C++ CLI Missing ';' before '}' - c++-cli

I am learning C++/CLI and attempting to build an Interop component for my C# project. I'm not sure what this error means or how to resolve it? Any ideas?
#pragma once
using namespace System;
namespace Firewall {
public ref class Firewall
{
void StartFirewall(){};
}
}

Unlike C#, C++ requires a semicolon after a type definition.
public ref class Firewall
{
void StartFirewall(){} // doesn't require semicolon here
}; // needs semicolon here.
In C#, you can actually have semicolons after type definitions (not recommended though) and that will be ignored. It is there for the sake of consistency with C++ syntax.

There is no need to have the ; in the place you currently have it. Instead place it after the closing } of the class Firewall.
public ref class Firewall
{
void StartFirewall(){}
};

Related

How to convert an existing customized SwapChainPanel from C++/CX to C++/WinRT

I'm attempting to convert my existing C++/CX code to C++/WinRT in order to figure out whether that would enable me to compile that code using Clang. However, I'm stuck early on.
The C++/CX code that I need to convert is used to build a Direct3D component (based on SwapChainPanel) that is eventually utilized in a Windows UWP app that is written in C#. The problem I'm facing is that I just don't manage to convert my customized SwapChainPanel to C++/WinRT.
The code looks as follows:
namespace Why::Does::This::Not::Work
{
[Windows::Foundation::Metadata::WebHostHidden]
public ref class BaseView : public Windows::UI::Xaml::Controls::SwapChainPanel
{
protected private:
BaseView();
// Lots of other stuff
};
}
namespace Why::Does::This::Not::Work
{
[Windows::Foundation::Metadata::WebHostHidden]
public ref class CustomView sealed : public BaseView
{
public:
CustomView();
// ...
event AnimationEventHandler^ AnimationStarted;
private protected:
// Lots of private protected stuff
};
}
namespace Why::Does::This::Not::Work
{
[Windows::Foundation::Metadata::WebHostHidden]
public ref class AnimationEventArgs sealed
{
public:
AnimationEventArgs() {}
AnimationEventArgs(int start, int end)
{
Start = start;
End = end;
}
property int Start;
property int End;
};
[Windows::Foundation::Metadata::WebHostHidden]
public delegate void AnimationEventHandler(Platform::Object^ sender, AnimationEventArgs^ e);
}
As far as I'm able to interpret the documentation I need to do what is described under If you're authoring a runtime class to be referenced in your XAML UI in the documentation.
So, it seems to me that I'd need to author an IDL file in order to generate the COM stuff that is required. However, I cannot even make the skeleton IDL compile:
namespace Why
{
namespace Does
{
namespace This
{
namespace Not
{
namespace Work
{
runtimeclass CustomView : Windows::UI::Xaml::Controls::SwapChainPanel
{
CustomView();
}
}
}
}
}
}
When attempting to compile the above code all I'm getting is
error MIDL2025: [msg]syntax error [context]: expecting { near ":"
error MIDL2026: [msg]cannot recover from earlier syntax errors; aborting compilation
I apologize if you view this as a stupid question. I have read the corresponding documentation but I just fail to comprehend what is really going on when utilizing C++/WinRT. I have plenty of experience with C++ but zero with COM which means it is everything else than straight forward to understand C++/WinRT.
If someone can lend me a hand translating the above C++/CX code to C++/WinRT that would be highly appreciated. Please don't just point me to the documentation, that just doesn't help.
EDIT:
Modifying the sample IDL code as follows successfully compiled it:
namespace Why
{
namespace Does
{
namespace This
{
namespace Not
{
namespace Work
{
[default_interface]
runtimeclass CustomView : Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.SwapChainPanel
{
CustomView();
}
}
}
}
}
}
However, exposing a user control to another language, in my case C#, such as the one inheriting from SwapChainPanel is dramatically more complex than doing the same thing in C++/CX. There's an IDL to deal with that is not easy to handle because there don't seem to be any complex samples around. That IDL generates several header files that I'm not really sure about what to do with because the documentation is lacking and samples are sparse. C++/WinRT is not for the faint-hearted and its complexity compared to C++/CX is simpy much higher.
It seems to me that to really understand C++/WinRT it is a necessity to have a good grasp of COM because compared to C++/CX, C++/WinRT does a poor job of hiding those COM related internals. This is especially the case when dealing with DirectX. Add to this an IDL that in itself is hard to deal with and a documentation of it that might suffice to get simple samples up and running but does not help much when porting a full fledged C++/CX app.
Doing what we do with C++/CX in C++/WinRT is just not economical for and we will stay on C++/CX until C++/WinRT becomes much more user friendly. Eliminating the need for the IDL (see https://wpdev.uservoice.com/forums/110705-universal-windows-platform/suggestions/36095386-get-rid-of-idl-for-c-winrt-components) would help too.
Without the prospect of being able to compile our code using Clang I would not even think about moving away from C++/CX. Microsoft shouldn't wonder that the adoption of C++/WinRT is slow. If they seriously want to change that they have to lower the entry barrier considerably.
Fully qualified type names in IDL use the period (.) as the namespace separator. A working IDL file would look like this:
namespace Why
{
namespace Does
{
namespace This
{
namespace Not
{
namespace Work
{
runtimeclass CustomView : Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.SwapChainPanel
{
CustomView();
}
}
}
}
}
}
There's fairly complete documentation at Microsoft Interface Definition Language 3.0 reference. Even with that, it's often challenging to make any sense out of MIDL error messages.

