/clr:pure switch generates pure MSIL but it is not verifible. Native array and pointer can be used in this mode. Does that mean that there is a structure in MSIL to hold native arrays and pointers? If yes, I would like to ask how can I code MSIL native array and pointer?
Yes, there is a type in CIL to represent unmanaged pointers. They are similar to managed pointers (ref and out in C#, & in CIL), except that GC ignores them and you can do some arithmetic operations on them (those that make sense with pointers).
Interestingly, the pointer type does contain information about the target type (so it's e.g. int32*), but all arithmetic operations are byte based.
As an example, the following C++/CLI method:
void Bar(int *a)
{
a[5] = 15;
}
produces the following CIL when it's inside a ref class (as reported by Reflector):
.method private hidebysig instance void Bar(int32* a) cil managed
{
.maxstack 2
L_0000: ldarg.1 // load the value of a pointer to the stack
L_0001: ldc.i4.s 20 // load the number 20 (= 4 * 5) to the stack
L_0003: add // add 20 to the pointer
L_0004: ldc.i4.s 15 // load the number 15 to the stack
L_0006: stind.i4 // store the value of 15 at the computed address
L_0007: ret // return from the method
}
Related
I am in the process of porting an application from (Objective-)C to Swift but have to use a third-party framework written in C. There are a couple of incompatibilities like typedefs that are interpreted as Int but have to be passed to the framework's functions as UInts or the like. So to avoid constant casting operations throughout the entire Swift application I decided to transfer the C header files to Swift, having all types as I I need them to be in one place.
I was able to transfer nearly everything and have overcome a lot of hurdles, but this one:
The C header defines a struct which contains a uint64_t variable among others. This struct is used to transfer data to a callback function as a pointer. The callback function takes a void pointer as argument and I have to cast it with the UnsafeMutablePointer operation to the type of the struct (or another struct of the header if appropriate). All the casting and memory-accessing works fine as long as I use the original struct from the C header that was automatically transformed by Swift on import.
Replicating the struct manually in Swift does not "byte-fit" however.
Let me show you a reduced example of this situation:
Inside the CApiHeader.h file there is something like
typedef struct{
uint32_t var01;
uint64_t var02;
uint8_t arr[2];
}MyStruct, *MyStructPtr;
From my understanding this here should be the Swift equivalent
struct MyStruct{
var01: UInt32
var02: UInt64
arr: (UInt8, UInt8)
}
Or what should also work is this tuple notation
typealias MyStruct = (
var01: UInt32,
var02: UInt64,
arr: (UInt8, UInt8)
)
This works normally, but not as soon as there is an UInt64 type.
Okay, so what happens?
Casting the pointer to one of my own Swift MyStruct implementations the hole data is shifted by 2 bytes, starting at the UInt64 field. So in this example the both arr fields are not at the correct position, but inside the UInt64 bits, that should be 64 in number. So it seams that the UInt64 field has only 48 bits.
This accords to my observation that if I replace the UIn64 variable with this alternative
struct MyStruct{
var01: UInt32
reserved: UInt16
var02: UInt32
arr: (UInt8, UInt8)
}
or this one
struct MyStruct{
var01: UInt32
var02: (UInt32, UInt32)
arr: (UInt8, UInt8)
}
(or the equivalent tuple notation) it aligns the arr fields correctly.
But as you can easily guess var02 contains not directly usable data, because it is split over multiple address ranges. It is even worse with the first alternative, because it seams that Swift fills up the gap between the reserved field and the var02 field with 16 bits - the missing / shifted 2 bytes I mentioned above - but these are not easily accessible.
So I haven't figured out any equivalent transformation of the C struct in Swift.
What happens here exactly and how does Swift transforms the struct from the C header actually?
Do you guys have a hint or an explanation or even a solution for me, please?
