Casting from class to interface in Excel VBA - vba

In Excel 2013, I have two classes: LoadCase and LoadCombination, which implement interface ILoadCase.
The declaration for ILoadCase is:
Option Explicit
'' Public properties
Public Property Get Name() As String
End Property
Public Property Let Name(ByVal value As String)
End Property
Public Property Get ID() As Long
End Property
Public Property Let ID(ByVal valus As Long)
End Property
And the (partial) implementations for both LoadCase and LoadCombination are:
Option Explicit
Implements ILoadCase
'' Public properties
Public Property Get ILoadCase_Name() As String
ILoadCase_Name = pName
End Property
Private Property Let ILoadCase_Name(ByVal value As String)
pName = value
End Property
Public Property Get ILoadCase_ID() As Long
ILoadCase_ID = pID
End Property
Private Property Let ILoadCase_ID(ByVal value As Long)
pID = value
End Property
I've omitted code which is irrelevant to the implementation of the interface.
I then have a class BeamForces, which contains results for a particular ILoadCase object:
Option Explicit
Public Fx As Double
Public Fy As Double
Public Fz As Double
Public Mx As Double
Public My As Double
Public Mz As Double
Public ParentLoadCase As ILoadCase
I thought that with this I'd be able to do something like this:
Set currentBeamForces = New BeamForces
With currentBeamForces
.Fx = forces(0)
.Fy = forces(1)
.Fz = forces(2)
.Mx = forces(3)
.My = forces(4)
.Mz = forces(5)
Set .ParentLoadCase = TargetLoadCase
End With
Where TargetLoadCase is either a LoadCase or a LoadCombination, but this gives me an error every time.
I've coded this like I would in .NET and just expected that it would work, but does casting to an interface not work in VBA? Or am I going wrong here somewhere?
EDIT
More details. I first call the following method:
Public Function LoadBeamForcesAtNode(ByVal TargetBeam As Beam, ByVal TargetNode As Node, Optional ByVal TargetLoadCases As Collection = Nothing) As Boolean
Dim i As Integer
Dim currentLoadCase As Variant
Dim targetBeamForces As BeamForces
If TargetLoadCases Is Nothing Then
For Each currentLoadCase In Me.LoadCases.Items
Call TargetLoadCases.Add(currentLoadCase)
Next
For Each currentLoadCase In Me.LoadCombinations.Items
Call TargetLoadCases.Add(currentLoadCase)
Next
End If
'On Error GoTo ExitPoint
For Each currentLoadCase In TargetLoadCases
Set targetBeamForces = InstantiateBeamForces(TargetBeam, TargetNode, currentLoadCase)
If TargetNode Is TargetBeam.Node1 Then
Set TargetBeam.Forces1 = targetBeamForces
Else
Set TargetBeam.Forces2 = targetBeamForces
End If
Next
LoadBeamForcesAtNode = True
ExitPoint:
End Function
Where TargetLoadCases is a collection which can contain both LoadCase and LoadCombination objects.
The problem occurs in InstantiateBeamForces, the code for which is
Private Function InstantiateBeamForces(ByVal TargetBeam As Beam, ByVal TargetNode As Node, ByVal TargetLoadCase As Variant) As BeamForces
Dim forces(5) As Double
Dim currentBeamForces As BeamForces
Call Me.output.GetMemberEndForces(TargetBeam.ID, IIf(TargetNode Is TargetBeam.Node1, 0, 1), TargetLoadCase.ILoadCase_ID, forces, 0)
Set currentBeamForces = New BeamForces
With currentBeamForces
.Fx = forces(0)
.Fy = forces(1)
.Fz = forces(2)
.Mx = forces(3)
.My = forces(4)
.Mz = forces(5)
Set .ParentLoadCase = TargetLoadCase
End With
Set InstantiateBeamForces = currentBeamForces
End Function
Which creates a new BeamForces object and populates it with the values returned by the ...GetMemberEndForces(...) API COM call.
The problem is that the .ParentLoadCase property is nothing after the assignment, so I'm assuming an invalid cast...
** EDIT 2 **
Here is a screenshot of TargetLoadCase when I put a breakpoint in InstantiateBeamForces.
