Marshalling Data with Platform Invoke

Artikkel
10/04/2022

To call functions exported from an unmanaged library, a .NET Framework application requires a function prototype in managed code that represents the unmanaged function. To create a prototype that enables platform invoke to marshal data correctly, you must do the following:

Apply the DllImportAttribute attribute to the static function or method in managed code.
Substitute managed data types for unmanaged data types.

You can use the documentation supplied with an unmanaged function to construct an equivalent managed prototype by applying the attribute with its optional fields and substituting managed data types for unmanaged types. For instructions about how to apply the DllImportAttribute, see Consuming Unmanaged DLL Functions.

This section provides samples that demonstrate how to create managed function prototypes for passing arguments to and receiving return values from functions exported by unmanaged libraries. The samples also demonstrate when to use the MarshalAsAttribute attribute and the Marshal class to explicitly marshal data.

Platform invoke data types

The following table lists data types used in the Windows APIs and C-style functions. Many unmanaged libraries contain functions that pass these data types as parameters and return values. The third column lists the corresponding .NET Framework built-in value type or class that you use in managed code. In some cases, you can substitute a type of the same size for the type listed in the table.

Unmanaged type in Windows APIs	Unmanaged C language type	Managed type	Description
`VOID`	`void`	System.Void	Applied to a function that does not return a value.
`HANDLE`	`void *`	System.IntPtr or System.UIntPtr	32 bits on 32-bit Windows operating systems, 64 bits on 64-bit Windows operating systems.
`BYTE`	`unsigned char`	System.Byte	8 bits
`SHORT`	`short`	System.Int16	16 bits
`WORD`	`unsigned short`	System.UInt16	16 bits
`INT`	`int`	System.Int32	32 bits
`UINT`	`unsigned int`	System.UInt32	32 bits
`LONG`	`long`	System.Int32	32 bits
`BOOL`	`long`	System.Boolean or System.Int32	32 bits
`DWORD`	`unsigned long`	System.UInt32	32 bits
`ULONG`	`unsigned long`	System.UInt32	32 bits
`CHAR`	`char`	System.Char	Decorate with ANSI.
`WCHAR`	`wchar_t`	System.Char	Decorate with Unicode.
`LPSTR`	`char *`	System.String or System.Text.StringBuilder	Decorate with ANSI.
`LPCSTR`	`const char *`	System.String or System.Text.StringBuilder	Decorate with ANSI.
`LPWSTR`	`wchar_t *`	System.String or System.Text.StringBuilder	Decorate with Unicode.
`LPCWSTR`	`const wchar_t *`	System.String or System.Text.StringBuilder	Decorate with Unicode.
`FLOAT`	`float`	System.Single	32 bits
`DOUBLE`	`double`	System.Double	64 bits

For corresponding types in Visual Basic, C#, and C++, see the Introduction to the .NET Framework Class Library.

PinvokeLib.dll

The following code defines the library functions provided by Pinvoke.dll. Many samples described in this section call this library.

Example

// PInvokeLib.cpp : Defines the entry point for the DLL application.
//

#define PINVOKELIB_EXPORTS
#include "PInvokeLib.h"

#include <strsafe.h>
#include <objbase.h>
#include <stdio.h>

#pragma comment(lib,"ole32.lib")

BOOL APIENTRY DllMain( HANDLE hModule,
                       DWORD  ul_reason_for_call,
                       LPVOID lpReserved )
{
    switch (ul_reason_for_call)
    {
        case DLL_PROCESS_ATTACH:
        case DLL_THREAD_ATTACH:
        case DLL_THREAD_DETACH:
        case DLL_PROCESS_DETACH:
            break;
    }

    return TRUE;
}

//******************************************************************
// This is the constructor of a class that has been exported.
CTestClass::CTestClass()
{
    m_member = 1;
}

int CTestClass::DoSomething( int i )
{
    return i*i + m_member;
}

PINVOKELIB_API CTestClass* CreateTestClass()
{
    return new CTestClass();
}

PINVOKELIB_API void DeleteTestClass( CTestClass* instance )
{
    delete instance;
}

//******************************************************************
PINVOKELIB_API int TestArrayOfInts( int* pArray, int size )
{
    int result = 0;

    for ( int i = 0; i < size; i++ )
    {
        result += pArray[ i ];
        pArray[i] += 100;
    }
    return result;
}

//******************************************************************
PINVOKELIB_API int TestRefArrayOfInts( int** ppArray, int* pSize )
{
    int result = 0;