Update
The C framework has an API function with this signature:
int16_t setHandlers(MessageHandlerProc messageHandler);
MessageHandlerProc is procedure type:
typedef void (*messageHandlerProc)(unsigned int id, unsigned int messageType, void *messageArgument);
So setHandlers is a C procedure inside the framework that gets a pointer to a callback function. This callback function has to provide an argument of a void Pointer, that gets casted to e.g.
typedef struct {
uint16_t revision;
uint16_t client;
uint16_t cmd;
int16_t parameter;
int32_t value;
uint64_t time;
uint8_t stats[8];
uint16_t compoundValueOld;
int16_t axis[6];
uint16_t address;
uint32_t compoundValueNew;
} DeviceState, *DeviceStatePtr;
Swift is smart enough to import the messageHandlerProc with the convention(c) syntax, so the procedure type is directly available. On the other hand it is not possible use the standard func syntax and bitcast my messageHandler callback function to this type. So I used the closure syntax to define the callback function:
let myMessageHandler : MessageHandlerProc = { (deviceID : UInt32, msgType : UInt32, var msgArgPtr : UnsafeMutablePointer<Void>) -> Void in
...
}
I converted the above mentioned structure into the different structures of my original post.
And No! Defining stats as Swift Array does not work. An Array in Swift in not equivalent to an Array in C, because Swift's Array is a extended type. Writing to and reading from it with a pointer causes an exception
Only Tuples are natively implemented in Swift and you can run back and forth with pointers over it.
Okay... this works all fine and my callback function gets called whenever data is available.
So inside myMessageHandler I want to use the stored Data inside msgArgPtr which is a void pointer and thus has to be cast into DeviceState.
let state = (UnsafeMutablePointer<MyDeviceState>(msgArgPtr)).memory
Accessing state it like:
...
print(state.time)
print(state.stats.0)
...
Whenever I use the automatically generated Swift pendant of DeviceState it all works nicely. The time variable has the Unix Time Stamp and the following stats (accessible with tuple syntax!!!) are all where they belong.
Using my manually implemented struct however results in a completely senseless time stamp value and the stats fields are shifted to the left (towards the time field - that's probably why the time stamp value is useless, because it contains bits from the stats "array"). So in the last two fields of stats I get values from compoundValueOld and the first axis field - with all the overflowing of course.
As long as I am willing to sacrifice the time value and change the UInt64 variable by either a tuple of two UInt32 types or by changing it to a UInt32 type and adding a auxiliary variable of the type UInt16 right before time, I receive a stats "array" with correct alignment.
Have a nice day! :-)
Martin
This is an update to my earlier answer after reading your updated question and experimenting some more. I believe the problem is an alignment discrepancy between the imported C structure and the one you manually implemented in Swift. The problem can be solved by using a C helper function to get an instance of the C struct from void pointer as was suggested yesterday, which can then be converted to the manually implemented Swift struct.
I've been able to reproduce the problem after creating an abbreviated mock-up of your DeviceState structure that looks like
typedef struct
{
uint16_t revision;
uint16_t client;
uint16_t cmd;
int16_t parameter;
int32_t value;
uint64_t time;
uint8_t stats[8];
uint16_t compoundValueOld;
} APIStruct;
The corresponding hand-crafted Swift native structure is:
struct MyStruct
{
init( _apis : APIStruct)
{
revision = _apis.revision
client = _apis.client
cmd = _apis.cmd
parameter = _apis.parameter
value = _apis.value
time = _apis.time
stats = _apis.stats
compoundValueOld = _apis.compoundValueOld
}
var revision : UInt16
var client : UInt16
var cmd : UInt16
var parameter : Int16
var value : Int32
var time : UInt64
var stats : (UInt8, UInt8, UInt8, UInt8, UInt8, UInt8, UInt8, UInt8);
var compoundValueOld : UInt16
}
The C framework you are working with could have been compiled using a different struct packing, resulting in a non-matching alignment. I used
#pragma pack(2)
in my C code to break the bit-matching between the Swift's native and imported C struct.
If I do something like
func swiftCallBackVoid( p: UnsafeMutablePointer<Void> )
{
...
let _locMS:MyStruct = (UnsafeMutablePointer<MyStruct>(p)).memory
...