The ILoadCase member is Nothing, but I don't get why. Could this be the cause of the problem?

Related

How to create a compound object in VBA?

I cannot make my way through the Microsoft help, which is great provided you know what the answer is already, so I'm stuck.
Is it possible for me to create my own compound object (I assume that this is the term) such that, for example, the object could be a person and would have the following sub-classes:
Firstname - String
Surname - String
Date of birth - Datetime
Gender - String (M/F accepted)
Height - Real number
Sorry if it seems like a very basic question (no pun intended) but I haven't used Visual Basic for a long time, and Microsoft Visual Basic was never my forté.
You should consider using class modules instead of types. Types are fine, but they're limited in what they can do. I usually end up converting my types to classes as soon as I need some more function than a type can provide.
You could create a CPerson class with the properties you want. Now if you want to return a FullName property, you can write a Property Get to return it - something you can't do with a type.
Private mlPersonID As Long
Private msFirstName As String
Private msSurname As String
Private mdtDOB As Date
Private msGender As String
Private mdHeight As Double
Private mlParentPtr As Long
Public Property Let PersonID(ByVal lPersonID As Long): mlPersonID = lPersonID: End Property
Public Property Get PersonID() As Long: PersonID = mlPersonID: End Property
Public Property Let FirstName(ByVal sFirstName As String): msFirstName = sFirstName: End Property
Public Property Get FirstName() As String: FirstName = msFirstName: End Property
Public Property Let Surname(ByVal sSurname As String): msSurname = sSurname: End Property
Public Property Get Surname() As String: Surname = msSurname: End Property
Public Property Let DOB(ByVal dtDOB As Date): mdtDOB = dtDOB: End Property
Public Property Get DOB() As Date: DOB = mdtDOB: End Property
Public Property Let Gender(ByVal sGender As String): msGender = sGender: End Property
Public Property Get Gender() As String: Gender = msGender: End Property
Public Property Let Height(ByVal dHeight As Double): mdHeight = dHeight: End Property
Public Property Get Height() As Double: Height = mdHeight: End Property
Public Property Get FullName() As String
FullName = Me.FirstName & Space(1) & Me.Surname
End Property
Then you can create a CPeople class to hold all of your CPerson instances.
Private mcolPeople As Collection
Private Sub Class_Initialize()
Set mcolPeople = New Collection
End Sub
Private Sub Class_Terminate()
Set mcolPeople = Nothing
End Sub
Public Property Get NewEnum() As IUnknown
Set NewEnum = mcolPeople.[_NewEnum]
End Property
Public Sub Add(clsPerson As CPerson)
If clsPerson.PersonID = 0 Then
clsPerson.PersonID = Me.Count + 1
End If
mcolPeople.Add clsPerson, CStr(clsPerson.PersonID)
End Sub
Public Property Get Person(vItem As Variant) As CPerson
Set Person = mcolPeople.Item(vItem)
End Property
Public Property Get Count() As Long
Count = mcolPeople.Count
End Property
Public Property Get FilterByGender(ByVal sGender As String) As CPeople
Dim clsReturn As CPeople
Dim clsPerson As CPerson
Set clsReturn = New CPeople
For Each clsPerson In Me
If clsPerson.Gender = sGender Then
clsReturn.Add clsPerson
End If
Next clsPerson
Set FilterByGender = clsReturn
End Property
With this class, you can For Each through all the instances (google custom class and NewEnum to see how to do that). You can also use a Property Get to return a subset of the CPerson instances (females in this case).
Now in a standard module, you can create a couple of CPerson instances, add them to your CPeople instance, filter them, and loop through them.
Public Sub FillPeople()
Dim clsPerson As CPerson
Dim clsPeople As CPeople
Dim clsFemales As CPeople
Set clsPeople = New CPeople
Set clsPerson = New CPerson
With clsPerson
.FirstName = "Joe"
.Surname = "Blow"
.Gender = "M"
.Height = 72
.DOB = #1/1/1980#
End With
clsPeople.Add clsPerson
Set clsPerson = New CPerson
With clsPerson
.FirstName = "Jane"
.Surname = "Doe"
.Gender = "F"
.Height = 62
.DOB = #1/1/1979#
End With
clsPeople.Add clsPerson
Set clsFemales = clsPeople.FilterByGender("F")
For Each clsPerson In clsFemales
Debug.Print clsPerson.FullName
Next clsPerson
End Sub
There's defintely more learning curve to creating classes, but it's worth it in my opinion.
