quickstart.md

Quickstart

AdvancedDLSupport uses anonymous implementations of interfaces to create a delegate-based interop framework. Usage is very simple - as an example, take this simple mockup C library.

math.h

int TimesUsed;

int Multiply(int a, int b);
int Subtract(int a, int b);

math.c

int Multiply(int a, int b)
{
    ++TimesUsed;
    return a * b;
}

int Subtract(int a, int b)
{
    ++TimesUsed;
    return a - b;
}

In order to use this with the library, we could use the traditional [DllImport] attribute, but AdvancedDLSupport takes another approach.

Instead, we declare a matching C# interface.

public interface IMath
{
    int TimesUsed { get; }

    int Multiply(int a, int b);
    int Subtract(int a, int b);
}

Using this interface, we can then initialize a generated type which implements our interface, and allows us to use the native library.

using (var mathLibrary = NativeLibraryBuilder.Default.ActivateInterface<IMath>(LibraryName))
{
    int mySubtraction = mathLibrary.Subtract(10, 5);
    int myMultiplication mathLibrary.Multiply(5, 5);
    
    int timesUsed = mathLibrary.TimesUsed;
    
    Console.WriteLine($"Subtraction: {mySubtraction}, Multiplication: {myMultiplication}, Times used: {timesUsed}");
}

// Output:
// Subtraction: 5, Multiplication: 25, Times used: 2

Refer to Supported Constructs for more information about ways to interact with your libraries.