ComPtr<ID3D11Device> to IntPtr - c++

I'm an absolute zero at C++. But I need to write a small c++ class for managing a d3ddevice.
My C# code is:
public class HCPPUtils
{
[DllImport("HSpectrum\\Assets\\HCPPUtils.dll")]
private static extern int Getd3Device(ICanvasResourceCreator resourceCreator);}
HCPPUtils hcp = new HCPPUtils();
var pnt = hcp.HGetOrCreate(ResourceCreator);
var d3dDevice = SharpDX.Direct3D11.Device.FromPointer<SharpDX.Direct3D11.Device>(new System.IntPtr(pnt));
My C++ code is:
extern "C"
{
__declspec(dllexport) int Getd3Device
(Microsoft::Graphics::Canvas::ICanvasResourceCreator^ canvasDevice)
{
ComPtr<ID3D11Device> m_device;
__abi_ThrowIfFailed(Windows::Graphics::DirectX::Direct3D11::GetDXGIInterface(canvasDevice->Device,m_device.GetAddressOf()));
return m_device???
}
}
How can i return a IntPtr from C++ code; so, how can i get IntPtr from ComPtr < ID3D11Device >?
[edited]
What I'm doing is...
I have a win2d canvasandimatedcontrol in my c# project. I want to draw direct3d object in it using sharpdx. But I found out that I need to have the d3ddevice object from win2d canvas. And there isn't a c# method to get it.
So the only solution I can imagine is to build a simple c++ project to which I can pass the canvas control and get the d3ddevice. The only problem is how to pass back the d3d device to c#. Sharp DX seems to have just a method Device.FormIntPtr to create it. But I'm not able to pass back the intptr to the c# object.
I tried to implement what Rook wrote, but I cannot understand how it could be useful for my scenario. I mean it could be usueful, but I need to pass the IDirect3DDevice object from a c++ project anyway.

I suspect what you need to do is to read the docs for things like this: http://microsoft.github.io/Win2D/html/M_Microsoft_Graphics_Canvas_CanvasDevice_CreateFromDirect3D11Device.htm
CanvasDevice implements ICanvasResourceCreator, so you could return it directly once you've created it using the static factory method.
Be careful with the scope and lifetime of m_device here, because you don't want its refcount to be decremented when Getd3Device returns and the ComPtr goes out of scope. I'm assuming that it is actually part of a class that will look after its lifetime, but it bears repeating just in case.

I've been trying to access the unity3d device today. This is how I passed the pointer back into unity/managed code:
cpp:
/*
delegate to pass directx device/context back to managed code
see https://forum.unity3d.com/threads/communicating-c-with-c.89930/#post-586885
*/
typedef int(__stdcall *ANSWERCB)(ID3D11Device* ptr);
static ANSWERCB cb;
extern "C" __declspec(dllexport) int GetDevice(ANSWERCB fp)
{
cb = fp;
if (cb)
{
return cb(s_CurrentAPI->GetDevice());
}
return 0;
}
cs:
[DllImport("RenderingPlugin")]
private static extern void GetDevice(Action<IntPtr> callback);
later I call:
GetDevice(devicePtr =>
{
Debug.Log(devicePtr);
if (devicePtr == IntPtr.Zero) return;
device = SharpDX.Direct3D11.Device.FromPointer<SharpDX.Direct3D11.Device>(devicePtr);
...
works fine in the editor as well as the built in the new 2017.1 beta version (as long as you copy the necessary 64bit system dlls to unitys plugin folder)

Related

Passing std::string with dllexport

I'm trying to make some sort of C++ "bridge" to connect an unmanaged C++ dll on one end (without modifying their code) to a C# Wrapper which uses DllImport for various imports.
I was able to pass a C# string to my bridge using char pointers, but the receiving Dll needs to receive std::string, so I tried with std::string(foo); with no luck, it always gets transformed into weird characters.
The structure is the following :
C# Wrapper
[DllImport(#"Bridge.dll", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
public static extern void initDetector(string foo, int something = 0);
C++ Bridge
extern "C" __declspec(dllexport) void initCppClass(char* foo, int something)
{
std::string bar = std::string(foo);
std::cout << bar << std::endl; //Returns "foo"
instance = new CppClass(bar, something);
}
C++ Imported DLL (not allowed to change code here)
CppClass::CppClass(std::string foo, int something)
{
std::cout << foo << std::endl; //Returns garbage
}
Note that this constructor is for demonstration purposes only, as I cannot disclose the original code.
I originally tried passing the char* directly to the constructor but that didn't work either. Is there something I'm missing here ?
I think the problem is different string encoding.
Try adding CharSet = CharSet.Ansi in C#, like this:
[DllImport(#"Bridge.dll", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl, CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
However, please read the documentation of that C++ dll API. A lot of C++ code, especially if that’s cross-platform code, expect UTF8-encoded strings. If that’s your case, instead change the bridge to
extern "C" __declspec(dllexport) void initCppClass(const wchar_t* foo, int something)
And write code to convert the string from UTF16-encoded C pointer into UTF8-encoded std::string, see this answer for an example.
Update: another possible reason is different STL, or different CRT. When you pass std::string or any other STL objects objects across DLL boundaries, you have to use same compiler & same version of it, same build settings for (e.g. in VC++, std::strings memory layout differs between debug and release builds), and also both DLLs must link to CRT dynamically., e.g. Multi-threaded DLL (/MD)

