Passing C++/CLI Class Method as C function pointer - function

Question

I have a third-party C library that provides this header:
//CLibrary.h
#include <Windows.h>
#include <process.h>
typedef void (WINAPI *CLibEventCallback)(int event, void *data);
__declspec(dllexport) bool CLibStart (CLibEventCallback callback, void *data);
// CLibrary.c -- sample implementation
static CLibEventCallback cb;
void _cdecl DoWork (void *ptr)
{
for (int i = 0; i < 10; ++i)
{
cb (i*i, ptr);
Sleep (500);
}
}
__declspec(dllexport) bool CLibStart (CLibEventCallback callback, void *data)
{
cb = callback; // save address for DoWork thread...
_beginthread (DoWork, 0, data);
return true;
}
I need to create a C++/CLI class that can call CLibStart and provide a class method as the function pointer. As suggested below, this needs to be done with GetFunctionPointerForDelegate. Because the delete constructor includes 'this' and doesn't require a static method, I don't need to pass 'this' into CLibStart.
using namespace System;
using namespace System::Runtime::InteropServices;
namespace Sample {
public ref class ManagedClass
{
delegate void CLibraryDelegate (int event, void *data);
private:
CLibraryDelegate^ managedDelegate;
IntPtr unmanagedDelegatePtr;
int someInstanceData;
public:
ManagedClass()
{
this->managedDelegate = gcnew CLibraryDelegate(this, &ManagedClass::ManagedCallback);
this->unmanagedDelegatePtr = Marshal::GetFunctionPointerForDelegate(this->managedDelegate);
this->someInstanceData = 42;
}
void Start ()
{
// since the delegate includes an implicit 'this' (as static function is not needed)
// I no longer need to pass 'this' in the second parameter!
CLibStart ((CLibEventCallback) (void *) unmanagedDelegatePtr, nullptr);
}
private:
void Log (String^ msg)
{
Console::WriteLine (String::Format ("someInstanceData: {0}, message: {1}", this->someInstanceData, msg));
}
void ManagedCallback (int eventType, void *data)
{
// no longer need "data" to contain 'this'
this->Log (String::Format ("Received Event {0}", eventType));
}
};
}
All of this compiles and runs fine using this C# tester:
using System;
using Sample;
namespace Tester
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var mc = new ManagedClass();
mc.Start();
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
}
Sample output:
Received Event 0
Received Event 1
Received Event 4
Received Event 9
Received Event 16
Received Event 25
Received Event 36
Received Event 49
Received Event 64
Received Event 81
Outstanding questions:
I have this feeling that I need to use gcroot and/or pin_ptr? If
so, how? where?
Thanks.

Answer 1

gcroot should be in place where ref class stores delegate, like:
gcroot<CLibraryDelegate^> managedDelegate;