}
the data in _locMS is different from what was placed there by C code. This problem only occurs if I change struct packing using a pragma in my C code; the above unsafe conversion works fine if the default alignment is used. One can solve this problem as follows:
let _locMS:MyStruct = MyStruct(_apis: (UnsafeMutablePointer<APIStruct>(p)).memory)
BTW, the way Swift imports the C struct, the array members become tuples; this can be seen from the fact that tuple notation has to be used to access them in Swift.
I have a sample Xcode project illustrating all this that I've placed on github:
https://github.com/omniprog/xcode-samples
Obviously, the approach of using a helper C function to get APIStruct from a void pointer and then converting the APIStruct to MyStruct may or may not be an option, depending on how the structures are used, how large they are, and on the performance requirements of the application. As you can tell, this approach involves some copying of the structure. Other approaches, I think, include writing a C-layer between Swift code and the 3rd party C framework, studying the memory layout of the C structure and accessing it in creative ways (may break easily), using the imported C struct more extensively in your Swift code, etc...
Here is a way to share data between C and Swift code without unnecessary copying and with changes made in Swift visible to C code. With the following approach, however, it's imperative to be aware of object lifetime and other memory management issues. One can create a class as follows:
// This typealias isn't really necessary, just a convenience
typealias APIStructPtr = UnsafeMutablePointer<APIStruct>
struct MyStructUnsafe
{
init( _p : APIStructPtr )
{
pAPIStruct = _p
}
var time: UInt64 {
get {
return pAPIStruct.memory.time
}
set( newVal ) {
pAPIStruct.memory.time = newVal
}
}
var pAPIStruct: APIStructPtr
}
Then we can use this structure as follows:
func swiftCallBackVoid( p: UnsafeMutablePointer<Void> )
{
...
var _myUnsafe : MyStructUnsafe = MyStructUnsafe(_p: APIStructPtr(p))
...
_myUnsafe.time = 9876543210 // this change is visible in C code!
...
}
Your two definitions are not equivalent. An array is not the same as a tuple. Your C struct gives 24 bytes (see this question as to why). The size in Swift differs depend on how you implement it:
struct MyStruct1 {
var var01: UInt32
var var02: UInt64
var arr: (UInt8, UInt8)
}
typealias MyStruct2 = (
var01: UInt32,
var02: UInt64,
arr: (UInt8, UInt8)
)
struct MyStruct3 {
var var01: UInt32
var var02: UInt64
var arr: [UInt8] = [0,0]
}
print(sizeof(MyStruct1)) // 18
print(sizeof(MyStruct2)) // 18
print(sizeof(MyStruct3)) // 24, match C's
I have a c++-cli class Locator with a function Locate that takes a lot of memory while it is running. At the end of running, most of the memory is released withing the function by releasing the pointers, but there is still some memory that is not deallocated and if I run the program continuously in a lopp, it stacks up. Is there a way to completely remove all the memory that was allocated using the destructor/constructor at the end of the function each time?
public ref class Locator
{
public:
Locator() { }
~Locator() { }
Dictionary<String^, array< Byte >^>^ Locate(Dictionary<String^, String^>^ imgParms)
{ ..... }
private:
int m_HP;
int main ()
{
Locator r;
Dictionary<String^,String^>^ myDictionary = gcnew Dictionary<String^,String^>();
Dictionary<String^,List<array<Byte>^>^>^ myResult1 = gcnew Dictionary<String^,List<array<Byte>^>^>();
myResult1=r.Locate(myDictionary,0);
return 0;
}
Call delete() on the objects you create(just like plain C++). Simply dereferencing the pointer will leave the object for the garbage collector to dispose. Ordinarily this is fine, but if you use a lot of memory in your application, you dont want the wait for the GC to release memory. Ensure that your destructors delete all objects allocated by their respective destructors. This is exactly the same as plain C++. C++/CLI classes implicitly inherit the IDisposable interface and the destructors are wrappers for Dispose() so you dont have to define dispose() seprately(If i remember correctly; you can't do that anyway).
