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How to copy a String into a struct using C#

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10 Jun 2004 108.2K   17   17
How to copy a String into a struct using C#

Introduction

This article show a simple code snippet using which you can copy a string into a struct.

Using the code

C#
using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Text;

class Class1
{

    [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, CharSet=CharSet.Unicode)]
    public struct MyStruct
    {
        [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst=4)] public string fname;
        [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst=4)] public string lname;
        [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst=7)] public string phone;
    }
    
    public static void Main()
    {
        string buffer = "abcdefgh2223333";
        IntPtr pBuf = Marshal.StringToBSTR(buffer);
        MyStruct ms = (MyStruct)Marshal.PtrToStructure(pBuf,typeof(MyStruct));
        Console.WriteLine("fname is: {0}",ms.fname);
        Console.WriteLine("lname is: {0}",ms.lname);
        Console.WriteLine("phone is: {0}",ms.phone);
        Marshal.FreeBSTR(pBuf);
    }
}

License

This article has no explicit license attached to it but may contain usage terms in the article text or the download files themselves. If in doubt please contact the author via the discussion board below.

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Comments and Discussions

 
GeneralMarshalling BSTR * Pin
buratino224-Jun-07 21:48
buratino224-Jun-07 21:48 
GeneralMixed structures Pin
Mancunian21-Apr-06 3:00
Mancunian21-Apr-06 3:00 
QuestionIs it possible to create a function of this? Pin
Anonymous7-Apr-05 17:37
Anonymous7-Apr-05 17:37 
AnswerRe: Is it possible to create a function of this? Pin
dgiljr8-Apr-05 4:16
dgiljr8-Apr-05 4:16 
GeneralRe: Is it possible to create a function of this? Pin
Anonymous26-Apr-05 15:08
Anonymous26-Apr-05 15:08 
Generalpointless Pin
leppie10-Jun-04 7:12
leppie10-Jun-04 7:12 
GeneralRe: pointless Pin
dgiljr10-Jun-04 8:35
dgiljr10-Jun-04 8:35 
GeneralRe: pointless Pin
soumyasg28-Oct-06 18:12
soumyasg28-Oct-06 18:12 
GeneralGood, but... Pin
casperOne10-Jun-04 2:15
casperOne10-Jun-04 2:15 
GeneralRe: Good, but... Pin
dgiljr10-Jun-04 4:32
dgiljr10-Jun-04 4:32 
GeneralRe: Good, but... Pin
casperOne10-Jun-04 6:21
casperOne10-Jun-04 6:21 
GeneralRe: Good, but... Pin
dgiljr10-Jun-04 8:32
dgiljr10-Jun-04 8:32 
GeneralRe: Good, but... Pin
casperOne10-Jun-04 8:52
casperOne10-Jun-04 8:52 
GeneralRe: Good, but... Pin
Mark Abela10-Jun-04 12:21
Mark Abela10-Jun-04 12:21 
GeneralRe: Good, but... Pin
dgiljr11-Jun-04 3:57
dgiljr11-Jun-04 3:57 
That's really cool Mark. Did you have as bad a time as I did trying to come up with a fix for this? This whole concept with marshalling is a bit new to me and I'm trying to understand it. It almost seems every little thing can lead up to a memory leak if marshalling isn't properly understood. I don't know if you've seen my update to the article but one of the other guys(casperone) pointed out that I wasn't freeing up my pointer so I added that.

Thanks for the tip on receiving nulls I never thought about that one. I am less than a beginner(7 days experience with sharpEek! | :eek: ) and probably not even worthy of conversing with you guys about sharp but I definetly welcome all the help I can get.

Diego
GeneralRe: Good, but... Pin
Mark Abela14-Jun-04 11:42
Mark Abela14-Jun-04 11:42 
GeneralRe: Good, but... Pin
dgiljr15-Jun-04 3:46
dgiljr15-Jun-04 3:46 

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