Import C++ function returning pointer of structs into VB.NET

I have created a simple DLL in C++, for the sole purpose of isolating the issue and testing on a small scale the importing of a function that returns a list of structs with members of different types.
dll_header.h
#ifdef MY_DLL_EXPORTS
#define MY_DLL_API __declspec(dllexport)
#else
#define MY_DLL_API __declspec(dllimport)
#endif
enum color_type
{
RGB = 1,
MONO = 2
};
struct my_struct
{
unsigned char *name;
char *value;
color_type type;
my_struct* next;
};
extern "C" struct my_struct MY_DLL_API * get_list(void);
dll_header.cpp
#include "dll_header.h"
MY_DLL_API my_struct * get_list(void)
{
my_struct my_list[2];
unsigned char name1[] = "name1";
unsigned char name2[] = "name2";
char val1[] = "val1";
char val2[] = "val2";
my_list[0].name = name1;
my_list[0].value = val1;
my_list[0].type = RGB;
my_list[0].next = &my_list[1];
my_list[0].name = name2;
my_list[0].value = val2;
my_list[0].type = MONO;
my_list[0].next = NULL;
return my_list;
}
Like I said, I have to use these data types (cannot change them to strings or anything else because I am testing something and I need them like this)
Now, in my VB.NET application I import and try to retrieve the list like this from the DLL
Form1.vb
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Imports System.Text
Public Class Form1
Public Enum color_type
RGB = 1
COLOR = 2
End Enum
Private Structure my_struct
Public name As Byte()
Public value As Char()
Public type As color_type
Public next As IntPtr
End Structure
Private Declare Function get_list Lib "my_lib.dll" () As IntPtr
Private my_list As List(Of my_struct)
Private Sub get_list()
Dim my_list_pointer As IntPtr = get_list()
my_list = New List(Of my_struct)
Dim my_item As my_struct
While my_list_pointer <> IntPtr.Zero
my_item = CType(Marshal.PtrToStructure(my_list_pointer, GetType(my_struct)), my_struct)
my_list.Add(my_item)
my_list_pointer = my_item.next
End While
End Sub
I have tried many other methods, specially changing data types but so far here I am, stuck with this exception when trying to run the code:
System.AccessViolationException: 'Attempted to read or write protected
memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.'
Trying to find a way to make these two understand each other
Either use mixed mode C++ to do the translation between native and managed types or use types that are compatible with P/Invoke.
Looking how Win32 define structure (and function that use those) is a good start to help you understand how to define compatible structures as one of the main intent of P/Invoke is to be able to use Win32 API from managed code.
If you go for mixed mode, then you can do whatever required translation between both world as you can mix native C++ and C++/CLI in the same assembly. So essentially, you would write code that convert the native structure into a managed one and then VB.NET will be able to use that managed code (assuming that you use types available in VB.NET for example).
Well, if you go for the mixed mode route, you generally ends up with 3 DLLs/Assemblies/Executable as you would have the original C++ DLL (native code), the VB.NET code (managed) and the mixed mode C++ assembly in between.
Update
While it could be relatively easy to provide code if the list is read only, if this is not the case, it could be much harder depending how the code is expected to be used and what are the availaible function in the existing DLL.
The starting point would be to create a ref class in C++/CLI.
Some similar questions
https://bytes.com/topic/c-sharp/answers/674468-passing-linked-list-c-dll-c-pinvoke
Return list of points (x,y,z) from C to C# using PInvoke
PInvoke of self referential struct from C++
Problem with your code
Your exported function retuns a pointer to a local variable which is undefined behavior.
Additional observation
If your original list is an array, the why making it a list also? An array would be easier to marshal and use. And probably perform better too.
When defining you structure, you have be explicit on how strings are marshalled and the alignment that should be used. You shoull validate that everything is as expected.