    // CoTaskMemAlloc must be used instead of the new operator
    // because code on the managed side will call Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem
    // to free this memory.

    int* newArray = (int*)CoTaskMemAlloc( sizeof(int) * 5 );

    for ( int i = 0; i < *pSize; i++ )
    {
        result += (*ppArray)[i];
    }

    for ( int j = 0; j < 5; j++ )
    {
        newArray[j] = (*ppArray)[j] + 100;
    }

    CoTaskMemFree( *ppArray );
    *ppArray = newArray;
    *pSize = 5;

    return result;
}

//******************************************************************
PINVOKELIB_API int TestMatrixOfInts( int pMatrix[][COL_DIM], int row )
{
    int result = 0;

    for ( int i = 0; i < row; i++ )
    {
        for ( int j = 0; j < COL_DIM; j++ )
        {
            result += pMatrix[i][j];
            pMatrix[i][j] += 100;
        }
    }
    return result;
}

//******************************************************************
PINVOKELIB_API int TestArrayOfStrings( char* ppStrArray[], int count )
{
    int result = 0;
    STRSAFE_LPSTR temp;
    size_t len;
    const size_t alloc_size = sizeof(char) * 10;

    for ( int i = 0; i < count; i++ )
    {
        len = 0;
        StringCchLengthA( ppStrArray[i], STRSAFE_MAX_CCH, &len );
        result += len;

        temp = (STRSAFE_LPSTR)CoTaskMemAlloc( alloc_size );
        StringCchCopyA( temp, alloc_size, (STRSAFE_LPCSTR)"123456789" );

       // CoTaskMemFree must be used instead of delete to free memory.

       CoTaskMemFree( ppStrArray[i] );
       ppStrArray[i] = (char *) temp;
   }

   return result;
}

//******************************************************************
PINVOKELIB_API int TestArrayOfStructs( MYPOINT* pPointArray, int size )
{
    int result = 0;
    MYPOINT* pCur = pPointArray;

    for ( int i = 0; i < size; i++ )
    {
        result += pCur->x + pCur->y;
        pCur->y = 0;
        pCur++;
    }

    return result;
}

//******************************************************************
PINVOKELIB_API int TestStructInStruct( MYPERSON2* pPerson2 )
{
    size_t len = 0;

    StringCchLengthA( pPerson2->person->last, STRSAFE_MAX_CCH, &len );
    len = sizeof(char) * ( len + 2 ) + 1;

    STRSAFE_LPSTR temp = (STRSAFE_LPSTR)CoTaskMemAlloc( len );
    StringCchCopyA( temp, len, (STRSAFE_LPSTR)"Mc" );
    StringCbCatA( temp, len, (STRSAFE_LPSTR)pPerson2->person->last );

    CoTaskMemFree( pPerson2->person->last );
    pPerson2->person->last = (char *)temp;

    return pPerson2->age;
}

//******************************************************************
PINVOKELIB_API int TestArrayOfStructs2( MYPERSON* pPersonArray, int size )
{
    int result = 0;
    MYPERSON* pCur = pPersonArray;
    STRSAFE_LPSTR temp;
    size_t len;

    for ( int i = 0; i < size; i++ )
    {
        len = 0;
        StringCchLengthA( pCur->first, STRSAFE_MAX_CCH, &len );
        len++;
        result += len;
        len = 0;
        StringCchLengthA( pCur->last, STRSAFE_MAX_CCH, &len );
        len++;
        result += len;

        len = sizeof(char) * ( len + 2 );
        temp = (STRSAFE_LPSTR)CoTaskMemAlloc( len );
        StringCchCopyA( temp, len, (STRSAFE_LPCSTR)"Mc" );
        StringCbCatA( temp, len, (STRSAFE_LPCSTR)pCur->last );
        result += 2;

        // CoTaskMemFree must be used instead of delete to free memory.
        CoTaskMemFree( pCur->last );
        pCur->last = (char *)temp;
        pCur++;
   }

   return result;
}

//******************************************************************
PINVOKELIB_API void TestStructInStruct3( MYPERSON3 person3 )
{
    printf( "\n\nperson passed by value:\n" );
    printf( "first = %s last = %s age = %i\n\n",
            person3.person.first,
            person3.person.last,
            person3.age );
}

//*********************************************************************
PINVOKELIB_API void TestUnion( MYUNION u, int type )
{
    if ( ( type != 1 ) && ( type != 2 ) )
    {
        return;
    }
    if ( type == 1 )
    {
        printf( "\n\ninteger passed: %i", u.i );
    }
    else if ( type == 2 )
    {
        printf( "\n\ndouble passed: %f", u.d );
    }
}