I think you need to use TYPE syntax, like this:
TYPE person
Firstname As String
Surname As String
Date_of_birth As Date ' instead of Datetime
Gender As String '(M/F accepted)
Height As Single 'instead of Real number
END TYPE
Sub Test()
Dim aTest As person
End Sub

Accessing custom property's value gives 'Out of Memory' error when value is null

I'm trying to create a custom property in an excel sheet, then retrieve its value. This is fine when I don't use an empty string, i.e. "". When I use the empty string, I get this error:
Run-time error '7':
Out of memory
Here's the code I'm using:
Sub proptest()
Dim cprop As CustomProperty
Dim sht As Worksheet
Set sht = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("control")
sht.CustomProperties.Add "path", ""
For Each cprop In ThisWorkbook.Sheets("control").CustomProperties
If cprop.Name = "path" Then
Debug.Print cprop.Value
End If
Next
End Sub
The code fails at Debug.Print cprop.value. Shouldn't I be able to set the property to "" initially?
With vbNullChar it works, sample:
Sub proptest()
Dim sht As Worksheet
Set sht = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("control")
' On Error Resume Next
sht.CustomProperties.Item(1).Delete
' On Error GoTo 0
Dim pathValue As Variant
pathValue = vbNullChar
Dim pathCustomProperty As CustomProperty
Set pathCustomProperty = sht.CustomProperties.Add("path", pathValue)
Dim cprop As CustomProperty
For Each cprop In ThisWorkbook.Sheets("control").CustomProperties
If cprop.Name = "path" Then
Debug.Print cprop.Value
End If
Next
End Sub
I think from the comments and the answer from Daniel Dusek it is clear that this cannot be done. The property should have at least 1 character to be valid, an empty string just isnt allowed and will give an error when the .Value is called.
So you Add this property with a length 1 or more string and you Delete the property again when no actual value is to be assigned to it.
As already mentioned it is not possible to set empty strings.
An easy workaround is to use a magic word or character, such as ~Empty (or whatever seems proof enough for you):
Dim MyProperty As Excel.CustomProperty = ...
Dim PropertyValue As String = If(MyProperty.Value = "~Empty", String.Empty, MyPropertyValue)
A slightly more expensive workaround but 100% safe is to start all the values of your custom properties with a character that you then always strip off. When accessing the value, systematically remove the first character:
Dim MyProperty As Excel.CustomProperty = ...
Dim PropertyValue As String = Strings.Mid(MyProperty.Value, 2)
You can write an extension to make your life easier:
<System.Runtime.CompilerServices.Extension>
Function ValueTrim(MyProperty as Excel.CustomProperty) As String
Return Strings.Mid(MyProperty.Value, 2)
End Function
Now you can use it like this: Dim MyValue As String = MyProperty.ValueTrim
Use a reversed principle when you add a custom property:
<System.Runtime.CompilerServices.Extension>
Function AddTrim(MyProperties As Excel.CustomProperties, Name As String, Value As String) as Excel.CustomProperty
Dim ModifiedValue As String = String.Concat("~", Value) 'Use ~ or whatever character you lie / Note Strig.Concat is the least expensive way to join two strings together.
Dim NewProperty As Excel.CustomProperty = MyProperties.Add(Name, ModifiedValue)
Return NewProperty
End Function
To use like this: MyProperties.AddTrim(Name, Value)
Hope this helps other people who come across the issue..
Based on the other answers and some trial and error, I wrote a class to wrap a Worksheet.CustomProperty.