Allow managed code in hosted environment to call back unmanaged code

I have C++ code that hosts a clr in order to make use of Managed.dll, written in c#.
This .net has a method like the following that allows code to register for notification of events:
public void Register(IMyListener listener);
The interface looks something like this
public interface IMyListener
{
void Notify(string details);
}
I'd like to do stuff in the C++ part of the program, triggered by the events in the .net world. I would not even mind creating another managed dll for the sole purpose of making Managed.dll more C++-friendly, if that is necessary.
What are my options here? The only one I am sure I could implement is this:
Write another managed dll that listens for those events, queues them and lets the C++ code access the queue via polling
This would of course change from an 'interrupt' style to a 'polling' style with all its advantages and disadvantages and the need to provide for queuing. Can we do without polling? Could I somehow call managed code and provide it a function pointer into the C++ world as the argument?
Update
Thanks to stijn's answer and comments I hope I moved a bit in the right direction, but I guess the main problem still open is how to pass a fn pointer from unmanaged land into the clr hosted environment.
Say I have an "int fn(int)" type of function pointer that I want to pass to the managed world, here are the relevant parts:
Managed code (C++/CLI)
typedef int (__stdcall *native_fun)( int );
String^ MyListener::Register(native_fun & callback)
{
return "MyListener::Register(native_fun callback) called callback(9): " + callback(9);
}
Unmanaged code
typedef int (__stdcall *native_fun)( int );
extern "C" static int __stdcall NativeFun(int i)
{
wprintf(L"Callback arrived in native fun land: %d\n", i);
return i * 3;
}
void callCLR()
{
// Setup CLR hosting environment
...
// prepare call into CLR
variant_t vtEmpty;
variant_t vtRetValue;
variant_t vtFnPtrArg((native_fun) &NativeFun);
SAFEARRAY *psaMethodArgs = SafeArrayCreateVector(VT_VARIANT, 0, 1);
LONG index = 0;
SafeArrayPutElement(psaMethodArgs, &index, &vtFnPtrArg);
...
hr = spType->InvokeMember_3(bstrMethodName, static_cast<BindingFlags>(
BindingFlags_InvokeMethod | BindingFlags_Static | BindingFlags_Public),
NULL, vtEmpty, psaMethodArgs, &vtRetValue);
if (FAILED(hr))
wprintf(L"Failed to invoke function: 0x%08lx\n", hr);
The spType->InvokeMember_3 call will lead to a 0x80131512 result.
Something seems to be wrong with the way I pass the pointer to NativeFun over to the managed world, or how my functions are defined. When using a String^ param instead of the fn ptr, I can call the CLR function successfully.
You can write a seperate dll in C++/CLI and implement the interface there, and forward the logic to C++. From my experience with mixing managed/unmanaged I can say using an intermediate C++/CLI step is the way to go. No fiddling with DllImport and functions only, but a solid bridge between both worlds. It just takes some getting used to the syntax and marshalling, but once you have that it's practically effortless. If you need to hold C++ objects in the managed class, best way is to use something like clr_scoped_ptr.
Code would look like this:
//header
#using <Managed.dll>
//forward declare some native class
class NativeCppClass;
public ref class MyListener : public IMylIstener
{
public:
MyListener();
//note cli classes automatically implement IDisposable,
//which will call this destructor when disposed,
//so used it as a normal C++ destructor and do cleanup here
~MyListener();
virtual void Notify( String^ details );
private:
clr_scoped_ptr< NativeCppClass > impl;
}
//source
#include "Header.h"
#include <NativeCppClass.h>
//here's how I marshall strings both ways
namespace
{
inline String^ marshal( const std::string& i )
{
return gcnew String( i.data() );
}
inline std::string marshal( String^ i )
{
if( i == nullptr )
return std::string();
char* str2 = (char*) (void*) Marshal::StringToHGlobalAnsi( i );
std::string sRet( str2 );
Marshal::FreeHGlobal( IntPtr( str2 ) );
return sRet;
}
}
MyListener::MyListener() :
impl( new NativeCppClass() )
{
}
MyListener::~MyListener()
{
}
void MyListener::Notify( String^ details )
{
//handle event here
impl->SomeCppFunctionTakingStdString( marshal( details ) );
}
update
Here's a simple solution to call callbacks in C++ from the managed world:
pubic ref class CallbackWrapper
{
public:
typedef int (*native_fun)( int );
CallbackWrapper( native_fun fun ) : fun( fun ) {}
void Call() { fun(); }
CallbackWrapper^ Create( ... ) { return gcnew CallbackWrapper( ... ); }
private:
native_fun fun;
}
you can also wrap this in an Action if you want.
Another way is using GetDelegateForFunctionPointer, for example as in this SO question
If someone still needs a better way for this , you can simply pass c++ function to CLR using intptr_t in variant and long in managed , then use Marshall and delegate to invoke your native function , super easy and works like charm.
if you need a code snippet , let me know.