//******************************************************************
PINVOKELIB_API void TestUnion2( MYUNION2 u, int type )
{
    if ( ( type != 1 ) && ( type != 2 ) )
    {
        return;
    }
    if ( type == 1 )
    {
        printf( "\n\ninteger passed: %i", u.i );
    }
    else if ( type == 2 )
    {
        printf( "\n\nstring passed: %s", u.str );
    }
}

//******************************************************************
PINVOKELIB_API void TestCallBack( FPTR pf, int value )
{
    printf( "\nReceived value: %i", value );
    printf( "\nPassing to callback..." );
    bool res = (*pf)(value);

    if ( res )
    {
        printf( "Callback returned true.\n" );
    }
    else
    {
        printf( "Callback returned false.\n" );
    }
}

//******************************************************************
PINVOKELIB_API void TestCallBack2( FPTR2 pf2, char* value )
{
    printf( "\nReceived value: %s", value );
    printf( "\nPassing to callback..." );
    bool res = (*pf2)(value);

    if ( res )
    {
        printf( "Callback2 returned true.\n" );
    }
    else
    {
        printf( "Callback2 returned false.\n" );
    }
}

//******************************************************************
PINVOKELIB_API void TestStringInStruct( MYSTRSTRUCT* pStruct )
{
    wprintf( L"\nUnicode buffer content: %s\n", pStruct->buffer );

    // Assuming that the buffer is big enough.
    StringCbCatW( pStruct->buffer, pStruct->size, (STRSAFE_LPWSTR)L"++" );
}

//******************************************************************
PINVOKELIB_API void TestStringInStructAnsi( MYSTRSTRUCT2* pStruct )
{
    printf( "\nAnsi buffer content: %s\n", pStruct->buffer );

    // Assuming that the buffer is big enough.
    StringCbCatA( (STRSAFE_LPSTR) pStruct->buffer, pStruct->size, (STRSAFE_LPSTR)"++" );
}

//******************************************************************
PINVOKELIB_API void TestOutArrayOfStructs( int* pSize, MYSTRSTRUCT2** ppStruct )
{
    const int cArraySize = 5;
    *pSize = 0;
    *ppStruct = (MYSTRSTRUCT2*)CoTaskMemAlloc( cArraySize * sizeof( MYSTRSTRUCT2 ));

    if ( ppStruct != NULL )
    {
        MYSTRSTRUCT2* pCurStruct = *ppStruct;
        LPSTR buffer;
        *pSize = cArraySize;

        STRSAFE_LPCSTR teststr = "***";
        size_t len = 0;
        StringCchLengthA(teststr, STRSAFE_MAX_CCH, &len);
        len++;

        for ( int i = 0; i < cArraySize; i++, pCurStruct++ )
        {
            pCurStruct->size = len;
            buffer = (LPSTR)CoTaskMemAlloc( len );
            StringCchCopyA( buffer, len, teststr );
            pCurStruct->buffer = (char *)buffer;
        }
    }
}

//************************************************************************
PINVOKELIB_API char * TestStringAsResult()
{

    const size_t alloc_size = 64;
    STRSAFE_LPSTR result = (STRSAFE_LPSTR)CoTaskMemAlloc( alloc_size );
    STRSAFE_LPCSTR teststr = "This is return value";
    StringCchCopyA( result, alloc_size, teststr );

    return (char *) result;
}

//************************************************************************
PINVOKELIB_API void SetData( DataType typ, void* object )
{
    switch ( typ )
    {
        case DT_I2: printf( "Short %i\n", *((short*)object) ); break;
        case DT_I4: printf( "Long %i\n", *((long*)object) ); break;
        case DT_R4: printf( "Float %f\n", *((float*)object) ); break;
        case DT_R8: printf( "Double %f\n", *((double*)object) ); break;
        case DT_STR: printf( "String %s\n", (char*)object ); break;
        default: printf( "Unknown type" ); break;
    }
}

//************************************************************************
PINVOKELIB_API void TestArrayInStruct( MYARRAYSTRUCT* pStruct )
{
    pStruct->flag = true;
    pStruct->vals[0] += 100;
    pStruct->vals[1] += 100;
    pStruct->vals[2] += 100;
}

// PInvokeLib.h : The header file for the DLL application.
//

#pragma once

#define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
#include <windows.h>

