using System.IO.Pipes.NamedPipeClientStream in a Sony Vegas Script

Question

when i try to use a NamedPipeClientStream in a Sony Vegas Script i get the Exception

The type or namespace name 'NamedPipeClientStream' could not be found (are you missing   
a using directive or an assembly reference?)

and

The type or namespace name 'Pipe' could not be found in System.IO (are you missing     
a an assembly reference?)

this is what my code looks like:

new System.IO.Pipes.NamedPipeClientStream("UniqueString");

I have installed the latest .Net Framework (4.5) full. Where does Sony Vegas gets its assemblies.

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

The CLR hosted by Sony Vegas seems not to support NamedPipeClientStream. I achieved the same behaviour by using the Message System from Windows. Here is the Code i use in the Sony Vegas Script

public static class SonyVegasWindowMessageHelper
{
    private const int WM_USER = 0x400;
    private const int WM_COPYDATA = 0x4A;
    private const int VIDEO_RENDERED = 52;

    [DllImport("user32.dll")]
    private static extern IntPtr FindWindow(string lpClassName, string lpWindowName);

    [DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
    private static extern bool SendMessage(IntPtr hWnd, uint msg, IntPtr wParam, ref COPYDATASTRUCT lParam);


    public static void SendMessage(string message)
    {
        IntPtr window = FindWindow(null, "Youtube Video Uploader");
        if (window != IntPtr.Zero)
        {
            byte[] data = Encoding.Default.GetBytes(message);

            COPYDATASTRUCT str = new COPYDATASTRUCT();
            str.CbData = data.Length + 1;
            str.DwData = (IntPtr)VIDEO_RENDERED;
            str.LpData = message;

            SendMessage(window, WM_COPYDATA, IntPtr.Zero, ref str);
        }
    }

    private struct COPYDATASTRUCT
    {
        public IntPtr DwData;
        public int CbData;

        [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPStr)]
        public string LpData;
    }
}

and with SendMessage you can send any message you want to an other application.

Answer 2

Well, that's close to my bed, I've worked on Sony Vegas and know its CLR hosting scenario pretty well. You have this problem because System.IO.Pipes is a .NET 4 namespace, the custom CLR host in Vegas loads CLR version 2.0.50727.

You can override that choice, you can edit the .exe.config file in Program Files folder and use the <supportedRuntime> element to get the v4 version loaded. Not sure what kind of trouble you'll run into doing this, it is not otherwise a tested or supported scenario.

The next closest alternative is to use a Socket instead. Usually easier to get going than WM_COPYDATA since you only need to select a port number. Getting the window handle can be tricky, FindWindow() isn't a very reliable function.