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.NET Development
.NET Framework 3.5
Marshal Class
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This page is specific to
Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

Other versions are also available for the following:
.NET Framework Class Library
Marshal Class

Provides a collection of methods for allocating unmanaged memory, copying unmanaged memory blocks, and converting managed to unmanaged types, as well as other miscellaneous methods used when interacting with unmanaged code.

Namespace:  System.Runtime.InteropServices
Assembly:  mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
Visual Basic (Declaration)
Public NotInheritable Class Marshal
Visual Basic (Usage)
You do not need to declare an instance of a static class in order to access its members.
C#
public static class Marshal
Visual C++
public ref class Marshal abstract sealed
JScript
public final class Marshal

The static methods defined on the Marshal class are essential to working with unmanaged code. Most methods defined in this class are typically used by developers who need to provide a bridge between the managed and unmanaged programming models. For example, the StringToHGlobalAnsi method copies ANSI characters from a specified string (in the managed heap) to a buffer in the unmanaged heap. It also allocates the target heap of the right size.

The common language runtime provides specific marshaling capabilities. For details on marshaling behavior, see Interop Marshaling.

The Read and Write methods in the Marshal class support both aligned and unaligned access.

The following code example shows how to use various methods defined by the Marshal class.

Visual Basic
Imports System
Imports System.Text
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Imports System.Security.Permissions



Public Structure Point
    Public x, y As Int32
End Structure



Public NotInheritable Class App

    <SecurityPermission(SecurityAction.LinkDemand, Unrestricted:=True)> _
    Shared Sub Main()
        ' Demonstrate the use of public static fields of the Marshal class.
        Console.WriteLine("SystemDefaultCharSize={0}, SystemMaxDBCSCharSize={1}", Marshal.SystemDefaultCharSize, Marshal.SystemMaxDBCSCharSize)
        ' Demonstrate the use of the SizeOf method of the Marshal class.
        Console.WriteLine("Number of bytes needed by a Point object: {0}", Marshal.SizeOf(GetType(Point)))
        Dim p As New Point()
        Console.WriteLine("Number of bytes needed by a Point object: {0}", Marshal.SizeOf(p))
        ' Demonstrate how to call GlobalAlloc and 
        ' GlobalFree using the Marshal class.
        Dim hglobal As IntPtr = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(100)
        Marshal.FreeHGlobal(hglobal)
        ' Demonstrate how to use the Marshal class to get the Win32 error 
        ' code when a Win32 method fails.
        Dim f As [Boolean] = CloseHandle(New IntPtr(-1))
        If Not f Then
            Console.WriteLine("CloseHandle call failed with an error code of: {0}", Marshal.GetLastWin32Error())
        End If

    End Sub


    ' This is a platform invoke prototype. SetLastError is true, which allows 
    ' the GetLastWin32Error method of the Marshal class to work correctly.    
    <DllImport("Kernel32", ExactSpelling:=True, SetLastError:=True)> _
    Shared Function CloseHandle(ByVal h As IntPtr) As [Boolean]

    End Function
End Class


' This code produces the following output.
' 
' SystemDefaultCharSize=2, SystemMaxDBCSCharSize=1
' Number of bytes needed by a Point object: 8
' Number of bytes needed by a Point object: 8
' CloseHandle call failed with an error code of: 6
C#
using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

public struct Point
{
    public Int32 x, y;
}


public sealed class App
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Demonstrate the use of public static fields of the Marshal class.
        Console.WriteLine("SystemDefaultCharSize={0}, SystemMaxDBCSCharSize={1}",
            Marshal.SystemDefaultCharSize, Marshal.SystemMaxDBCSCharSize);

        // Demonstrate the use of the SizeOf method of the Marshal class.
        Console.WriteLine("Number of bytes needed by a Point object: {0}", 
            Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(Point)));
        Point p = new Point();
        Console.WriteLine("Number of bytes needed by a Point object: {0}",
            Marshal.SizeOf(p));

        // Demonstrate how to call GlobalAlloc and 
        // GlobalFree using the Marshal class.
        IntPtr hglobal = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(100);
        Marshal.FreeHGlobal(hglobal);

        // Demonstrate how to use the Marshal class to get the Win32 error 
        // code when a Win32 method fails.
        Boolean f = CloseHandle(new IntPtr(-1));
        if (!f)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("CloseHandle call failed with an error code of: {0}", 
                Marshal.GetLastWin32Error());
        }  
    }

    // This is a platform invoke prototype. SetLastError is true, which allows 
    // the GetLastWin32Error method of the Marshal class to work correctly.    
    [DllImport("Kernel32", ExactSpelling = true, SetLastError = true)]
    static extern Boolean CloseHandle(IntPtr h);

}

// This code produces the following output.
// 
// SystemDefaultCharSize=2, SystemMaxDBCSCharSize=1
// Number of bytes needed by a Point object: 8
// Number of bytes needed by a Point object: 8
// CloseHandle call failed with an error code of: 6
Visual C++
using namespace System;
using namespace System::Runtime::InteropServices;

public value struct Point
{
public:
    property int X;
    property int Y;
};
extern bool CloseHandle(IntPtr h);

int main()
{
    // Demonstrate the use of public static fields of the Marshal
    // class.
    Console::WriteLine(
        "SystemDefaultCharSize={0},SystemMaxDBCSCharSize={1}",
        Marshal::SystemDefaultCharSize,
        Marshal::SystemMaxDBCSCharSize);

    // Demonstrate the use of the SizeOf method of the Marshal
    // class.
    Console::WriteLine("Number of bytes needed by a Point object: {0}",
        Marshal::SizeOf(Point::typeid));
    Point point;
    Console::WriteLine("Number of bytes needed by a Point object: {0}",
        Marshal::SizeOf(point));

    // Demonstrate how to call GlobalAlloc and 
    // GlobalFree using the Marshal class.
    IntPtr hglobal = Marshal::AllocHGlobal(100);
    Marshal::FreeHGlobal(hglobal);

    // Demonstrate how to use the Marshal class to get the Win32
    // error code when a Win32 method fails.
    bool isCloseHandleSuccess = CloseHandle(IntPtr(-1));
    if (!isCloseHandleSuccess)
    {
        Console::WriteLine(
            "CloseHandle call failed with an error code of: {0}",
            Marshal::GetLastWin32Error());
    }
};

// This is a platform invoke prototype. SetLastError is true,
// which allows the GetLastWin32Error method of the Marshal class
// to work correctly.    
[DllImport("Kernel32", ExactSpelling = true, SetLastError = true)]
extern bool CloseHandle(IntPtr h);

// This code produces the following output.
// 
// SystemDefaultCharSize=2, SystemMaxDBCSCharSize=1
// Number of bytes needed by a Point object: 8
// Number of bytes needed by a Point object: 8
// CloseHandle call failed with an error code of: 6
System..::.Object
  System.Runtime.InteropServices..::.Marshal
Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Xbox 360, Zune

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

.NET Compact Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 2.0, 1.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: 3.0, 2.0, 1.0
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Marshalling: Using native DLLs in .NET      rednael   |   Edit   |   Show History

For more information and examples, please read the following article:
http://blog.rednael.com/2008/08/29/MarshallingUsingNativeDLLsInNET.aspx


It's an in-depth article about how to use a native DLL (or C++ DLL) in your managed .Net code. The article shows which types are interoperable, how to import a DLL, how to pass strings, how to pass structures and how to de-reference pointers.


And C# source code examples are included.

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