can I automatically wrap C functions into C# / .NET?

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Basically I would like to be able to create a program that points at any static library (fed as a file parameter) and generates a series of functions and structures that can be used in C#
Is this possible?

Posted 5-Dec-13 6:49am

Mihai Pruna

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2 solutions

Solution 1

Why create one when it already exists, for free?

tlbimp.exe[^]

Posted 5-Dec-13 7:10am

Ron Beyer

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Dave Kreskowiak 5-Dec-13 16:20pm

Warning to readers, that only works for COM-based libraries. It will NOT work for standard C libraries.

Ron Beyer 5-Dec-13 17:32pm

I don't know if there is a way to automatically determine entry points in a C style library or to examine structs/types in that library. If you know of something like that I'd be interested to see.

Dave Kreskowiak 5-Dec-13 18:39pm

What this guy is probably talking about is already covered by Dependency Walker[^]. It won't generate code, but it will list the exports and any parameter info that can be found (COM only.)

I don't know of anything that will dump structs or types.

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Dave Kreskowiak · Accepted Answer · 2013-12-05T10:22:00

Solution 2

Like has been said already, that tool already exists for COM-based libraries.

It's impossible to write such a tool for standard libraries. The reason is that parameter and return value information is not stored in the library. Only the function names being exported can be found.

Posted 5-Dec-13 10:22am

Dave Kreskowiak