COM interop: how to use ICustomMarshaler to call 3rd party component

I want to call a method in a COM component from C# using COM interop. This is the methods signature:
long GetPrecursorInfoFromScanNum(long nScanNumber,
LPVARIANT pvarPrecursorInfos,
LPLONG pnArraySize)
and this is sample code (which I checked is really working) to call it in C++:
struct PrecursorInfo
{
double dIsolationMass;
double dMonoIsoMass;
long nChargeState;
long nScanNumber;
};
void CTestOCXDlg::OnOpenParentScansOcx()
{
VARIANT vPrecursorInfos;
VariantInit(&vPrecursorInfos);
long nPrecursorInfos = 0;
m_Rawfile.GetPrecursorInfoFromScanNum(m_nScanNumber,
&vPrecursorInfos,
&nPrecursorInfos);
// Access the safearray buffer
BYTE* pData;
SafeArrayAccessData(vPrecursorInfos.parray, (void**)&pData);
for (int i=0; i < nPrecursorInfos; ++i)
{
// Copy the scan information from the safearray buffer
PrecursorInfo info;
memcpy(&info,
pData + i * sizeof(MS_PrecursorInfo),
sizeof(PrecursorInfo));
}
SafeArrayUnaccessData(vPrecursorInfos.parray);
}
And here's the corresponding C# signature after importing the typelib of the COM component:
void GetPrecursorInfoFromScanNum(int nScanNumber, ref object pvarPrecursorInfos, ref int pnArraySize);
If I'm not mistaken, I need to pass in null for pvarPrecursorInfos to make COM interop marshal it as the expected VT_EMPTY variant. When I'm doing it, I get a SafeArrayTypeMismatchException - not really surprising, looking at how the result is expected to be handled in the sample. So I was trying to use a custom marshaler. Since a cannot alter the component itself, I tried to introduce it this way:
[Guid("06F53853-E43C-4F30-9E5F-D1B3668F0C3C")]
[TypeLibType(4160)]
[ComImport]
public interface IInterfaceNew : IInterfaceOrig
{
[DispId(130)]
int GetPrecursorInfoFromScanNum(int nScanNumber, [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.CustomMarshaler, MarshalTypeRef = typeof(MyMarshaler))] ref object pvarPrecursorInfos, ref int pnArraySize);
}
The TypeLibType and DispID attribute are the same as in the original version. This works as far as that the MyMarshaller.GetInstance() method is called, but I do not get a callback in MyMarshaller.NativeToManaged. Instead, an access violation is reported. So is this a reliable approach? If yes - how can I make it work? If no: are there any alternatives?
(Just a footnote: in theory I could try to use managed C++ to call the component natively. However, there are lots of other methods in it that work fine with COM interop, so I would very much like to stick with C# if there is any way.)
Since someone asked for it, here's my solution in Managed C++.
array<PrecursorInfo^>^ MSFileReaderExt::GetPrecursorInfo(int scanNumber)
{
VARIANT vPrecursorInfos;
VariantInit(&vPrecursorInfos);
long nPrecursorInfos = -1;
//call the COM component
long rc = pRawFile->GetPrecursorInfoFromScanNum(scanNumber, &vPrecursorInfos, &nPrecursorInfos);
//read the result
//vPrecursorInfos.parray points to a byte sequence
//that can be seen as array of MS_PrecursorInfo instances
//(MS_PrecursorInfo is a struct defined within the COM component)
MS_PrecursorInfo* pPrecursors;
SafeArrayAccessData(vPrecursorInfos.parray, (void**)&pPrecursors);
//now transform into a .NET object
array<PrecursorInfo^>^ infos = gcnew array<PrecursorInfo^>(nPrecursorInfos);
MS_PrecursorInfo currentPrecursor;
for (int i=0; i < nPrecursorInfos; ++i)
{
currentPrecursor = pPrecursors[i];
infos[i] = safe_cast<PrecursorInfo^>(Marshal::PtrToStructure(IntPtr(&currentPrecursor), PrecursorInfo::typeid));
}
SafeArrayUnaccessData(vPrecursorInfos.parray);
return infos;
}
I look at the github code mzLib, which I believe is related to this topic. The code looks good, where it calls
pin_ptr<const wchar_t> wch = PtrToStringChars(path);
I think it may cause some problem, better use
pin_ptr<const wchar_t> pathChar = static_cast<wchar_t*>(System::Runtime::InteropServices::Marshal::StringToHGlobalUni(path).ToPointer());
The code then seems to be worked just fine when compiles. However, it might run in problem when imported as dll. I worked on that by adding a constructor,such as
public ref class ThermoDLLClass
{
public:
ThermoDLLClass();
PrecursorInfo GetPrecursorInfo(int scanNum, String^ path);
};
Then, it seems to get precursorInfo and parameters appropriately.