WorksheetProperty:Class
Sets and Gets the value of a Worksheet.CustomProperty and tests if a Worksheet has the CustomProperty
VERSION 1.0 CLASS
Attribute VB_Name = "WorksheetProperty"
Attribute VB_GlobalNameSpace = False
Attribute VB_Creatable = False
Attribute VB_PredeclaredId = True
Attribute VB_Exposed = False
'#Folder("Classes")
'#PredeclaredId
Option Explicit
Private Type TMembers
Name As String
Worksheet As Worksheet
End Type
Private this As TMembers
Public Property Get Create(pWorksheet As Worksheet, pName As String) As WorksheetProperty
With New WorksheetProperty
Set .Worksheet = pWorksheet
.Name = pName
Set Create = .Self
End With
End Property
Public Property Get Self() As WorksheetProperty
Set Self = Me
End Property
Public Property Get Worksheet() As Worksheet
Set Worksheet = this.Worksheet
End Property
Public Property Set Worksheet(ByVal pValue As Worksheet)
Set this.Worksheet = pValue
End Property
Public Property Get Name() As String
Name = this.Name
End Property
Public Property Let Name(ByVal pValue As String)
this.Name = pValue
End Property
Public Property Get Value() As String
Dim P As CustomProperty
For Each P In Worksheet.CustomProperties
If P.Name = Name Then
Value = P.Value
Exit Property
End If
Next
End Property
Public Property Let Value(ByVal pValue As String)
Delete
Worksheet.CustomProperties.Add Name:=Name, Value:=pValue
End Property
Public Property Get hasCustomProperty(pWorksheet As Worksheet, pName As String) As Boolean
Dim P As CustomProperty
For Each P In pWorksheet.CustomProperties
If P.Name = pName Then
hasCustomProperty = True
Exit Property
End If
Next
End Property
Public Sub Delete()
Dim P As CustomProperty
For Each P In Worksheet.CustomProperties
If P.Name = Name Then
P.Delete
Exit For
End If
Next
End Sub
Usage
I have several properties of my custom Unit class return a WorksheetProperty. It makes it really easy to sync my database with my worksheets.
Public Function hasMeta(Ws As Worksheet) As Boolean
hasMeta = WorksheetProperty.hasCustomProperty(Ws, MetaName)
End Function
Public Property Get Id() As WorksheetProperty
Set Id = WorksheetProperty.Create(this.Worksheet, "id")
End Property
Public Property Get CourseID() As WorksheetProperty
Set CourseID = WorksheetProperty.Create(this.Worksheet, "course_id")
End Property
Public Property Get Name() As WorksheetProperty
Set Name = WorksheetProperty.Create(this.Worksheet, "unit_name")
End Property
Simple Usage
'ActiveSheet has a CustomProperty
Debug.Print WorksheetProperty.hasCustomProperty(ActiveSheet, "LastDateSynced")
'Set a CustomProperty
WorksheetProperty.Create(ActiveSheet, "LastDateSynced").Value = Now
'Retrieve a CustomProperty
Debug.Print WorksheetProperty.Create(ActiveSheet, "LastDateSynced").Value

Error says x is not a member of y, but it is

I have a sp that I added to my linq designer, which generated the result class:
Partial Public Class web_GetTweetsByUserIDResult
Private _userid As Integer
Private _tweetid As Integer
Private _TweeterFeed As String
Public Sub New()
MyBase.New
End Sub
<Global.System.Data.Linq.Mapping.ColumnAttribute(Storage:="_userid", DbType:="Int NOT NULL")> _
Public Property userid() As Integer
Get
Return Me._userid
End Get
Set
If ((Me._userid = value) _
= false) Then
Me._userid = value
End If
End Set
End Property
<Global.System.Data.Linq.Mapping.ColumnAttribute(Storage:="_tweetid", DbType:="Int NOT NULL")> _
Public Property tweetid() As Integer
Get
Return Me._tweetid
End Get
Set
If ((Me._tweetid = value) _
= false) Then
Me._tweetid = value
End If
End Set
End Property
<Global.System.Data.Linq.Mapping.ColumnAttribute(Storage:="_TweeterFeed", DbType:="NVarChar(100)")> _
Public Property TweeterFeed() As String
Get
Return Me._TweeterFeed
End Get
Set
If (String.Equals(Me._TweeterFeed, value) = false) Then
Me._TweeterFeed = value
End If
End Set
End Property
End Class
However, in this one section of code where I am trying to use the "TweeterFeed" member of the result class I am getting the error, "Error 4 'TweeterFeed' is not a member of 'System.Data.Linq.ISingleResult(Of web_GetTweetsByUserIDResult)'."
