C++/CLI: Passing C++ class ptr to unmanaged method - c++-cli

Question

I've been given a third party C/C++ library (.dll, .lib, .exp and .h) that I need to use in our C# app.
ThirdPartyLibrary.h contains...
class AClass {
public:
typedef enum {
green = 7,
blue = 16
} Color;
virtual int GetData()=0;
virtual int DoWork(Color, char *)=0;
};
void * Func1(int, AClass **aClass);
In my C++/CLI code I have done this...
#include "ThirdPartyLibrary.h"
using namespace System;
using namespace System::Runtime::InteropServices;
namespace Wrapper {
public ref class MyBridgeClass
{
private:
AClass* pAClass;
public:
// C# code will call this method
void AMethod (int x)
{
int y = x+10;
Func1 (y, &(this->pAClass)); // <-- error!
}
}
}
I get a build error that reads...
cannot convert parameter 2 from 'cli::interior_ptr<Type>' to 'AClass **'
with
[
Type=AClass *
]
Cannot convert a managed type to an unmanaged type
Any ideas? Maybe I need #pragma manage/unmanged tags in my C++/CLI?

Answer 1

The reason you're getting that error is because of how managed memory works.
In your managed class, you've got a pointer defined. The address of that pointer is part of the managed object, and can change when the garbage collector runs. That's why you can't just pass &pAClass to the method, the GC can change what that address actually is.
There's a couple things you can do to fix this:
You could create an unmanaged helper class to hold the AClass* member. I'd do this if that pointer needs to stay valid beyond the invocation of this method, or if you have a lot of unmanaged pointers to hold.
struct UnmanagedHolder
{
AClass* pAClass;
};
public ref class MyBridgeClass
{
private:
// must create in constructor, delete in destructor and finalizer.
UnmanagedHolder* unmanaged;
public:
// C# code will call this method
void AMethod (int x)
{
int y = x+10;
Func1 (y, &(this->unmanaged->pAClass));
}
};
If you only need the pointer to be valid within AMethod, and the pointer doesn't need to remain valid after the call to Func1, then you can use a pin_ptr.
void AMethod (int x)
{
int y = x+10;
pin_ptr<AClass*> pin = &(this->pAClass);
Func1 (y, pin);
}