How to pass a char* from C to CPP?

A little background:
I've got a library of C code that is part of larger system (all C). For this particular part of the C library a GUI has to be created which allows users to play around with the options. For the GUI I've chosen QT, since cross-platform support is desired.
I'm using Eclipse and MinGW as IDE and compiler (but I think the question is more language than compiler specific?).
With QT I've created a widget that holds a pointer to a struct implemented in C that contains pointers to several functions that perform the logic of the C library.
//QTWidget.cpp
extern "C" {
#include "c-src/CLogic.h"
//extern char* textHelper;
}
QTWidget::QTWidget(QWidget *parent)
{
//rtw is a struct that contains a function pointer to a member of QTWidget
this->rtw.displayText = &QTWidget::displayText;
this->clogic = CLogic_getInstance(&rtw);
}
//Public SLOT, connected to a button's clicked SIGNAL
void QTWidget::buttonClicked()
{
this->clogic->buttonClicked();
}
void QTWidget::displayText(char *text, int position)
{
//I've tried creating a QString from the char*, but this does not work at all.
//ui.textItem->setText(textHelper);
ui.textItem->setText(text);
}
When the user presses a button in the GUI, the method QTWidget::buttonClicked() is called, which tells the C library to do something. Note the the CLogic struct has a reference to the the QTWidget in the form of a struct RefToWidget which holds a function pointer.
//CLogic.c
static CLogic instance;
void CLogic_buttonClicked()
{
//I've tried several variants here, such as making a global
//char* textHelper = "Hello World";
//that is referenced by using the "extern" keyword in the CPP file above.
instance.rtw->displayText("Hello World", 1);
}
CLogic* CLogic_getInstance(RefToWidget *rtw)
{
instance.rtw = rtw;
instance.buttonClicked = &CLogic_buttonClicked();
}
When debugging this program, I find that all the function calls are executed as intended (when I press a button, the QT slot buttonClicked() is called, the CLogic_buttonClicked() is called, which calls the QTWidget::displayText() as planned, but in this last call the parameters are invalid. The char* text points to 0x1 and claims to be pointing to memory out of bounds, while the int position looks like some random number (uninitialized).
How do I pass this data from C to CPP?
EDIT #Luccas Matteis:
#ifdef __cplusplus
#include "QTWidget.h"
extern "C" {
#endif
struct RefToWidget{
#ifdef __cplusplus
void (QTWidget::*displayLine)(char* text, int lineNumber);
#else
void (*displayLine)(char* text, int lineNumber);
#endif
};
typedef struct RefToWidget RefToWidget;
#ifdef __cplusplus
}
#endif
As said above the function calls behave as expected, but the data is not passed "correctly" (even though that when I look at it, the code seems a bit... weird... ;))
Your problem is not passing the char * from C to C++ but calling a C++ function from C. I presume that CLogic.c is compiled as a C library? If not, can you rename it to CLogic.cpp or use a compiler switch to force it to be compiled as C++ even though it has a C file extension?
If you want a C++ GUI on a C library/system, you need to use proper Model-View-Controller logic. Here the C++ code is the View and the Controller while the C code is the Model (as best as I can tell from your description). You need to make it so you set and get data from the model but the model never calls the View or Controller as you are trying to do.
Think about what you are REALLY trying to do. If you just want to display a static string when the button is pressed, why go to the bother of calling into CLogic.c? If you want to display a string that depends upon the state of the CLogic instance then instead do something like:
void QTWidget::buttonClicked()
{
char *display_text = this->clogic->get_button_click_text();
ui.textItem->setText(display_text);
}
I guess the problem is that the structure holds a pointer to a member function. The member function probably expects the first parameter to be 'this' - the object it refers to. So, in fact what you are seeing in debug as text is the second parameter.
A 'solution' would probably be to do something like "instance.rtw->displayText(instance.rtw, "Hello World", 1)", but have no idea if it is portable etc.
Edit: Saying it explicitly: the 'solution' stated above is just to try and check if this is the problem. As the comments are saying this is a horrible hack that might not work even on the same compiler.
I don't think that you should call a C++ method from C. Normally you need to go through a static method that dereferences a pointer argument