0:55

Hello All,

Why do we need the static constructors in MC++? Is it to show that we have something to learn from C#?

Best regards,
Paul.

Jesus Christ is LOVE! Please tell somebody.

std::string marshalling

Member 1043939-Jan-03 12:39

Member 104393

9-Jan-03 12:39

I am having difficulty handling a vector<std::string> that is returned from unmanaged code and then converting it to an ArrayList of String. I get the following error: cannot convert parameter 1 from 'std::string' to 'System::Object __gc *
How do I Marshal this?

#ifndef __STAT_H__
#define __STAT_H__

#include <vector>
#include <string>

// Unmanaged file
class CStatus
{

public:
std::vector<std::string> statuses;

CStatus() {}
};
#endif
// EOF

// in Managed file

ArrayList statuses = new ArrayList();
CStatus stat;

int iReturn = SubmitJob( stat);

for (unsigned int ivector = 0; ivector < stat.statuses.size(); ivector++)
{
statuses->Add((stat.statuses[ivector])); // ERROR occurs
}

Thanks for all advice.

Jeff J9-Jan-03 20:24