My code in this section is, :
<WebMethod()> _
Public Function GetTweetsByUserID(ByVal userID As Integer) As List(Of SimpleTweet)
Dim result As New List(Of SimpleTweet)
Dim urlTwitter As String = "https://api.twitter.com/1/statuses/user_timeline.xml?include_entities=true&include_rts=true&screen_name={0}&count=20"
Dim lq As New lqDFDataContext
Dim var = lq.web_GetTweetsByUserID(userID).ToList()
If Not var Is Nothing Then
For Each twitterfeed In var
Dim listURL As String = String.Format(urlTwitter, var.TweeterFeed)
Dim tweetXML As XmlDocument = utils.GetXMLForURL(listURL)
Dim tweetnodelist As XmlNodeList = tweetXML.ChildNodes(1).ChildNodes
For Each node As XmlNode In tweetnodelist
Dim tweet As New SimpleTweet
tweet.CreatedAt = node.SelectSingleNode("created_at").InnerText
tweet.HTMLText = utils.ReturnTextWithHRefLink(node.SelectSingleNode("text").InnerText)
tweet.ID = node.SelectSingleNode("id").InnerText
tweet.Name = node.SelectSingleNode("user/name").InnerText
tweet.ScreenName = node.SelectSingleNode("user/screen_name").InnerText
tweet.Text = node.SelectSingleNode("text").InnerText
tweet.UserID = node.SelectSingleNode("user/id").InnerText
tweet.ProfileImageURL = node.SelectSingleNode("user/profile_image_url_https").InnerText
result.Add(tweet)
Next
Next
End If
Return result
End Function
Does anyone have any idea what is going on? As far as I see "TweeterFeed" is clearly a member of the class, I can't figure out why I would be getting this error.
You're using var.TweeterFeed when you should be using twitterFeed.TweeterFeed. twitterFeed is a result extracted from var which is a sequence of results.
Using a more descriptive variable name than var would probably have made this clearer to you :)
I have this class
Public Class Tamano
Private pWidth As Integer
Private pHeight As Integer
Public Property Width As Integer
Public Property Height As Integer
End Class
I got the compilation error message 'Height' is not a member of 'Tamaño' in IIS
To fix it, add Set and Get to the properties and it compiles.
Public Class Tamano
Private pWidth As Integer
Private pHeight As Integer
Public Property Width As Integer
Get
Return pWidth
End Get
Set(value As Integer)
pWidth = value
End Set
End Property
Public Property Height As Integer
Get
Return pHeight
End Get
Set(value As Integer)
pHeight = value
End Set
End Property
End Class
This might not be directly related to your question but It might help someone else.

Deserialize complex JSON (VB.NET)

I'm trying to deserialize json returned by some directions API similar to Google Maps API. My JSON is as follows (I'm using VB.NET 2008):
jsontext =
{
"version":0.3,
"status":0,
"route_summary":
{
"total_distance":300,
"total_time":14,
"start_point":"43",
"end_point":"42"
},
"route_geometry":[[51.025421,18.647631],[51.026131,18.6471],[51.027802,18.645639]],
"route_instructions": [["Head northwest on 43",88,0,4,"88 m","NW",334.8],["Continue on 42",212,1,10,"0.2 km","NW",331.1,"C",356.3]]
}
So far I came up with the following code:
Dim js As New System.Web.Script.Serialization.JavaScriptSerializer
Dim lstTextAreas As Output_CloudMade() = js.Deserialize(Of Output_CloudMade())(jsontext)
I'm not sure how to define complex class, i.e. Output_CloudMade.
