Request: Add a C# wrapper

[blahanty]

It would be great to have a C# wrapper for the core API. That would make .NET development, testing, and integration easier.

[mortensp]

I all ready have this for dds 2.9 and will within a few days provide a C# wrapper online

[zzcgumn]

What kind of dynamic libraries are required for a C# wrapper?

[mortensp]

I have desided to start all over and create a c++/cli class library. This has better performance and can be called from all .net core 8 and higher apps. If needed a .net framework version can also be made. What are your needs?

The task is bigger than I expected, so it will probably take 1-2 weeks.

[timanderson]

I have desided to start all over and create a c++/cli class library. This has better performance and can be called from all .net core 8 and higher apps. If needed a .net framework version can also be made. What are your needs?

Windows only though, which would remove all usefulness for me. Though I do have a C# wrapper already which works OK for my purposes.

[timanderson]

What kind of dynamic libraries are required for a C# wrapper?

My project is cross-platform for amd64 Windows, Mac silicon and amd64 Linux. I have three dynamic libraries, dds.dll for Windows, libdds.so for Linux and libdds.dylib for Mac. The C# wrapper automatically selects the correct library for the OS. There are no changes to the DDS code in /library

[mortensp]

Hi timanderson. You are right. a .Net wrapper based on c++/cli i windows only. An alternative would be to use the slower P/invoke. Would you provide your wrapper for dds?

[timanderson]

Just spotted this one: https://github.com/JobScheffers/ddsWrapper

[mortensp]

Isn't that Windows only?

[blahanty]

I have desided to start all over and create a c++/cli class library. This has better performance and can be called from all .net core 8 and higher apps. If needed a .net framework version can also be made. What are your needs?

The task is bigger than I expected, so it will probably take 1-2 weeks.

I develop in C# and only target Windows on x86 and x64. A DLL is preferred, while a C++/CLI class library is sufficient. The wrapper should expose the full API surface that is available when using C++, with every callable method accessible from C# as well. .NET 8 and later compatibility is enough for me, and a .NET Framework build would also be useful if it is practical.

[timanderson]

Isn't that Windows only?

It is as presented but I didn't spot anything quickly that would be a problem?

[mortensp]

It seem easy enough to make a solution using p/invoke and automatic load of the dds library. But I wouldn't be able to test it, as i'm on Windows only and do not use Bazel.

[mortensp]

I now have a full cross platform wrapper written in c#, using p/invoke and automatic load of the dds library matching the platform.
But I need help with two things: a) Bazel and b) information about the tree structure of the Bazel compiled output, so that the loader can locate the right library. It can later be optimized for windows using c++/cli on that platform.

My branch can be found here: ´https://github.com/mortensp/dds3/tree/feature_dotnet_wrapper` and it is the private methods in NativeLoader that needs to be fixed acording to the Build output file structure

[timanderson]

It seem easy enough to make a solution using p/invoke and automatic load of the dds library. But I wouldn't be able to test it, as i'm on Windows only and do not use Bazel.

You can use WSL quite easily to test on Linux. I'd be glad to test on macOS when I get a moment!

[timanderson]

By the way I'm glad to find other developers using DDS with C#.