I am trying to write a small library which will use DirectShow. This library is to be utilised by a .NET application so I thought it would be best to write it in C++/CLI.
I am having trouble with this line however:
HRESULT hr = CoCreateInstance( CLSID_FilterGraph,
NULL,
CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER,
IID_IGraphBuilder,
(void**)(&graphBuilder) ); //error C2440:
Where graphBuilder is declared:
public ref class VideoPlayer
{
public:
VideoPlayer();
void Load(String^ filename);
IGraphBuilder* graphBuilder;
};
If I am understanding this page correctly, I can use */& as usual to denote 'native' pointers to unmanaged memory in my C++/CLI library; ^ is used to denote a pointer to a managed object. However, this code produces:
error C2440: 'type cast' : cannot convert from 'cli::interior_ptr' to 'void **'
The error suggests that graphBuilder is considered to be a 'cli::interior_ptr<Type>'. That is a pointer/handle to managed memory, isn't it? But it is a pure native pointer. I am not trying to pass the pointer to a method expecting a handle or vice versa - I simply want to store it in my managed class) If so, how do I say graphBuilder is to be a 'traditional' pointer?
(This question is similar but the answer, to use a pin_ptr, I do not see helping me, as it cannot be a member of my class)
The error message is a bit cryptic, but the compiler is trying to remind you that you cannot pass a pointer to a member of a managed class to unmanaged code. That cannot work by design, disaster strikes when the garbage collector kicks in while the function is executing and moves the managed object. Invalidating the pointer to the member in the process and causing the native code to spray bytes into the gc heap at the wrong address.
The workaround is simple, just declare a local variable and pass a pointer to it instead. Variables on the stack can't be moved. Like this:
void init() {
IGraphBuilder* builder; // Local variable, okay to pass its address
HRESULT hr = CoCreateInstance(CLSID_FilterGraph,
NULL,
CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER,
IID_IGraphBuilder,
(void**)(&builder) );
if (SUCCEEDED(hr)) {
graphBuilder = builder;
// etc...
}
}
Suppose I write the following code:
public ref class Data
{
public:
Data()
{
}
Int32 Age;
Int32 year;
};
public void Test()
{
int age = 30;
Int32 year = 2010;
int* pAge = &age;
int* pYear = &year;
Data^ data = gcnew Data();
int* pDataYear = &data->Year; // pData is interior pointer and the compiler will throw error
}
If you compile the program, the compiler will throw error:
error C2440: 'initializing' : cannot convert from 'cli::interior_ptr' to 'int *'
So I learned the "&data->Year" is a type of interior pointer.
UPDATES: I tried to use "&(data->Year)", same error.
But how about pAge and pYear?
Are they native pointers, interior pointers or pinned pointers??
If I want to use them in the following native function:
void ChangeNumber(int* pNum);
Will it be safe to pass either pAge or pYear?
They (pAge and pYear) are native pointers, and passing them to a native function is safe. Stack variables (locals with automatic storage lifetime) are not subject to being rearranged by the garbage collector, so pinning is not necessary.
Copying managed data to the stack, then passing it to native functions, solves the gc-moving-managed-data-around problem in many cases (of course, don't use it in conjunction with callbacks that expect the original variable to be updated before your wrapper has a chance to copy the value back).
To get a native pointer to managed data, you have to use a pinning pointer. This can be slower than the method of copying the value to the stack, so use it for large values or when you really need the function to operate directly on the same variable (e.g. the variable is used in callbacks or multi-threading).
Something like:
pin_ptr<int> p = &mgd_obj.field;
See also the MSDN documentation
The unmanaged function(pure c++, if that matters):
void fooC(float& result);
I define the wrapper as (managed wrapper, c++\cli):
void foo(float% result) //managed interface, need to pass result back to caller
{
fooC(???);//how to call unmanaged function?
}
how to pass reference parameter in the wrapper?
You can't convert a tracking reference to an unmanaged reference or pointer. The garbage collector would cause havoc when the passed float is a field in an object. You'll need to use a temporary:
void foo(float% result) {
float temp;
fooC(temp);
result = temp;
}