I'm trying something like:
Public Class RouteSummary
Private mTotalDist As Long
Private mTotalTime As Long
Private mStartPoint As String
Private mEndPoint As String
Public Property TotalDist() As Long
Get
Return mTotalDist
End Get
Set(ByVal value As Long)
mTotalDist = value
End Set
End Property
Public Property TotalTime() As Long
Get
Return mTotalTime
End Get
Set(ByVal value As Long)
mTotalTime = value
End Set
End Property
Public Property StartPoint() As String
Get
Return mStartPoint
End Get
Set(ByVal value As String)
mStartPoint = value
End Set
End Property
Public Property EndPoint() As String
Get
Return mEndPoint
End Get
Set(ByVal value As String)
mEndPoint = value
End Set
End Property
End Class
Public Class Output_CloudMade
Private mVersion As Double
Private mStatus As Long
Private mRSummary As RouteSummary
'Private mRGeometry As RouteGeometry
'Private mRInstructions As RouteInstructions
Public Property Version() As Double
Get
Return mVersion
End Get
Set(ByVal value As Double)
mVersion = value
End Set
End Property
Public Property Status() As Long
Get
Return mStatus
End Get
Set(ByVal value As Long)
mStatus = value
End Set
End Property
Public Property Summary() As RouteSummary
Get
Return mRSummary
End Get
Set(ByVal value As RouteSummary)
mRSummary = value
End Set
End Property
'Public Property Geometry() As String
' Get
' End Get
' Set(ByVal value As String)
' End Set
'End Property
'Public Property Instructions() As String
' Get
' End Get
' Set(ByVal value As String)
' End Set
'End Property
End Class
but it does not work. The problem is with complex properties, like route_summary. It is filled with "nothing". Other properties, like "status" or "version" are filled properly.
Any ideas, how to define class for the above JSON?
Can you share some working code for deserializing JSON in VB.NET?
Thanks,
Below is a sample Converter class that will take an incoming stream of JSON and convert to to an object you specify. I should note the below code is .Net 4.0. The JSON serializer in 4 is much easier to use. Let me know if you can't use 4 and I'll see if I can dig up a 3.5 version. Basically you need to create a class structure to map the JSON to a Class. I created the Route and RouteSummary classes for you. I left route_geometry and route_instructions as objects. You should create class definitions for each but this should get you started.
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Runtime.Serialization.Json
Imports System.Runtime.Serialization
<DataContract(Namespace:="")> _
Public Class Route
<DataMember(Name:="version")>
Public Property version As Double
<DataMember(Name:="status")>
Public Property status As Double
<DataMember(Name:="route_summary")>
Public Property route_summary As route_summary
<DataMember(Name:="route_geometry")>
Public Property route_geometry As Object()
<DataMember(Name:="route_instructions")>
Public Property route_instructions() As Object
End Class
<DataContract(Name:="route_summary", Namespace:="")> _
Public Class route_summary
<DataMember(Name:="total_distance")>
Public Property total_distance As Double
<DataMember(Name:="total_time")>
Public Property total_time As Double
<DataMember(Name:="start_point")>
Public Property start_point As Double
<DataMember(Name:="end_point")>
Public Property end_point As Double
End Class
Public Class Converter(Of t)
Public Function ReturnJSON(ByRef sreader As StreamReader) As t
If GetType(t).Equals(GetType(String)) Then
Dim result As Object = sreader.ReadToEnd.Replace("""", "")
Return result
Else
Dim ds As New DataContractJsonSerializer(GetType(t))
Dim result As t = DirectCast(ds.ReadObject(sreader.BaseStream), t)
ds = Nothing
Return result
End If
End Function
End Class
Sub Main()
Dim json As String = "{""version"":0.3, ""status"":0, ""route_summary"": { ""total_distance"":300, ""total_time"":14, ""start_point"":""43"", ""end_point"":""42"" }, ""route_geometry"":[[51.025421,18.647631],[51.026131,18.6471],[51.027802,18.645639]], ""route_instructions"": [[""Head northwest on 43"",88,0,4,""88 m"",""NW"",334.8],[""Continue on 42"",212,1,10,""0.2 km"",""NW"",331.1,""C"",356.3]]}"
Dim encoding As New System.Text.UTF8Encoding
Dim bytes() As Byte = encoding.GetBytes(json)
Using os As New MemoryStream
os.Write(bytes, 0, bytes.Length)
os.Position = 0
Using reader As New StreamReader(os)
Dim converter As New Converter(Of Route)
Dim output As Route
output = converter.ReturnJSON(reader)
'output contains data
End Using
End Using
End Sub
See this page for a detailed description of how to read the JSON data. http://www.json.org/

How do you return an object as the return value through a RealProxy transparent proxy?

