struct -> null

[Dirk Reske]

Hello,

if I have a P/Invoke method: open(STRUCT1 str, STRUCT2 str2);

is there a way to pass <null> for a struct in C#?
How can I solve this?

thx

[Juan Gabriel Del Cid]

Structs are value types (in C++ and in C#), so NULL would be incompatible
with any struct type. Now, if you want to pass NULL for a reference type,
for example if yourfunction was declared like:

open (struct struct1 *str, struct struct1 *str2) { ... }

you would do so with IntPtr.Zero (that is NULL).

Hope that helps,
-JG

[William Stacey]

Create two DllImports for the same api. The second one will be overloaded
with something like "object flag" on the STRUCT2 parm. Now you can pass a
STRUCT2 or a null ref. Example:

[DllImport("kern el32.dll")]
public static extern uint GetFileSize(
IntPtr hFile, //[in] Handle to the file for size.
ref uint fileSizeHigh); //[out] Pointer to var where high-order word is
returned.

[DllImport("kern el32.dll")]
public static extern uint GetFileSize(
IntPtr hFile, //[in] Handle to the file for size.
object flag); //[out] Overloaded to allow passing null.

--
William Stacey, MVP

"Dirk Reske" <_F*******@gmx. net> wrote in message
news:u0******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP11.phx.gbl...

Hello,

if I have a P/Invoke method: open(STRUCT1 str, STRUCT2 str2);

is there a way to pass <null> for a struct in C#?
How can I solve this?

thx

[William Stacey]

From the help on IntPtr.Zero: "The value of this field is not equivalent to
a null reference..."
Wouldn't you be passing a ptr to the IntPtr struct that contains a zero? Or
does pInvoke change this to a null ref?

--
William Stacey, MVP

"Juan Gabriel Del Cid" <jd*****@atrevi do.nospam.net> wrote in message
news:eP******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP10.phx.gbl...

Structs are value types (in C++ and in C#), so NULL would be incompatible
with any struct type. Now, if you want to pass NULL for a reference type,
for example if yourfunction was declared like:

open (struct struct1 *str, struct struct1 *str2) { ... }

you would do so with IntPtr.Zero (that is NULL).

Hope that helps,
-JG

[Mattias Sjögren]

is there a way to pass <null> for a struct in C#?
How can I solve this?

In addition to what the other suggested, another way is to use unsafe
code and a real pointer type

STRUCT1* str

And yet another option is to change the parameter type to an array

STRUCT1[] str

and then either pass in a single-element array or null.

Mattias

--
Mattias Sjögren [MVP] mattias @ mvps.org
http://www.msjogren.net/dotnet/
Please reply only to the newsgroup.

[Juan Gabriel Del Cid]

> From the help on IntPtr.Zero: "The value of this field is not

equivalent to a null reference..."

Of course it's not a null reference, it's a value type. In the past there
was no distinction between a value type and a reference type. You could cast
data to whatever you wanted and back. For example, a pointer is really
nothing more than an integer (4 bytes on a 32 bit processor). In this case,
NULL is just 4 bytes all set to zero (just like IntPtr.Zero).

So, in C/C++ you have:

if ((int)NULL == 0) {
// this is always true
}

and in C# you have:

if ((int)null == 0) {
// this will never compile because you can't convert
// null (or any other reference type)
// to an int (or any other value type)
}

if ((int)IntPtr.Ze ro == 0) {
// this is always true
}

Hope that clears it up for you,
-JG

[Eric Gunnerson [MS]]

I'd bet that the method you're trying to call takes a pointer to a struct,
and you should be using:

open(ref STRUCT1 str, ref STRUCT2 str2);

--
Eric Gunnerson

Visit the C# product team at http://www.csharp.net
Eric's blog is at http://blogs.gotdotnet.com/ericgu/

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
"Dirk Reske" <_F*******@gmx. net> wrote in message
news:u0******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP11.phx.gbl...

Hello,

if I have a P/Invoke method: open(STRUCT1 str, STRUCT2 str2);

is there a way to pass <null> for a struct in C#?
How can I solve this?

thx

[William Stacey]

In terms of the OP question, IntPtr does not help him. Assume the exported
function is something like:
BOOL DoSomething(SOM ESTRUCT * struct1);

And the managed struct and/or class is:
// Declares a managed structure for the unmanaged structure.
[ StructLayout( LayoutKind.Sequ ential )]
public struct MyStruct
{
public int one = 1;
public long two =2;
}
// Declares a managed class for the unmanaged structure.
[ StructLayout( LayoutKind.Sequ ential )]
public class MyClass
{
public int one = 1;
public long two = 2;
}

Then his exports might be something like (among others):
// Because MyStruct is a value type, you cannot pass null as a
// parameter. Instead, declare an overloaded method.
[ DllImport( "Kernel32.d ll" )]
public static extern bool DoSomething(
ref MyStruct myStruct );

[ DllImport( "Kernel32.d ll" )]
public static extern bool DoSomething(
int flag ); // Declares an int instead of a structure reference so you
can pass a zero.

// Because MyClass is a class, you can also pass null as parameter.
// No overloading is needed.
[ DllImport( "Kernel32.d ll", EntryPoint="DoS omething" )]
public static extern bool DoSomething2(
MyClass myClass );

Then he can call "DoSomethin g" like:
MyStruct ms;
MyClass mc = new MyClass();
bool b = DoSomething(ref ms); //Call using ref to struct.
bool b = DoSomething(0); //Call passing zero. You could pass
(int)IntPtr.Zer o here, but why?
bool b = DoSomething2(mc ); //Call using ref to class.
bool b = DoSomething2(nu ll); //Call passing null.

In none of those cases does IntPtr help.

--
William Stacey

"Juan Gabriel Del Cid" <jd*****@atrevi do.nospam.net> wrote in message
news:uV******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP12.phx.gbl...

Hope that clears it up for you,