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MsgBox Sample

  • Article

This sample demonstrates how to pass string types by value as In parameters and when to use the EntryPoint, CharSet, and ExactSpelling fields.

The MsgBox sample uses the following unmanaged function, shown with its original function declaration:

  • MessageBox exported from User32.dll.

    int MessageBox(HWND hWnd, LPCTSTR lpText, LPCTSTR lpCaption,
   UINT uType);

In this sample, the NativeMethods class contains a managed prototype for each unmanaged function called by the MsgBoxSample class. The managed prototype methods MsgBox, MsgBox2, and MsgBox3 have different declarations for the same unmanaged function.

The declaration for MsgBox2 produces incorrect output in the message box because the character type, specified as ANSI, is mismatched with the entry point MessageBoxW, which is the name of the Unicode function. The declaration for MsgBox3 creates a mismatch between the EntryPoint, CharSet, and ExactSpelling fields. When called, MsgBox3 throws an exception. For detailed information on string naming and name marshalling, see Specifying a Character Set.

Declaring Prototypes

private ref class NativeMethods
{
public:
    // Declares managed prototypes for unmanaged functions.
    [DllImport("User32.dll", EntryPoint = "MessageBox",
        CharSet = CharSet::Auto)]
    static int MsgBox(int hWnd, String^ text, String^ caption,
        unsigned int type);

    // Causes incorrect output in the message window.
    [DllImport("User32.dll", EntryPoint = "MessageBoxW",
        CharSet = CharSet::Ansi)]
    static int MsgBox2(int hWnd, String^ text,
        String^ caption, unsigned int type);

    // Causes an exception to be thrown. EntryPoint, CharSet, and
    // ExactSpelling fields are mismatched.
    [DllImport("User32.dll", EntryPoint = "MessageBox",
        CharSet = CharSet::Ansi, ExactSpelling = true)]
    static int MsgBox3(int hWnd, String^ text,
        String^ caption, unsigned int type);
};

internal static class NativeMethods
{
    // Declares managed prototypes for unmanaged functions.
    [DllImport("User32.dll", EntryPoint = "MessageBox",
        CharSet = CharSet.Auto)]
    internal static extern int MsgBox(
        IntPtr hWnd, string lpText, string lpCaption, uint uType);

    // Causes incorrect output in the message window.
    [DllImport("User32.dll", EntryPoint = "MessageBoxW",
        CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
    internal static extern int MsgBox2(
        IntPtr hWnd, string lpText, string lpCaption, uint uType);

    // Causes an exception to be thrown. EntryPoint, CharSet, and
    // ExactSpelling fields are mismatched.
    [DllImport("User32.dll", EntryPoint = "MessageBox",
        CharSet = CharSet.Ansi, ExactSpelling = true)]
    internal static extern int MsgBox3(
        IntPtr hWnd, string lpText, string lpCaption, uint uType);
}

Friend Class NativeMethods
    ' Declares managed prototypes for unmanaged functions.
    Friend Declare Auto Function MsgBox Lib "User32.dll" Alias "MessageBox" (
        ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByVal lpText As String, ByVal lpCaption As String,
        ByVal uType As UInteger) As Integer

    ' Causes incorrect output in the message window.
    Friend Declare Ansi Function MsgBox2 Lib "User32.dll" Alias "MessageBoxW" (
        ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByVal lpText As String, ByVal lpCaption As String,
        ByVal uType As UInteger) As Integer

    ' Causes an exception to be thrown.
    ' ExactSpelling is True by default when Ansi or Unicode is used.
    Friend Declare Ansi Function MsgBox3 Lib "User32.dll" Alias "MessageBox" (
        ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByVal lpText As String, ByVal lpCaption As String,
        ByVal uType As UInteger) As Integer
End Class

Calling Functions

public class MsgBoxSample
{
public:
    static void Main()
    {
        NativeMethods::MsgBox(0, "Correct text", "MsgBox Sample", 0);
        NativeMethods::MsgBox2(0, "Incorrect text", "MsgBox Sample", 0);

        try
        {
            NativeMethods::MsgBox3(0, "No such function", "MsgBox Sample", 0);
        }
        catch (EntryPointNotFoundException^)
        {
            Console::WriteLine("EntryPointNotFoundException thrown as expected!");
        }
    }
};

public class MsgBoxSample
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        NativeMethods.MsgBox(0, "Correct text", "MsgBox Sample", 0);
        NativeMethods.MsgBox2(0, "Incorrect text", "MsgBox Sample", 0);

        try
        {
            NativeMethods.MsgBox3(0, "No such function", "MsgBox Sample", 0);
        }
        catch (EntryPointNotFoundException)
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"{nameof(EntryPointNotFoundException)} thrown as expected!");
        }
    }
}

Public Class MsgBoxSample
    Public Shared Sub Main()
        NativeMethods.MsgBox(0, "Correct text", "MsgBox Sample", 0)
        NativeMethods.MsgBox2(0, "Incorrect text", "MsgBox Sample", 0)

        Try
            NativeMethods.MsgBox3(0, "No such function", "MsgBox Sample", 0)
        Catch e As EntryPointNotFoundException
            Console.WriteLine($"{NameOf(EntryPointNotFoundException)} thrown as expected!")
        End Try
    End Sub
End Class

See also