Using Directx members between c++\CLI assemblies C3767

I am trying to call a member function from a C++/CLI assembly from another one, but when I start using DirectX struct I get C3767 error : candidate function not accessib
from Utilities.dll
#pragma once
#include "define.h"
namespace Utilities
{
public ref class Data
{
public:
BOOL CreateBuffer( LPDIRECT3DDEVICE9 dev)
{
...
return TRUE;
}
{
}
And using it from a renderer
#include "Renderer.h"
namespace SomeNamespace
{
SceneRenderer::SceneRenderer(void)
{
}
void SceneRenderer::Render(LPDIRECT3DDEVICE9 dev)
{
...
m_vbo->CreateBuffer(dev); //error C3767: 'Utilities::Data::CreateBuffer': candidate function(s) not accessible
...
}
}
I know that using the address of the device int* (&dev) I can cast back to a LPDIRECT3DDEVICE9, but im looking for a better solution
A managed C++ assembly will not export unmanaged types in its public interface by default. LPDIRECT3DDEVICE9 is an unmanaged type, so your CreateBuffer method will be marked private, regardless of the access specifier provided (kind of stupid that the compiller isn't even generating a warning about this).
Use #pragma make_public or, better yet, do not use unmanaged types in managed interfaces.
Suggestion: Use slimDx or Xna if you want to use DirectX in managed code. These libraries already provide managed wrappers for everything.

Can you apply aspects in PostSharp without using attributes?

I know with Castle Windsor, you can register aspects (when using method interception in Windsor as AOP) using code instead of applying attributes to classes. Is the same possible in Postsharp? It's a preference things, but prefer to have aspects matched to interfaces/objects in one place, as opposed to attributes all over.
Update:
Curious if I can assign aspects to interfaces/objects similiar to this:
container.Register(
Component
.For<IService>()
.ImplementedBy<Service>()
.Interceptors(InterceptorReference.ForType<LoggingAspect>()).Anywhere
);
If you could do this, you would have the option of NOT having to place attributes on assemblies/class/methods to apply aspects. I can then have one code file/class that contains which aspects are applied to which class/methods/etc.
Yes. You can either use multicasting (http://www.sharpcrafters.com/blog/post/Day-2-Applying-Aspects-with-Multicasting-Part-1.aspx , http://www.sharpcrafters.com/blog/post/Day-3-Applying-Aspects-with-Multicasting-Part-2.aspx) or you can use aspect providers (http://www.sharpcrafters.com/blog/post/PostSharp-Principals-Day-12-e28093-Aspect-Providers-e28093-Part-1.aspx , http://www.sharpcrafters.com/blog/post/PostSharp-Principals-Day-13-e28093-Aspect-Providers-e28093-Part-2.aspx).
Example:
using System;
using PostSharp.Aspects;
using PostSharp.Extensibility;
[assembly: PostSharpInterfaceTest.MyAspect(AttributeTargetTypes = "PostSharpInterfaceTest.Interface1", AttributeInheritance = MulticastInheritance.Multicast)]
namespace PostSharpInterfaceTest
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Example e = new Example();
Example2 e2 = new Example2();
e.DoSomething();
e2.DoSomething();
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
class Example : Interface1
{
public void DoSomething()
{
Console.WriteLine("Doing something");
}
}
class Example2 : Interface1
{
public void DoSomething()
{
Console.WriteLine("Doing something else");
}
}
interface Interface1
{
void DoSomething();
}
[Serializable]
class MyAspect : OnMethodBoundaryAspect
{
public override void OnEntry(MethodExecutionArgs args)
{
Console.WriteLine("Entered " + args.Method.Name);
}
}
}
I recommend that if you have complex requirements for determining which types get certain aspects that you consider creating an aspect provider instead.
Have a look at LOOM.NET, there you have a post compiler and a runtime weaver. With the later one you are able to archive exactly what you want.
It should be possible to use the PostSharp XML configuration. The XML configuration is the unification of the Plug-in and Project models in the project loader.
Description of .psproj could be found at http://www.sharpcrafters.com/blog/post/Configuring-PostSharp-Diagnostics-Toolkits.aspx.
Note, that I've only seen examples how PostSharp Toolkits use this XML configuration.
But it should work for custom aspects the same way.
Warning: I've noticed that installation of a PostSharp Toolkit from Nuget overwrites existing psproj file. So do not forget to back up it.