I'm working up a system where I plan on using RealProxy objects to enable intercepting method calls against a set of objects, handling the call, and then returning appropriate results.
This works just find for simple return types like strings or ints, but I can't seem to return objects from the RealProxy.Invoke method.
Everything works. I get no errors, but the returned value is always NOTHING, instead of an object.
I've worked up the smallest sample code I could, and have included it below.
Essentially, just call RPtest and single step through.
The code creates a simple object, RPTestA, with a string field and an object valued field
It then retrieves the string
Dim x = c.Name
Which works fine
and then attempts to retrieve the object
Dim r = c.SubObj
Which always returns nothing.
However, in the FieldGetter routine, this code:
'---- the field is an OBJECT type field
Dim mc = New MethodCallMessageWrapper(Msg)
'---- create the object
Dim o = Activator.CreateInstance(t)
'---- and construct the return message with that object
Dim r = New ReturnMessage(o, mc.Args, mc.Args.Length, mc.LogicalCallContext, mc)
Return r
appears to work just fine, setting the ReturnValue field of the ReturnMessage to the object that was created by the Activator.CreateInstance(t) call just above.
I suspect it's a serialization thing of some sort, but I'm at a loss.
You should be able to run this code straight away, but just pasting it into a new VB.net project.
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Imports System.Security.Permissions
Imports System.Diagnostics
Imports System.Reflection
Imports System.Runtime.CompilerServices
Imports System.Runtime.Serialization
Imports System.Runtime.Remoting
Imports System.Runtime.Remoting.Activation
Imports System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging
Imports System.Runtime.Remoting.Proxies
Public Module RPTest
Public Sub RPTest()
'---- create a new object that is automatically proxied
' See the RPProxyAttribute for details
Dim c = New RPTestA
Dim x = c.Name
'x is returned as a string value just fine
Dim r = c.SubObj
'********* PROBLEM IS HERE, r ends up nothing
End Sub
End Module
'ROOT test object
Public Class RPTestA
Inherits RPBase
Public Name As String = "Test Name"
Public SubObj As RPTestB
End Class
'SUB OBJECT which should be returned as a field value from the root object above
Public Class RPTestB
Inherits RPBase
Public SubProperty As String = "SubObj Test Property"
End Class
''' <summary>
''' Base proxyable object class
''' </summary>
''' <remarks></remarks>
<RPProxy()> _
Public MustInherit Class RPBase
Inherits ContextBoundObject
End Class
<PermissionSet(SecurityAction.Demand, Name:="FullTrust")> _
Public Class RPProxy
Inherits RealProxy
Private m_target As MarshalByRefObject
Public Sub New()
m_target = DirectCast(Activator.CreateInstance(GetType(ConfigRP)), MarshalByRefObject)
Dim myObjRef = RemotingServices.Marshal(m_target)
End Sub
Public Sub New(ByVal classToProxy As Type)
MyBase.New(classToProxy)
End Sub
Public Sub New(ByVal ClassToProxy As Type, ByVal targetObject As MarshalByRefObject)
m_target = targetObject
Dim myObjRef = RemotingServices.Marshal(m_target)
End Sub
Public Overrides Function Invoke(ByVal msg As IMessage) As IMessage
Dim returnMsg As IMethodReturnMessage = Nothing
If TypeOf msg Is IConstructionCallMessage Then
'---- handle constructor calls
Dim ConstructionCallMessage = DirectCast(msg, IConstructionCallMessage)
returnMsg = InitializeServerObject(ConstructionCallMessage)
Me.m_target = Me.GetUnwrappedServer()
SetStubData(Me, Me.m_target)
Return returnMsg
ElseIf TypeOf msg Is IMethodCallMessage Then
'---- handle all other method calls
Dim methodCallMessage = DirectCast(msg, IMethodCallMessage)
'---- before message processing
preprocess(methodCallMessage)
'---- execute the method call
Dim rawReturnMessage = RemotingServices.ExecuteMessage(Me.m_target, methodCallMessage)
'---- and postprocess
returnMsg = postprocess(methodCallMessage, rawReturnMessage)
Else
Throw New NotSupportedException()
End If
Return returnMsg
End Function
'Called BEFORE the actual method is invoked
Private Sub PreProcess(ByVal msg As IMessage)
Console.WriteLine("before method call...")
