Question

How do you pass an array to a COM object using interop?

Asked by: wayside

I need to extend an existing COM object to add a function that takes as input an array of bytes, which is readonly. I haven't done COM in a while and I don't remember the gory details so hopefully someone here can help me fill in the blanks.

The interface definition looks something like this:

[object, dual, uuid("12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789ABC") ]
__interface IMyFoo {
  [id(1), helpstring("method foo1")] HRESULT foo1([in] BSTR str, [out,retval] BSTR* result);
  [id(2), helpstring("method foo2")] HRESULT foo2([in] BYTE buf[], [in] LONG numBytes, [out,retval] BSTR* result);  // <-- #1 below
};

[ coclass, uuid("87654321-4321-4321-4321-CBA987654321"), default(IMyFoo) ]
class CMyFoo : public IMyFoo
{
public:
  CMyFoo(void);
  ~CMyFoo void);
  STDMETHOD(foo1)(BSTR str, LONG* result);
  STDMETHOD(foo2)(BYTE []buf, LONG numBytes, BSTR* result);  // <--#1 below
};

The implementation of foo2 is conceptually something like:

STDMETHODIMP CMyFoo::foo2(BYTE []buf, LONG numBytes, BSTR* result)
{

  int sum = 0;
  for (int i=0; i<numBytes; i++) {
     // process buf here
     sum +=  buf[i]; // <--- #2 below
  }
 
  char outstr[50];
  sprintf(outstr, "answer is %ld", sum);

  *result = ::SysAllocString((OLECHAR *) outstr);

  return S_OK;
}

From the C# side, I want to do something like:

byte[] buf = new byte[1234];
// buf gets data in it, not important how

mycom.CMyFooClass myfoo = new mycomCMyFooClass();
string sum= myfoo.foo2(buf, buf.length);  // <--- #3 below

I've already got everything working to call the foo1() function in C#, but I need help with

#1) setting up the interface to be able to pass an array of bytes in foo2()
#2) accessing that array within the COM object function foo2() - don't need to modify it, just access it
#3) how do I call foo2() from the C# side to pass the array

Thanks!

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Asked On
2006-05-24 at 08:36:34ID21862303
Tags

interop

,

array

,

com

,

pass

Topic

C# Programming Language

Participating Experts
1
Points
500
Comments
5

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Answers

 

by: gbzhhuPosted on 2006-05-24 at 11:19:58ID: 16754270

 

by: waysidePosted on 2006-05-24 at 12:39:17ID: 16755208

gbzhhu,

That article isn't very helpful.

This article is much more helpful, it shows actual sample code:

http://www.codeguru.com/Cpp/COM-Tech/activex/misc/article.php/c2577/

So I set up my code like this, and it works great. If you see any issues please let me know.


[object, dual, uuid("12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789ABC") ]
__interface IMyFoo {
  [id(1), helpstring("method foo1")] HRESULT foo1([in] BSTR str, [out,retval] BSTR* result);
  [id(2), helpstring("method foo2")] HRESULT foo2([in] VARIANT buf, [in] LONG numBytes, [out,retval] BSTR* result);
};

[ coclass, uuid("87654321-4321-4321-4321-CBA987654321"), default(IMyFoo) ]
class CMyFoo : public IMyFoo
{
public:
  CMyFoo(void);
  ~CMyFoo void);
  STDMETHOD(foo1)(BSTR str, LONG* result);
  STDMETHOD(foo2)(VARIANT buf, LONG numBytes, BSTR* result);
};

STDMETHODIMP CMyFoo::foo2(VARIANT buf, LONG numBytes, BSTR* result)
{
  void *pData;
  if (buf.vt == (VT_ARRAY | VT_UI1)) {
    SafeArrayAccessData(buf.parray, &pData); // Get the data
    SafeArrayUnaccessData(buf.parray);           // Unaccess it.
  }
  else
    return S_FALSE;

  unsigned char pUChar = (unsigned char *)pData;
  int sum = 0;
  for (int i=0; i<numBytes; i++) {
     // process buf here
     sum +=  pUChar [i];
  }
 
  char outstr[50];
  sprintf(outstr, "answer is %ld", sum);

  *result = ::SysAllocString((OLECHAR *) outstr);

  return S_OK;
}

From the C# side:

byte[] buf = new byte[1234];
// buf gets data in it, not important how

mycom.CMyFooClass myfoo = new mycomCMyFooClass();
string sum= myfoo.foo2(buf, buf.Length);

 

by: gbzhhuPosted on 2006-05-25 at 02:59:44ID: 16759310

I am glad it is working for you.  The article I pointed out suggested using safesarrays and variants rather than byte array.  The other article does the same but gave example code which I agree is better

 

by: waysidePosted on 2006-06-21 at 06:06:41ID: 16950921

Sorry, I should have closed this before.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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