Provide C#'s namespace from IronPython

I want to write Tomboy add-on using IronPython and I'm stuck and very beginning -- I need to provide C#'s namespace.
I mean, here's howto in writing Tomboy add-on's http://live.gnome.org/Tomboy/HowToCreateAddins
Let's start with creating the plugin
file called InsertDateTime.cs with the
following content:
using Tomboy;
namespace Tomboy.InsertDateTime
{
public class InsertDateTimeAddin : NoteAddin
{
public override void Initialize ()
{
}
public override void Shutdown ()
{
}
public override void OnNoteOpened ()
{
}
}
}
Can I do that with IronPython? Thank you.
From Python you can import the clr module and then call clr.AddReference('AssemblyName') where assembly name is a partial or full assembly name - maybe in your case it's Tomboy, it's whatever you'd compile against with C#. Then you can do "import Tomboy" or "from Tomboy import NoteAddin".
If you're hosting IronPython via the hosting APIs you can instead do scriptRuntime.LoadAssembly(typeof(NoetAddin).Assembly); so that you don't have to do it in Python. That can be particularly useful to avoid various loader context issues depending on how the assembly gets loaded.

C++ CLI error C3767: candidate function(s) not accessible

I'm new to C++ CLI coming from unmanaged C++ world.
I'm getting this error:
candidate function(s) not accessible
when I pass a std::string as part of the method argument.
Here's the exact code:
Lib Project (compiled as .dll project)
//Lib.h
#pragma once
public ref class Lib
{
public:
Lib(void);
public:
void Extract( std::string& data_ );
};
//Lib.cpp
#include "Lib.h"
Lib::Lib(void)
{
}
void Lib::Extract( std::string& data_ )
{
data_.empty();
}
LibTest Project (compiled as application.exe)
// LibTest.h
#pragma once
ref class LibTest
{
public:
LibTest(void);
};
// LibTest.cpp
#include "LibTest.h"
LibTest::LibTest(void)
{
Lib^ lib = gcnew Lib;
lib->Extract( std::string("test") );
}
int main()
{
return 0;
}
Compiler Error:
1>------ Build started: Project: LibTest, Configuration: Debug Win32 ------
1>Compiling...
1>LibTest.cpp
1>.\LibTest.cpp(7) : error C3767: 'Lib::Extract': candidate function(s) not accessible
The problem is that std::string will compile as a internal (non public) type. This is actually a change in VS 2005+:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms177253(VS.80).aspx:
Native types are private by default outside the assembly
Native types now will not be visible outside the assembly by default. For more information on type visibility outside the assembly, see Type Visibility. This change was primarily driven by the needs of developers using other, case-insensitive languages, when referencing metadata authored in Visual C++.
You can confirm this using Ildasm or reflector, you will see that your extract method is compiled as:
public unsafe void Extract(basic_string<char,std::char_traits<char>,std::allocator<char> >* modopt(IsImplicitlyDereferenced) data_)
with basic_string being compiled as:
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, Size=0x20), NativeCppClass, MiscellaneousBits(0x40), DebugInfoInPDB, UnsafeValueType]
internal struct basic_string<char,std::char_traits<char>,std::allocator<char> >
Note the internal.
Unfortunately you are then unable to call a such a method from a different assembly.
There is a workaround available in some cases: You can force the native type to be compiled as public using the make_public pragma.
e.g. if you have a method Extract2 such as:
void Extract2( std::exception& data_ );
you can force std::exception to be compiled as public by including this pragma statement beforehand:
#pragma make_public(std::exception)
this method is now callable across assemblies.
Unfortunately make_public does not work for templated types (std::string just being a typedef for basic_string<>)
I don't think there is anything you can do to make it work. I recommend using the managed type System::String^ instead in all your public API. This also ensures that your library is easily callable from other CLR languages such as c#
if you simply must access the internal methods another work around would be making the projects as Friend Assemblies like that:
//Lib Project
#pragma once
//define LibTest as friend assembly which will allow access to internal members
using namespace System;
using namespace System::Runtime::CompilerServices;
[assembly:InternalsVisibleTo("LibTest")];
public ref class Lib
{
public:
Lib(void);
public:
void Extract( std::string& data_ );
};
//LibTest Project
#pragma once
#using <Lib.dll> as_friend
ref class LibTest
{
public:
LibTest(void);
};
In addition to the solutions described above, one can subclass the templated type to obtain a non-templated type, and include its definition in both projects, thus overcoming some of the problems mentioned above.