// The following ifdef block is the standard way of creating macros which make exporting
// from a DLL simpler. All files within this DLL are compiled with the PINVOKELIB_EXPORTS
// symbol defined on the command line. this symbol should not be defined on any project
// that uses this DLL. This way any other project whose source files include this file see
// PINVOKELIB_API functions as being imported from a DLL, wheras this DLL sees symbols
// defined with this macro as being exported.
#ifdef PINVOKELIB_EXPORTS
#define PINVOKELIB_API __declspec(dllexport)
#else
#define PINVOKELIB_API __declspec(dllimport)
#endif

// Define the test structures

typedef struct _MYPOINT
{
    int x;
    int y;
} MYPOINT;

typedef struct _MYPERSON
{
    char* first;
    char* last;
} MYPERSON;

typedef struct _MYPERSON2
{
    MYPERSON* person;
    int age;
} MYPERSON2;

typedef struct _MYPERSON3
{
    MYPERSON person;
    int age;
} MYPERSON3;

union MYUNION
{
    int i;
    double d;
};

union MYUNION2
{
    int i;
    char str[128];
};

typedef struct _MYSTRSTRUCT
{
    wchar_t* buffer;
    UINT size;
} MYSTRSTRUCT;

typedef struct _MYSTRSTRUCT2
{
    char* buffer;
    UINT size;
} MYSTRSTRUCT2;

typedef struct _MYARRAYSTRUCT
{
    bool flag;
    int vals[3];
} MYARRAYSTRUCT;

// constants and pointer definitions

const int COL_DIM = 5;

typedef bool (CALLBACK *FPTR)( int i );

typedef bool (CALLBACK *FPTR2)( char* str );

// Data type codes
enum DataType
{
    DT_I2 = 1,
    DT_I4,
    DT_R4,
    DT_R8,
    DT_STR
};

// This is an exported class.
class PINVOKELIB_API CTestClass
{
public:
    CTestClass( void );
    int DoSomething( int i );

private:
    int m_member;
};

// Exports for PInvokeLib.dll

#ifdef __cplusplus
extern "C"
{
#endif

PINVOKELIB_API CTestClass* CreateTestClass();

PINVOKELIB_API void DeleteTestClass( CTestClass* instance );

PINVOKELIB_API int TestArrayOfInts( int* pArray, int size );

PINVOKELIB_API int TestRefArrayOfInts( int** ppArray, int* pSize );

PINVOKELIB_API int TestMatrixOfInts( int pMatrix[][COL_DIM], int row );

PINVOKELIB_API int TestArrayOfStrings( char* ppStrArray[], int size );

PINVOKELIB_API int TestArrayOfStructs( MYPOINT* pPointArray, int size );

PINVOKELIB_API int TestArrayOfStructs2( MYPERSON* pPersonArray, int size );

PINVOKELIB_API int TestStructInStruct( MYPERSON2* pPerson2 );

PINVOKELIB_API void TestStructInStruct3( MYPERSON3 person3 );

PINVOKELIB_API void TestUnion( MYUNION u, int type );

PINVOKELIB_API void TestUnion2( MYUNION2 u, int type );

PINVOKELIB_API void TestCallBack( FPTR pf, int value );

PINVOKELIB_API void TestCallBack2( FPTR2 pf2, char* value );

// buffer is an in/out param
PINVOKELIB_API void TestStringInStruct( MYSTRSTRUCT* pStruct );

// buffer is in/out param
PINVOKELIB_API void TestStringInStructAnsi( MYSTRSTRUCT2* pStruct );

PINVOKELIB_API void TestOutArrayOfStructs( int* pSize, MYSTRSTRUCT2** ppStruct );

PINVOKELIB_API char* TestStringAsResult();

PINVOKELIB_API void SetData( DataType typ, void* object );

PINVOKELIB_API void TestArrayInStruct( MYARRAYSTRUCT* pStruct );

#ifdef __cplusplus
}
#endif

To call the library functions from managed code, first implement the managed prototypes for each function you want to invoke. If the unmanaged code uses any custom types, you must also declare those types in your managed code.
Decorate the prototype with the DllImportAttribute attribute.

The following code shows an example prototype:

// Managed prototype for TestingStructInStruct, which is declared and defined in an unmanaged library.
[DllImport("..\\LIB\\PinvokeLib.dll", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
internal static extern int TestStructInStruct(ref MyPerson2 person2);

For more information and examples, see the following articles:

Del via

Marshalling Data with Platform Invoke

Platform invoke data types

PinvokeLib.dll

Example

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