End Sub
'Called AFTER the actual method is invoked
Private Function PostProcess(ByVal Msg As IMethodCallMessage, ByVal msgReturn As ReturnMessage) As ReturnMessage
Dim r As ReturnMessage
If Msg.MethodName = "FieldGetter" Then
r = FieldGetter(Msg, msgReturn)
ElseIf Msg.MethodName = "FieldSetter" Then
'na
r = msgReturn
ElseIf Msg.MethodName.StartsWith("get_") Then
'na
r = msgReturn
ElseIf Msg.MethodName.StartsWith("set_") Then
'na
r = msgReturn
Else
r = msgReturn
End If
Return r
End Function
Private Function FieldGetter(ByVal Msg As IMethodCallMessage, ByVal msgReturn As IMethodReturnMessage) As IMethodReturnMessage
Dim t = Me.Target.GetType
'---- This retrieves the type of the field that the getter should retrieve
t = t.GetField(Msg.InArgs(1), BindingFlags.Instance Or BindingFlags.Public).FieldType
If t.Name = "String" Then
'---- just return what the object returned as a result of ExecuteMessage
Return msgReturn
ElseIf t.BaseType.Equals(GetType(RPBase)) Then
'---- the field is an OBJECT type field
Dim mc = New MethodCallMessageWrapper(Msg)
'---- create the object
Dim o = Activator.CreateInstance(t)
'---- and construct the return message with that object
Dim r = New ReturnMessage(o, mc.Args, mc.Args.Length, mc.LogicalCallContext, mc)
Return r
Else
Return msgReturn
End If
End Function
Public Property Target() As Object
Get
Return Me.m_target
End Get
Set(ByVal value As Object)
Me.m_target = value
End Set
End Property
End Class
<AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Class)> _
<SecurityPermissionAttribute(SecurityAction.Demand, Flags:=SecurityPermissionFlag.Infrastructure)> _
Public Class RPProxyAttribute
Inherits ProxyAttribute
Public Overrides Function CreateInstance(ByVal Type As Type) As MarshalByRefObject
Dim proxy = New RPProxy(Type)
Dim transparentProxy = DirectCast(proxy.GetTransparentProxy(), MarshalByRefObject)
Return transparentProxy
End Function
End Class
Well, it turns out to be a pretty simple fix, once you work past the god awful ReturnMessage constructor that's quite misleading!
Many thanks to an old colleague of mine, Rich Quackenbush, for taking a few minutes and checking this out. Sometimes, you can't see the forest for the trees!
Anyway, in FieldGetter, I was doing this
ElseIf t.BaseType.Equals(GetType(RPBase)) Then
'---- the field is an OBJECT type field
Dim mc = New MethodCallMessageWrapper(Msg)
'---- create the object
Dim o = Activator.CreateInstance(t)
'---- and construct the return message with that object
Dim r = New ReturnMessage(o, mc.Args, mc.Args.Length, mc.LogicalCallContext, mc)
Return r
Seems completely reasonable, that newly created object being passed into the ReturnMessage constructor argument called ReturnValue.
But no. You actually have to create an object array and pass it is as the 3 element in that array, like this:
ElseIf t.BaseType.Equals(GetType(RPBase)) Then
'---- the field is an OBJECT type field
Dim mc = New MethodCallMessageWrapper(Msg) '---- create the object
Dim o = Activator.CreateInstance(t)
'---- and construct the return message with that object
Dim r = New ReturnMessage(Nothing, New Object() {Nothing, Nothing, o}, 3, mc.LogicalCallContext, mc)
Return r
It turns out, this is because the FieldGetter function is what in being "called" and intercepted by the proxy, and it's signature is
FieldGetter(StringtypeName,StringfieldName,Object&val)
Which, for purposes of constructing a ReturnMessage for that call means that it doesn't have a Returnvalue at all, but rather that the return value is returned as the 3'rd argument in that list.
Since I'm not actually calling the real FieldGetter function, the first two argument (the typename and fieldname) are immaterial, but that 3'rd argument is the proper place to put the return value.
It's always obvious in hindsight!
Many thanks to Rich.